NEW Dragon Inspire IHA-1 Tube Headphone Amp - EXCLUSIVE - Listen at #RMAF2014
- Thread starter MoonAudio
- Start date
-
- Tags
- moon-audio
atubbs
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2010
- Posts
- 188
- Likes
- 247
I was waiting until I'd put a little more rigor into it before the review, but it's a good suggestion and I'll try to get something up in the coming days.
For example, the noise floor point mentioned above I think I was completely wrong on, and I'm now pretty sure it's "just" a 60 Hz hum in the amp, if a very quiet one. Very pronounced hum when the rectifier is cold, quickly disappears as the tube comes up in temperature and approaches being inaudible. Not volume-sensitive. Present whether or not components are hooked up. Present in different power sources (regenerated, wall, and filter). Different rectifier tubes have no effect. More noticeable because it goes away when you turn the amp off than that you notice it's there.
For example, the noise floor point mentioned above I think I was completely wrong on, and I'm now pretty sure it's "just" a 60 Hz hum in the amp, if a very quiet one. Very pronounced hum when the rectifier is cold, quickly disappears as the tube comes up in temperature and approaches being inaudible. Not volume-sensitive. Present whether or not components are hooked up. Present in different power sources (regenerated, wall, and filter). Different rectifier tubes have no effect. More noticeable because it goes away when you turn the amp off than that you notice it's there.
maricius
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2013
- Posts
- 980
- Likes
- 157
Any experience with the Woo WA6SE, Decware Taboo MkIII, Dragon Inspire IHA-1, or something else? All these are Class A Output Transformer coupled tube amps (correct me if I'm wrong) that have sufficient power for majority of the planar magnetic headphones. I'm rather uneducated on tube types but if one could assume that the tubes that will be used in these amps are similar or the same, what are the characteristics of the amplifiers relative to each other? Price ranges are somewhat similar at $1190, $1695, and $1599 respectively. My budget for the amp is under $2000 with my iFi Micro iDSD as the DAC. The amp will be mainly driving the MrSpeakers Alpha Dog but comparisons on any headphones will be greatly appreciated. If there are other tube amps that compete at this price point, feel free to recommend. Thank you. I'm in no rush.
maricius
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2013
- Posts
- 980
- Likes
- 157
Such a shame that this isn't getting more attention.
TheGoldenEars
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2015
- Posts
- 51
- Likes
- 11
It's a monster! I really hope I would get to listen to this one day!
Anybody interested in the fabulous Dragon IHA-1 should also be sure to check out this thread (its where all of the recent action is located):
http://www.head-fi.org/t/738844/inspire-iha-1-tube-headphone-amp
http://www.head-fi.org/t/738844/inspire-iha-1-tube-headphone-amp
Raika
Aka: agooh, Wasaki. Now known as HeadHigh
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2015
- Posts
- 124
- Likes
- 13
I would like to order one if it's beter than hdva 800 .
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2003
- Posts
- 1,386
- Likes
- 90
Moon Audio is very excited to announce that the Abolute Sound has just rewarded the Dragon Inspire IHA-1 with the Golden Ear award. Review by Steven Stone is here:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/dragon-inspire-iha-1-headphone-amplifier/
Some new pictures for your enjoyment.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/dragon-inspire-iha-1-headphone-amplifier/
Some new pictures for your enjoyment.
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2003
- Posts
- 1,386
- Likes
- 90
We have a few new options we are offering on the Dragon Inspire Amp. I apologize for not updating the page sooner but between Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and February, I have a hard time finding enough time to get HeadFi posting done. That being said we are offering a couple of upgrade options.
The Dragon Inspire is a purest design. It is a very clean short signal path. There are no capacitors, resistors or other passive components that make up the circuit. The signal enters the RCA jack, travels to the DACT stepped attenuator, then the 6SN7 tube, followed by the Output transformer and exits via the Headphone Jack or Preamp RCA. The Tubes become very important in this sort of circuit. The better the tube the better the end result. You can also very drastically change the tonality based on the tube you choose to use. Each tube has a very different sound signature or flavor.
Because of this purist approach, there is no gain stage or preamp circuit. Thus the DACT attenuator is the volume control and/or preamp circuit. Thus with some headphones that are not sensitive or have a higher impedance rating, this will mean a little less flexibility in the amount of steps you have to control the volume. Do not get gain confused with output power. As the amp has plenty of power for most headphones. For people that are in the situation that they need more gain or volume control flexibility, we offer the Lundahl transformers. The Lundahl transformers which are input transformers and are placed between the RCA input jack and the DACT attenuator. They offer a 1 to 2.5 ratio. What they do is clean up the incoming signal, as all transformers can do, and increase the gain of the amp. So now where as the Inspire might need the volume control set very high to get the desired volume it is now maybe half way. This will also boost low output signals from some Phono Preamps out there or when using a low output cartridge that gets very little boost from the Phono Pre. In my opinion, no one makes a better transformer than Lundahl and this does not just increase the gain but adds a little more detail and definition to the sound. Upgrade cost is same as if you order with the amp or if you send in for the mod: $250
We are also offering a Preamp output option. We never thought about using the amp as a Preamp until we released the new Dragon Inspire QMB-25 Mono Block Amplifiers as seen Here. Just to experiment we used it with the amps and were blown away. Thus we added input RCAs and a switch to mute the headphone amp we switching over to use as a Preamp. All are placed on the back of the unit. You can find pictures Here. Upgrade cost is same as if you order with the amp or if you send in for the mod: $100. Customer is responsible for shipping cost both ways.
Also if there is anyone out there with a hum issue in right channel from the early units please contact us. The hum issue that was brought up in the early onset was fixed quite a while back. Again I apologize for lack of updates. We just had to reroute some innards. It was inconsistent so we could not figure out what people were talking about early on in this thread. All the units were dead quiet here at the shop before they went out. But environment situations made the issue arise in a few units. We are happy to take care of this issue at only the cost for you to ship the amp to us. It is a very simple fix.
The Dragon Inspire is a purest design. It is a very clean short signal path. There are no capacitors, resistors or other passive components that make up the circuit. The signal enters the RCA jack, travels to the DACT stepped attenuator, then the 6SN7 tube, followed by the Output transformer and exits via the Headphone Jack or Preamp RCA. The Tubes become very important in this sort of circuit. The better the tube the better the end result. You can also very drastically change the tonality based on the tube you choose to use. Each tube has a very different sound signature or flavor.
Because of this purist approach, there is no gain stage or preamp circuit. Thus the DACT attenuator is the volume control and/or preamp circuit. Thus with some headphones that are not sensitive or have a higher impedance rating, this will mean a little less flexibility in the amount of steps you have to control the volume. Do not get gain confused with output power. As the amp has plenty of power for most headphones. For people that are in the situation that they need more gain or volume control flexibility, we offer the Lundahl transformers. The Lundahl transformers which are input transformers and are placed between the RCA input jack and the DACT attenuator. They offer a 1 to 2.5 ratio. What they do is clean up the incoming signal, as all transformers can do, and increase the gain of the amp. So now where as the Inspire might need the volume control set very high to get the desired volume it is now maybe half way. This will also boost low output signals from some Phono Preamps out there or when using a low output cartridge that gets very little boost from the Phono Pre. In my opinion, no one makes a better transformer than Lundahl and this does not just increase the gain but adds a little more detail and definition to the sound. Upgrade cost is same as if you order with the amp or if you send in for the mod: $250
We are also offering a Preamp output option. We never thought about using the amp as a Preamp until we released the new Dragon Inspire QMB-25 Mono Block Amplifiers as seen Here. Just to experiment we used it with the amps and were blown away. Thus we added input RCAs and a switch to mute the headphone amp we switching over to use as a Preamp. All are placed on the back of the unit. You can find pictures Here. Upgrade cost is same as if you order with the amp or if you send in for the mod: $100. Customer is responsible for shipping cost both ways.
Also if there is anyone out there with a hum issue in right channel from the early units please contact us. The hum issue that was brought up in the early onset was fixed quite a while back. Again I apologize for lack of updates. We just had to reroute some innards. It was inconsistent so we could not figure out what people were talking about early on in this thread. All the units were dead quiet here at the shop before they went out. But environment situations made the issue arise in a few units. We are happy to take care of this issue at only the cost for you to ship the amp to us. It is a very simple fix.
comzee
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2010
- Posts
- 555
- Likes
- 401
XPOST - http://www.head-fi.org/t/738844/inspire-iha-1-tube-headphone-amp/255#post_13325027
My review is up (both video and written):
http://www.head-fi.org/products/inspire-by-dennis-had-iha-1-dragon-version/reviews/18462
http://www.head-fi.org/products/inspire-by-dennis-had-iha-1-dragon-version/reviews/18462
The next headphone amplifier on my list!
Just got it in today, upgraded to Lundahl transformers. Very enjoyable sound with my Focal Utopia. Having a bit of an issue with my powered speakers and the pre-amp (ground loop I believe).
Using stock tubes for now (Raytheon 6SN7 + RCA 5u4) but I have some in the mail that I'm looking forward to.
Users who are viewing this thread
