[tdockweiler]

Has anyone compared the Headroom Micro + Astrodyne to the O2? To me they sound pretty similar. No major coloration coming from the amps really. You can easily hear the changes in sources with both (if they have some minor coloration).
Neither sound thin/cold or dark/warm. Based on memory the treble on the Micro might be a bit smoother, but not sure. Both seem very transparent to my ears. The Micro might have like a little more body to the sound (like barely detectable). I have no reason to A/B compare them since I like them both. My guess is that the Micro is much more powerful and I like having actual inputs in the back instead of the front! I wonder if there's any headphone out there that the Micro struggles with? Can't imagine that really. Not even the K400 needs to go past 50% volume on medium gain. I haven't tried any of those power hungry Hifiman headphones.
 
It's really nice having a backup amp for my bedroom that's pretty similar to the Micro! The E9 and Magni definitely were not it. The E9 even uses the same op-amps but they sound much different.
 
BTW I think the O2 sounds closer to the Micro than the Magni. Magni seemed a bit thin/bright. I don't get that with the O2 at all.

 

[Zeke2040]

I have a HeadRoom Micro DAC and Micro amp, a HeadRoom Desktop Power Supply, and a HeadRoom Desktop Balanced Headphone Amplifier. Had great experiences with all of the equipment except for the balanced amp that I've had to send back once for a bad capacitor and is currently not working in one channel now. The balanced amp is the oldest of the equipment, so age could be a part of it.

 

[tdockweiler]

After nearly 3 years I finally bought the Micro DAC to go with my Micro Amp.
I think the Micro DAC will be gone and all sold out soon so i'm glad to have been able to get one.
 
If it's comparable to the ODAC/Modi or even a tad better i'll be happy. I love how it has optical inputs. Might be useful.
Sick and tired of USB powered DACs!
 
Hopefully I like the Cirrus Logic CS4398 and it's not a clone of what's on my crappy Ipod Touch 2G

 
Been through a few other amps but I haven't found anything as good for the Q701/HD-650.
 
It actually sounds very transparent to my ears. Way more than people give it credit for. Even more so than the O2.
 
People who say that all Headroom amps are warm, dark etc probably haven't tried them for more than 10 minutes or it was caused by their source or headphone

 
I would like to find an amp that's similar to the Micro that's under $500, but it's probably not going to happen. Like I posted before, the O2 is the closest i've come.

 

[schalliol]

For what it's worth, I still like my HeadRoom "Triple Stack" with the Ultra Desktop DAC (UDAC), Balanced Ultra Desktop Amp (BUDA) and Desktop Power Supply (DPS).  It's amazing run balanced with my HD-800s.

 

[purk]

  For what it's worth, I still like my HeadRoom "Triple Stack" with the Ultra Desktop DAC (UDAC), Balanced Ultra Desktop Amp (BUDA) and Desktop Power Supply (DPS).  It's amazing run balanced with my HD-800s.

I recently got a hold of BUDA w/ DPS and am totally impressed with it.  Love the small form factor and sound when paired with my HD800.  I do like my Headamp GS-X MKII better but mainly due to its more neutral & transparent presentation.  For the price you can get the BUDA these days, it is quite a bargain.  Headroom really did a great job with the BUDA.  It is rather sad that they are no longer in business manufacturing headphone amplifiers.

 

[schalliol]

I haven't heard the Headamp GS-X MKII, but I sure agree the BUDA with DPS is great.  I really enjoy having the UDAC paired with it running balanced to my HD 800.  Great quality and design.  I know the DAC isn't quite as competitive as it used to be without handling DSD, etc., but otherwise, I really enjoy it under 24/192 which are the best quality tracks I have.

 

[purk]

  I haven't heard the Headamp GS-X MKII, but I sure agree the BUDA with DPS is great.  I really enjoy having the UDAC paired with it running balanced to my HD 800.  Great quality and design.  I know the DAC isn't quite as competitive as it used to be without handling DSD, etc., but otherwise, I really enjoy it under 24/192 which are the best quality tracks I have.

 
I also have the UDAC as well but I found it give up a great deal to my NAD M51.  Still the "tripple stack" does provide a really good performance for the current going price.  I recently heard the Oppo HA-1 and I'm more than confident to say that the BUDA is clearly superior to the Oppo.  I am impressed by the black background on the BUDA.  Got to love the phase inverter converting any SE signal to balanced as well.

 

[cooperpwc]

  I recently got a hold of BUDA w/ DPS and am totally impressed with it.  Love the small form factor and sound when paired with my HD800.  I do like my Headamp GS-X MKII better but mainly due to its more neutral & transparent presentation.  For the price you can get the BUDA these days, it is quite a bargain.  Headroom really did a great job with the BUDA.  It is rather sad that they are no longer in business manufacturing headphone amplifiers.

 
My amazing discovery is how good the original (aka 2006) MicroDAC sounds with the GS-X mk2. (Throwing the Schiit Wyrd USB Decrappifier into the chain seems to have made a difference too.)
 
So Headroom lives on... at least until I go balanced.    

 

[nspindel]

Hi folks, shameless plug.  Selling my Triple Stack (BUDA, UDAC, DPS) here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/742875/headroom-triple-stack-buda-udac-dps

 

[schalliol]

Good luck with your triple stack.  I enjoy mine so much I'd really enjoy picking up a second set just in case something were to happen (but alas I can't swing that).

 

[nspindel]

Cheers man.  I'm fairly confident that one day I'll regret this sale, but we're going to be selling our house soon, and downsizing substantially.  Just don't think I'll be needing a separate headphone rig any more.  And if I do, it won't be for quite a while so I'd rather just do a pretty big purge now and then re-evaluate later on.

 

[purk]

  Cheers man.  I'm fairly confident that one day I'll regret this sale, but we're going to be selling our house soon, and downsizing substantially.  Just don't think I'll be needing a separate headphone rig any more.  And if I do, it won't be for quite a while so I'd rather just do a pretty big purge now and then re-evaluate later on.

 
Good luck with the downsizing.  How about just sell the HR DAC and keep the amp?  The DAC is very good but not great sounding and you can replace with better ones in the future.  The amp/psu do worth keeping IMO.

 

[nspindel]

Not sure I agree, I think the dac sounds excellent.  I ran a Squeezebox Touch through the triple stack and listened with LCD-3's, and I was just blown away over and over again.  I never had any issues with that dac's sound whatsoever.
 
The triple stack was in my office, and then I also have a dedicated room for my loudspeaker/vinyl system.  When we move, we're probably going to an apartment and I'll just have a setup in my living room, so I'm going to have to have one system that's for both loudspeaker and headphone listening.  So when we figure out where we're landing, I'm going to need components that are suited for both.

At some point soon, I'm going to try to get my ears on the new integrated amp that VPI (known mainly for their turntables) is coming out with.  It's a tube amp with a phono stage and a headphone amp all in one piece:
 
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2014/10/vpi-get-nostalgic-with-as-yet-unnamed-integrated-tube-amplifier/
 
That one piece could replace an awful lot of gear, but it's got to sound good of course!  But I've got a lot of faith in Mat and Harry, VPI don't mess around.

 

[session76]

Did these amps go out of production?

 

[schalliol]

Yep.  Unfortunately they prioritized their selling of equipment over what was becoming more competitive in an industry they practically launched.  The BUDA with DPS is very hard to beat by anything out there.