Reviews by aramico
Disclaimer:
This HPA was sent to us for a review from @anodeacoustics and to share unbiased impressions of this nice little HPA.
Product Link
http://anodeacoustics.in/index.php/solid-state-hp-amplifier/
Price – INR 25K
Build
The amp is pretty nicely built for the price range, with full metal body and all the connectors are good. The volume pot is nice one too. But there is slight play at both ends. Overall, it is pretty well-built amp.
Sound impressions
Gears used – PC > Q5 (modded) / TDA1387 DAC > Anode SS2 > AKG K240 Sextette (M) / AKG K712 Pro / Sennheiser HD540 / HD 600 / HD6xx (KISS mod) / HD800 stock / Beyerdynamic DT480 (with pad stacking).
Unfortunately, could not use my go to DAC mimby in the combo (they gave up on me).
The amp was warmed for 4-5hrs at least before any listening session and most of the listening was done in quiet hours by burning the midnight oil.
AKG 240 Sextette (M) – vintage can
This is a slightly warm sounding HP. Overall smooth sound with bit more warmish tinge. This HPA can drive these HP to very good levels. I did not go beyond 9pm on the volume. The Bass had good definition but not much rumble. Mids were sweet and felt little laid back. The top end was Ok, but lacking bit of sparkle which I felt with Sapphire. The staging and imaging were pretty damn good as is the case with most of vintage AKG’s. Overall, I felt this pairing though good but bit on the warm side for my liking.
AKG K712 pro
These are pretty hard to drive. They sound bloated and thin if it is not driven properly. But to my surprise, this amp can drive them beyond satisfactory levels. The bass sounds nice again with good definition, mids were really sweet. The treble is good too. The staging was awesome too as these are generally awesome with staging. Overall, I was very happy with this combo.
Sennheiser HD540 – vintage can
The poor man’s HD800. One of my favourite too. These sound really great with Sapphire. With this amp they sound pretty darn close to Sapphire. The Sennheiser mids were coming forward. The bass is pretty light on these but there is enough oomph and the sweet treble, all were present. Only thing is again its neutral with wee bit warm tinge. This is very nice combo too.
Senn HD600
These are real favourite of mine at the price they sell at (used or otherwise). I could certainly feel bit more bass and sweeter mids, but highs were tad bit smoother for my liking. Overall good for long listening with smoother sound.
HD6XX (KISS mod)
Again, here too I like how this amp drives them, the mids sound sweet. But the bass is slightly loose (this is generally the case with the except the tubes). The veil was there but not to the bothering levels. Pretty good combo.
HD800 stock
This was a surprising combo. The HD800 in stock form can sound pretty shouty on certain recordings with their notorious peaks. But with this amp they sounded really nice without too much of peaks or glary. The humongous staging was toned down a bit, which is not a too much of concern. If you want HD800 to sound easy and not too clinical without breaking the bank pick this amp.
Beyerdynamic DT480 (with pad stacks) – vintage can
These are very unlike current Beyers. With double pad stacking they sound damn good almost to life like sound. I love these with Sapphire. This amp makes it sound more natural and smoother. The treble is sweet too without any fatigue. This is darn good combo.
Comparison with Sapphire
You must have seen me keep referring to the Sapphire amp. For me this is the benchmark amp in this price range and above.
When compared to Sapphire this go toe to toe most of the times. But for me Sapphire sound very neutral without any coloration. Also, I felt the staging and both ends felt bit wider and cleaner on Sapphire. That’s a pretty good thing on SS#2’s part, as these click most of the boxes.
Conclusion
I would like to thank Nitin Kaushik for letting me try this amp. This amp checks lot of boxes at pretty sweet price point. I feel It works for most people out there with sounding good with most of the music genres.
Had I not heard / been using Sapphire, I would have definitely picked it. Along with Sapphire, this is a really nice amp to recommend.
#anodeacoustics #headphoneamp #SS2
This HPA was sent to us for a review from @anodeacoustics and to share unbiased impressions of this nice little HPA.
Product Link
http://anodeacoustics.in/index.php/solid-state-hp-amplifier/
Price – INR 25K
Build
The amp is pretty nicely built for the price range, with full metal body and all the connectors are good. The volume pot is nice one too. But there is slight play at both ends. Overall, it is pretty well-built amp.
Sound impressions
Gears used – PC > Q5 (modded) / TDA1387 DAC > Anode SS2 > AKG K240 Sextette (M) / AKG K712 Pro / Sennheiser HD540 / HD 600 / HD6xx (KISS mod) / HD800 stock / Beyerdynamic DT480 (with pad stacking).
Unfortunately, could not use my go to DAC mimby in the combo (they gave up on me).
The amp was warmed for 4-5hrs at least before any listening session and most of the listening was done in quiet hours by burning the midnight oil.
AKG 240 Sextette (M) – vintage can
This is a slightly warm sounding HP. Overall smooth sound with bit more warmish tinge. This HPA can drive these HP to very good levels. I did not go beyond 9pm on the volume. The Bass had good definition but not much rumble. Mids were sweet and felt little laid back. The top end was Ok, but lacking bit of sparkle which I felt with Sapphire. The staging and imaging were pretty damn good as is the case with most of vintage AKG’s. Overall, I felt this pairing though good but bit on the warm side for my liking.
AKG K712 pro
These are pretty hard to drive. They sound bloated and thin if it is not driven properly. But to my surprise, this amp can drive them beyond satisfactory levels. The bass sounds nice again with good definition, mids were really sweet. The treble is good too. The staging was awesome too as these are generally awesome with staging. Overall, I was very happy with this combo.
Sennheiser HD540 – vintage can
The poor man’s HD800. One of my favourite too. These sound really great with Sapphire. With this amp they sound pretty darn close to Sapphire. The Sennheiser mids were coming forward. The bass is pretty light on these but there is enough oomph and the sweet treble, all were present. Only thing is again its neutral with wee bit warm tinge. This is very nice combo too.
Senn HD600
These are real favourite of mine at the price they sell at (used or otherwise). I could certainly feel bit more bass and sweeter mids, but highs were tad bit smoother for my liking. Overall good for long listening with smoother sound.
HD6XX (KISS mod)
Again, here too I like how this amp drives them, the mids sound sweet. But the bass is slightly loose (this is generally the case with the except the tubes). The veil was there but not to the bothering levels. Pretty good combo.
HD800 stock
This was a surprising combo. The HD800 in stock form can sound pretty shouty on certain recordings with their notorious peaks. But with this amp they sounded really nice without too much of peaks or glary. The humongous staging was toned down a bit, which is not a too much of concern. If you want HD800 to sound easy and not too clinical without breaking the bank pick this amp.
Beyerdynamic DT480 (with pad stacks) – vintage can
These are very unlike current Beyers. With double pad stacking they sound damn good almost to life like sound. I love these with Sapphire. This amp makes it sound more natural and smoother. The treble is sweet too without any fatigue. This is darn good combo.
Comparison with Sapphire
You must have seen me keep referring to the Sapphire amp. For me this is the benchmark amp in this price range and above.
When compared to Sapphire this go toe to toe most of the times. But for me Sapphire sound very neutral without any coloration. Also, I felt the staging and both ends felt bit wider and cleaner on Sapphire. That’s a pretty good thing on SS#2’s part, as these click most of the boxes.
Conclusion
I would like to thank Nitin Kaushik for letting me try this amp. This amp checks lot of boxes at pretty sweet price point. I feel It works for most people out there with sounding good with most of the music genres.
Had I not heard / been using Sapphire, I would have definitely picked it. Along with Sapphire, this is a really nice amp to recommend.
#anodeacoustics #headphoneamp #SS2
I wanted to replace my daily drivers for quite some time now, after looking at most of the other options, finally decided to pull the trigger on these. These are my 1st Ety’s. I was little sceptical about the fit, but the stock small sized triple flange fit my ears really well. Glad that I bought these.
Etymotic Research is very well known in audio world. They are pretty well known for their venerable single BA design. I always wanted to own one. But couldn’t bring myself to buy one earlier. But this all changed when they launched these at the sweet price point.
Packaging and build quality
It comes standard black box with small triple flange fitted on to them. You will get a set of foam tips, pair large white coloured triple flange tips, 2nos. green filters, filter removable tool and a shirt clip.
The housing is made of metal and the blue colour looks really cool. I think the size of the iem is similar to their more expensive siblings – ER3 / ER4 series. The housing has proprietary MMCX connector, so it may be difficult to find 3rd party cables. The cable is really basic one which is kind of let down. But can’t really complain at this price point as it serves the purpose. Also it has bad micro-phonics. So wrapping it around the ears, adjusting the chin slider and using the shirt clip will really help to reduce it.
Fit, comfort and isolation.
The fit is the most important part of these. You need to have proper deep fit to get them sound their best. If this is your 1st time using Ety’s then it will definitely take time getting used to the ear invasion (refer the video on their website to get the best fit). But once you get past that the comfort and the passive isolation is next to barring may be custom IEM’s. For me the stock small triple flange fits the best with great isolation. They very light weight, so very very comfortable.
Sound Impression
The following chain was used to listen all my songs with these
LG G7 > UAPP Pro (bit perfect output) > Fiio Q5 modded with 2156 opamp > Am5 module.
In terms of overall sound quality, I was stunned by the detail retrieval, tonality and the slightly warm but natural sound with little heft at the bottom end.
Lows / Bass,
Being a Single dynamic driver and boosted low end, these are the ety’s with noticeably thick bottom. The sub bass has nice thump to it, the drums / beats have nice heft to it. But it definitely not overly boomy or muddy and does not creep into lower mids at all.
The Rasputin (Boney M) , Lose yourself to dance (daft Punk) had nice thump and details.
Mids
The mids have nice natural texture to it. All kind of male, female vocals and instrument; these make them sound really good. The transition from upper midrange to treble is really nice. I simply love the mids on these.
Treble
The treble on these are smooth. No sibilance or fatigue. Also no special sparkle as well. These sound more even with slight roll off.
Sound stage and imaging
This being a deep fit IEM the staging is pretty intimate and two dimensional, don’t really expect 3D holographic kind of soundstage here. But the imaging is quite precise. You can easily pick out instrument locations.
The detail retrieval on these are simply exceptional. There tons and tons of details available with excellent layering and the whole range sounding so coherent. It is really difficult to find anything equally good at this price point or even higher ones.
Final thoughts
This is a steal at $120. A stunner from Etymotic. The thumping bass, the humongous detail retrieval , nice smooth top end makes it a favourite IEM for me. It simply beats anything in that price range to likes of F9 pro, Tin T4, Kanas Pro etc.
I really recommend everyone to at least try these and see for themselves how awesome they are. Now I really need get ER4XR for myself.
This is my 1st review. Pardon my English.
Etymotic Research is very well known in audio world. They are pretty well known for their venerable single BA design. I always wanted to own one. But couldn’t bring myself to buy one earlier. But this all changed when they launched these at the sweet price point.
Packaging and build quality
It comes standard black box with small triple flange fitted on to them. You will get a set of foam tips, pair large white coloured triple flange tips, 2nos. green filters, filter removable tool and a shirt clip.
The housing is made of metal and the blue colour looks really cool. I think the size of the iem is similar to their more expensive siblings – ER3 / ER4 series. The housing has proprietary MMCX connector, so it may be difficult to find 3rd party cables. The cable is really basic one which is kind of let down. But can’t really complain at this price point as it serves the purpose. Also it has bad micro-phonics. So wrapping it around the ears, adjusting the chin slider and using the shirt clip will really help to reduce it.
Fit, comfort and isolation.
The fit is the most important part of these. You need to have proper deep fit to get them sound their best. If this is your 1st time using Ety’s then it will definitely take time getting used to the ear invasion (refer the video on their website to get the best fit). But once you get past that the comfort and the passive isolation is next to barring may be custom IEM’s. For me the stock small triple flange fits the best with great isolation. They very light weight, so very very comfortable.
Sound Impression
The following chain was used to listen all my songs with these
LG G7 > UAPP Pro (bit perfect output) > Fiio Q5 modded with 2156 opamp > Am5 module.
In terms of overall sound quality, I was stunned by the detail retrieval, tonality and the slightly warm but natural sound with little heft at the bottom end.
Lows / Bass,
Being a Single dynamic driver and boosted low end, these are the ety’s with noticeably thick bottom. The sub bass has nice thump to it, the drums / beats have nice heft to it. But it definitely not overly boomy or muddy and does not creep into lower mids at all.
The Rasputin (Boney M) , Lose yourself to dance (daft Punk) had nice thump and details.
Mids
The mids have nice natural texture to it. All kind of male, female vocals and instrument; these make them sound really good. The transition from upper midrange to treble is really nice. I simply love the mids on these.
Treble
The treble on these are smooth. No sibilance or fatigue. Also no special sparkle as well. These sound more even with slight roll off.
Sound stage and imaging
This being a deep fit IEM the staging is pretty intimate and two dimensional, don’t really expect 3D holographic kind of soundstage here. But the imaging is quite precise. You can easily pick out instrument locations.
The detail retrieval on these are simply exceptional. There tons and tons of details available with excellent layering and the whole range sounding so coherent. It is really difficult to find anything equally good at this price point or even higher ones.
Final thoughts
This is a steal at $120. A stunner from Etymotic. The thumping bass, the humongous detail retrieval , nice smooth top end makes it a favourite IEM for me. It simply beats anything in that price range to likes of F9 pro, Tin T4, Kanas Pro etc.
I really recommend everyone to at least try these and see for themselves how awesome they are. Now I really need get ER4XR for myself.
This is my 1st review. Pardon my English.
fogsound
I really enjoy the Q5 (with bass boost) and ER2 XR combo. What surprises me most is the lovely tone. Thanks!
aramico
For me the Bass boost is bit too much. I like the paring with AM3 / AM5 module. with Modded Q5, the tonality is absolutely beautiful. I do agree.
