[displayname]

Which DAC are you using?

Valid question. No DAC in this case, spinning vinyl.
Set up was MoFi UltraDeck + MasterTracker, Sutherland 20/20 preamp, pass through my tape/fixed out on my HK 3770 to the headphone amp(s).

 

[Bmxant]

Has anyone had the chance to compare the Arcam rHead to the iCan SE which is close in price, or the more expensive Jot or Grace m9XX? I'm curious how slam/impact and sound stage compare.

 

[Tonza]

I got the Arcam rHead after a few weeks of deliberating for a first dedicated amp for my headphones.
Other options were Aune X7S, Schiit Vali 2 and Massdrop CTH. I dropped the Aune because of lack of info
on output impedance. Only thing I found was some claim it was as high as 10 ohms.

Schiit Vali 2 would have been great with my AFO but Schiit Europe has had it out of stock for weeks.
Arcam is the only one I could go to my local store and bring home to test. I think at the price of 250 euros,
it's pretty great. Of course my other amps are combos and a bit different so comparison is hard.

The CTH would have been awesome too but for us Europeans, Massdrop is a bit of a hassle. Especially if
something breaks.

So far impressions are good. Sound is more detailed and wider than with my portable nano iDSD BL.
It is a touch brighter than the nano I think but not as bright as the amp in Creative X7.
I also love the resistive linear volume ladder.

 

[Bmxant]

I got the Arcam rHead after a few weeks of deliberating for a first dedicated amp for my headphones.
Other options were Aune X7S, Schiit Vali 2 and Massdrop CTH. I dropped the Aune because of lack of info
on output impedance. Only thing I found was some claim it was as high as 10 ohms.

Schiit Vali 2 would have been great with my AFO but Schiit Europe has had it out of stock for weeks.
Arcam is the only one I could go to my local store and bring home to test. I think at the price of 250 euros,
it's pretty great. Of course my other amps are combos and a bit different so comparison is hard.

The CTH would have been awesome too but for us Europeans, Massdrop is a bit of a hassle. Especially if
something breaks.

So far impressions are good. Sound is more detailed and wider than with my portable nano iDSD BL.
It is a touch brighter than the nano I think but not as bright as the amp in Creative X7.
I also love the resistive linear volume ladder.

Yeah, the Aune X7S looks great, but it seems 10 ohms is indeed the output impedance. Does the soundstage feel as closed in as some reviews say with the rHead? How's the pairing with the X00's? Good bass slam and extension?

I've heard the volume control is fantastic.

How do you like the Creative X7? It seems to get mixed reviews, but it's a neat looking dac / amp.

 

[starence]

It's very good with the TH-X00, bass is deep and well controlled, not boomy like it is with some amps.

 

[skingg]

I'm interested in this amp to power both my Fostex planar headphones. I'll thinking to rca out from my Fostex HP-A4BL but I wonder if whether this will bypass the Fostex amp section or will I be double amping instead?

Also, has anyone paired this amp with the HD650?

 

[Tonza]

Yeah, the Aune X7S looks great, but it seems 10 ohms is indeed the output impedance. Does the soundstage feel as closed in as some reviews say with the rHead? How's the pairing with the X00's? Good bass slam and extension?

I've heard the volume control is fantastic.

How do you like the Creative X7? It seems to get mixed reviews, but it's a neat looking dac / amp.

I think the soundstage is wider than on the portable nano iDSD. The X7 I think has similar soundstage.
Haven't heard tubes or hybrids so I don't know how it compares to those.

As starence said, the synergy with X00 is great. I think it's the best pairing from my heapdhones. The bass is better controlled
than on the nano and the X7 was a bit too bright with the X00 for some music. I do use the X00 for movies/games with the X7
though.

The X7 is pretty good but I use it mainly next to the TV for movies and games atm. (with headphones and lineout to speakers)
It has a lot of neat features. (nfc pairing, the app etc.)

 

[buonassi]

Does the soundstage feel as closed in as some reviews say with the rHead?

definitely not anything like a tube amp. I didn't notice that the stage was any more 'closed in' than other solid state sources I've tried. Perhaps it is a bit more intimate sounding than straight out of my Amethyst, but the tradeoff you gain is well controlled bass. Sub bass and low bass are punchy with a tad dry decay. The power and output impedance (and slew I'm guessing though I don't think it's published) allow for excellent damping of dynamic drivers. The bottom line is it's a natural and resolving amp. Not clinical, not overly warm, just right.

I have one here that I haven't used in months - and I can't bring myself to sell it.

 

[Bmxant]

definitely not anything like a tube amp. I didn't notice that the stage was any more 'closed in' than other solid state sources I've tried. Perhaps it is a bit more intimate sounding than straight out of my Amethyst, but the tradeoff you gain is well controlled bass. Sub bass and low bass are punchy with a tad dry decay. The power and output impedance (and slew I'm guessing though I don't think it's published) allow for excellent damping of dynamic drivers. The bottom line is it's a natural and resolving amp. Not clinical, not overly warm, just right.

I have one here that I haven't used in months - and I can't bring myself to sell it.

Thanks for the info, it seems like it's one of the best choices at its price point, but there's so many amps to choose from these days, it's wild. The Amethyst looks like a really nice unit too.

 

[littleemp]

I upgraded from the Magni 3 to the rHead. It wasn't a day/night difference, but there was definitely one. I found that the treble had been "pulled back a bit" and the lower frequencies felt like they gained a little impact to them. In a less subjective note, I found that I could easily IEMs out of the outputs and there was plenty of control in the volume knob without having to use volume attenuators like the IEMatch or Earbuddy.

If you're looking to purchase one for a little cheaper than what analogueseduction offers, then there's a website called Audio Affair that only ships to UK addresses, but you can force the checkout using paypal. It will fail to process the order and ask you to input the shipping address again and select international shipping. Do this and you'll end up paying a good bit less (15-20 pounds) than what analogueseduction is charging atm.

 

[skingg]

I upgraded from the Magni 3 to the rHead. It wasn't a day/night difference, but there was definitely one. I found that the treble had been "pulled back a bit" and the lower frequencies felt like they gained a little impact to them. In a less subjective note, I found that I could easily IEMs out of the outputs and there was plenty of control in the volume knob without having to use volume attenuators like the IEMatch or Earbuddy.

If you're looking to purchase one for a little cheaper than what analogueseduction offers, then there's a website called Audio Affair that only ships to UK addresses, but you can force the checkout using paypal. It will fail to process the order and ask you to input the shipping address again and select international shipping. Do this and you'll end up paying a good bit less (15-20 pounds) than what analogueseduction is charging atm.

I was about to grab it until I saw the UPS Expedited fare for £109.92 to where I am located (Asia). The cheapest solution is (Royal Mail) International Signed For £18.29 but can anyone confirm if this is secure enough?

 

[littleemp]

I was about to grab it until I saw the UPS Expedited fare for £109.92 to where I am located (Asia). The cheapest solution is (Royal Mail) International Signed For £18.29 but can anyone confirm if this is secure enough?

I used the royal mail. It came with tracking and was very speedy.

 

[skingg]

I believe my rHead is on the way. For those of you with this amp, how much volume do you set on your dac?

 

[buonassi]

full volume on the DAC, why not? the rHead accepts up to 4 volts single ended and up to 8 balanced - it's not going to clip unless your DAC puts more voltage than that. plus, no matter how low you set the volume on the rHead it will be channel matched since it uses a resistive ladder network. You're going to like the sound of this amp. What amp are you coming from?

 

[skingg]

full volume on the DAC, why not? the rHead accepts up to 4 volts single ended and up to 8 balanced - it's not going to clip unless your DAC puts more voltage than that. plus, no matter how low you set the volume on the rHead it will be channel matched since it uses a resistive ladder network. You're going to like the sound of this amp. What amp are you coming from?

This is infact my very first actual desktop amp; I have another Cayin C5 which is a portable amp so that doesn't really count. I'll be hooking the Fostex HP-A4BL (Burrbrown PCM1792A dac) to the rHead. Do you by chance know whether dacs with a low/hi gain switch (in my case the Fostex) will trigger any audible gains or is this by-passed when connecting out (via rca) to the amp (rHead)?