[headoncollision]

hey guys
it has been a while since I posted, so my setup is as following, a micro-atx gaming pc with creative titanium HD I use to power my denon ah-d5000 with a schiit asgard but somehow it stopped working and since I am not in usa I cannot replace it. so my question is as following, yesterday bravo audio v1 caught my eye on amazon for 85$ and seems to get very decent reviews but I couldn`t find any comparison with other amps in the range such as Little Dot I+ 6JI X2 which seems to be more popular. so to anyone who have tried both or at least owns one of them, which one is a better buy, I am leaning toward the bravo since it looks kinda cool and is small enough to fit in my desk, but how better or worst is it compared to the little dot. and another viable option is the schiit magni.
thanks in advance, would appreciate any other options or opinions.

 

[cel4145]

I used to own the Little Dot I+, and more recently, I got an Asgard 2. Definitely like the Asgard 2 better, if that helps.

And BTW, Schiit does ship internationally.

 

[headoncollision]

I used to own the Little Dot I+, and more recently, I got an Asgard 2. Definitely like the Asgard 2 better, if that helps.

And BTW, Schiit does ship internationally.

thanks for the input, I wouldn`t be looking for another headphone amp if my asgard didn`t die on me, it was a great amp, there was a power outage in my area and guess this fried the psu, contacted schiit but got no reply. I assume the asgard 2 is a better version of the original asgard, problem is my budget does not allow me to spend more than 120$ on a headphone amp for the time being, and it really doesn`t hurt owning two to be honest since I still have hope for my asgard to be replaced or fixed. currently I am using my d5000 unamped which sucks completely

 

[cel4145]

For the money, I thought the Little Dot I+ was very good.

Are you in the UK by any chance? The EHP-O2 is the same as the Objective 2 amp. It's a really good amp, and I would only rate it a small notch below the Asgard 2

 

[headoncollision]

For the money, I thought the Little Dot I+ was very good.

Are you in the UK by any chance? The EHP-O2 is the same as the Objective 2 amp. It's a really good amp, and I would only rate it a small notch below the Asgard 2

this looks like a good option to, despite that fact that I don`t need the portability feature since I own fiio E11 ( using it right now as a spare ) the problem is I am in UAE and my current payment is only accepted by amazon.com and other major seller, so I can only purchase bavo audio or little dot, I don`t think the o2 is available. and apparently the E-mail I have send before to schiit wasn`t delivered or something cuz I have sent them an E-mail right now and they replayed to me in less than an hour. maybe they can work something out regarding the shipment to usa. will see

 

[cel4145]

Check Ebay. You might be able to find an Ebay seller with the O2 that ships to you. It really is a great sounding little amp. I

 

[headoncollision]

I`m new in UAE and havn`t set up my banking yet, so I am using a prepaid visa card that paybal and other U.S online stores don`t recognize including ebay, it seems like amazon is the only place that I can order from for now, and I can`t wait any longer for a headphone amp, since where I live I can`t use my desktop speakers or I will disturb the neighbors. anyway I have submitted a repair replacement ticket for schiit and I hope they can work something out for me.

 

[headoncollision]

another options are schiit magni and vali, are the better than the one in the forum topic ? and which is better for the d5000 thanks.

 

[cel4145]

The tube amps you are considering are hybrid solid state/tube amps that just add some tube flavor onto the solid state amp. Whether or not the Bravo, Little Dot, or Vali would be better than a Magni or the O2 depends on whether or not you would prefer the more accurate sound of a solid state amp or the distortion added by the tubes. I prefer straight solid state. Others like the hybrid sound. Really it depends so much on you that I don't think anyone can predict it for you.

 

[headoncollision]

I actually prefer as accurate as possible, since I get to tune with the sound as much as I like using an eq on my sound card, it`s better this way for me, thats why I choose the asgard, so your saying the magni is the best fit or are there is other solid state amps worth looking at at the price range of less than 200$

 

[cel4145]

Magni and O2 are supposedly about the best

 

[headoncollision]

I have made some reading now about comparisions and some headifiers said that the asgard and magni pretty much sound the same, especially with this guy comparing the asgard and bitfrost to the modi and magni saying that there is little to no difference between them using an LCD-s 1000$ headphones! so I think I am going to go a head and order a magni, I might order a modi with it but I am not sure yet  

 

[cel4145]

The Modi might give you a little improvement over the Titanium HD. But I wouldn't expect miracles. I found that when I went from the STX to the ODAC, the difference was not that great. Mostly it felt like the ODAC had more depth--blackness. I was probably getting a touch of background noise that I didn't realize with the STX.

 

[headoncollision]

the titanium HD would definitly sound better for games since hence the x-fi chip, and not to mention the ability to tenker with all the EQ and effects, in fact since your to eager to help me I am considering Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB Audio System to use it with my laptop instead of getting the modi, to be able to use optical for my sound system and also take advantage of the good DAC in the x-fi HD assuming it has the same components as the titanium HD. I really love the optical out for the 5.1 system ( not hi-fi ) but good for surround sound when gaming with friends and family.

 

[cel4145]

I don't know much about the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB. However, if you have optical out on your laptop already, you could try Razer's surround sound software. If the virtual surround works well, then any optical dac/headphone amp could work well. I would bet on the FiiO E17 to be a better DAC/amp than the X-Fi HD (but just a guess).

For EQ adjustment without having to have a soundcard and its software, look into Equalizer APO. Powerful PEQ for Windows: http://www.head-fi.org/t/649389/a-free-parametric-equalizer-for-windows-vista-7-and-8-that-doesnt-need-asio-or-vst-it-works-inline-at-the-os-level . If you are not familiar with it, PEQ gives you much more EQ control than a multiband graphical EQ.

Apparently the developer has been working on add-ons to make it even more user-friendly.