[Headlab]

Hi all
 
I recently acquired some Sennheiser IE8s and thought I'd give them a whirl with my PS Audio GCHA. Since the GCHA uses gain cell tech there is no issue with channel imbalance at low volume unlike my other headamps.
 
The results were horrible - huge amounts of constantly-changing background noise. Ugh.
 
Has anyone else tried this combination? Is this just how the amp behaves with high-sensitivity IEMs or is there a problem somewhere? Any advice will be gratefully received...

 

[Morph]

IE8 are very sensitive, if there is any noise present in the signal path there is a 99.99999% chance that it will be picked up by them. This summer I tested them with my Novo and my friends X-Can V3 and in both cases the amount of noise was so big that listening at low volumes was out of question.

 

[Headlab]

Hmm I figured as much ^_^.
 
Strangely enough, when I plug the IE8s into the headphone out on my Mini-DAC there is only a tiny amount of noise (channel imbalance is a problem though)

 

[drewjp]

@Headlab
 
Hey, how do you like the GCHA? It's one of the amps I am considering for my HD650s.

 

[Headlab]

Quote:

@Headlab
 
Hey, how do you like the GCHA? It's one of the amps I am considering for my HD650s.

At the original price of $1000 it was very good indeed, and at the current price of $500 it is a friggin' steal. Seriously. I also have HD650s and I find the combination to be hugely satisfying. Just be aware you will need to put at least 150 hours on it before the high frequencies smooth out.
 
Single-ended and balanced inputs as well as USB means it's very versatile. USB is handled by a PCM2702 chip, so not the greatest, but perfectly capable while you save up for a better DAC . My only gripe is that it doesn't have passthrough.

 

[drewjp]

Nice. I wonder how much longer I will be able to purchase it...it may take me awhile to save up.

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

what is this amps competition?   has anyone compared it to a reference we might be familiar with?
i also like the look of the phonno stage model  that compliments this?