ALO Rx Amp Impressions? - Page 6

Lots of good things said here about the Rx. For me, I preferred my P-51 over the Rx (paired with Ue11's). What I've read about the Shadow makes me think it might even be slightly better the the P-51. Both the Rx and Shadow appear to be great products, saying one is "better" will likely come down to associated gear and personal tastes. You might want to get an Rx in house and try them both before you return your Shadow.

I now have a Rx in my possession and have been comparing it with the iQube (v1) last couple of days. My Rx has about 150 hours or so on it so fully burnt in. Headphones are Senn HD25, my source is a Pico DAC and cables are all Jena DIY. So here are my initial impressions.

The the Rx is a very nice amp, cosmetically and sonically. I was also surprised how close the Rx and iQube sound, so my brief notes below are not night and day differences but certainly there.

I thought both amps had good and almost equal soundstage. Nicely open and spacious. The iQube is known for its neutrality and I was surprised by how neutral the Rx was. I didn't really hear a house sound, which is a good thing. Wide open window to music on both amps. Great job here as there aren't too many portable amps in the same league as the iQube with regards to neutrality.

While the Rx has a crisp and clean treble reproduction it lacked the extension the iQube has. I also felt the Rx's treble at times sounded slightly metallic in comparison. iQube wins in this area.

Midrange was about the same. Both have a very transparent midrange reproduction. I couldn't really pick one over the other.

Bass was interesting. While the Rx has more bass presence than the iQube, the iQube had deeper bass extension. While you may initially feel the Rx has "better" bass, its because its more emphasized. I cant pick a winner in this area. On some music, I appreciated the added bass emphasis the Rx gave me but in certain cases I preferred the iQube.

So in summary, I still prefer the iQube over the Rx in my setup.

P.S: I purchased the Rx from another head-fier for this review and my job's done, so if anyone wants to purchase a like new Rx, PM me.

Doesn't seem you have iem's to use for your comparison....

Nope, I sold my triple.fis as I use my HD25 for portable use.

Thanks

Thank you very much for all the help guys.

I am lucky listen to RX Today.
For me, Use A7 or IMOD 4G with silver 3.5 to 3.5 is too cold.
It upper the frequency of IEMS.

SO, I found every sound is to sharp for me.
This might not one of my test.

In my rig it is immediately noticeably better then my shadow straight out of the box!

I like that the RX is close to the size of my classic and touch. I always felt that
the P-51 was a lump on the back of them.

Mine is still burning in but the 160g iPod classic -> ALO SXC LOD -> RX -> HD650 cardas combo is really sounding great. I could not stop listening to Pat Metheny's We Live Here last night.

did you get rid of your Mustang?

Interesting! Can you provide some details? I found I liked my P-51 more than the Rx, better bass, trebles not so harsh.

i want to know too. what cans are you both using?

i'm on the verge of purchasing a Shadow, having vacillated from purchasing an Rx. i'll be using it pretty much exclusively with my IEMs (UM3X), and figured the Shadow was designed specifically for them, whereas the Rx is more of an all purpose amp. hiss is my concern with the latter.

Not yet I am hoping to do a comparison as soon as my RX is burned in.

Jh-13's as stated in my rig. Honestly dude the hiss is not an issue at all and to be honest I would be very hard pressed to recommend the shadow considering I like the Rx more straight out of the box which is incredible and it is also a few bucks cheaper . Btw I own both if I didn't make that clear.

After burning time, RX get more smooth and less "agessive" with same great details and deep sound.
i prefer use it with my full headphone.

I'm using UE-11's. Hiss on either amp is non-existent.

Note, I've never heard the Shadow, but did do some extensive comparisons between the Rx and my P-51. (I had maybe 150 hours on the Rx. Ken at ALO said 100 hours should have fully burned the Rx. Maybe it gets better over 150 hours, can't say.) I sold the Rx and kept the P-51.