New Leckerton UHA-6S MKII Portable Headphone Amplifier Announced (Update User Impressions Added... - Page 83

Nice.  Is it a noticeable improvement over the Leckerton DAC?  I still need to spend some time experimenting with feeding my Leckerton from my TubeDAC-11.

Nice. Can anyone do a comparison between ODAC and DragonFly? I'm thinking of getting an entry-level dac.. 

Just got my 6s MKII.  With the Amperiors (which also just arrived), there is zero hiss, but the gain is fairly high.  I can barely nudge the volume knob in the range where it is channel balanced before it gets too loud, and this is with the fairly low output analogue-out of an iPod Classic.  I'm pretty sure I'll have even less volume range to use once I get my Solo -dB and HP-P1.

 

With my UERM, the gain on the 6s-II is definitely too high at the minimum channel-balanced level.  I emailed Nick to see whether it's possible to lower the gain, because I love the sound coming out of this amp.  I got the OPA627, and the amp is much more musical and has a wider soundstage than my Pico Slim--although the Slim has amazing low volume range.

 

The ALO MKIII-b, which I was hoping would be my jack-of-all-headphones amp, hisses noticeably with all the headphones I have left, and seems to have been designed with the LCD-2/3 and HE-500/6 in mind.  So if it's possible to get more usable volume range on the Leckerton, it would be go-to amp for all my portable headphones.

Has anyone tried out the AD797 with leckerton?

you didn't like the AD8610ARZ?? i love it a lot :P or you just wana play with the OPamps?

 

Sorry to ask, but have you put the gain setting in the low position?

 

I have used the 6s mkii with all my IEMs and never noticed any hiss, and I can get past the channel imbalance zone for my iems with the leckerton still within a fairly (ok, not too) quiet volume. (I've used it with the W4r, B2 and the HF5)

I tend to find the 8610 very good, but kind of dry -- it works well with the Heir 4.A, but is kind of distancing with the NT6 Pro.
The OPA627 has real magic with the NT6 Pro but feels totally dead with the Heir 4.A. Also, this opamp is a lot more vulnerable to RFI, power noise, and it seems to run down the battery faster.

So the best opamp is going to depend a lot on what else you're using: If I only had the 4.A, I would have written off the OPA627 as overpriced and worthless. The exploration is definitely proving dividends.

I bought one used, which arrived with the 8610 soics installed on adapters.  I tried them briefly, to see how the amp sounded. I'd ordered 209s, 627s,dip 797s dip and 49710 (dip) to try with the amp, and both packages arrived on the same day.  I popped the 797s in, and did about an hour or two of listening and liked what I heard.  This was being fed from an AK100 and driving JVC FXZ-200s.   They are coherent top to bottom, have good bass punch, and throw a big, well defined soundstage.  I then switched to the 627s.  There is not a huge difference between them in this context, but i found the 627s a little richer, ie, they had a bit more body, while the 797s were a bit more analytical-  consider this preliminary as i need to do a lot more listening.

 

All in all, I am loving this amp.  I really need to put the 8610s back in for a while, but want to find a spare set of screws before i mess with this too much more.

Yeah, my gain is obviously set to low.  What is your source?  

 

I'm resorting to the gain limiters in FLAC Player (iPhone) and Rockbox (WhipMOD) to get a suitably low volume with my UERMs.  Not sure if those have any serious effect on resolution, but it's either that or pain and tinnitus.  And I don't have sensitive hearing by any means, I've been to my share of concerts and clubs.

I have the same problem with my Shure E500s. I can barely balance the channels before they get too loud.

 

What is your volume at with that setup? I use a 4th gen iPod touch -> LOD -> Leckerton -> UERM and I have my volume at about 10 o'clock for normal listening with no channel imbalance there.

I have AD797 now instead of AD8610. Honestly, the changes/differences are very minor, or not dramatic in other words.

Has anyone tried out the NE5532 yet? I have 2 of them currently, but I'll ask Nick first.

I found that AD8610 is kind dry and lack of warmth. I was trying to see if there is any surprise after changing Opamps :D

 

I mean JRC5534. Wrong op-amp lol   NE5532 is a dual op-amp.

xinghui,

 

it's as much a function of the load you're trying to drive as anything about the opamps intrinsic sonic character.  I have 16 ohm iems, at 96dB/mw, so they take some grunt.  Opamps which deliver really low amounts of current into low impedances won't sound as good as ones that will.  Sometimes you can find this in the datasheets, other times, not so much.  I like the sound of LT1028s, but they are very low current, iirc, and i won;t bother trying them in the Mkii at all.  So far, the 627s sound very good, and i am wondering why a relatively fast opamp (the 627) has a reputation for being warm and sluggish.