Aune S17 pro

[Currawong]

I was just checking around to see what people were saying about this amp, as it looks interesting.

Let's gear real here. By all accounts this amp a bargain in terms of sound quality, and it is likely to be spreading panic among competitors.

LOL. That's not getting real, that's just fantasy. Sorry, it has to be said. There's only so much possible at any price point, due to parts costs, and unless you're doing direct sales almost entirely, it's going to be even harder, especially if you are paying for a fancy, custom chassis. What is more, these manufacturers are always fighting for who has the best SINAD scores, and where they can't simply cheat by only reporting A-weighted 1kHz results, they set the balanced output to 5V, which gives the optimum numbers for the APX-555. They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.

However, to their credit, they seem have a linear PSU (there's no such thing as a "linear transformer" as stated on the page for the amp), which is likely going to be better than the cheap switching PSUs Topping uses, which require noise filtering to be useful, and the unit isn't likely to die after a few years when the PSU fails.

The stated maximum output is clearly not going to be Class-A. They only list something like 200 mA of class-A output from the transistors. A 2W actual Class A amp in the form of the Mjolnir puts out a HUGE amount of heat, and the S17 just doesn't have the surface area to do 7W. That 7W figure is going to be Class AB, and may not even be RMS, which, if so, means that they are cheating the numbers.

Still, it looks like it might be quite decent. I'd like to see THD vs. output to see what its actual power output looks like though. The $500-1000 price point is the point above which the Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in for DACs and amps.

 

[Hooster]

LOL. That's not getting real, that's just fantasy. Sorry, it has to be said.

Hi, thanks, I love and appreciate your work, please keep it up. You can call my statements fantasy but in my opinion this easily beats, in terms of sound quality, any headphone amp I have heard that is in the same category. Other commentators consistently say the same thing. I don't think there is anything fantastic about calling this a bargain and I am sure it has competitors worried. "Panic" might be overstating things but I was making a point.





I suggest you get a hold of one and have a listen. Until you do your statements are without any real substance.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that the S17 is the best headphone amp ever made. Simply that one would struggle to find one in the same price category that beats it in terms of sound quality.

Of course it all depends on who you ask. Go to Super best audio friends for example and I am sure they would all agree that this hardly measures up to the cheapest offering from Schiit. Thankfully this is not SBAF.

 

[motberg]

I was just checking around to see what people were saying about this amp, as it looks interesting.


LOL. That's not getting real, that's just fantasy. Sorry, it has to be said. There's only so much possible at any price point, due to parts costs, and unless you're doing direct sales almost entirely, it's going to be even harder, especially if you are paying for a fancy, custom chassis. What is more, these manufacturers are always fighting for who has the best SINAD scores, and where they can't simply cheat by only reporting A-weighted 1kHz results, they set the balanced output to 5V, which gives the optimum numbers for the APX-555. They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.

However, to their credit, they seem have a linear PSU (there's no such thing as a "linear transformer" as stated on the page for the amp), which is likely going to be better than the cheap switching PSUs Topping uses, which require noise filtering to be useful, and the unit isn't likely to die after a few years when the PSU fails.

The stated maximum output is clearly not going to be Class-A. They only list something like 200 mA of class-A output from the transistors. A 2W actual Class A amp in the form of the Mjolnir puts out a HUGE amount of heat, and the S17 just doesn't have the surface area to do 7W. That 7W figure is going to be Class AB, and may not even be RMS, which, if so, means that they are cheating the numbers.

Still, it looks like it might be quite decent. I'd like to see THD vs. output to see what its actual power output looks like though. The $500-1000 price point is the point above which the Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in for DACs and amps.

I think it sounds pretty good, but to me, imparts a pleasant but similar character to everything... really amazing sound stage though. If you are interested, I have one at 230v with the original volume programming that you can have for free... just pay the freight from Shenzhen area....

 

[Simon Patten]

They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.

Can you remember where you saw that? I am thinking about buying one and have watched/read most of the reviews out there but I don't recall either being mentioned. Are you sure you're thinking about the S17 Pro?

 

[Simon Patten]

If you are interested, I have one at 230v with the original volume programming that you can have for free... just pay the freight from Shenzhen area....

If they don't take you up on that, I'm in the UK (240v) and would be delighted to take it off your hands! Feel free to PM me.

 

[leedong]

请问我的这个主板是否属于最新的软件版本？我只有一个dt880，无法得知s17pro的音量是否存在问题。大家能否把最新版本的s17pro的条形码发一下，我想对比一下。

 

[motberg]

请问我的这个主板是否属于最新的软件版本？我只有一个dt880，无法得知s17pro的音量是否存在问题。大家能否把最新版本的s17pro的条形码发一下，我想对比一下。

mine is 230131, I notified Aune about the volume control problem immediately after I took delivery end October. Intended use was preamp, but incompatible with my particular setup.
Purchased from an authorized dealer.
The software fix seems fairly recent, but you should check with Aune, pretty good customer service generally.
I'm not going to bother with a return... The original software seems to work for most users as a headphone amp, but I was expecting something more like 1db jumps based on my prior experience with r2r style volume controls.

 

[Musiccc]

Currawong said:
They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.

Can you remember where you saw that? I am thinking about buying one and have watched/read most of the reviews out there but I don't recall either being mentioned. Are you sure you're thinking about the S17 Pro?

He saw it from the la la land. Just a bunch of rambling in his post.

 

[Currawong]

Currawong said:
They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.



He saw it from the la la land. Just a bunch of rambling in his post.

You took my comment out of context. Here it is again:

What is more, these manufacturers are always fighting for who has the best SINAD scores, and where they can't simply cheat by only reporting A-weighted 1kHz results, they set the balanced output to 5V, which gives the optimum numbers for the APX-555. They also have large amounts of negative feedback in the circuit to get the THD down, resulting in that "flat" soundstage these designs tend to have.

In general, most Chinese manufactures add some, often large amounts of negative feedback into the circuit to get better measurement numbers at the expense of sound quality. Supposedly it causes, among other things, phase shifts, though I'd like to see a greater variety of measurements of amplifiers to verify this.

If this amp has better sound quality than its competitors at the same price point, GOOD! But, I doubt that they concerned, as there are still a great many people who are sold on the measurements etc. Like I said, I think it's good that they are making a fully discrete amplifier with a proper power supply.

 

[bogi]

As I really dont understand why you are making everybody so nervous about this amp

That's only your point of view. There are more people whose normal volume level falls between volume steps 55 and 56 of original volume control setup. I found that sensitivity of my HE-500 could fall into this area too. I was thinking about buying it from Hifigo but returning an unit to China to be exchanged or refunded did not look for me like a scenario I would like to be part of.

I respect your view but of course others have their rational reasons for different view. If user complains led to change in the new production batch, then these complains were useful. Any attempt to stop people on complaining in the case of issues is basically wrong. I am for example not quite happy about 32 effective levels only. I would like rather to see 64 1dB steps than 32 2dB steps.

You were writing your post like if the German shop would be servicing/reprogramming the whole world. That's not the case. Aune as a producer did not communicate clearly that they are doing changes in volume level programming between production batches. The German distributor telling something is not a full substitution of Aune's missing communication and does not have world wide competence.

For me I would be so much like to discuss about how it sounds in comparrison to other Amps, and how it works with this and that headphone.

Couldn't you post content of this type duing the previous weeks??

 

[bogi]

In general, most Chinese manufactures add some, often large amounts of negative feedback into the circuit to get better measurement numbers at the expense of sound quality. Supposedly it causes, among other things, phase shifts, though I'd like to see a greater variety of measurements of amplifiers to verify this.

You wrote 'in general'. Are you sure that this is the case of S17 Pro? Is your standing towards S17 Pro based only on generalization? Did you use any S17 Pro specific information as base for your standing?

 

[labeelen]

I think it sounds pretty good, but to me, imparts a pleasant but similar character to everything... really amazing sound stage though. If you are interested, I have one at 230v with the original volume programming that you can have for free... just pay the freight from Shenzhen area....

… I think you meant to say that you ‘loan it to him for the review for free’ in stead of you can ‘have for free’ ?

Anyways I am also interested in Currawongs opinion after he has reviewed the actual product. Comparing the S17 to his latest Mjolnir review sounds interesting as several of his followers have already suggested.
He might be pleasantly surprised like many of us over here..

 

[labeelen]

You took my comment out of context. Here it is again:



In general, most Chinese manufactures add some, often large amounts of negative feedback into the circuit to get better measurement numbers at the expense of sound quality. Supposedly it causes, among other things, phase shifts, though I'd like to see a greater variety of measurements of amplifiers to verify this.

If this amp has better sound quality than its competitors at the same price point, GOOD! But, I doubt that they concerned, as there are still a great many people who are sold on the measurements etc. Like I said, I think it's good that they are making a fully discrete amplifier with a proper power supply.

Currawong, I know you can do better than that. This forum is named ‘Aune S17 Pro’ not ‘Most Chinese manufacturers’

Use of words like ‘In general’, ‘often’, ‘supposedly’, ‘I doubt’, etc. gives me the feeling you make a lot of assumptions.

… again, trust your own ears and give us your honest opinion with an open mind based on the actual product.

 

[Currawong]

You wrote 'in general'. Are you sure that this is the case of S17 Pro? Is your standing towards S17 Pro based only on generalization? Did you use any S17 Pro specific information as base for your standing?

No, I'm not sure. And absolutely, yes, the generalisations are often true. It's fairly a dead giveaway when a manufacturer's most prominent measurement is the THD at 1kHz, their DACs have a 5V output (when 4V is standard) and they state a power figure without saying it's peak or RMS. It very strongly suggests that they care more about the measurements than actual music reproduction, and that reviewing their products is probably a waste of time, even if the product is probably quite good. And again, if it sounds better (better detail, depth, etc.) than similarly priced amps, GOOD!

 

[bogi]

No, I'm not sure. And absolutely, yes, the generalisations are often true. It's fairly a dead giveaway when a manufacturer's most prominent measurement is the THD at 1kHz, their DACs have a 5V output (when 4V is standard) and they state a power figure without saying it's peak or RMS. It very strongly suggests that they care more about the measurements than actual music reproduction, and that reviewing their products is probably a waste of time, even if the product is probably quite good. And again, if it sounds better (better detail, depth, etc.) than similarly priced amps, GOOD!

IMO S17 Pro is enough specific to give reasons not to apply such level of generalization. My point is that this is a discrete design whose described sound signature (different people were describing it in very similar way) does not show much similarity to those NFCA amps from Topping and similar.

About your reserved standing to the way how Amir is doing and interpreting measurements, and how that may affect design targets of companies like Topping and similar - I am with you.