[Max Dread]

Hi all

That's right! When I first bought my K701s, the chap was also selling a Creek OBH-21SE amp. So I bought that as well, but I found I couldnt hear any difference between the Creek and the Headphone socket on my EMU 1820M.

So I saved and searched and recently bought a Heed Canamp! I've been burning it in (I'm somehwere between 100 - 200 hours). But so far the same goes as with the Creek........I cannot hear any difference between the EMU and HEED. So I'm both gutted and surprised, because from what I read there should be a real night and day difference.

From where I sit, there seems there could be a few possible answers:

1. The Heed needs to be burnt in for longer (although - obviously - some people think that burning in will make no difference. Plus, it already has some burn in).

2. Interconnect. I'm using a pretty cheap one at the moment, more or less like the cheapie ones you get for free when you buy a hifi. Could this have such a dramatic effect as to make the Heed sound the same as the Emu?

3. I'm deaf or mad and for whatever reason it's just me that cannot hear the difference.

4. It's hype that the Heed makes a huge difference with the K701s.


So any thoughts on this would be great. I'll give it more burn in and buy a decentist interconnect, but in the meantime and thoughts would be great.

Cheers

Max

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

By all means, give it another couple of hundred hours of burn in. Spend more money on esoteric cables. Click your heels together 3 times, repeat "there's no place like home" and strain until you've given yourself a hemmoroid. You simply must hear the "night and day" difference between a respected headphone amp and a $200 plastic digital recording interface, the headphone section of which must represent what, $25 at full retail? Not hearing a "night and day" difference would be an affront to audiophiles everywhere and if you fail to hear it you will simply have to keep spending money until you have, in the end, sent thousands of dollars to a boutique builder somewhere for a valve amp to raise the noise floor and the "musicality" of your listening.

Or you could come to the healthy conclusion that what is hype here is "night and day." The differences between competent amps are small. The mythologies and purchase justifications of audiophiles are epic. Someone should be along any minute to tell you they've never been impressed with the Heed and make another recommendation that will blow away your EMU and make a "night and day" difference in your listening experience...

Phelonious

GrumpyOldArts.com

 

[Max Dread]

Thanks for the input. But to ensure I haven't missed your point, are you saying you think it is #4 from above?

BTW - can you really get the 1820M (now 1616M) for $200 in the US???

 

[scootermafia]

Hate to break it to you but the headphone stage in the Heed isn't that much fancier than a CMOY. What you're hearing is reality, vs. some people's fantasy regarding the Canamp, you're probably the first to figure out that it's a simple, plain opamp design made of noname parts for too much money.

 

[Max Dread]

So do either of you want to buy it from me then????? HAHA!

Seriously though, I will give the burn-in a little longer and buy a decent IC (by which I mean a QED at the £10-£20 mark, not a £???? type mortgage necessitating IC!)

Plus I'll have a listen at a few different times of day, and get some friends and family to A/B them.

But TBH I think it is most very likely that this will end up going for sale.......

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Dread /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the input. But to ensure I haven't missed your point, are you saying you think it is #4 from above? BTW - can you really get the 1820M (now 1616M) for $200 in the US???

Actually, I'd go for #5: The differences between competently-designed, reasonbly well-implemented amplifiers are grossly over-hyped by the audiophile community. Are there differences? Sure. But if the difference between two amps with modern specifications are dramatic, something is simply wrong. "Night and Day" differences are for recordings and transducers.

I did Google and find and 1820M for $199 this morning. Must have been a close out price. I'm now finding the 1616 for $399. Still, it's a whole lot more than a headphone amp for that price.

PP

GrumpyOldArts.com

 

[Bullseye]

Swapping ICs will just empty your wallet.
More burn in than 200 hours? Well, you amp must be freezing then..
It is hype and the need to justify the money spent on that amplifier.

You should put it for sale ^^ (I won't buy it from you, believe me

) and get back some of your money.

I would also recommend you start listening to your music instead of your equipment. You will find it with a decent equipment you can be quite happy

 

[Max Dread]

I'm going to link to this thread in the huge Canamp thread........

It's funny how few opinions such as those given here are available on the net. When I researched the Canamp, I found it almost universally regarded as a fantastic amp, esp with K701.

 

[Happy Camper]

You caught us. Damn, there goes my commission.

I did a quick search on a few shopping sites and no, I did not see any pricing below $310 and that was probably used. Everything indicated $390 or above.

 

[Max Dread]

Are you referring to the 1820M here HC?

 

[odigg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, I'd go for #5: The differences between competently-designed, reasonbly well-implemented amplifiers are grossly over-hyped by the audiophile community. Are there differences? Sure. But if the difference between two amps with modern specifications are dramatic, something is simply wrong. "Night and Day" differences are for recordings and transducers.

Phelonious Ponk - A person after my heart!

After having experienced a great number of amps ranging from $40 to $5K, I've come to the conclusion that most amps sound mostly (if not exactly) the same in any sort of rigorous (volume matched, etc) testing.

Note that one difference between your EMU and many solid state headphone amps is that the output impedance of the headphone jack on the EMU is probably higher than 0 ohms whereas the output impedance of many solid state amps is close to 0 ohms. This really only makes a difference with low impedance headphones (e.g. 16, 25 ohms) but probably isn't much of an issue with your K701.

 

[peanuthead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, I'd go for #5: The differences between competently-designed, reasonbly well-implemented amplifiers are grossly over-hyped by the audiophile community. Are there differences? Sure. But if the difference between two amps with modern specifications are dramatic, something is simply wrong. "Night and Day" differences are for recordings and transducers.

Agree completely.

 

[Happy Camper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Dread /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you referring to the 1820M here HC?

No, the 1616m (unless the 1820 m is the same unit).

 

[Pyriel0]

Maybe its just me, but I have found the differences that people talk about are spotted more easily from going down the chain instead of up. When my K1000 first arrived, I was not blown away like I thought I would be. After one-two weeks of listening went by and I used the old headphones again, the differences/improvements were immediately noticeable because I had grown used to the sound of the better headphone and I could tell exactly what was not there anymore.

I would say give it a week or two(of actual listening not just burning in) and then switch back to your old equipment. If you still can't tell a difference, then by all means sell it.

 

[Bojamijams]

I don't really wanna get into this as I have no experience with either of the two amps being compared, but I will say this, and it echos what Pyriel0 has said.

I too don't hear much different when I try to directly AB two pairs of headphones, amps, etc. But.. if I stay with one can/amps for a week and switch to another, the difference is immediate. Something to do with short term memory and how audio is processed by the brain I'm sure, but I do know there are differences when comparing a week later as opposed to 20 seconds later.