Ray Samuels Hornet vs Predator vs Other

post #1 of 14

12/30/11 at 9:51pm

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I'm doing some homework on which portable amp to check out. Primary use from a portable standpoint is either my cell phone (Galaxy S2) or my laptop. If I run it through the laptop I'd benefit from the USB on the Predator that's missing from the Hornet. Is that worthy of a $100 difference???

Is there other portable options I should be looking at? Thanks! I need something that can power HD600 headphones.

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post #2 of 14

1/2/12 at 8:58pm

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/crickets/

No one has any info / input?

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post #3 of 14

1/3/12 at 1:50pm

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I am curious also.....

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post #4 of 14

1/3/12 at 4:28pm

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You guys need the search function. In Head-Fi terms, these are quite 'old' amps, and you will find several threads from a couple of years back where Hornet owners bought the Predator - in one case, HeadphoneAddict detailed changes he perceived in the Predator right up to the 1000 hour (yep, one-thousand hours ..) mark. I believe Skylab rated the Predator over the Hornet, but again you need to dig up his epic portable amp comparison. Are the current 'darlings' of the portable amp set on HF any better than the older amps ? Beats me.

Dig, and ye shall find.

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post #5 of 14

1/3/12 at 4:54pm

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If the op also wants to drive the HD600, he better look at some of the later and more powerful amps than the Hornet and the Predator. Whether you need a Dac also depends on how much you use your laptop. If more than 40-50 percent, I'll get a amp/dac combo. The Ibasso DB2/PB2 comes to mind for price/power/performance ratio. If you only need a small amp to drive the Samsung S2, I stick with either the Ibasso T5 or the Pico Slim or the RSA Shadow for size consideration but it won't drive the HD600 or any full size hp well.

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post #6 of 14

1/3/12 at 6:34pm

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Jalo

If the op also wants to drive the HD600, he better look at some of the later and more powerful amps than the Hornet and the Predator. Whether you need a Dac also depends on how much you use your laptop. If more than 40-50 percent, I'll get a amp/dac combo. The Ibasso DB2/PB2 comes to mind for price/power/performance ratio. If you only need a small amp to drive the Samsung S2, I stick with either the Ibasso T5 or the Pico Slim or the RSA Shadow for size consideration but it won't drive the HD600 or any full size hp well.

How well will the Ibasso's power the HD600. I'm mostly going to be using my IEMs (Denon AH-C560R) in a gym with this thing tucked away in gym shorts. For the few times a year I travel it'll be seeing laptop usage with my HD600s so that's not going to be in the majority. However, I certainly don't want to be spending a decent amount of cash for something that can't even power a moderately demanding headphone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter

You guys need the search function. In Head-Fi terms, these are quite 'old' amps, and you will find several threads from a couple of years back where Hornet owners bought the Predator - in one case, HeadphoneAddict detailed changes he perceived in the Predator right up to the 1000 hour (yep, one-thousand hours ..) mark. I believe Skylab rated the Predator over the Hornet, but again you need to dig up his epic portable amp comparison. Are the current 'darlings' of the portable amp set on HF any better than the older amps ? Beats me.

Dig, and ye shall find.

I've read that thread already it's the one where he goes on and on for multiple posts due to the "10,000 character limit" when it comes to posting. I'm still not clear on what to get. Read above my other quotable comment it narrows down what I'm really going to be using this thing for.

Edited by N0sferatu - 1/3/12 at 6:36pm

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post #7 of 14

1/3/12 at 6:47pm

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Its worth noting that the PB1, still being offered on the iBasso site, is considerably cheaper than any of the other balanced options, including its more powerful PB2 sibling - not sure how easy it will be to hook your HD600s up to iBasso's connector.

The iBasso site seems to be down atm, at least here in Oz - interesting that they were hacked this time last year and had no web presence for over a week. Headfonia Mike has some good things to say about the PB1/PB2, even if its not his preferred sound sig:

http://www.headfonia.com/the-usual-suspects-12-portable-amps-compared/4/

I've never been attracted to these amps purely on the basis that I wouldn't be prepared to have single-ended phones recabled purely for balanced use - I believe that Sennheiser designed the HD600/650 to work interchangeably from the beginning, so you are at a distinct advantage.

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post #8 of 14

1/3/12 at 7:29pm

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If you only use the HD600 a few times a year then forget about it and just get the the ultra small amps that I listed for everyday use. It is just not practical to tote an amp that can drive the HD600 for a few time a year and to use it everyday.

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post #9 of 14

1/8/12 at 2:14am

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FWIW the Hornet will drive the HD 600 just fine, and you can easily switch to a lower gain setting for your IEMs, and it's actually very small. I own an iBasso P3+ as well, and it will just barely drive my AKG 702s, but not nearly as well as the Hornet, and the gain switch is internal (ie a hassle to use). I love them both, but generally seaking the Hornet is a slightly better sounding amp all around then the iBasso. You can't beat the iBasso for value though. I'm thinking about getting a P-4 to run my AKGs because it is considerably more powerful than the Hornet.

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post #10 of 14

1/8/12 at 6:46am

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Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter

Its worth noting that the PB1, still being offered on the iBasso site, is considerably cheaper than any of the other balanced options, including its more powerful PB2 sibling - not sure how easy it will be to hook your HD600s up to iBasso's connector.

The iBasso site seems to be down atm, at least here in Oz - interesting that they were hacked this time last year and had no web presence for over a week. Headfonia Mike has some good things to say about the PB1/PB2, even if its not his preferred sound sig:

http://www.headfonia.com/the-usual-suspects-12-portable-amps-compared/4/

I've never been attracted to these amps purely on the basis that I wouldn't be prepared to have single-ended phones recabled purely for balanced use - I believe that Sennheiser designed the HD600/650 to work interchangeably from the beginning, so you are at a distinct advantage.

Note that since this review was posted they have added a couple of more portable amps that they have looked at. One being the ALO Continental which was given the highest rating. I have this amp in version 2 and it is very good most of the time with the music I listen too. Mike, who did this review for Headfonia, in the ALO Continental review comments section said the ALO was a "piece of cake" for the Continental. When you read the Headfonia reviews do not forget to the comments since this is where they post follow up review comments which add very much to their initial reviews.

Edited by slwiser - 1/8/12 at 6:51am

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post #11 of 14

1/8/12 at 1:27pm

justin w.
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Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser

Note that since this review was posted they have added a couple of more portable amps that they have looked at. One being the ALO Continental which was given the highest rating. I have this amp in version 2 and it is very good most of the time with the music I listen too. Mike, who did this review for Headfonia, in the ALO Continental review comments section said the ALO was a "piece of cake" for the Continental. When you read the Headfonia reviews do not forget to the comments since this is where they post follow up review comments which add very much to their initial reviews.

i barely got anywhere on this review before finding a glaring error

Quote:

TINY AMPS: RSA SHADOW, RSA MUSTANG, HEADAMP PICO SLIM

The tiny amplifiers are mostly designed for IEMs, with the exception of the Mustang, which has enough voltage swing to drive the typical full size such as the AKG K701 or Sennheiser HD650 to loud levels. If you happen to use a source that has a high line output level (I used the Hifiman HM-601/602, where the output level is noticeably higher than the Ipod), and your recording level is relatively high (most modern recordings are relatively high in output level), then I find that the Shadow and the Pico Slim can still drive a HD650 to good loudness levels indoors, though with very few headroom left in the volume level. In all fairness, if you plan to use the amp with the bigger full size cans, I would strongly recommend you to get the bigger amps as they do the job with more authority.

Actually, all 3 of these amps have the same voltage swing. Tyll @ Innerfidelity has taken a good balanced empirical approach to his writings and there's rarely a re-hash of anecdotes posted to Head-Fi or manufacturer ad copy. Overall Headfonia does a nice job in their reviews but it would be nice to add even a little bit of technicals to them.

Edited by justin w. - 1/8/12 at 1:38pm