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Penguin Caffeine/Royal or Biosciencegeek as upgrade for PA2V2?

post #1 of 20
3/4/09 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 
Hi @ all

I recently got a PA2V2 from Gary, but it didn't really satisfy me. I didn't hear much of a difference compared to listening straight out of my Iriver H140. I mostly listened to it with my Sennheiser HD580, wich couldn't reach very loud levels before disorting (especially bass).
I was wondering if a Biosciencegeek CMOY would be a big upgrade over the PA2V2? Or would any of the Penguin Amps be better? I was thinkin of something in the BSG/Caffeine price range, the Royal is actually stretching my bundget a bit, but I would eventually consider it if there was a great improvement. I was actually looking for an entry-leven amp and don't want to spend too much on it.
I would also use it with other Headphones than the 580 for on-the-go use. Currently I mostly use Koss KSC75 or Sennheiser PX100, but I plan to get a better one in the future.
Can anyone help me on this?
Thanks.

PS: sorry for my english, I'm from Switzerland
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post #2 of 20
3/4/09 at 7:18pm
Get the PengAmp Caffeine. You will not regret it. I have one burning in now and the sound is way ahead of the look. I will post a full review in a day or two
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post #3 of 20
3/4/09 at 11:25pm
I don't know about any of those, but I'm going to mention the JDS Labs Cmoy JDS Labs. I built my own using his board and his parts list (except for the opamp) so it should be pretty close to what he's selling and it might be the best CMOY I've heard -- and I've built some good ones ( if I do say so myself )
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post #4 of 20
3/5/09 at 2:29am
is royal amp better than the caffeine ? any recommendation which is better sounding ?
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post #5 of 20
3/5/09 at 4:36am
There is a good comparison of the Caffeine and Royal and it didnt seem worth it. Longer burn in time too I think. I really like my Caffeine but I haven't heard anything else bit the Fiio E5. There could be a wait for it unless you buy one used.

Cool EFN you got one! Yeah it actually sounds better after some burn in. It sounded a bit crappy when I tested it out of the package so I started burning it in right away and hoped it would get better.
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post #6 of 20
3/5/09 at 9:42am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your replies.
Can anybody tell me how the Caffeine and the BSG and maybe the one from JDS labs compare in terms of soundquality?
In addition, does anyone know if the USB-DAC-cable offered on the Penguin site is any good?
I think I'll get one of those three, but I find it hard to decide wich, as they seem quite similar.
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post #7 of 20
3/9/09 at 8:36pm
Thread Starter 
Any experiences?
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post #8 of 20
3/9/09 at 9:17pm
Like I said before, the PengAmp Caffeine is way better than any CMOYs I have ever heard. If it's not too extreme I'd say it can even compete with the stock Xin SuperMini-IV
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post #9 of 20
3/10/09 at 4:21am
I haven't seen anything reviews of all those cmoys together. But you can find separate reviews for each.

A lot of people have the BSG cmoy and like them. Same goes for the JDS labs cmoy. People like the bass boost on it. Both of them supposedly have really good customer service as they'll reply to your emails and such. Even going as far as trying their best to setup the cmoy to pair with your headphones that you tell them that you'll be using.

The Pengiun's bonus is that it can recharge your rechargeable 9v battery. Only thing I don't like about it is that the DC plug is inside the case, so you have to open it to access it. I don't like the idea of having to leave it open if I decide to use it for a desktop amp. But I guess you could just punch of hole there yourself. Actually, can you power the Pengiun from just the DC plug? I would believe so, but haven't read anywhere if you could.

I'm basically trying to decide on which one to get also. More than likely, I may pass on the JDS Labs one so that I can build one for myself at a later time. Really nice that you can purchase the PCB from there and that there's a BOM on the site to help you along.

If you do get the Royal, though that's out of my budget range for a cmoy also, it supposedly is really nice. If you turn off the power or run out of battery power, it'll still run your headphones just not amped.
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post #10 of 20
3/10/09 at 9:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by EFN View Post
Like I said before, the PengAmp Caffeine is way better than any CMOYs I have ever heard. If it's not too extreme I'd say it can even compete with the stock Xin SuperMini-IV
I agree EFN, the Caffeine amps are very good. My old Royal was a superb sounding unit, even straight from the box. It's a bit expensive now though i think, but those big gold Nichi's still look and sound good. I may have to have a listen to the Ultra some time soon.
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post #11 of 20
3/10/09 at 2:12pm
so i suppose they are much better than the fiio E5? anyone bother to give a detailed comparison?
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post #12 of 20
3/10/09 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
The caffeine looks like a nice choice to me, but I like the possibility to swap the opamp, that the other two offer (socketed opamps). Doesn't make the decision easier...
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post #13 of 20
3/10/09 at 6:33pm
fiio-e5 vs bsg cmoy

Very old review of Penguin Amp vs JDS Labs Cmoy

BSG cmoy review

JDS Labs cmoybb review

And that's all I'm going to find. Probably more out there.
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post #14 of 20
3/11/09 at 2:31pm
For that much you might consider purchasing a Mini^3 amp, which is generally $70 for the kit or $100 complete. This amp trumps Cmoys and Pa2v2s IMO
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post #15 of 20
3/14/09 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
I've seen a used AMB Mini3 in the Sales section for $110 shipped: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/fs...sories-413949/

Would this be a good value for the price? I haven't seen it anywhere for the mentioned $100, the cheapest I've seen is $150. Xan7hos, do you know anywhere I could get one for that price?

Would this one be an improvement over the Caffeine? How do these 2 compare? $110 would be at the very top of my price range, but I would consider it if it sounds a lot better and is able to drive my 580's well.
One thing I've noticed is that it looks a bit bulky as I also would like to use it on the go.
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