[tracyca]

I love my Duet amp, with se 846 explosive! My pico slim is having some quiet time now.

 

[Herman92929]

I love my Duet amp, with se 846 explosive! My pico slim is having some quiet time now.

Congratulations

 

[oriise]

  I agree with this. The noise floor is very low. It isn't as low as the Vorzüge amps, but low enough that it will never ever get in the way of good music. The DUET is an amazing amazing amp. I think it will become a huge hit.

Shigzeo,
 
How would you characterize the Duet vs the Mark III B+ in balanced mode with sensitive IEMS (mine are UE 11 Pros)? I am leaning towards the ALO as my AK120 B Mod is a little lean in the bass (line out) and the warmer signature plus bass "boost" is mighty tempting. Soundstage width and depth is also important to me. Is the ALO unit much noisier or just slightly noisier (liveable)? How about dynamics and slam? Would appreciate any input on this as I have yet to find any direct impressions sharing the differences between the two.
 
Thanks, Ole.

 

[oriise]

The JH13 is pretty much my king of imaging but with the solo/duet, the F111 gives up very little to the JH13 in terms of space and defining the images with in it. I can't remember ever being this impressed with a piece of portable kit.

Shotgunshane,
 
Noticed in your profile that you own the AK240. How does the Duet marry with this unit? I own the AK 120 B Mod and can't decide between the Duet or the Mark III B. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Is the Duet better in a single-ended mode using the Solo DAC or do you like it just as much balanced with the AK?
 
Thanks, Ole.

 

[maricius]

  Shigzeo,
 
How would you characterize the Duet vs the Mark III B+ in balanced mode with sensitive IEMS (mine are UE 11 Pros)? I am leaning towards the ALO as my AK120 B Mod is a little lean in the bass (line out) and the warmer signature plus bass "boost" is mighty tempting. Soundstage width and depth is also important to me. Is the ALO unit much noisier or just slightly noisier (liveable)? How about dynamics and slam? Would appreciate any input on this as I have yet to find any direct impressions sharing the differences between the two.
 
Thanks, Ole.

 
I'm unsure if you've seen this but here is Mike's impressions and comparisons with the Duet (he uses the a AK240 + Duet combo for his Audeze LCD-XC)
 
"I like it better than the ALO Rx MK3B+. The ALO is more powerful with a stronger bass impact and more forward mids. Usually stronger bass is my thing but in this comparison, I prefer the Duet. It's more spacious, cleaner sound, blacker background, and a bit more laid back.

It also sounds like a fresh breath of air compared to the Intruder with its usual RSA weighty lows-sound. The comparison is also similar to the RX. The Duet is cleaner, more spacious, blacker background, a bit more laid back.

This puts the Duet as being more spacious than any of the current ALO or RSA portable amp I know. The only thing that's wider is Fostex's new HP-V1 but the Fostex is a bit weak on bass impact so I don't really enjoy the tradeoff.

If you've listened to the Vorzuge Pure, the Duet is a bit to that direction except that the Duet is wider, has a better depth, blacker background. The Vorzuge is a bit smoother though."
 
You'll find this in the comments section in his LCD-XC review. Also, Shigzeo, Nathan, has his reviews of the Duet and the RX in his signature just in case you haven't read them!!
 
Good luck!! (get the duet) 

 

[shotgunshane]

Shotgunshane,

Noticed in your profile that you own the AK240. How does the Duet marry with this unit? I own the AK 120 B Mod and can't decide between the Duet or the Mark III B. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Is the Duet better in a single-ended mode using the Solo DAC or do you like it just as much balanced with the AK?

Thanks, Ole.

Hey Ole,
I no longer have the Duet. I sold it and the solo to fund the AK240. And I have no plans to amp the AK240. I've learned that if I cannot easily pocket my portables, my usage wanes.

That being said, the Duet is the most spacious amp I've heard. The Ak240 by itself is also very spacious but the Duet's left and right separation is quite amazing and when you add that to its utterly black background, it's pretty awesome. The F111 had great synergy with it.

I ran the Duet almost exclusively with the solo -db. The two units were connected balanced for most of my usage, even when using single ended iems.

If you are an iem user, I'd probably stay away from the ALO unit. Everyone I know with it says there is noise and/or hiss with many of their iems (doesn't apply to headphones).

Sorry I couldn't be of more value on that question but Shiqzeo might be able to help if he still has the Duet, as he is currently borrowing Anakchan's AK240.

 

[zeppu08]

Any one have tried the Duet pair with the DX90? Any thoughts?

 

[Cotnijoe]

Any one have tried the Duet pair with the DX90? Any thoughts?

 
I can give some input on that. Duet soundstage and separation, as shane mentioned, is pretty hard to beat. The width is noticably wider and overall sound on the duet is more neutral and detailed than just the DX90 alone. Duet also gives a really nice sense of air and space.
 
The DX90 on the other hand (fw 2.0.0), is overall more forward sounding and for me a more engaging and fun sound with a little more bass impact.
 
I did end up selling the Duet to fund a desktop rig and stick with just the DX90 for portable use since when im on the go, i dont need all the last little bit of detail the Duet pumps out, and I do enjoy the more engaging sound from the DX90 for on the go use. Plus without the stack the DX90 is pocketable.
 
The Duet has a very nice dark background with iems with minimal hissing, but DX90's background is even cleaner.
 
Overall if you're looking for an amp to pair with the DX90, the clean sabre DAC of the DX90 + the very clean sound of the Duet makes for really quite an impressive combo. I just personally went with the more portable and purely for music enjoyment route.

 

[zeppu08]

I can give some input on that. Duet soundstage and separation, as shane mentioned, is pretty hard to beat. The width is noticably wider and overall sound on the duet is more neutral and detailed than just the DX90 alone. Duet also gives a really nice sense of air and space.

The DX90 on the other hand (fw 2.0.0), is overall more forward sounding and for me a more engaging and fun sound with a little more bass impact.

I did end up selling the Duet to fund a desktop rig and stick with just the DX90 for portable use since when im on the go, i dont need all the last little bit of detail the Duet pumps out, and I do enjoy the more engaging sound from the DX90 for on the go use. Plus without the stack the DX90 is pocketable.

The Duet has a very nice dark background with iems with minimal hissing, but DX90's background is even cleaner.

Overall if you're looking for an amp to pair with the DX90, the clean sabre DAC of the DX90 + the very clean sound of the Duet makes for really quite an impressive combo. I just personally went with the more portable and purely for music enjoyment route.

Thanks for that detailed inputs! Have you tried it with FW 2.05? Im using the new one which i find more neutral. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Cotnijoe]

 
Thanks for that detailed inputs! Have you tried it with FW 2.05? Im using the new one which i find more neutral. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 
Unfortunately I sold my Duet before 2.0.5 was released. Sorry 

 

[zeppu08]

Unfortunately I sold my Duet before 2.0.5 was released. Sorry 

Ow no worries.. Its ok.. Just wondering if any external amp can boost more the dx90.. Im using iems only at the moment and if im planning to get an amp for future headphone(looking on th lcd-xc) im leaning towards the duet and vorgz pure 2 only..

 

[oriise]

   
I'm unsure if you've seen this but here is Mike's impressions and comparisons with the Duet (he uses the a AK240 + Duet combo for his Audeze LCD-XC)
 
"I like it better than the ALO Rx MK3B+. The ALO is more powerful with a stronger bass impact and more forward mids. Usually stronger bass is my thing but in this comparison, I prefer the Duet. It's more spacious, cleaner sound, blacker background, and a bit more laid back.

It also sounds like a fresh breath of air compared to the Intruder with its usual RSA weighty lows-sound. The comparison is also similar to the RX. The Duet is cleaner, more spacious, blacker background, a bit more laid back.

This puts the Duet as being more spacious than any of the current ALO or RSA portable amp I know. The only thing that's wider is Fostex's new HP-V1 but the Fostex is a bit weak on bass impact so I don't really enjoy the tradeoff.

If you've listened to the Vorzuge Pure, the Duet is a bit to that direction except that the Duet is wider, has a better depth, blacker background. The Vorzuge is a bit smoother though."
 
You'll find this in the comments section in his LCD-XC review. Also, Shigzeo, Nathan, has his reviews of the Duet and the RX in his signature just in case you haven't read them!!
 
Good luck!! (get the duet) 

Maricius,
 
Wow. Thanks a bunch for steering me to these impressions. Just what I was looking for. Boy, this is really a tough one as I do like a little bass slam and impact on the go. But these comments speak to what value even more, wide and deep soundstaging. That's why I went with HD800's with my home rig instead of the Audeze in fact. The HDs are not the last word in bass impact by any means but the spacious and "you are in the room" presentation is just out of this world. I have a little more thinking to do but I am really now leaning strongly to the Duet. Thanks again for all the great input.
 
Regards, Ole.

 

[oriise]

Hey Ole,
I no longer have the Duet. I sold it and the solo to fund the AK240. And I have no plans to amp the AK240. I've learned that if I cannot easily pocket my portables, my usage wanes.

That being said, the Duet is the most spacious amp I've heard. The Ak240 by itself is also very spacious but the Duet's left and right separation is quite amazing and when you add that to its utterly black background, it's pretty awesome. The F111 had great synergy with it.

I ran the Duet almost exclusively with the solo -db. The two units were connected balanced for most of my usage, even when using single ended iems.

If you are an iem user, I'd probably stay away from the ALO unit. Everyone I know with it says there is noise and/or hiss with many of their iems (doesn't apply to headphones).

Sorry I couldn't be of more value on that question but Shiqzeo might be able to help if he still has the Duet, as he is currently borrowing Anakchan's AK240.

Shotgunshane,
 
Thanks for the great input. I myself had an Algorhythm solo going into an ALO amp before buying the AK120. It really took the sound quality to a whole new level. And having an ALO amp right as we speak, I am definitely familiar with the noise level. I though perhaps they had fixed this with the Mark III B+ but if not, that's pretty much a deal killer for me. Plus, I am all about spaciousness and air, even at the cost of some bass slam (there's always trade offs) so the Duet sounds like it would be a great match for my AK 120 B Mod. I will post my impressions once I pull the trigger. Thanks a lot for your valuable help. It's great to have a solid perspectives from fellow passionate headfiers like yourself.
 
Cheers, Ole.

 

[NuClear235]

What OPAs and BUFFERs are inside Duet ?
Type of them define sound the most...

 

[refault]

Regardless of the background hiss, so far I slightly prefer the Rx MkIII-B+ in terms of overall sound-quality than the Duet, especially (even) when using the AKG K3003is (~8ohm) or even the IE800 (~18ohm.)
 
The hiss on the K3003is is definitely quite noticeable on the Rx MkIII-B+, but it is hardly bothersome after getting used to the amp's overall sound-signature with TOTL low-impedance/high-sensitivity IEMs... IMO, the Rx MkIII-B+ tends to add a clearer and more spacious/extended/"defined"/articulate detail retrieval w/ a more "3D out of head" soundstage/imaging perception when compared to the Duet, completely covering up the ALO's background hiss w/ most low-impedance IEMs (although in my experience, cheaper IEMs like the IE80 have an unbearable hiss with the Rk MkIII-B+, probably due to the dark, less detailed/resolute/clarity focused sound-signature of the IE80s vs. the universal TOTL IEMs out there.)
 
The Duet seems to provide a more "intimate" in-your-face sound; and yet, although it completely lacks any of that noticeable background hiss w/ sensitive low-impedance IEMs that plagues the Rx MkIII-B+, I find the Duet's overall sound-signature a bit too sterile or "boring" overall when compared to the ALO amp. I've noticed that the Duet seems to be really articulate, "clear"-sounding, tends to reproduce an up-front/front-row "presence" sound-signature (especially to the more minute details within recordings, in which the Duet articulates much more sharply and aggressively than the ALO amp), and gives off a "brighter"/more detail-focused-on-the-mids-section sound when compared to the ALO Rx MkIII-B+ in my opinion.