slinger1182
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2006
- Posts
- 289
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- 0
Hey guys,
I am a relative nOOB, both to this forum and the world of hi-fi audio. Needless to say, I love being here.
I have been lurking around this forum for the past 6 months without bothering to join and finally decided to take the plunge.
I was wondering if any of you guys have ever listened to an ATP Systems OHA-R headphone amp. I tried a few Google searches for this amp on this site, but could not find any review as such. What do you think about it?
I had tried Headroom's Bithead to pair with the HD580 but I was unable it drive it satisfactorily. Sorry for the vagueness but I am still inexperienced to articulate my misgivings about that amp. One thing though was certain that it clipped at just about 30-35% of the volume. I liked it's DAC though. It was much better than my current Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro (I had bought this as a low cost replacement for my laptop's ripped headphone jack. I am a poor graduate student after all!). The Audio Advantage Micro (AAM) sounds a bit more metallic than the Bithead.
I listened to the Bithead for about 10 days before I decided to go in for another amp. So I got the OHA-R amp and I think it rocks, nOObically speaking of course. I have not listened to any of the high-end amps that so many of you guys talk about so I really don't have anything else to compare to. And I live in a friggin' village so there are no high end audio shops around.
What I did manage to do is use the Bithead as a DAC and the OHA-R amp. That was my best configuration till date. I think that this configuration really bloomed my 580s. I just loved Ravi Shankar's Sitar and Zakir Hussain's Tabla. The tailings of the strings resonated in my ear that their vibrations carried me to heaven and back several times. The Tabla sounded crisp and clear. I don't know how many of you guys have ever listened to a Tabla before but they are basically two percussion instruments. One of them fives a deep bass sound and the other gives sharp crisp blasts. These Tabla plaers sometimes sharply rub the base of their wrists on the surface of the bassier Tabla which gives a whooping bumpy sound (somewhat like a small stone pebble dropped in water). This sound often gets lost in the recordings or atleast cannot be heard very clearly. Now this sound I heard for the very fist time and was in ecstacy.
But after comparing it with using OHA-R as the the amp and the AAM as my DDAC, I didn't think it was worth it having both the Bithead and OHA-R together. I know the Bithead's DAC was slightly better than the AAM but to keep a 200$ DAC didn't really strike me as financially viable in my poverty ridden student life. Plus so many connections made it far too cumbersome.
Moral of this ramble: I think OHA-R is a quite a better amplifier than the Bithead at 30% less than 50% of the cost (Both of these are slated at 300 Ohm output impedance). I am just saying what sounded good to my ear. Take it with a pinch of salt for I am inexperienced. But I don't think you could go wrong with a 69$ amp capable of driving a 300 Ohm amp to deafening levels.
I am a relative nOOB, both to this forum and the world of hi-fi audio. Needless to say, I love being here.
I was wondering if any of you guys have ever listened to an ATP Systems OHA-R headphone amp. I tried a few Google searches for this amp on this site, but could not find any review as such. What do you think about it?
I had tried Headroom's Bithead to pair with the HD580 but I was unable it drive it satisfactorily. Sorry for the vagueness but I am still inexperienced to articulate my misgivings about that amp. One thing though was certain that it clipped at just about 30-35% of the volume. I liked it's DAC though. It was much better than my current Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro (I had bought this as a low cost replacement for my laptop's ripped headphone jack. I am a poor graduate student after all!). The Audio Advantage Micro (AAM) sounds a bit more metallic than the Bithead.
I listened to the Bithead for about 10 days before I decided to go in for another amp. So I got the OHA-R amp and I think it rocks, nOObically speaking of course. I have not listened to any of the high-end amps that so many of you guys talk about so I really don't have anything else to compare to. And I live in a friggin' village so there are no high end audio shops around.
What I did manage to do is use the Bithead as a DAC and the OHA-R amp. That was my best configuration till date. I think that this configuration really bloomed my 580s. I just loved Ravi Shankar's Sitar and Zakir Hussain's Tabla. The tailings of the strings resonated in my ear that their vibrations carried me to heaven and back several times. The Tabla sounded crisp and clear. I don't know how many of you guys have ever listened to a Tabla before but they are basically two percussion instruments. One of them fives a deep bass sound and the other gives sharp crisp blasts. These Tabla plaers sometimes sharply rub the base of their wrists on the surface of the bassier Tabla which gives a whooping bumpy sound (somewhat like a small stone pebble dropped in water). This sound often gets lost in the recordings or atleast cannot be heard very clearly. Now this sound I heard for the very fist time and was in ecstacy.
But after comparing it with using OHA-R as the the amp and the AAM as my DDAC, I didn't think it was worth it having both the Bithead and OHA-R together. I know the Bithead's DAC was slightly better than the AAM but to keep a 200$ DAC didn't really strike me as financially viable in my poverty ridden student life. Plus so many connections made it far too cumbersome.
Moral of this ramble: I think OHA-R is a quite a better amplifier than the Bithead at 30% less than 50% of the cost (Both of these are slated at 300 Ohm output impedance). I am just saying what sounded good to my ear. Take it with a pinch of salt for I am inexperienced. But I don't think you could go wrong with a 69$ amp capable of driving a 300 Ohm amp to deafening levels.
