[laxx]

tomahawk's a bit smaller than the hornet. there's pics of it in the members of the trade -> the tomahawk thread.

 

[camille]

Quote:

Originally Posted by agile_one See Ray's announcement and reservation thread.

there's no reply box. how do i go about putting my name on the list?

EDIT: found. sorry.

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille there's no reply box. how do i go about putting my name on the list?

Seems that the Member of the Trade sub-forum is closed at the moment. Maybe there is some maintenance being done on that sub-forum at the moment or something. My advice would be to try again later.

 

[camille]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_memmory Seems that the Member of the Trade sub-forum is closed at the moment. Maybe there is some maintenance being done on that sub-forum at the moment or something. My advice would be to try again later.

nevermind. i found it. it just said "Reply" at the top once the entire page was loaded.

thanks though.

 

[backtofront001]

Anyone who has heard the Tomahawk have anything to say. I have E4's and the Tomahawk looks awesome, so I want to know if it is the right portable amp to drive the E4s

 

[dhp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtofront001 Anyone who has heard the Tomahawk have anything to say. I have E4's and the Tomahawk looks awesome, so I want to know if it is the right portable amp to drive the E4s

The only person I know of so far who has heard the tomahawk with the E4s is jjcha, and he didn't like the combo very much at all, it seems. You might want to wait for more impressions before you push forward

 

[The Monkey]

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I'm a little unclear about RSA's portable line at this point. How different are the Tomahawk, SR-71, and Hornet from each other?

 

[SiBurning]

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtofront001 Anyone who has heard the Tomahawk have anything to say.

While you're waiting for full reviews, there are a few impressions on the Official NYC Meet Nov4 Impressions! thread.

This isn't going to be of much use, but for what it's worth...

The tomahawk seems like a cross between the SR71 and hornet, but lightweight and light on battery use. It seems a bit underpowered for an Ety er4s: it lacks the dynamic transients you get with more powerful amps. Even so, it's punchy, though not as much as the hornet. It renders details roughly in line with the sr71, maybe a tad less.

The rest is boring detail for those who want more context...
This isn't the IEM to use with an IEM-specific amp, but I'll never use the er4p straight, so I didn't bother listening that way. I followed up the audition with a quick a/b/c test to compare it against the sr71 and hornet. I auditioned the Tomahawk for about 10 minutes near the end of the NYC meet. The IEM was the Etymotic er4p+s adapter. The source was the microdac, connected through a cardas mini-mini cable. The dac was fed uncompressed FLAC files from an iRiver 140 connected via a plastic optical cable. Music included hard rock, jazz, and classical. I don't have more to say simply because I'd rather just get either the sr71 or the hornet. I don't mind carrying a large rig and extra batteries (see my sig) so the main advantage of the Tomahawk is lost on me. Given my taste and IEMs, either amp is a better option over the tomahawk.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I'm a little unclear about RSA's portable line at this point. How different are the Tomahawk, SR-71, and Hornet from each other?

Having not heard any of RSA's products (but want to very much), I'd say the benchmark test used for the TOMAHAWK since it is an IEM amp, would be the Ultimate Ears UE-10 pro custom, as that is what Ray has pictured sitting on top of them (and custom etched with his logo). And seeing is how they are ranked as the highest IEM around on Head-Fi, it would only stand to reason (hopefully) that the Tomahawk's sound was tailored to sound best with those IEMs.

Of course, that is just an assumption. And like they say, "assumption is the mother of all ****** ups"

 

[Pete7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ Having not heard any of RSA's products (but want to very much), I'd say the benchmark test used for the TOMAHAWK since it is an IEM amp, would be the Ultimate Ears UE-10 pro custom, as that is what Ray has pictured sitting on top of them (and custom etched with his logo). And seeing is how they are ranked as the highest IEM around on Head-Fi, it would only stand to reason (hopefully) that the Tomahawk's sound was tailored to sound best with those IEMs. Of course, that is just an assumption. And like they say, "assumption is the mother of all ****** ups"

I believe the Sensaphononics 2xs and Westone ES2 are just as well regarded around here sound-quality wise. I don't think Ray ever voices any of his amps with just one headphone in mind.

 

[The-One]

Well even if it was designed with U10 pros in mind, those with Shure E500s will still be O.K? I've heard E500 are closer to UE-10 than ES2 or Sensas.

 

[Bones13]

I put my name on the list. I will be comparing Tomahawk with UE-10 to my Hornet "M". One will end up as my main traveling amp, with the other, or the TotalBitHead going to college with my middle child. (Getting him AKG 81DJ for Christmas)

 

[immtbiker]

I used both my E500's and my UE-10's with the Tomahawk out of an IRiver optical out and a Micro Dac, in a quiet environment and felt that it handled both headphones equally as well as the "M" version Hornet.
I would say that at that pricepoint and for portability purposes, a decision has to be made based on size and whether or not you want a recharging circuit. If the claimed hours are true, then it is unnecessary to take up the extra 20% in size that the Hornet is over the Tomahawk for rechargables.

The sound characteristics of both units are worthy of a "if you could take only one amp to a desert island" scenario.

 

[The Monkey]

Thanks, Aaron, can you compare it to the MicroAmp?

 

[Jaunty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7 I believe the Sensaphononics 2xs and Westone ES2 are just as well regarded around here sound-quality wise. I don't think Ray ever voices any of his amps with just one headphone in mind.

Hi. Cut and paste of Ray's comments from his Tomahawk thread -


"The Tomahawk headphone amp works great with the E500, as it was one of the phones used to design the amp.
You should hear no hiss what so ever.

Many are asking if the Tomahawk can drive other headphones properly. I do not want to go beyound what the Tomahawk can do, I only comment on what the amp was designed for plus being so tiny with battery life that is very impressive.

These were the phones that I used to develop the Tomahawk IEM amp:
IEMs: Shure E500, Shure E5C, Shure 4C, UE-10 & ETYs.
Pro-headphones: R-10, HD600, PS-1 & HF-1.
The Tomahawk has the guts to drive IEM with absolute control, while gain is set at low, gain of "1".
With gain set at high, gain of "3", it is capable to give you the satisfaction that you are looking for to drive your low impedance headphones with a great sound quality that you would demand from your source.
Meridian G-08 was used to develope the sound of the Tomahawk, the final A/B between the input & output of the amp were so close that it was hard to tell the difference.
Thanks.
Ray Samuels"