[Mightygrey]

It's a lot of money for a single-ended headphone amplifier, albeit a very powerful one from the sound of things - assuming the quoted 10 Watts are available from the headphone jack as well as into 8-ohm speakers.

On paper, this squares up against the Burson Funk in terms of its form-factor and intended use-case. However, the 35 Watts (into 8-ohms) makes it a far more flexible speaker powering proposition. Plus the Funk is well over half the price. A back-to-back test would be interesting.

 

[enb141]

It's a lot of money for a single-ended headphone amplifier, albeit a very powerful one from the sound of things - assuming the quoted 10 Watts are available from the headphone jack as well as into 8-ohm speakers.

On paper, this squares up against the Burson Funk in terms of its form-factor and intended use-case. However, the 35 Watts (into 8-ohms) makes it a far more flexible speaker powering proposition. Plus the Funk is well over half the price. A back-to-back test would be interesting.

I have a Burson Funk, the headphone amp is just 3 watts, for me is more than enough for my HD650 but if you need more juice you are gonna need something else.

I bought it for my speakers, 45 watts is more than enough for my speakers so I think a Qutest + Funk would be a cheaper combination if you only need 3 watts for heaphones. 10 watts for speakers is kind of useless.

 

[Malevolent]

It's a lot of money for a single-ended headphone amplifier, albeit a very powerful one from the sound of things - assuming the quoted 10 Watts are available from the headphone jack as well as into 8-ohm speakers.

On paper, this squares up against the Burson Funk in terms of its form-factor and intended use-case. However, the 35 Watts (into 8-ohms) makes it a far more flexible speaker powering proposition. Plus the Funk is well over half the price. A back-to-back test would be interesting.

10 W into 8 Ω isn't too far-fetched a target, IMO; I think the quoted figure is available to both the headphone and speaker outputs. The Asgard 3, for example, delivers 5 W into 16 Ω.

If this is true, the Anni is quite beefy for a "small-ish" amplifier. Good news for existing Qutest owners.

 

[Christer]

I have to say I like the form factor of the Anni, but specs are a bit confusing to me. Could someone with better knowledge than me, please explain why they quote two figures for SNR? -92dB and also -110dB?

To me neither look overly impressive. My main headphone amp twith Qutest the almost 10 years old Benchmark HGC2 quotes SNR at -126dB and only one number.
And it has all the in and outputs one could ask for including balanced, it was made for the Pro Market and is used there still.

Nor does 10 watts per channel for a speaker amp impress me much either.
I am using an amp capable of delivering 910 wats per channel with a rated THD of less than 0,01% and even the phono input quotes SNR at -96dB. And it is from 2006.
Cheers CC

 

[antdroid]

I have to say I like the form factor of the Anni, but specs are a bit confusing to me. Could someone with better knowledge than me, peaase explain why they quote two figures for SNR? -92dB and also -110dB?

To me neither look overly impressive. My main headphone amp twith Qutest the almost 10 years old Benchmark HGC2 quotes SNR at -126dB and only one number.
And it has all the in and outputs one could ask for including balanced, it was made for the Pro Market and is used there still.

Nor does 10 watts per channel for a speaker amp impress me much either.
I am using an amp capable of delivering 910 wats per channel with a rated THD of less than 0,01% and even the phono input quotes SNR at -96dB. And it is from 2006.
Cheers CC

-92 db is snr and -110db is noise floor level according to the anni manual.

your benchmarks -126db sounds like the dac performance more than the headphone amp.

10 watts is small for speaker amp yes. your 910 watts per channel at what ohms? seems a bit excessive unless thats a combined rating or at 1 ohm like a car speaker poweramp.

 

[vo_obgyn]

I would assume Anni would also pair with the hugo 2 if one already owns one for more difficult to drive HP's?

I’m currently using my Hugo 2’s fixed line level mode to drive my Ray Samuels Emmeline II “The Raptor” headphone amp. May purchase the Anni to replace The Raptor.

 

[Christer]

-92 db is snr and -110db is noise floor level according to the anni manual.

your benchmarks -126db sounds like the dac performance more than the headphone amp.

10 watts is small for speaker amp yes. your 910 watts per channel at what ohms? seems a bit excessive unless thats a combined rating or at 1 ohm like a car speaker poweramp.

Thanks, sorry about my ignorance,but I am still as confused as before. You are quoting the same figures as I did.
But what is the difference between the two?
I maybe wrongly understand snr as signal to noise ratio quoted in dB indicating the inherent noise level of a product?

I thought noise floor was the same ? I am aware that the noise floor or hiss level varies between digital formats with hi res formats gradually improving from say 16.44.1 at 98 dB and 32/768 even lower than the 126dB Benchmark quotes for their HPA2 headphone amp. And I think their quote actually is for the headphone amp section.
They quote an SNR of 131 dB for their more recent, 2018, HPA4 which does not have a dac section like the HGC2 has. The eqivalent Benchmark dac for HPA4would be the DAC3.
I have never heard the DAC3 or HPA4 but I know that the Qutest is a better more resolving dac than my Benchmark DAC2. I only use it for the headphone amp.
But to improve things even further,I am also using my Qutest with an Mscaler with a battery powered psu "almost mini dave" territory imho..
My main speaker amp 910W pc into 4ohm /650 into 8 ohm.
Cheers CC

 

[wirefriend]

I’m currently using my Hugo 2’s fixed line level mode to drive my Ray Samuels Emmeline II “The Raptor” headphone amp. May purchase the Anni to replace The Raptor.

Does the Raptor simnifically improve Hugo's sound?

 

[genefruit]

Thanks, sorry about my ignorance,but I am still as confused as before. You are quoting the same figures as I did.
But what is the difference between the two?
I maybe wrongly understand snr as signal to noise ratio quoted in dB indicating the inherent noise level of a product?

I thought noise floor was the same ? I am aware that the noise floor or hiss level varies between digital formats with hi res formats gradually improving from say 16.44.1 at 98 dB and 32/768 even lower than the 126dB Benchmark quotes for their HPA2 headphone amp. And I think their quote actually is for the headphone amp section.
They quote an SNR of 131 dB for their more recent, 2018, HPA4 which does not have a dac section like the HGC2 has. The eqivalent Benchmark dac for HPA4would be the DAC3.
I have never heard the DAC3 or HPA4 but I know that the Qutest is a better more resolving dac than my Benchmark DAC2. I only use it for the headphone amp.
But to improve things even further,I am also using my Qutest with an Mscaler with a battery powered psu "almost mini dave" territory imho..
My main speaker amp 910W pc into 4ohm /650 into 8 ohm.
Cheers CC

I think you're asking what is the difference between noise floor and signal to noise. Noise floor - level that is present regardless of a signal being present. Signal to noise RATIO is the RATIO of signal present above the noise when a signal is present.

 

[betula]

As a lover of Chord sound, I find this Anni very appealing. As a former owner of the Qutest and then the TT2 this combo might be just right for me. I know, many folks wanted a Qutest with a SE headphone out, apparently this is Chord's answer to that request. I wish it was a two in one device, but still a nice proposition.

This combo must sound better than the Hugo 2.

I am really interested in some similarly priced amp comparisons.

 

[Nostoi]

EU preorder: https://kopfhoererboutique.com/products/chord-electroncs-anni-pre-order

 

[jlbrach]

I’m currently using my Hugo 2’s fixed line level mode to drive my Ray Samuels Emmeline II “The Raptor” headphone amp. May purchase the Anni to replace The Raptor.

I may do the same...sounds like a perfect companion to the hugo 2 for more difficult to drive HP's

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

As a lover of Chord sound, I find this Anni very appealing. As a former owner of the Qutest and then the TT2 this combo might be just right for me. I know, many folks wanted a Qutest with a SE headphone out, apparently this is Chord's answer to that request. I wish it was a two in one device, but still a nice proposition.

This combo must sound better than the Hugo 2.

I am really interested in some similarly priced amp comparisons.

I, too, love Chord sound. I've been listening to my Hugo 2 a lot over the past couple days after not listening to it for a few months because I have been listening mostly to my DX300 for portable or TT2 for desktop. I had forgotten just how much I love its sound. I really dislike the USB micro ports, but the sound is really worth it. I pair the Hugo 2 with a Cayin C9 transportable AMP and it sounds terrific. I would love to compare that sound to the Qutest + Anni.

 

[betula]

I, too, love Chord sound. I've been listening to my Hugo 2 a lot over the past couple days after not listening to it for a few months because I have been listening mostly to my DX300 for portable or TT2 for desktop. I had forgotten just how much I love its sound. I really dislike the USB micro ports, but the sound is really worth it. I pair the Hugo 2 with a Cayin C9 transportable AMP and it sounds terrific. I would love to compare that sound to the Qutest + Anni.

I imagine Qutest + Anni to be less technical than TT2 but more powerful/impactful. I am very interested indeed as Qutest and Chord in general offers a unique and addictive sound presentation.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I imagine Qutest + Anni to be less technical than TT2 but more powerful/impactful. I am very interested indeed as Qutest and Chord in general offers a unique and addictive sound presentation.

The TT2 is 18W at 8Ω out of the balanced connectors on the back, while the Anni is 10W at 8Ω. The Anni is a bit more powerful out of the 6.35 than the TT2 out of the 6.35