iBasso PB-2 Pelican fully balanced portable, DB-2 Dac . . HiFlight recommended op amps page 16. . - Page 4

I see. You don't want the cost to be prohibitive. It is good Ibasso is including some buffers. I look forward to your impressions.
 

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Originally Posted by HiFlight 

I will probably be offering some custom L/R modules but not the buffers, as iBasso is including a very nice selection.  My main concern is with the cost of rolling opamps in the PB2, as there will need to be 4 modules instead of 2 for each channel.  The current D12 L/R modules will work very nicely, except for needing twice as many. 
 

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Originally Posted by GeorgeGoodman

Great! I look forward to it. Do you plan on assembling a topkit or different opamp combos?

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Originally Posted by HiFlight

My PB2 and D6 are enroute, so I should have some impressions fairly soon. I, too, really look forward to determining the ultimate performance of the PB2 with regard to these two very hard-to-drive phones. I am now driving my K1000, HE-6 and K340 directly from the speaker terminals of my Virtue 2.2.

 

As these are all balanced phones, the Virtue does a superb job of allowing all 3 phones to reach their full potential. I will have a very good basis for comparison when the PB2 arrives.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeGoodman

BOOM!!!

 

Can you drive the K1000 and HE-6 with authority now, Hiflight? This amp is for people who want a portable that has more power than many desktop amps. I want impressions bad now.

 

im patiently waiting for the PB2 to buy my 1st high end portable amp and yes sorry for my wallet

Any word on the sound yet? I am waiting patiently...

I am also waiting (im)patiently until tomorrow when my PB2 and D6 are scheduled for delivery!   It will be like Christmas all over again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeGoodman

Any word on the sound yet? I am waiting patiently...

Cool. 
 

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Originally Posted by HiFlight 

I am also waiting (im)patiently until tomorrow when my PB2 and D6 are scheduled for delivery!   It will be like Christmas all over again!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeGoodman

Any word on the sound yet? I am waiting patiently...

 

Looks like my set should arrive tomorrow as well!

I received both my D6 and PB2 today, and of course had to immediately try both. First was the PB2, as I wanted to see if it is capable of adequate output to drive the notoriously difficult HE-6 planar. I am pleased to state that it does drive them effortlessly.  It also drives my K1000 very nicely. There seems to be enough power to drive anything short of electrostatics. So far most of my evaluations have been with balanced phones, but I did try a short listen from the SE output using my Sony Z1000.

As can be expected, soundstage and imaging are at their best when using the balanced output. Tonally, the PB2 in its stock configuration is similar to that of PB1, but does reach a bit deeper into the lower octaves. This amp will be an opamp-rollers delight, as can be seen from the 8 sockets: 4 L/R and 4 buffers!!

I have not had time as yet to pair with the Boomslang, but that is next on my list of pairings to try.

So many amps....so little time!!

Ron

Thanks for the initial impressions! I love the picture. It sounds like it is extremely powerful. Tell me, on low gain with something sensitive like the Z1000s, is channel imbalance much of an issue? Looking forward to more impressions... Good lower octaves are always welcome around here!

Awesome picture! I am looking forward to your impression between PB1 and PB2.

Got mine today too!

But no time today...tomorrow night will be a music night!

I haven't yet tried low gain, but with my Z1000 on high gain, the volume knob barely needs to be turned for a reasonable volume level and there is no channel imbalance whatsoever even at the very lowest levels. 

I have tried using both the SE input and the Boomslang for a fully balanced input and the fully-balanced input provides a noticeably more open and 3-dimensional soundstage than does the SE input.  In this regard, I think this difference is more apparent with the PB2 than with the PB1 even when using the SE output. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgeGoodman

Thanks for the initial impressions! I love the picture. It sounds like it is extremely powerful. Tell me, on low gain with something sensitive like the Z1000s, is channel imbalance much of an issue? Looking forward to more impressions... Good lower octaves are always welcome around here!

No channel imbalance at high gain! That is great! I can definitely understand how little you need to turn the knob on the Z1000s with 20dbs of gain. That is interesting about the sound improving more over the PB1 from balanced in, I guess it means this amp is more revealing and capable. I have a balanced DAC, so if I get the PB2 I can run it balanced. It would require another of those lovely priced adapters... But will probably be worth it. I plan to mod the DAC, an M-audio SuperDAC 2496. Better PS, Caps, and maybe even opamp. 

Nice pic of the PB2 there. Battery is a beast, as expected for 16 volts. All the opamps and buffers look really cool. Does Ibasso give you extra opamps and buffers to play around with, or do they just give you enough to run it?

I've always been curious to why iBasso's are priced significantly higher than other portable amps. What about it maeks it so much better?

very cool!! I tell you what, the height needed by that battery has left a nice little area there for stacking opamps and other stuff. I would be trying out making up a little adapter with stick on heatsink for LME49600TS in place of the BUF634. nothing wrong with the BUFs, but they are somewhat limited WRT the current capability due to the package they come in (thus people stack them). I know they used to make an SMD TO263 package the same as the LME but you dont see it much. its one thing to have voltage swing for driving planar fullsize cans, but lowZ IEMs need CURRENT.

nice to see them using SMD PPS films, glad to see a manufacturer finally using them, ive been loving them for well over a year in the FiQ and now use them in every build I make. also use them in LODs to bypass electros

just one LME49600TS per channel would give up to 1A of output current (+/-250ma per channel) and no need for wide band mode, as standard they are 110mhz, so if anything they may need bandwidth limiting. do the math guys.by ohms law, 1 amp channel has 16v swing so 16v x 250ma = 4W x 4 = 16W if i've got that right. haha you could indeed run some small efficient speakers quite well, for a little while

ermm you dont get around much do you? you sure you didnt mean to say 'priced significantly lower'? the ibassos are probably some of the better value amps around; only things cheaper are actually cheap amps, where the ibassos tebnd to be high value for money amps for what you get. if you cant see that from the above pics then this possibly isnt the amp for you.