elnero
Headphoneus Supremus
My new HeadAmp AE-2 arrived a couple of days. Upon picking the package up at the post office I just couldn't wait, I tore into it in the Van in the parking lot. Justin's incredible attention to detail doesn't just show through in his amps, his packaging is pretty amazing as well, inside the outer box is two smaller boxes, one with the wall-wart for charging and the other with AE-2. Inside the AE-2 itself is encased securely in a bubble wrap type bag and also in the box is a tool for adjusting the dip switches for gain.
When I took the amp out my first thought was "My God, this thing is TINY!", the second was "My God, it's gorgeous!". All the pictures I've seen make the amp look very appealing and well built but pictures just don't seem to fully capture the size and quality of the product. Mine is black with a brushed silver volume knob. I thought this might give it more of a Classe/Simaudio high-end look and I think it worked out very nicely. The brushed silver just gives a hint of bling without overdoing it. As much as I hate to admit it, looks do play a part in the perception of a product, visually with the AE-2 Justin's attention to detail and his sense of style has knocked one out of the park. There is nothing even remotely DIY feeling about this amp, it's one of, if not the nicest built headphone amp I've seen and that's including Justin's own GS-1.
So how does it sound you ask? Well out of the box I'm very, very impressed. I wasn't really sure how much of an improvement to expect going from my Go-Vibe5 to the AE-2 but it's a pretty dramatic difference.
Before I go further, I should preface these impressions with some more information, I've just received some black olive tips for my E500's so I'm also getting used to what they do to the sound as well. The tips seem to better balance the E500's, they have better separation and bring out more detail. The bass is a bit leaner and the highs a bit more prominent with the only detrimental effect being a slight bit more tendency for sibilance to be annoying. This was all noted before the AE-2 arrived but I'm still getting used to them.
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming. The AE-2 really opened things up over the GV5. A couple of the things that have really caught my attention are the ability for the AE-2 to separate voices and instruments and bring out subtle detail as a whole, everything has distiction, occuring in it's own space but this doesn't detract from the music as a whole. The AE-2 also has great PRaT, it's really able to grab onto a song and get the groove right. In some cases this has given me a new perpective on a particular song. I think part of this ability to groove is the speed, bass is tight and authoratitive and transients have nice snap. Yet the AE-2 is still a smooth performer, it doesn't sound particularly aggressive and it still has a full-bodied, textured sound. Out of the box, I thought it was a touch lean and cool through the mids and highs in particular but with about 25-30 hours on it now the amp seems to be filling out, warming and becoming more cohesive. I read in earlier impressions someone, I believe it was ASR, describing the AE-2 as a mini GS-1 and I can see where he gets that impression from, there are alot of GS-1 qualities there but I think it actually does the PRaT thing better.
So far I'm very, very happy with the AE-2, my only real complaint right now, and it's a rather minor quibble, but I'm rather sensitive to sibilance and I'm hearing a touch more hotness in some of the more sibilant recordings than I'd like. This is a system thing though and I don't want to lay blame on the AE-2 because it's also noticable with the GV5 so I think this is more due to the new Shure tips than the AE-2. I am hoping that as the amp settles in it might work to help that area though. I did briefly try the AE-2 through the tape output of my Cyrus I with some decent RCA's and the sibilance seemed more natural so it might also be a case of finding the right cable. And there's also the option of switching back to the yellow foamies but I'm trying to avoid that because I do like the other aspects of the black olives sound
These are really only initial impressions with limited time listening and limited time on the amp itself, work has been really hectic, pulling some late nights/all-nighters but I'll try to post more impressions and some pics as I'm able. Others who have impressions are welcome to post them as well.
OK, Here's a few pics.
When I took the amp out my first thought was "My God, this thing is TINY!", the second was "My God, it's gorgeous!". All the pictures I've seen make the amp look very appealing and well built but pictures just don't seem to fully capture the size and quality of the product. Mine is black with a brushed silver volume knob. I thought this might give it more of a Classe/Simaudio high-end look and I think it worked out very nicely. The brushed silver just gives a hint of bling without overdoing it. As much as I hate to admit it, looks do play a part in the perception of a product, visually with the AE-2 Justin's attention to detail and his sense of style has knocked one out of the park. There is nothing even remotely DIY feeling about this amp, it's one of, if not the nicest built headphone amp I've seen and that's including Justin's own GS-1.
So how does it sound you ask? Well out of the box I'm very, very impressed. I wasn't really sure how much of an improvement to expect going from my Go-Vibe5 to the AE-2 but it's a pretty dramatic difference.
Before I go further, I should preface these impressions with some more information, I've just received some black olive tips for my E500's so I'm also getting used to what they do to the sound as well. The tips seem to better balance the E500's, they have better separation and bring out more detail. The bass is a bit leaner and the highs a bit more prominent with the only detrimental effect being a slight bit more tendency for sibilance to be annoying. This was all noted before the AE-2 arrived but I'm still getting used to them.
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming. The AE-2 really opened things up over the GV5. A couple of the things that have really caught my attention are the ability for the AE-2 to separate voices and instruments and bring out subtle detail as a whole, everything has distiction, occuring in it's own space but this doesn't detract from the music as a whole. The AE-2 also has great PRaT, it's really able to grab onto a song and get the groove right. In some cases this has given me a new perpective on a particular song. I think part of this ability to groove is the speed, bass is tight and authoratitive and transients have nice snap. Yet the AE-2 is still a smooth performer, it doesn't sound particularly aggressive and it still has a full-bodied, textured sound. Out of the box, I thought it was a touch lean and cool through the mids and highs in particular but with about 25-30 hours on it now the amp seems to be filling out, warming and becoming more cohesive. I read in earlier impressions someone, I believe it was ASR, describing the AE-2 as a mini GS-1 and I can see where he gets that impression from, there are alot of GS-1 qualities there but I think it actually does the PRaT thing better.
So far I'm very, very happy with the AE-2, my only real complaint right now, and it's a rather minor quibble, but I'm rather sensitive to sibilance and I'm hearing a touch more hotness in some of the more sibilant recordings than I'd like. This is a system thing though and I don't want to lay blame on the AE-2 because it's also noticable with the GV5 so I think this is more due to the new Shure tips than the AE-2. I am hoping that as the amp settles in it might work to help that area though. I did briefly try the AE-2 through the tape output of my Cyrus I with some decent RCA's and the sibilance seemed more natural so it might also be a case of finding the right cable. And there's also the option of switching back to the yellow foamies but I'm trying to avoid that because I do like the other aspects of the black olives sound
These are really only initial impressions with limited time listening and limited time on the amp itself, work has been really hectic, pulling some late nights/all-nighters but I'll try to post more impressions and some pics as I'm able. Others who have impressions are welcome to post them as well.
OK, Here's a few pics.
