[Currawong]

1) You'll probably hear as much of an upgrade as you believe you should. In reality, it's probably indistinguishable once volume matched since the Arya is easy to drive only only requires about 214 mV, or like 0.0016 W to reach 94 dB while the Heresy can put out a little over 2.4 W into the Arya.
2) No, you already have enough volume range with the Heresy. The only benefit of going balanced is more power if SE isn't loud enough. There could be very very slightly better channel separation, but that is dependent on the amp.

It's readily possible with some music, such as movie sound tracks to reach well over that, due to the large amount of sub-bass. The demands on an amp will be very dependent on the music. For example, 105 dB at 1kHz is painfully loud, but 105 dB at 20 Hz doesn't sound that loud at all, due to the way our hearing works.

The smaller amps, such as the Heresy and Topping equivalents, will quickly distort in the bass frequencies as the volume increases. This is both audible, and people have measured it (not that you need to measure something that is blatantly audible). Likewise, with many headphones, as you turn the volume up, the soundstage sounds compressed, something you don't get in a $400 or above amp (and, as you go further up in amplifier quality, the impression of the sound being amplified at all begins to disappear).

If an amplifier has been designed primarily as a balanced amp, then performance from the SE outputs will not be as optimal as they will be from the balanced outputs. This has given rise to the false notion that "balanced is better" in general.

That's hardly proof.

Why does anyone here have to prove their experiences? Is asking for something this impossible really not just trolling?

 

[563085]

The D90 measures nearly perfectly and has near perfect sound

Incorrect, The D90 is clean and punchy, but it's soundstage is small and somewhat thin sounding, like a wall of sound vs something that has layers/3D space. The Bifrost 2 is better, some would say the Ares 2 is as well, although that's a tradeoff in a little bit of clarity. If you mod the Ares 2 with the screw/cover mod and run it in OS mode/slow filter then even better. Run a thick aftermarket power cable to it, and EVEN better.

Too many people treat MEASUREMENTS.....GASP.....as the pinnacle of what defines a great Dac/Amp. Wrong, we measure with our ears, not our eyes. You don't say a car is great based on it's specs, it's based on how it actually drives.

Anyone ordering the new A90D amp right away, without seeing more reviews first, is a fool. The smart play is to wait and see how it compares with the Singxer SA-1

Also, the amount of people that have audiophile equipment, yet they run around with them plugged in with the stock $4 IEC power cords is insane. Not to mention people running USB to their DAC just from one of the regular USB ports on their mainboard. To TRULY unleash your equipment, you should be running a great audiophile quality USB add-in card like ELfidelity AXF-100 Pro III or the Matrix Element H, and also using thicker aftermarket power cords. Everyone that has tried these has HEARD with their own EARS what the difference makes

 

[PointyFox]

Sigh...here we go again.

It's readily possible with some music, such as movie sound tracks to reach well over that, due to the large amount of sub-bass. The demands on an amp will be very dependent on the music. For example, 105 dB at 1kHz is painfully loud, but 105 dB at 20 Hz doesn't sound that loud at all, due to the way our hearing works.

The measurements already take into account how our hearing works. The decibel measurements are A-weighted.

The smaller amps, such as the Heresy and Topping equivalents, will quickly distort in the bass frequencies as the volume increases. This is both audible, and people have measured it (not that you need to measure something that is blatantly audible). Likewise, with many headphones, as you turn the volume up, the soundstage sounds compressed, something you don't get in a $400 or above amp (and, as you go further up in amplifier quality, the impression of the sound being amplified at all begins to disappear).

If an amplifier has been designed primarily as a balanced amp, then performance from the SE outputs will not be as optimal as they will be from the balanced outputs. This has given rise to the false notion that "balanced is better" in general.

Making generalizations. Some Topping amps have more than enough power like the A90 and A90D, and some amps over $400 are garbage.
Also some amps work just as well with SE as balanced.

Why does anyone here have to prove their experiences? Is asking for something this impossible really not just trolling?

I'm not asking him to prove his experience. I'm asking him to prove me wrong. He cited his experience as evidence that I'm wrong by claiming to have superhuman auditory memory.

 

[PointyFox]

Incorrect, The D90 is clean and punchy, but it's soundstage is small and somewhat thin sounding, like a wall of sound vs something that has layers/3D space. The Bifrost 2 is better, some would say the Ares 2 is as well, although that's a tradeoff in a little bit of clarity. If you mod the Ares 2 with the screw/cover mod and run it in OS mode/slow filter then even better. Run a thick aftermarket power cable to it, and EVEN better.

Too many people treat MEASUREMENTS.....GASP.....as the pinnacle of what defines a great Dac/Amp. Wrong, we measure with our ears, not our eyes. You don't say a car is great based on it's specs, it's based on how it actually drives.

Anyone ordering the new A90D amp right away, without seeing more reviews first, is a fool. The smart play is to wait and see how it compares with the Singxer SA-1

Also, the amount of people that have audiophile equipment, yet they run around with them plugged in with the stock $4 IEC power cords is insane. Not to mention people running USB to their DAC just from one of the regular USB ports on their mainboard. To TRULY unleash your equipment, you should be running a great audiophile quality USB add-in card like ELfidelity AXF-100 Pro III or the Matrix Element H, and also using thicker aftermarket power cords. Everyone that has tried these has HEARD with their own EARS what the difference makes

Wow.

First of all what you're thinking is a bigger soundstage is actually distortion that gives that appearance.
More distortion doesn't mean the Bifrost 2 measures better.

All those people treat measurements....GASP....as the pinnacle of what defines a great DAC/amp because they actually do.
Measurements indicate how an amp performs, same with a car or any other product.
That's why we engineers make products to requirements, then test them by measuring them.
You say that you can't determine how something will perform based on its measurements....well, aren't the measurements its performance?
You say that we can't measure how a car drives, but we can, given enough measurements. Braking, cornering, steering, handling...if there is something a product can do, it can be measured.

Now you bring up the "insanity" of people using $4 IEC power cords.
Clearly you're hearing things that don't exist because there is no scientific explanation for what you claim.
Learn some basic electronics, because you sound like the insane one to anyone with a basic science education.

 

[carlcamper]

Wow.

First of all what you're thinking is a bigger soundstage is actually distortion that gives that appearance.
More distortion doesn't mean the Bifrost 2 measures better.

All those people treat measurements....GASP....as the pinnacle of what defines a great DAC/amp because they actually do.
Measurements indicate how an amp performs, same with a car or any other product.
That's why we engineers make products to requirements, then test them by measuring them.
You say that you can't determine how something will perform based on its measurements....well, aren't the measurements its performance?
You say that we can't measure how a car drives, but we can, given enough measurements. Braking, cornering, steering, handling...if there is something a product can do, it can be measured.

Now you bring up the "insanity" of people using $4 IEC power cords.
Clearly you're hearing things that don't exist because there is no scientific explanation for what you claim.
Learn some basic electronics, because you sound like the insane one to anyone with a basic science education.

Edited to stay out of it

 

[PointyFox]

Shh. We don't use those sciency words here (better censor your post).
All it should take is reminding them that they're adding that 3 foot "hifi" power cable onto a hundred feet of regular wire inside their walls, then miles of cable outside their homes. What do they expect that little piece of overpriced wire to do?

Another thought experiment: Digital multimeters, ammeters, voltmeters, oscilloscopes...
They're capable of measuring signals many thousands of times smaller than anything used in audio reproduction and are often calibrated.
Why then, do the manufacturers not recommend burn-in?
Why do they use cheap cables? Why doesn't "burn-in" affect them?

 

[Pashmeister]

Edited to stay out of it

Please do. I’ve used the ignore button and I do not know what’s going on but I have a very good idea that something toxic is happening around.

I do know that he comes back to ASR to post about how he’s bullied in Head-Fi, after calling “insanity” for not sharing his “science”. And after insistence that anything remotely sounding as an improvement to the A90 over another amp (bigger soundstage, better timbre, etc) can only ever be distortion that us plebs enjoy, and nothing else, because A90 is PERFECT.

His words @ ASR:

“Head-Fi seems to be a gathering of a rare type of people who like the sound of distortion in their music.

To them (yes, they've used all these adjectives):

Lack of distortion = bright, sharp, fatiguing, cheap, painful, clinical, and sterile

Distortion = powerful, rich, euphonic, wide, musical, dancing, live, relaxing, syrupy, smooth, and authoritative

The moment anyone suggests they prefer distortion or dare say they like a flaw of the amplifier, they start by defending their own character "I'm a good guy because I think everyone is entitled to like whatever they want" then proceed to attack the character of the other person, calling them an "ASR fanboy", insinuating that measurements have made them blind to the truth, saying that they can't hear, or even that they're just trolling. They will then appeal to others on the forum for support, like "can you believe this troll?", "thank God for the ignore button, amirite?", "your posts belong on ASR, not here", "everyone just mute them", etc.”

Hope you are still enjoying the hobby

 

[theveterans]

It's readily possible with some music, such as movie sound tracks to reach well over that, due to the large amount of sub-bass. The demands on an amp will be very dependent on the music. For example, 105 dB at 1kHz is painfully loud, but 105 dB at 20 Hz doesn't sound that loud at all, due to the way our hearing works.

The smaller amps, such as the Heresy and Topping equivalents, will quickly distort in the bass frequencies as the volume increases. This is both audible, and people have measured it (not that you need to measure something that is blatantly audible). Likewise, with many headphones, as you turn the volume up, the soundstage sounds compressed, something you don't get in a $400 or above amp (and, as you go further up in amplifier quality, the impression of the sound being amplified at all begins to disappear).

If an amplifier has been designed primarily as a balanced amp, then performance from the SE outputs will not be as optimal as they will be from the balanced outputs. This has given rise to the false notion that "balanced is better" in general.


Why does anyone here have to prove their experiences? Is asking for something this impossible really not just trolling?

Just the existence of this amp alone is pretty much catering to specific people who just validates everything sonically on the end-all-be-all analyzer. Pretty much everything that deviates from the sonics of this headphone amp and headphone amps that have less than -120 dBFS THD+N is considered distorted sound. Funnily enough, despite all the graphs and specs given, they missed the most critical spec that most manufacturers and especially pro-audio gears provide: Input Impedance (this issue arises when paired with some DACs or preamps that have high output impedance outside of standard 110 ohm (balanced) and 75 ohm for RCA

 

[Arniesb]

I've already put the thread back to the D90A, as you asked. Or do more people need to get the last word in, for their egos? Is it proper to criticize my behavior of derailing the thread while continuing to derail it as well yourself? Everyone stop, further discussion should only be about the D90A.

Just responded to your message.
Back on A90D...
Im interseted in this as well cause of mainly increased crosstalk and better wolume control.
Liked A90 except soundstage, was looking for Violectric offerings, but since A90D improved Soundstage then this looks like a great deal. Plus It seems like no moving parts in construction will greatly improve durability.

 

[OCC7N]

I truly believe Amir is trolling. We are in his experiment.

Edit: Who gave him the hype?

Joshua reviews a faulty product/topping a90d. Even that is great advertisement for Topping, because people will buy it anyway because Amir says so

 

[Currawong]

The measurements already take into account how our hearing works. The decibel measurements are A-weighted.

I never talked about A-weighting, nor even about the measurements! My point is, regarding the power an amp has to put out, if a person listens to music with a large degree of low bass, the actual power output may be considerably higher than if listening to other types of music. If you use A-weighted measurements, it wont show the actual SPL, which is relevant when talking about how much power an amp will need to drive the headphones. If anything, A-weighted measurements will be misleading in this case.

 

[OCC7N]

Pop pop….said the little Top in the Single Ended pot

 

[spw1880]

You'all stop slinging mud at each other now. Relax its just a hobby don't have to prove any thing to anyone. discourse just robs the joy of trying new things in this hobby. I am listening to my A90D right now with my VO. Its quite excellent. I love my milo more still, but the a90d is fantastic performance. Dynamic, resolving, powerful and clean. And most importantly free of glare or harshness.

 

[N0sferatu]

Seeing this mudslinging back and forth reminds me why I mostly keep this hobby to myself over the last few years. Used to be active on here but I just popped back on here recently because did some new shopping/upgrading.

Waste of money using the mobo USB port...
Using a $4 USB cable...
Bashing a $599 USD amp for not using snake oil cabling...when there's plenty of amps that cost 20x more for a 1.3x improvement in performance...

The bickering is ridiculous...just be happy there's tons of great products out there right now for the cost. This wasn't the case when I first started this hobby. At the end of the day, everyone's hearing is different when it comes to the level of scrutiny you guys go through. When you get to that stand point it comes down to opinion and subjective adjectives of what you experience.

This isn't my only hobby but the same rule applies. You spend a little at the bottom end you get decent upgrades. At some point you'll hit the point of diminishing returns real fast. As I've gotten older, that's where I draw the line. I'm not paying for micro improvements and potential snake oil products For the money the A90/A90D delivers a lot. There's tons of options out there.

 

[Arniesb]

Seeing this mudslinging back and forth reminds me why I mostly keep this hobby to myself over the last few years. Used to be active on here but I just popped back on here recently because did some new shopping/upgrading.

Waste of money using the mobo USB port...
Using a $4 USB cable...
Bashing a $599 USD amp for not using snake oil cabling...when there's plenty of amps that cost 20x more for a 1.3x improvement in performance...

The bickering is ridiculous...just be happy there's tons of great products out there right now for the cost. This wasn't the case when I first started this hobby. At the end of the day, everyone's hearing is different when it comes to the level of scrutiny you guys go through. When you get to that stand point it comes down to opinion and subjective adjectives of what you experience.

This isn't my only hobby but the same rule applies. You spend a little at the bottom end you get decent upgrades. At some point you'll hit the point of diminishing returns real fast. As I've gotten older, that's where I draw the line. I'm not paying for micro improvements and potential snake oil products For the money the A90/A90D delivers a lot. There's tons of options out there.

Its funny cause companies like Benchmark, Violectric, Chord Electronics dont use Expensive reclockers or Expensive cabling for their demos, yet some gurus come in and say: You cant get good results whitout stuff that barely makes a difference for majority.