[801evan]

Hi, Ok, I did not know that,
I thought it was needed for for low impedance HP, also it does assist to convert speaker taps to XLR as a convenience but if it does create an additional barrier to better sound I am willing to test it out, anyone out there who have used Stealth or similar HP without any adapter/resistor in between? A bit scared as one person on the Susvara thread blew up his HP's....

Yep. Too many ppl have fried their susvaras with speakers amps because it is not needed and is overpowered. While AHB 2 may sound comparatively better than chord HP out, it is not the ideal approach especially with Chord gear because the Dave and hugo 2 has enough power for the Stealth and Susvara and you are throwing all the quality of the WTA and transparency out of the window by using an external amp which simply adds a lot of color, second harmonics and the interconnects would just cut the bandwidth on the top and bottom extension and collapse the soundstage. The better method is use the stealth on the HP out and improve the transport, digital chain and power quality.

The He-6 adapter will indeed have a big hit on transparency and sounstage due to the amount of plugs in the chain and the resistor.

 

[Widell]

Yep. Too many ppl have fried their susvaras with speakers amps because it is not needed and is overpowered. While AHB 2 may sound comparatively better than chord HP out, it is not the ideal approach especially with Chord gear because the Dave and hugo 2 has enough power for the Stealth and Susvara and you are throwing all the quality of the WTA and transparency out of the window by using an external amp which simply adds a lot of color, second harmonics and the interconnects would just cut the bandwidth on the top and bottom extension and collapse the soundstage. The better method is use the stealth on the HP out and improve the transport, digital chain and power quality.

The He-6 adapter will indeed have a big hit on transparency and sounstage due to the amount of plugs in the chain and the resistor.

Well don't think the AHB2 adds any color, probably one of the worlds most transparent and best measured amps in the word (that I know of..) You can check the ASR website if you are into measurements.
I agree that the Stealth can be driven by the Chord Hugo 2 and it sounds great and I could live with that happily, however comparing them side by side it is a clear improvement to my ears using the TT2/MS and further also the CH2 with the AHB2 compared to without.

 

[tawmizzzz]

After demo'ing a friend's Stealth, I decided to finally snag one and should be getting it soon. After diving deep into headphones by going straight into the LCD-5, I was not expecting much from a closed-back with mixed-reviews, but it is pretty evident that the variability in impressions comes down to power/synergy issues.

From the modest iDSD Pro Signature, I can tell there is some room for Stealth to scale, likely in tightening up the transients-but whatever synergy there is from the Solid State amplification leads to a rich, musical and mid-centric presentation that I struggled to find in my summit-fi IEM search. The lush mids most reminds me of the ERLKöNIG, where vocals are the focal points with nice, textured warmth. But what Stealth does better is the more accurate timbre and bass presentation, where an all-BA model kind of struggles. Mids aren't as forward as ERLKöNIG, but they command the stage with strong low-level detail and emphasis on instrument texture [acoustic guitar, etc].

The Stealth is also an upgrade (as it should be) to the most technical IEMs I've heard, with a very organized soundstage that expands around your head but without feeling forced. There is strong soundstage width, depth and height with nice imaging that allows notes to fluctuate around pleasantly. There is excellent subbass with a modest midbass [a bit of bleed into lower mids from my source], and enough energy in the treble to keep it exciting without detracting from the euphoric vocals/instruments.

I imagine others might hear it differently depending on synergy-but so far, it's been an excellent compliment to the LCD5. LCD5 for the technical, ultra precise, fast, upper-mid forward listen with details for days, and the Stealth for a more laid-back, warm but great clarity, PRaT listen.

Now to AMP roll...sigh.

 

[davidmolliere]

@tawmizzzz Beautiful pic! and excellent summary of how I feel about the Stealth strengths, also coming from the summit-fi IEMs...

I hesitated to pick the Pro iDSD but went Pro iCAN way as it has much more driving power (pro iDSD has just slightly more than M17)... looks like I was right. One question that remains : is iDSD 4.4 out also iEMatched with no way to switch it off? The 4.4 out of Pro iCAN Signature is so much weaker than the XLR Balanced because of that (in fact I even use most IEMs with XLR => 4.4 adapter)... even applying +18dB. XLR is +9dB on the Stealth and has plenty of headroom.

But I had the "chance" of picking amp after headphones and spent ages looking at Burson Soloist 3XP, Ferrum OOR and Cayin HA-6A but ended up with Pro iCAN Signature and I must say pretty happy camper there (form factor also essential to me so Cayin was out right away).

 

[tawmizzzz]

@tawmizzzz Beautiful pic! and excellent summary of how I feel about the Stealth strengths, also coming from the summit-fi IEMs...

I hesitated to pick the Pro iDSD but went Pro iCAN way as it has much more driving power (pro iDSD has just slightly more than M17)... looks like I was right. One question that remains : is iDSD 4.4 out also iEMatched with no way to switch it off? The 4.4 out of Pro iCAN Signature is so much weaker than the XLR Balanced because of that (in fact I even use most IEMs with XLR => 4.4 adapter)... even applying +18dB. XLR is +9dB on the Stealth and has plenty of headroom.

But I had the "chance" of picking amp after headphones and spent ages looking at Burson Soloist 3XP, Ferrum OOR and Cayin HA-6A but ended up with Pro iCAN Signature and I must say pretty happy camper there (form factor also essential to me so Cayin was out right away).

. Stealth just feels like a natural upgrade to the best IEMs, and slots nicely between IEMs and open-backs.

Yeah, I wonder how much the iCAN and iDSD vary, but I am also a happy camper with its’ excellent versatility options since I wanted something that can still play nice with IEMs. Low noise floor and “maximizes” portable transducers, even versus TOTL DAPs.

Just so many amp options, and as I am sure you know, a lot riskier blind-buying a desktop AMP than a DAP for IEMs. I was also looking into Ferrum, TT2, Wells Audio Dragon, etc. @bluestorm1992 should be testing Stealth with TT2 this weekend hopefully

 

[801evan]

. Stealth just feels like a natural upgrade to the best IEMs, and slots nicely between IEMs and open-backs.

Yeah, I wonder how much the iCAN and iDSD vary, but I am also a happy camper with its’ excellent versatility options since I wanted something that can still play nice with IEMs. Low noise floor and “maximizes” portable transducers, even versus TOTL DAPs.

Just so many amp options, and as I am sure you know, a lot riskier blind-buying a desktop AMP than a DAP for IEMs. I was also looking into Ferrum, TT2, Wells Audio Dragon, etc. @bluestorm1992 should be testing Stealth with TT2 this weekend hopefully

Hopefully have a situation of not using the tt2's USB input as it's the worst input quality. A usb source can connect to a topping d10s to toslink for better quality. Or use a src dx + dual bnc for >192khz.

 

[davidmolliere]

. Stealth just feels like a natural upgrade to the best IEMs, and slots nicely between IEMs and open-backs.

Yeah, I wonder how much the iCAN and iDSD vary, but I am also a happy camper with its’ excellent versatility options since I wanted something that can still play nice with IEMs. Low noise floor and “maximizes” portable transducers, even versus TOTL DAPs.

Just so many amp options, and as I am sure you know, a lot riskier blind-buying a desktop AMP than a DAP for IEMs. I was also looking into Ferrum, TT2, Wells Audio Dragon, etc. @bluestorm1992 should be testing Stealth with TT2 this weekend hopefully

iCAN Signature kind of adresses this vs the original iCAN it pairs better with IEMs...

I had the chance to listen to @lafeuill Pro iCAN so not totally a blind buy, contrary to Stealth that was impossible to audition in Paris... I took a big chance there but luckily trusted headfiers impressions prevailed and I knew what to expect!

 

[801evan]

iCAN Signature kind of adresses this vs the original iCAN it pairs better with IEMs...

I had the chance to listen to @lafeuill Pro iCAN so not totally a blind buy, contrary to Stealth that was impossible to audition in Paris... I took a big chance there but luckily trusted headfiers impressions prevailed and I knew what to expect!

I'm really underwhelmed by the hypsos psu. People who owns both the burson supercharger and hypsos finds the hypsos better. But I find the Elite better than the Hypsos so the ican pro sig kit is the correct choice.

 

[davidmolliere]

I'm really underwhelmed by the hypsos psu. People who owns both the burson supercharger and hypsos finds the hypsos better. But I find the Elite better than the Hypsos so the ican pro sig kit is the correct choice.

Really?

The Hypsos price turned me off it made Ferrum OOR a very pricey option agains the Pro iCAN now it might be much better but I am very happy nonetheless with it

 

[801evan]

Really?

The Hypsos price turned me off it made Ferrum OOR a very pricey option agains the Pro iCAN now it might be much better but I am very happy nonetheless with it

Yea. Hypsos is now an expensive box that I use just to check current draw. I've modded the hypsos with silver internals and silver dc cable but it still couldn't catch up to the elite. Seeing the people who love the OOR, I think they like the extra punch it gives to the HPs but that extra punch is due to the weak blacks that congests the bass region as per my tests on amps dac/amps. A lot of reviewers have a poor understanding of proper punch. I now have 2 elite psus and planning a 3rd one just for the 4G LTE router.

 

[DarginMahkum]

and planning a 3rd one just for the 4G LTE router.

...but why?

 

[801evan]

...but why?

Psu quality really affects the routers and also the quality of the stream. I've done the tests.

 

[utdeep]

@801evan Are you messing with us? I thought so, but the longer you keep this up, the more concerned I get.

 

[801evan]

@801evan Are you messing with us? I thought so, but the longer you keep this up, the more concerned I get.

Accept that some ppl may be more into the hobby than others??? I've done many tests and the better the psu for the router/wifi the purer, smoother , dynamic the music is.

 

[Toonartist]

I did used to use different LPS on various routers. I ended up moving to a Ubiquity UDM Pro, UniFi 16 and UniFi 8 (Audio Gear only) all linked with Fibre optics. I use fibre to streamers as well. Now I just use their own power supplies (other than the opticalModule to oR).

Spent a while reviewing different SFP's before ending up with Finisar 10g ones that also communicate with 1g connections. They have higher grade laser optics (lower jitter).

Now I have a very low noise floor and no electrical noise flowing from modem > router > switches etc etc. The oR sounded it's best once I dropped all ethernet cables between Roon Nucleus, HQPlayer server and NAS drives.