O2 vs TOTL - Page 27

Objectively (measurement wise) the Benchmark is a better DAC. But how much better and how audible?

I doubt the difference is audible. Human ears are less precise than audio gear like either of these, I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timestretch 

I doubt the difference is audible. Human ears are less precise than audio gear like either of these, I think.

Less precise but more accurate.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magick Man 


We'll see. I'm curious about the analog output sections of DACs and how much of a difference they make. I can tell the difference between my Benchmark and my Matrix Cube, for instance. The Cube sounds slightly muffled or woolly in comparison.

Looking forward to seeing your results!

The batteries for my O2 are turning out to be a bittersweet experience.

While its convenient to just use it without the adapter, the battery connectors are rather weak and prone to bend, causing loose connections.

I'd soldered mine myself, so yesterday I found a bad solder on one of the caps. After re-soldering it, once I put the PCB back in the enclosure, there was no sound.

Turns out one of the battery terminal was loose when pushing the PCB in the enclosure, because its only held on to the PCB by solder.

So I'm wondering, has anyone tried to use a 9V batter holder inside your O2? That would be better I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magick Man 


It'll be a while, the ODAC part is backordered, but I should get it in a couple weeks.

Ok! Best of luck.

I very much would like to get the O2, but I don't like how it runs off batteries. Has there been any news on the desktop version of the O2 yet?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by OJNeg 

I very much would like to get the O2, but I don't like how it runs off batteries. Has there been any news on the desktop version of the O2 yet?

You can just leave the batteries out and run on AC power.  Or actually, if you leave the batteries in and plug it in, you'll still be running on AC power.  Or were you talking about philosophically not wanting a device that has battery-powered operation as an option?  (and hence the form factor etc.)

I think the desktop version documentation is still ETA sometime (late) this summer.  Final PCBs and shipping products from whoever building them, would be maybe a month or couple months after that, probably.

ive owned several "pretty darn good" amps over the last few years.

the final showdown was a freshly rebuilt and upgraded Cavalli stacker II (there are people who consider this one of the best amps around) vs the O2....  i kept the O2.

ive owned a couple "pretty high end" dacs as well, the best one being an eastern electric minimax (costs about $800 to give you some point of reference)... i'll be hanging on to the odac.

i own lcd-2's and westone es-5's    the above combo is easily as good as anything i've ever heard with both of these headphones. I've gotten rid of all my other gear except my ipod touch (dont really use it for music) and my clip zip which i use rockboxed with my es-5's as my most used rig.

I dont plan on upgrading anything anymore unless something drastic happens in the world of audio.

maybe i'm just biased.. maybe everyone else is just biased...   well... my bias is cheaper ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br777 

ive owned several "pretty darn good" amps over the last few years.

the final showdown was a freshly rebuilt and upgraded Cavalli stacker II (there are people who consider this one of the best amps around) vs the O2....  i kept the O2.

 

...

Thanks for your honest opinion. This assured me to get an O2 and ODAC as my first and last headphone amp :)

Planning on buying an O2 amp, but I'm in Malaysia, wonder how can I do that.

Actually, a question pops out of my mind:

Maybe the scale of "improvement" of O2 compared to other TOTL is dependent on the headphone itself. Just tried my JVC FXT90 with different portable amps. The difference is very minute that I can hardly tell which amp "sounds" better. Is it because of my headphone's limitation?

And is it because of that, O2 can match up head to head with other TOTL?

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