[Leicachamp]

Has anybody used the Allnic with IEM,s?

 

[Glam Bash]

No, but with lower impedance headphones(TH900, LCD-X) the treble seriously rolled off. I am assuming most iems are low impedance here...

 

[Leicachamp]

I am suprised at your findings. Is your unit fully burnt in? How does the allnic fare with other headphones you have got.

 

[Glam Bash]

It's nearly a year old now so it should be broken in. Sounded fantastic at Axpona last March with LCD-3s. It grabbed my attention in a room with auralic, chord hugo, and cavalli amps. It tames the highs on the Grados without sounding rolled off so I assume the low impedance output sweet spot is around 50 ohms. The fostex are 25ohm and audeze are 22 ohm. On the other hand I tried the Grados with my apex peak/volcano once thinking dis gunna be good and I'll never do that again. I haven't used any high impedance headphones with the amp. The phones listed above are the only ones I've tried.

 

[jlutgring]

You're setup is first-class... I could only wish for just the amp. Perhaps some day... Oh, one nitpick, if this is usually the location you use to photograph your most elegant hardware, consider painting the left wall. It reminds me some of the walls I've seen while consuming large quantities of alcohol at frat parties way back when...

 

[leftside]

I'm also looking to get one of these headphone amp. Seem to get great reviews everywhere I look.

 

[npdang]

Contact Sunil at care-audio.com.  I believe he often has demo units that sell at a very good price.  I will echo what others have said that this is a relatively neutral sounding amp, with superb drive, transparency, and dynamics. There is also a noticeable sweetness to the top end, and slight richness to the sound that makes it very pleasant to listen to.  It easily betters the ARC ref 75. integrated (~$7k) I have driving my loudspeakers, and is in another league entirely to the Questyle CMA800i or the Auralic I had prior. 

 

[zixor]

Hello Everyone,
 
Longtime lurker here but just finished up getting my first full rig system based on the Allnic HPA-3000GT and HD800s and wanted to give you some quick feedback.
 
Since I live in Korea, I've been fortunate enough to be able to demo both the MT and GT (GT has full balanced in/out) versions on the amp with various headphones (Audezes LCD3, XC, HD800, HD800s, Fostex TH900 etc). Just to add my two cents, this was the most transparent/musical headphone amp I have heard to date.
 
Altho, my experience with headphone amp is not as extensive as my experience with hifi rigs, the details/transparency from the reproduced sound was comparable to what I used to hear from the TOTL hifi rigs I used to own. And boy does this amp sing with the best of them. Listening to music is a joy as the enormously wide sound stage of the HD800s is effortlessly filled by the Allnic amp. There is nothing lacking in this combo in terms of treble, mids and even yes bass (there is no bloatness but deep and tight bass depending on the music). In terms of music, every genre I've thrown at including all kinds of classicals to jazz, EDM, rock, hip-hop, K-pop has been amazing to listen to... currently listening to Mahler's No. 2 by Mehta on Tidal thru Roon and the scale of the massive orchestral work is nothing short of breath taking as I write this.
 
I've only had the rig setup (full detail of my current rig can be seen below in my signature) for a week or so and it's still in the middle of burn-in process (about 50hours so far) but everyday I feel there is an improvement in the sound, which has been another joy.
 

 
Currently have this itch to find the perfect compliment to the HD800s with a closed planar (Ether C is my current target) but very difficult to find any demo units here.
 
Anyways, hope this helps and enjoy the music everyone.

 

[leftside]

Thanks for posting. I didn't realize there was an Allnic HPA-3000GT and MT versions for the Korean market.

 

[zixor]

I think the GT version was just released early this year and hasn't made out to state side yet. Main difference is having a full balance input and output and uses just 2x6EM7 dual triode tubes for amplification instead of 2x6DR7, 1x7233, 1x5654 in the MT version. Comparing the two versions, i find both have similar characteristics (musical, transparency, imaging) but the GT version having more oomph across the frequency range (esp. in the treble and bass). Also, the benefit of having full balanced in and output also adds a touch bit more in the transparency and imaging.

Just had a chance to demo the new Audeze lcd4s with the allnic amp yesterday and again came away amazed at how transparent the cans sounded out of the low impedance output. LCD4s are some amazing cans in terms of transparency and resolution (I hear just a tad bit moe resolution in string instrument notes) but personally I feel it sacrifices the overall structure of the presentation for more detail resolution (compared to the hd800s).

Again, it seems like allnic does a great job matching with any type of cans in the market and is versatile enough to bring out the best in all TOTL cans. It is just matter of personal preference in what kind of sound from which headphones you prefer to listen your music with... Cheers.

 

[leftside]

Thanks again for the info. I already have a Woo Audio WA22 with quite a few upgraded tubes that I really enjoy, but would also like to give the Allnic a try. I have the Allnic H1201Phono Pre, so I am familiar with how good their equipment is.

 

[npdang]

Just upgraded to the HPA-5000 XL, which I believe is their latest version with XLR in/out and larger power supply transformers.  I also hear it can now drive high impedance loads.  Initial impressions based on memory is that the HPA-3000 has a more matter-of-fact sound to it, which some may prefer, while the HPA-5000 is noticeably sweeter and fuller, slightly richer, little bit better bass extension and impact, and slightly more transparent.  I think the HPA-3000 is a better buy for the money as the differences are not huge, but they are there if you must have it and can afford it.  Heat output is also more noticeable with the HPA-5000.  With break-in, and a higher quality source I think the improvements may be more apparent, but to be honest both amplifiers already operate at such a high level it is hard to imagine how much better it could get.  Compared to many of the popular offerings I've owned/heard (Pass, Auralic, Schiit, Leben, Cary, etc.) these are imho, noticeably better across the board. 

 

[zixor]

I had a chance to extensively audition both the HPA-3000GT and the brand new HPA-5000XL at the main distributor's show room the other day. Set up was with a Marantz CD transport connected to Allnic's legendary D-5000 DAC with full balance cables connecting to the each headphone amps with HD800s connected by 4pin balanced. I didn't bring my music library with me so had to use whatever demo CDs they had a the listening room (Mahler no.1 by Abbado, 32bit hidef demo music, various Jazz albums etc).
In short,  I totally agree with @npdang assessment on how each headphone amps differ but magnified by about 10x. HPA-3000GT paints a great detailed/transparent picture but the HPA-5000XL brings the image to another level (easiest comparison would be looking at an image in 2D UXGA vs super sharp 4KUHD that makes it look 3D). Each note that resonnated from the headphone by the HPA-5000XL was much sharper and clearer that it made it look like it had depth. This led to an image rendition by the headphones that actually made me feel like I was standing with the conductor of a large orchestra (by the HPA-5000XL) compared to sitting at the middle front row of a nice concert hall (HPA-3000GT).

After the demo session, I had no choice but to upgrade to the HPA-5000XL, the decision was a no-brainer for me (sigh another hit to my ever thinning wallet but oh well...)
With full balance in/outputs with no need to set to certain impedance output for headphones (previous 5000 models needed to be set to either low or high impedence), I believe I found my TOTL headphone amp and can't wait for my unit to arrive.
 
Hope this helps and enjoy the music!

 

[leftside]

 
After the demo session, I had no choice but to upgrade to the HPA-5000XL, the decision was a no-brainer for me (sigh another hit to my ever thinning wallet but oh well...)
With full balance in/outputs with no need to set to certain impedance output for headphones (previous 5000 models needed to be set to either low or high impedence), I believe I found my TOTL headphone amp and can't wait for my unit to arrive.
 
Hope this helps and enjoy the music!

Has it arrived yet?

 

[leftside]

I have a HPA-3000 arriving soon. I'll post up my thoughts when I compare it to my existing Woo Audio WA22.