Detailed Listening Comparison with HD800: HDVD 800, Sony PHA-1, CEntrance HiFi M8
About five weeks ago, in my search for a DAC/amp that would support the
portable use of my HD 800s, I produced the following table of comparison:
Manufacturer | Model | iPod? | Battery? | Output imp (ohms) | Output power, sum 2 channels (at ohms) | Power into 300 ohms, 2 ch (est if in parens) | Trusted reports for | Size (mm) | Weight (gr) | Price |
|---|
CEntrance | HiFi M8 | Y | Y | 1, 2 11 | 1,400 mW (8 ohm) | 166 | HD 800 | 127x82x33 | | $699 |
CEntrance | DACPort | CCK | N | | 1,500 max | (166) | | 114x25x25 | | $250 |
Aurender | Flow | Y | Y | 0.06 | 380 (32) | 174 | HD 800 | 137x80x28 | 450 | $1,295 |
Chord | Hugo | Y | Y | 0.075 | 700 (8) | 140 | HD 800 | 132x100x20 | 400 | $2,500 |
iFi Audio | Micro iDSD | CCK | Y | <1 | 4,000 | (250) | HD 800, HE-6 | 177x67x28 | 310 | $500 |
Sony | PHA-1 | Y | Y | 10 | 350 (8) | 52 | | 130x67x28 | 220 | $250 |
Sony | PHA-1A | Y | Y | | 296 (8) | 33 | | 109x62x19 | 145 | $300 |
Sony | PHA-2 | Y | Y | | 330 (8);180 (32) | 50 | | 140x68x29 | 270 | $409 |
Sony | PHA-3 | Y | Y | | 640 (32 ohm balanced) | (150) | NOT for HD800 | 141x80x29 | 300 | $999 |
JDS Labs | CSD | CCK | Y | 0.62 | 4.146 V (600) | (50) | | 100x62x14 | 116 | $249 |
Fostex | HP-P1 | Y | Y | | 160 | (160) | | 130x75x25 | 260 | $450 |
iQube | V5 | CCK | Y | <0.1 | 160 (16); 80 (32); 12 (200) | (8) | NOT for HD800 | 126x70x23 | 190 | $699 |
LH Labs | GeekOut1000 | CCK | N | .47, 4.7 | 1000 (16) | (140) | HD 800 (PTAF) | 78x35x13 | 36 | $299 |
FurutechADL | X1 | Y | Y | | 60 (16) | 36 | | 118x68x17 | 147 | $479 |
HeadAmp | Pico USB | CCK | Y | <1 | 700 (32) | (340) | "the difficult" | 70x51x20 | | $468 |
Leckerton | UHA-6S.MKII | CCK | Y | <0.5 | 55(32)[8610 op amp];140(32)[8620] | 40 (either op amp) | | 106x70x20 | 170 | $279 |
Headstage | Arrow | CCK | Y | | "Max 10 V P-to-P" | | | 98x56x8.5 | 100 | $399 |
Oppo | HA-2 | Y | Y | 0.5 | 300 (16); 220 (32), 30 (300) | 30 | HD 800 | 157x68x12 | 175 | $299 |
Cypher Labs | Theorem 720 | Y | Y | < 1 | 205 (32); 320 (50) | 68 | | 120x64x29 | 300 | $699 |
Since then, I have performed a detailed comparison of the portable CEntrance HiFi M8 and the Sony PHA-1, bolded above, to the Sennheiser HDVD 800 desktop DAC/amp.
I used 10 acoustic events in four songs, played from lossless files via digital output into the DAC section of each amp. I used the HD 800 headphone to listen in each case.
Further details about the songs and the acoustic events are given in
this post. A summary description of each acoustic test is given in the right-most column of each row in the table of results, below.
The goal was to compare two portable DAC/amps' quality to that of the HDVD 800 in driving the HD 800, using the HDVD 800 (designed by Sennheiser for the HD 800) as a reference.
For each of the 10 tests, the three amps (one per column) were ranked first (blue), second (red), or third (yellow, like prize ribbon colors at the fair. Ties for first place were colored purple (i.e., blue + red) and ties for second place were colored orange (red + yellow). Points were given for each place... 3 for first through 1 for third, also shown in the table. Differences of less than three points are probably not too significant.
Of course, these acoustic features merely reflect what I listen for in good headphones. Though transparency, sound stage, and bass impact rank high, there are no features for quality of vocals, for example, which some may value highly.
Here are my results. You can click on the table to enlarge it.
My qualitative impression, mentioned earlier on this thread, was that the Sony PHA-1 was spectrally indistinguishable (for me(!)) from the Sennheiser HDVD 800 -- its main difference was its smaller sound stage as compared to the HDVD 800.
That comment also applies to the CEntrance HiFi M8. It is interesting to observe that the HiFi M8 for me outperforms the HDVD 800 in the areas of "bass finger pluck" and "'Ripping of organ/brass." Folks have observed elsewhere that the HDVD 800 tends to tame a 6 KHz - 8 KHz hump in the spectral response of the HD 800. Perhaps the HiFi M8 does not, and as a result, these two features, which emphasize transients and high frequency response, come through more strongly.
In short, I am entirely satisfied in using either the PHA-1 or the CEntrance HiFi M8 for portable listening to the HD800. Portable use is on the move, which is not particularly conducive to the ultra-critical listening with full attention focused on the music that seated listening, with a desktop amp such as the HDVD 800, often involves.
![DT1990-ChSd-1024x555[1].png](https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/12230656.png)
