Arcam rHead Headphone Amplifier
Firstly I would like to thank Rob Follis at Arcam for arranging this. It's always helpful to the community by doing such product tours and I am very much obliged to be a participant.
Construction:
rHead feels like a tank, weighs a metric tonne (
) and measures a brick in flesh. The touring unit is in black and I personally like the colour. It's certainly a very well made product and you would feel the same when you hold it in your hand. The overall shape is more or less follows the new design trend that Arcam seems to have adopted, could be seen if you look at the new 'Solo' range closely, the same curves at the front and flat edging at the rear. It does feel premium to say the very least.
Features:
rHead has a minimalist design. Power switch is on the rear. There are two inputs, an RCA and an XLR at the rear. The front has two headphone outputs, one 3.5mm and one full size 1/4-inch. And then there's the volume control which also acts as a secondary switch to turn on or off.
Opertation:
rHead could be turned on and off by flicking the switch at the back. The volume control is the most standout feature that would draw everyone's attention. It's well made and beautiful to use. I liked the soft click when you turn it on and off. rHead is dead silent, I didn't get a chance to test it with my IEMs but I would be surprised to hear the hiss.
Testing Gear:
My chain is simple. It is as follows.
HTC 10 --> Chord Mojo --> rHead --> Hifiman HE-5LE
HTC 10 --> Chord Mojo --> Hifiman HE-5LE
Reviewer's Bias:
I like Arcam stuff. It's as simple as that. I still have their Muso speakers (Spectacular to say the very least). Used to have the very first rDAC which was decent even with a couple of anomalies in the bass region (Could be seen in the THD measurements) but didn't stand a chance with Mojo's arrival.
Music:
My musical taste is quite varied and it matured over the past 10 years in this hobby. I mostly listen to Classic Rock, Rock, Pop, Indie Rock, Jazz, Classical, Electronica/Techno, New-Age, Acoustic/Folk, Hip-Pop and last but not the least, Indian (Classical & Picked Film Based).
Sound:
Before I get into the nitty gritty of things on how each particular track is rendered or portrayed I must say that the rHead is one heck of an amp. It sounds as good as it's built and pretty much like what says on the tin. It does sound ultra linear indeed. On the very first listen you could tell that it's very transparent. Wide stereo image with excellent portrayal of instrument separation across the entire spectrum. Detailing is pretty good too.
'Hotel California' by Eagles (Which most people are quite familiar with) sounded superb. The placement was pretty good. Bass is super clean with enough weight. Nicely rendered voice of excellent Don Henley. You can't really pinpoint and complain. It's very musical.
Neil Young's 'Live At Massey Place' sounded brilliant as well. It's well recorded and better mastered as compared to most of his studio albums. Although it's way before my time, it still sounds fresh to this date. I feel I am in the audience. I struggle to stop this one particular album in the middle though. And rHead's portrayal of it is as good as it gets.
Highendition Volume 9 (Life Stories) is an excellent compilation of some of the very best talents out there. I just love David Munyon's soulful voice, wonderfully gifted artist. And 'Baba Ghanoush' by Laliya is audaciously instrumental. rHead captured all of it the way source produced it (Mojo in my case).
Verdict:
Reviewing an amplifier is the most difficult task when it sounds this good. If it's bad you don't need to spend a lot of time assessing various genres. This is quality stuff and I could go on and on but in case of an amplifier it's primary goal is to disappear in the chain, provide enough grunt for the headphones when the music demands it and have very low noise floor and inaudibly distorted. If the amp maker is capable of ticking all those boxes then he would definitely end up with an ultra linear sounding amp which is remarkably rHead in this case and I have no qualms in recommending it to people who have a dedicated source.
Vs Chord Mojo:
To me Mojo was a revelation, so true that I was taken aback when I heard it for the first time comparing it back to back with my then current gear. It swept other DACs and amps in my chain without a drop of sweat and put them aside. It's a no match. I sold most of my stuff after acquiring Mojo. It's that good. The only piece of gear that's come to close solely based on amplification abilities is this rHead. We (Myself & my audiophile buddy) couldn't get to measure the rHead due to time constraints which now we feel that we should have. We are in the process of modifying my O2 by removing the first gain stage altogether and removing the resistors after the final Op-Amp gain stage to improve the distortion performance to make it more ultra linear. That should have been a good contest having all these around.
Subjective preference is still lying with Mojo for me and at the minute with Mojo in my stable I don't see buying an rHead although it would be a wonderful addition. When I decide to split my gear and have Mojo on the run all the time which requires me getting something like a Chord 2Qute at the very least as my source then I wouldn't hesitate in getting the rHead as a complimentary addition to my stable.
Firstly I would like to thank Rob Follis at Arcam for arranging this. It's always helpful to the community by doing such product tours and I am very much obliged to be a participant.
Construction:
rHead feels like a tank, weighs a metric tonne (
Features:
rHead has a minimalist design. Power switch is on the rear. There are two inputs, an RCA and an XLR at the rear. The front has two headphone outputs, one 3.5mm and one full size 1/4-inch. And then there's the volume control which also acts as a secondary switch to turn on or off.
Opertation:
rHead could be turned on and off by flicking the switch at the back. The volume control is the most standout feature that would draw everyone's attention. It's well made and beautiful to use. I liked the soft click when you turn it on and off. rHead is dead silent, I didn't get a chance to test it with my IEMs but I would be surprised to hear the hiss.
Testing Gear:
My chain is simple. It is as follows.
HTC 10 --> Chord Mojo --> rHead --> Hifiman HE-5LE
HTC 10 --> Chord Mojo --> Hifiman HE-5LE
Reviewer's Bias:
I like Arcam stuff. It's as simple as that. I still have their Muso speakers (Spectacular to say the very least). Used to have the very first rDAC which was decent even with a couple of anomalies in the bass region (Could be seen in the THD measurements) but didn't stand a chance with Mojo's arrival.
Music:
My musical taste is quite varied and it matured over the past 10 years in this hobby. I mostly listen to Classic Rock, Rock, Pop, Indie Rock, Jazz, Classical, Electronica/Techno, New-Age, Acoustic/Folk, Hip-Pop and last but not the least, Indian (Classical & Picked Film Based).
Sound:
Before I get into the nitty gritty of things on how each particular track is rendered or portrayed I must say that the rHead is one heck of an amp. It sounds as good as it's built and pretty much like what says on the tin. It does sound ultra linear indeed. On the very first listen you could tell that it's very transparent. Wide stereo image with excellent portrayal of instrument separation across the entire spectrum. Detailing is pretty good too.
'Hotel California' by Eagles (Which most people are quite familiar with) sounded superb. The placement was pretty good. Bass is super clean with enough weight. Nicely rendered voice of excellent Don Henley. You can't really pinpoint and complain. It's very musical.
Neil Young's 'Live At Massey Place' sounded brilliant as well. It's well recorded and better mastered as compared to most of his studio albums. Although it's way before my time, it still sounds fresh to this date. I feel I am in the audience. I struggle to stop this one particular album in the middle though. And rHead's portrayal of it is as good as it gets.
Highendition Volume 9 (Life Stories) is an excellent compilation of some of the very best talents out there. I just love David Munyon's soulful voice, wonderfully gifted artist. And 'Baba Ghanoush' by Laliya is audaciously instrumental. rHead captured all of it the way source produced it (Mojo in my case).
Verdict:
Reviewing an amplifier is the most difficult task when it sounds this good. If it's bad you don't need to spend a lot of time assessing various genres. This is quality stuff and I could go on and on but in case of an amplifier it's primary goal is to disappear in the chain, provide enough grunt for the headphones when the music demands it and have very low noise floor and inaudibly distorted. If the amp maker is capable of ticking all those boxes then he would definitely end up with an ultra linear sounding amp which is remarkably rHead in this case and I have no qualms in recommending it to people who have a dedicated source.
Vs Chord Mojo:
To me Mojo was a revelation, so true that I was taken aback when I heard it for the first time comparing it back to back with my then current gear. It swept other DACs and amps in my chain without a drop of sweat and put them aside. It's a no match. I sold most of my stuff after acquiring Mojo. It's that good. The only piece of gear that's come to close solely based on amplification abilities is this rHead. We (Myself & my audiophile buddy) couldn't get to measure the rHead due to time constraints which now we feel that we should have. We are in the process of modifying my O2 by removing the first gain stage altogether and removing the resistors after the final Op-Amp gain stage to improve the distortion performance to make it more ultra linear. That should have been a good contest having all these around.
Subjective preference is still lying with Mojo for me and at the minute with Mojo in my stable I don't see buying an rHead although it would be a wonderful addition. When I decide to split my gear and have Mojo on the run all the time which requires me getting something like a Chord 2Qute at the very least as my source then I wouldn't hesitate in getting the rHead as a complimentary addition to my stable.
