FIRST:
You don't need to buy used for a GOOD inexpensive amp, and if money is an issue I would recommend the "cMoy bass boost" that is reviewed here on head.fi - I won't call it cheap because that implies low quality. It is only $40.99 on ebay!
SOUND: It's only needed about 48 hours of burn-in, and started to sound very good after 12-24 hours. Out of the box it sounded a little grainy with closed in sound stage. I have to tell you gentlemen, "the closed sound stage and graininess has left the building." (get it, Elvis has left th... nevermind). I don't typically use the bass boost, but it does add clean smooth non-boomy i.e. non-peaky bass to headphones with less bass than the Shure E500 or Denon C700 (such as the ER6i, E4c, SE310 and more.)
FEATURES: It is designed to run off the headphone jack, and you can add the optional gain switch for about $5 to get both less hiss at zero volume with hi-volume IEM's and the power to drive HD600's too. Just tell him what headphones you wish to use. It does a good job with my IEM and Ultrasone HFI700 DVD, and then flip the switch to use my Sennheiser HD600 (the PX100 sound better this way too, and he says it is set up for the Senn 280 pro that I was originally going to get which I am guessing is in-between the two I actually bought).
He has redesigned the circuit board to allow for a volume control, but I don't know what that will cost when it comes out in a few weeks. But, most people on this $40 budget will be using the headphone out and not a $80 cryodock. He can also add a volume control to the current circuit board, but the cost will go up (guessing $10 or more) as he has to source the pot's separately. he will also customize the case, and LED color/brightness to suit you.
I bought a 9v 1000ma power adapter that shuts off the battery when I am using it at home, and it automatically turns on when you plug in your source. When away from the power, I can still plug in a power plug to shut off the amp if I don't want to unplug the source.
see other reviews and feedback here http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...3&goto=newpost
ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/cMoy-Amp-Headpho...QQcmdZViewItem
NEXT:
I also have a little bit more costly PenguinAmps cMoy from ebay that is fantastic. It hasn't needed any burn-in like the Cmoy bass boost - it uses the acclaimed AD8397 opamp, and uses two rail-splitters instead of one to handle the extra current.
It is $89 on ebay and ships from germany. It comes in a nice looking unique Penguin Mints case, which I did not know was available in the USA (see post #4 below). This has an on/off switch that will let you A-B compare amped and unamped. With the iPod headphone set at 50%, and the volume knob set at 12:30 - 1:00 o'clock you can switch the amp on and hear NO change in volume or sound quality - it's not adding ANY coloration to the sound of the source!
I spent 3 hours listening last night with my HD600's and I was totally drawn into the music with NO complaints about any part of what I was hearing. It sounds a little different from the cMoy bass boost, a little quicker and punchier (without bass boost on or with it on, the cMoyBB isn't as quick to my ears, but it isn't bad at all). The sound field is very broad and you can hear the placement of the different instruments as if you were sitting down at a table in a jazz club, in the front row 8 feet away, and the musicians are on a 3 foot tall stage.
It is powerful enough to drive my Sennheiser HD600 quite well from the headphone jack, and quite loud from the ipod dock connector's line out (ALO Cryo Dock). It has a volume control so can be used with either type of input (headphone or line-in). This one has a 9v NiMH battery charging circuit instead of a battery disconnect like the cMoy bass boost. He claims 25 hours on a charged 250 MaH 9v battery. I have resisted spending $12 on a 150 MaH battery and am looking for a longer life one. The good news is that my 9v power adapter for the CMoy bass boost will work with this by switching to a different tip that I have. DO NOT TRY TO CHARGE ALKALINE BATTERIES - NO POWER ADAPTER TILL YOU GET A RECHARGABLE.
If I had to pick between the two amps for sound I'd pick the Penguin, as it sounds closest to my Tomahawk, but it isn't as good as the RSA TH yet. Maybe burn-in will give it the bass of the Tomahawk or the sound-stage, we'll see. BUT with the difference in features I had to have both.
Seeing as I have THREE iPods - I paired my 8gb Nano with the Tomahawk, the cMoy bass boost with my 1st gen 2gb Nano, and the PenguinAmp with my 80gb 5.5G iPod video. My iBasso D1 is still burning in at 196 hours and I am not listening to it, but it is paired with my iRiver I120 and Sony D-EJ2000 which both have optical out.
penguin amp links
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwww-penguinamp-com
http://www.penguinamp.com/
You don't need to buy used for a GOOD inexpensive amp, and if money is an issue I would recommend the "cMoy bass boost" that is reviewed here on head.fi - I won't call it cheap because that implies low quality. It is only $40.99 on ebay!
SOUND: It's only needed about 48 hours of burn-in, and started to sound very good after 12-24 hours. Out of the box it sounded a little grainy with closed in sound stage. I have to tell you gentlemen, "the closed sound stage and graininess has left the building." (get it, Elvis has left th... nevermind). I don't typically use the bass boost, but it does add clean smooth non-boomy i.e. non-peaky bass to headphones with less bass than the Shure E500 or Denon C700 (such as the ER6i, E4c, SE310 and more.)
FEATURES: It is designed to run off the headphone jack, and you can add the optional gain switch for about $5 to get both less hiss at zero volume with hi-volume IEM's and the power to drive HD600's too. Just tell him what headphones you wish to use. It does a good job with my IEM and Ultrasone HFI700 DVD, and then flip the switch to use my Sennheiser HD600 (the PX100 sound better this way too, and he says it is set up for the Senn 280 pro that I was originally going to get which I am guessing is in-between the two I actually bought).
He has redesigned the circuit board to allow for a volume control, but I don't know what that will cost when it comes out in a few weeks. But, most people on this $40 budget will be using the headphone out and not a $80 cryodock. He can also add a volume control to the current circuit board, but the cost will go up (guessing $10 or more) as he has to source the pot's separately. he will also customize the case, and LED color/brightness to suit you.
I bought a 9v 1000ma power adapter that shuts off the battery when I am using it at home, and it automatically turns on when you plug in your source. When away from the power, I can still plug in a power plug to shut off the amp if I don't want to unplug the source.
see other reviews and feedback here http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...3&goto=newpost
ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/cMoy-Amp-Headpho...QQcmdZViewItem
NEXT:
I also have a little bit more costly PenguinAmps cMoy from ebay that is fantastic. It hasn't needed any burn-in like the Cmoy bass boost - it uses the acclaimed AD8397 opamp, and uses two rail-splitters instead of one to handle the extra current.
It is $89 on ebay and ships from germany. It comes in a nice looking unique Penguin Mints case, which I did not know was available in the USA (see post #4 below). This has an on/off switch that will let you A-B compare amped and unamped. With the iPod headphone set at 50%, and the volume knob set at 12:30 - 1:00 o'clock you can switch the amp on and hear NO change in volume or sound quality - it's not adding ANY coloration to the sound of the source!
I spent 3 hours listening last night with my HD600's and I was totally drawn into the music with NO complaints about any part of what I was hearing. It sounds a little different from the cMoy bass boost, a little quicker and punchier (without bass boost on or with it on, the cMoyBB isn't as quick to my ears, but it isn't bad at all). The sound field is very broad and you can hear the placement of the different instruments as if you were sitting down at a table in a jazz club, in the front row 8 feet away, and the musicians are on a 3 foot tall stage.
It is powerful enough to drive my Sennheiser HD600 quite well from the headphone jack, and quite loud from the ipod dock connector's line out (ALO Cryo Dock). It has a volume control so can be used with either type of input (headphone or line-in). This one has a 9v NiMH battery charging circuit instead of a battery disconnect like the cMoy bass boost. He claims 25 hours on a charged 250 MaH 9v battery. I have resisted spending $12 on a 150 MaH battery and am looking for a longer life one. The good news is that my 9v power adapter for the CMoy bass boost will work with this by switching to a different tip that I have. DO NOT TRY TO CHARGE ALKALINE BATTERIES - NO POWER ADAPTER TILL YOU GET A RECHARGABLE.
If I had to pick between the two amps for sound I'd pick the Penguin, as it sounds closest to my Tomahawk, but it isn't as good as the RSA TH yet. Maybe burn-in will give it the bass of the Tomahawk or the sound-stage, we'll see. BUT with the difference in features I had to have both.
Seeing as I have THREE iPods - I paired my 8gb Nano with the Tomahawk, the cMoy bass boost with my 1st gen 2gb Nano, and the PenguinAmp with my 80gb 5.5G iPod video. My iBasso D1 is still burning in at 196 hours and I am not listening to it, but it is paired with my iRiver I120 and Sony D-EJ2000 which both have optical out.
penguin amp links
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwww-penguinamp-com
http://www.penguinamp.com/
) and the original mint tin DIY headphone amp - made by forum user Apheared - was put in a Penguin's tin. Using a Penguin Mints mint tin is a longstanding DIY tradition. These are Alien DAC's:
(okay, albeit a disabled, part-time and soon to be retired at 45yr old)
