Dared MP-5 or something else same price?

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WopOnTour I totally disagree. I purchased a Dared MP5 last spring and have been using it exclusively as a headphone amp for many months now (with my Grado SR325, Sony MDR-CD750 and various other sets) and I absolutely LOVE IT! Not sure what noise you are referring to but I would suggest some that have commented here may have never even HEARD this amp. I certainly can hear NO objectionable noise, hum or hiss in this amp. For the money you really cant beat this little amp IMO, AND If you're not into vinyl (as I am) the integral PCM2702 based (Onkyo branded) USB-DAC makes it very versatile for using a PC as 44/48k transport But all in all, this was the best $350 audio dollars I've spent in a long time (In fact I recently purchased a 2nd unit just for the office) I would suggest you try to find one to listen to for yourself, before you condemn... Regards WopOnTour

What amps have you compared to it?

No doubt personal experience is the best test - but, when both users and distributors are cautioning me that "it's the luck of the draw" as to whether a unit has noise / hiss / hum - I'm generally careful to heed their caution.

I'd grab one in an instant and try it - if I could find a distributor that had a 30 day satisfaction guarantee - but I haven't found one yet. I'm just not that comfortable with "thowing the dice" - no matter how low the price - especially when there's not much in the way of US based support.

 

[WopOnTour]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 What amps have you compared to it? No doubt personal experience is the best test - but, when both users and distributors are cautioning me that "it's the luck of the draw" as to whether a unit has noise / hiss / hum - I'm generally careful to heed their caution. I'd grab one in an instant and try it - if I could find a distributor that had a 30 day satisfaction guarantee - but I haven't found one yet. I'm just not that comfortable with "thowing the dice" - no matter how low the price - especially when there's not much in the way of US based support.

I totally hear what you're sayin.
That's why I would certainly recommend to actually have a listen to it in an SxS against whatever else you normally listen to (preferably using the same source/material) But if you love the "flavor" of tubes and/or prefer a bit more warmth in your music, you'll likely appreciate the little Dared. I now only use my trusty Project MKII when I need the portability (although I'm tempted to sock the MP5 into my carry-on, I'm not sure it'd get through security

)

When I first previewed this little amp it was in a SxSxS against the solid-state Creek (forget which one exactly- the $299 model) and the venerable Cayin "all-tube" heaphone amp and it fared extremly well IMO. True, the Cayin pretty much out-classes the Dared, but keep in mind the Cayin is $799! (The Creek just didnt do it for me at all and was easily at the bottom of the trio- I even prefer my ProJect to it)
All of my tests were done with my own pair of Grado 325s and using my iPod pushing home-rolled Apple .M4P material via the line-in jacks.

In fact I found the Dared to have a more spacious soundstage (although a bit less defined) and was easily the Cayin's equal when it came to bass response. Yes, to me the Cayin mids and highs had somewhat better detail, especially in triode mode.(By how much seemed to depend exclusively on the material)

But you know, the additional versatility of the little MP5 with it's 17watt OTL output stage and decent USB/DAC input made it an easy decision for me. In fact I bought TWO of them for less than the price of the Cayin! I couldnt resist buying an extra one for "zoning out" (aka working hard and concentrating) at the office. (It's also connected to a pair of Polk RTi bookshelf)

I've since upgraded them both with cryo-treated Electro Harmonix gold-pinned 12AXs ($30/amp) which DID provide quite a noticable improvement in mid-range definition, as well as improved bass response (not just less muddy but LOWER)

I still say FOR THE PRICE the MP5 pretty hard to beat in an inexpensive tube-flavored HPA
WopOnTour

 

[Gradofan2]

There are several reports that both the Cayin and Dared amps have some noise (although with the Dared - some owners have reported that their's has no noise) - especially with low impedence phones, which are more sensitive (like your 325's).

Reportedly (as suggested by Ferbose) - some slight noise / hiss / hum is often found in tube amps with higher power capabilities, like the Cayin or Dared, because their signal to noise ratio may not be great enough to depress the noise floor beyond audible levels. This noise (usually sounds like tape hiss) may be slightly audible without any music playing, but is usually masked with music playing, except in silent passages.

But... you have indicated you hear no noise / hiss / hum in your Dared - right? At high volumes?

What about the Cayin? Any noise / hiss / hum in it? There have been similar reports about it.

Again... it's typically only noticeable when the amp is idling without music playing, or in silent passages.

Where did you get your Dared - can you provide the link?

 

[Lusamars]

I bought a Dared MP5 (american version) from Audiolineout 4 weeks ago and im most satisfied. excelent deal if you ask me. i´ve been using Foobar>DAC and the stock tubes and its quite nice. It made a great sinergy with both Etys ER4S and Ultrasone Proline 2500. I will post a review soon when i get to know better bouth MP5 (and new better tubes) and Proline2500. just as a side note i cannot undertand how underrated this prolines are. They are just out of this world, great sound apresentation.

edit: just wanna note that my MP5 is dead silent. maybe the reports of noise were mostly from the old asian version

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlon1 Some posts have mentioned some hum problems with the Darkvoice, although I have never read a negative post about its sound quality.

Although not necessarily relevant for the OP at this point since he's already decided, it doesn't hurt to add info to the pool...

A small number of people had to grapple with a ground loop in their system, but to my knowledge most of the discussion about humming is in relation to rolling different tubes into the amp. The vast majority of tubes I've tried don't hum, but occasionally some pop up that do make that awful 60Hz noise. Unfortunately, there's no real way to tell for sure whether a given tube is going to hum until you try it. Fortunately, for the slightly more adventurous, there's a cheap and easy mod that will make the amp immune to this tube-bourne hum.

 

[Gradofan2]

Yes... I"ve seen those posts about the DarkVoice... but, they seemed to be ground loop and, perhaps, tube related - and always seemed to be resolved to present a silent background.

The noise / hiss in the Dared and Cayin that were reported and even acknowledged by distibutors for both amps - seemed to be inherent in the amps, and weren't ground loops, or tube related.

Again this noise / hiss seemed to be noticeable in Grados and low impedence phones, and not so much in high impedence phones, and was not consistent from amp to amp in the Dared.

 

[WopOnTour]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 But... you have indicated you hear no noise / hiss / hum in your Dared - right? At high volumes?Again... it's typically only noticeable when the amp is idling without music playing, or in silent passages

The only time I hear any significant background noise on the Dared is if I dont have the input cable terminated (ie not connected to an iPod or CDP) But there's zero noise during the "in between" passages, and any "background hiss" I've ever heard in "silent passages" has been inclusive to the source material and audible no matter what method of amplification used. Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 What about the Cayin? Any noise / hiss / hum in it? There have been similar reports about it.

I cant say I recall hearing any significant objectionable noise on the Cayin either. In fact I really liked the Cayin (I originally went into my local high end shop to BUY the Cayin), just not it's price (once compared SxS to the Dared)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 Where did you get your Dared - can you provide the link?

I purchased the first one on eBay directly from Dared in China. The second unit I purchased from Ken at AudioLineOut.com (highly recommended BTW)

WopOnTour

 

[microphage]

Has anyone ever seen these AMP one EL 84? I saw these with browsing auction sites. They're both speaker and headphone amp but the headphone plug placement is just horrible.(it's on the side of the amp)

They seem to be using the same USB DAC (PCM2702) as the Dared MP5(not sure if that's a good thing).

(I translated most of the words)
機器規格：
輸出阻抗 ( speaker: 4Ω- 8Ω Headphones: 32Ω-600Ω )
輸出功率 ( speaker: 6W Headphones: 600mW )
Freq： 10Hz-30KHz(-1dB)
訊噪比： ＞89dB 失真度
Voltage：110V/220V切換 , 50-60Hz
耗電量: 38W
Tube #s: 5670x2 , EL84/6BQ5x2
DAC：PCM2702 16Bit ,USB連接
Weight: 5.5kg
Dimensons: 238x138x148mm(LxWxH)