Review: Resonessence Labs Invicta - new high end DAC/amp/playback system - Page 26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da5Id 

Hi folks,

 

FYI, I wrote a review (my first gear review ever) on the Invicta and posted it here on Head-fi: http://www.head-fi.org/products/resonessence-labs-invicta/reviews/8556

 

Steve

Great write up, thanks for this. I'd love to audition the Invicta. Looking forward to your Stratus review...

Just noted the power ratings on this Amp. That doesn't seem like a whole lot of power for an Amp of this caliber... Is that going to be sufficient to power Planar Magnetics and the like to their fullest?

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 

I think the specs have changed from the original prototype, which is where those numbers come from. There was talk about beefing up the output and lowering the output impedance. I know for sure the latter happened, and I'm fairly certain of the former.

I'll have to look around or ask them. But I have an LCD-2, HE-400, HE-500, and Thunderpants here and they all sound extremely good from the Invicta. Even more so in balanced mode. So I don't think there is any shortage here.

It looks like an amazing All-in-one which is the type of system I am currently seeking. I have a DACMini at present and it's got about 1 Watt at 50 Ohms comparatively. It's a great little rig, but for my purposes it not quite enough power for me. It gets fairly strident if I push it too far.

I just ordered a Burson Conductor (showing up tomorrow) after researching the market for the most powerful all-in-one I could find. I missed this one the first time around but not sure I would have considered it based on the Specs alone. Sounds like it works well with the HE500s though and that would be my main concern. It's probably got better gain adjustment than the DACmini which is fixed at +8 dB. 

DAC Mini Specs:

32 ohm =  1.5 W

50 ohm = 1.0 W

300 ohm = 480 mW

600 ohm = 260 mW

Hi Project86,

With all the tweaks that the Invicta has undergone, wouldn't it be a good idea to do second review? The recently released Benchmark media DAC 2 HGC would certainly provide a great point of comparison for the more recent and definitive edition of the Invicta, as it features some really fabulous specs and several new features in comparison to the DAC 1.

Is there any chance that you could review the Violectric V100 in the future? I think the V100 has been generally neglected by reviewers, although it certainly deserves a fair chance.

Cheers!

That sounds like good news! A second review of the current version of the Invicta would be a very welcome, and so would one of your thorough reviews of Violectric's V100 Amp.

A couple of questions:

- Do you think it would make sense to take a look at at the 24/96 DAC module that one can have built-in to the V100 and V200, while reviewing the V100?
- Have you considered giving the Benchmark DAC 2 HGC  a chance to test itself against your reference DACs (Anedio D2, Violectric  V800 and Resonessence Invicta? It appears to have the chops to compete closesly with the three of them.

Cheers!

I'm interested in the crossfeed technology. And I'm wondering if it is possible for the Resonessence Labs to design a "crossfeed" filter, or incoporate a crossfeed feature on top on each existing filter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by twsmith 

I just installed the latest Invicta software upgrade and tried out my HD800s in balanced mode, and I must say that it works extremely well, essentially confirming project86's impressions that he noted above.   Again the most obvious change from SE was an enhanced spatial presentation and an overall impression of greater drive and dynamic range, and clearly shows an advantage to driving the HD800s in balanced mode.   Overall I consider this to be a very impressive accomplishment by the Resonessence folks.   

twsmith, now that more than one month has passed since you have been listening in differential mode, do you maintain your initial impressions? Have you tested listening again with only one output, to compare?

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 

 

Me too. I'm so spoiled by the balanced Invicta that I sometimes don't want to bother with my other amps. I still use it for single ended with my CIEMs, and I don't think there would be any benefit to balanced in those cases since they need so little power to drive them. But for big headphones it's a definite no-brainer - spend a bit on a balanced cable, get the adapter for Invicta, and enjoy a reference level amp without actually having to buy a separate reference level amp. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by twsmith 


Still have same impression, and I did go back to single-ended and feel that balanced is indeed better.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm joining the "club". I've ordered an adaptor from TAM Audio, and Cardas Balanced XLR cables for HD800.