[cfranchi]

I've tried the Susvara with all the amps you see in my signature. Most of them are not powerful enough to make these headphones perform properly. As of now, my favorite amps for the Susvara are the McIntosh MHA200, Flux Volot, and the A90D is not far behind those two.

How doses A90D perform against Volot in term of stage and dynamic ? Also are timbre / tonality better with the class A Volot ?
Thx

 

[N0sferatu]

Can anyone confirm you can use both the SE RCA and Xlr out simultaneously XLR to Monitors and RCA to Sub? That's my plan anyway?

Yes you can. I'm XLR output to Focal Clear Mg. RCA output to Vanatoo they both play at the same time. You can isolate just one or the other or both.

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

Yes you can. I'm XLR output to Focal Clear Mg. RCA output to Vanatoo they both play at the same time. You can isolate just one or the other or both.

Thank you makes me so happy to hear. Picked up a set of Adam Audio F7 today so going to run that Bal xlr and run the sub RCA so sweet thanks for the confirmation much appreciated.

 

[Currawong]

That's the same as my daily drivers. Will start with low gain and play it safe. I'm coming from years using a Sony TA-ZH1ES's amp--which was a mere 1200mW--that I'm replacing because I'm going to a 230V region and those things are region locked at the AC power block level. Appreciate Topping using universal PSUs for those of us that move across continents!

Mere? My main headphone amp puts out 1200mW.

 

[XLR2XLR]

How doses A90D perform against Volot in term of stage and dynamic ? Also are timbre / tonality better with the class A Volot ?
Thx

I would say the Volot adds a pinch of tube flavor to the sound – makes it a little bit more spacious and life-like. It's still very precise and detailed, but less fatiguing for long listening sessions compared to the A90D. It has less of that digital glare and more depth to sound. The A90D is a great-sounding amp for its money, but the Volot handles the Susvara slightly better due to its huge muscles. I believe it's still the only headphone amp that sports 16W RMS per channel @ 32 ohms. Its only drawback is its huge size – it's ~8 times larger than the A90.

 

[cfranchi]

I would say the Volot adds a pinch of tube flavor to the sound – makes it a little bit more spacious and life-like. It's still very precise and detailed, but less fatiguing for long listening sessions compared to the A90D. It has less of that digital glare and more depth to sound. The A90D is a great-sounding amp for its money, but the Volot handles the Susvara slightly better due to its huge muscles. I believe it's still the only headphone amp that sports 16W RMS per channel @ 32 ohms. Its only drawback is its huge size – it's ~8 times larger than the A90.

Thank you, I guess an R2R or AKM dac would be nice with A90D

 

[Registlse]

Do you realize the difference in price between the two? So little difference makes the a90d an exceptional amp for its price and an excellent amp no matter the price!

 

[Umwelt]

Mere? My main headphone amp puts out 1200mW.

Of course that's plenty for most cans (though to be precise 1200mW is from the Tazzie's balanced output only, but even the single-ended 300mW is enough for easy to drive phones). I meant relative to the A90D--as I said, first time using something with this much output and still no idea if it will make a difference.

but less fatiguing for long listening sessions compared to the A90D. I

I'm hoping fatigue is not an issue regardless of DAC or pre-amp pairing. The TA-ZH1ES all-in-one solution I'm coming from is known to be really good for easy, non-fatiguing listening, and I can vouch for that. Can listen at high volume levels for hours. Guess I'll know if the A90D can do that too when it arrives in a day or two.

BTW, does anyone have recommendations for a good DAC to pair with this amp that has stereo SE line-in and not just digital inputs? Trying to replicate the simple setup I have going now.

 

[Registlse]

I can listen for hours without any fatigue with focal clear and a dac/streamer Naim 272...

 

[reter]

never heard the volot, sure has to be very good but the difference in price in abyssal, plus the size is too big for my desk, a90d is more friendly for "casual" listeners

 

[Registlse]

Why casual?

 

[theveterans]

Thank you, I guess an R2R or AKM dac would be nice with A90D

IMO fatigue after an hour of 2 of reference loudness listening (80-85 dB) is less influenced by the amp and are more of a function of the DAC, power filtering and source jitter qualities (not the jitter plot that you get from an impulse response by the AP555B which IMO still does not correlate much to MY anecdotal experience with poor jitter induced listening fatigue). Improvements on those 3 factors will minimize listening fatigue to almost zero even on brickwalled compressed tracks such as Linkin Park or RHCP at rock out your whole room listening levels 90+ dB SPL and up

 

[Arniesb]

IMO fatigue after an hour of 2 of reference loudness listening (80-85 dB) is less influenced by the amp and are more of a function of the DAC, power filtering and source jitter qualities (not the jitter plot that you get from an impulse response by the AP555B which IMO still does not correlate much to MY anecdotal experience with poor jitter induced listening fatigue). Improvements on those 3 factors will minimize listening fatigue to almost zero even on brickwalled compressed tracks such as Linkin Park or RHCP at rock out your whole room listening levels 90+ dB SPL and up

Its 100 procent infuenced by poor source since most of the amps and dac have low noise floor.
Try almost any dac with usb from a phone or from a reclocker like Innuos Pheonix and listening fatigue will be non existant regardles of dac.
More transparent dac and amp more obvious source faults will show.
R2R dacs or other less transparent dacs wont highlight source issues as much.

 

[theveterans]

Its 100 procent infuenced by poor source since most of the amps and dac have low noise floor.
Try almost any dac with usb from a phone or from a reclocker like Innuos Pheonix and listening fatigue will be non existant regardles of dac.
More transparent dac and amp more obvious source faults will show.
R2R dacs or other less transparent dacs wont highlight source issues as much.

That’s why I eliminated my PC directly from the chain and use a battery powered low jitter source

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

I have a lead on a Older Cambridge Audio Dacmagic MKii thoughts on using this balanced into the A90D? So from Hiby R6 2020 to CA DAC to A90D?

Or just go strait in from my Hiby because it uses a newer DAC?