[397324]

On a more positive note, EarMen has told me a better quality USB cable is in production and they will send me one free of charge when available. I realise it's an easy cable to replace, but if you wanted to "Keep it in the family", just message them on their site. What aftermarket cables are you guys using? I'm in the UK

I have also asked about the noisy volume pot and will report back with the answer.

EDIT. Sorry, didn't see the post above.

 

[397324]

Here is the reply from EarMen that arrived within an hour!

Hi Darren,

Our volume pot is analogue, not digital, so until it is worked out it can make noise. That's it with all devices, from every manufacturer who makes analogue volume pot.

Regards,

Milos

 

[Ichos]

OK , so why for example my brand new analog pot of THX AAA or Vali 2+ are dead silent?

 

[milkdudd]

Since the volume control issue doesn't bother me in the least I will skip to my sound quality observations. Saturday I listened to the Tr-amp straight out of the box with my Dunu Zen IEM for about 2 hours. Extremely impressed so far especially at this price point. I'm listening to Amazon music HD hi-rez PCM files that I stream through Wi-Fi to my Android using UAPP, then to the Tr-amp with a USB on-the-go cable. Highly articulate and detailed with good, tight bass impact. I never tried my cord Mojo with the HD streaming so I'm going to have to go back to that for a comparison. My initial impressions however have this sounding significantly better than the Mojo at least with the Zen IEM. Then last night I used it in my stereo system as a dac/preamp and then as a dac only to my Marantz preamp. Sounded far better as a da dac only. Probably because the Marantz preamp is known to be a pretty good one and costs about seven times as much as the Tr-amp. Plus using it that way let's me use the remote control and never needing to touch the staticky volume control, even though it doesn't bother me as I stated above. Curious how my observations are compared to everyone else's

 

[rasmushorn]

Highly articulate and detailed with good, tight bass impact. I never tried my cord Mojo with the HD streaming so I'm going to have to go back to that for a comparison. My initial impressions however have this sounding significantly better than the Mojo at least with the Zen IEM. Then last night I used it in my stereo system as a dac/preamp and then as a dac only to my Marantz preamp. Sounded far better as a da dac only. Probably because the Marantz preamp is known to be a pretty good one and costs about seven times as much as the Tr-amp.

I agree. Just the fact that you CAN use it as DAC-only was the whole reason I bought it while I had the Mojo (and the iFi hip-dac). And that it does a very good job as DAC just made the purchase even better. Then making my Mojo obsolete and I could sell the Mojo to cover the cost of a better product.. it has turned out to be one of the best purchases for me in thi s hobby. TR-Amp has made my headphones sound better.

I managed to remove the scratching sound of the volume pot completely by following a tip I got years ago on another product. Turning the volume from min. to max. for some time ~5minutes and the noise is gone. I do not know what causes this but it can happen on completely new analog volume pots and if it has not been used for a long time therefore giving it some motion removes the problem.

 

[rasmushorn]

I am listening to the TR-Amp with my DT-1770 Pro this morning and WOW.
I do not think my DT-1770 has sounded this good. I am really enjoying this amp more and more.

 

[397324]

.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Hi.

I was reading a review of the xduoo-XD-05 Plus and at the end, the reviewer compares it to the TR-Amp. It makes for some rather disturbing reading.

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2021/02/versatility-ultimate-xduoo-xd-05-plus-dac-amplifier.html

Regards

Darren

Woah, I edited that actually, Cloudflare needed a refresh to activate the edits

Seems that all previous issues were solved actually nicely by Earmen and they are actually great with warranty.

There was a batch from which a few units failed, and the users have been vocal about it, but after talking with everyone who contacted me, they seemed to have received replacements and are now happy with stuff.

Altough shipping time was not quick, Earmen does stand nicely behind their products.

In fact, I had trouble with their Sparrow too, and I think that when I reviewed it, I had a less than ideal performing unit.

I got it replaced and now I will make some edits to my original review. It is performing even better than expected, so all is good!

 

[milkdudd]

Woah, I edited that actually, Cloudflare needed a refresh to activate the edits

Seems that all previous issues were solved actually nicely by Earmen and they are actually great with warranty.

There was a batch from which a few units failed, and the users have been vocal about it, but after talking with everyone who contacted me, they seemed to have received replacements and are now happy with stuff.

Altough shipping time was not quick, Earmen does stand nicely behind their products.

In fact, I had trouble with their Sparrow too, and I think that when I reviewed it, I had a less than ideal performing unit.

I got it replaced and now I will make some edits to my original review. It is performing even better than expected, so all is good!

You mentioned lengthy shipping times. Does anyone know how long it normally takes to get a package from them to the US?

 

[Dobrescu George]

You mentioned lengthy shipping times. Does anyone know how long it normally takes to get a package from them to the US?

Between 1 and 2 weeks.

Can edge on 3 weeks.

They actually use DHL, so it can be swift, but recently all DHL packages arrived slowly, so that is more of a general issue. But it takes between 1 and 2 weeks for them to ship out a new unit after you send one in for replacement.

So it can be 2 weeks, but it can be 4 too, or even 5 from the moment you send the broken unit.

 

[milkdudd]

Okay thanks. Yeah it's been about 2 weeks so far and I really didn't want to start emailing them if this was normal. In my case nothing's broken it's just the improved cable that they sent me free of charge which is nice

 

[gLer]

Hey guys, my first post on this thread just to let you know my full review of the TR-Amp is now online here. Feel free to reply here, on the review or PM me with any questions.

 

[asifur]

EarMen TR-Amp

USB DAC - Preamp - Headphone Amp – Battery


​

NEW portable product FROM new Brand cooked in HIGH END Kitchen of Auris Audio. In cooperation with Auris Audio well known European High End Audio company EarMen presents a TR-Amp, Battery powered High quality DAC/Headphone amp/Preamp with impressive characteristics.

TR-Amp with power up to 400mW will enable you to listern almost all known headphones. With ES9038Q2M SABRE Reference DAC turn your portable music in "High End Dimension". The versatile audio input accepts PCM up to 384kHz, DSD256 via DoP, native DSD128 and MQA. EarMen TR-Amp is a licensed and standard-compliant MQA native hardware renderer.

Using the critically acclaimed ESS patented HyperStream© II QUAD DACTM architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, EarMen TR-Amp delivers a performance level that will satisfy the most demanding audio enthusiast.


Texas Instruments headphone amplifier
TR-Amp headphone amp use Texas Instruments High Fidelity TPA6120 chip and allows music, not the amplifier, to be heard. TPA6120 current-feedback AB amplifier architecture delivers high bandwidth, extremely low noise, and up to 128dB of dynamic range.

Texas Instruments TPA6120 provides Superior Sound Quality with ultralow distortion and low noise.

Three key features make current-feedback amplifiers outstanding for audio. The first feature is the high slew rate that prevents odd order distortion anomalies. The second feature is current-on-demand at the output that enables the amplifier to respond quickly and linearly when necessary without risk of output distortion. When large amounts of output power are suddenly needed, the amplifier can respond extremely quickly without raising the noise floor of the system and degrading the signal-to-noise ratio. The third feature is the gain-independent frequency response that allows the full bandwidth of the amplifier to be used over a wide range of gain settings.

No Noise
Using a Super LOW ESR tantal capacitors, high grade components in power-supply design and 4 layer golden plated PCB technology from PC and smart phone industry we reduced the noise to minimum. This will improve super fine details especially in Hi-Res files where you can feel and hear the difference.



CNC aluminum milled enclosure
TR-Amp is robust and solid. Enclosure is made from high grade aluminum


From Mp3 to MQA
32bit/384kHz PCM, DoP DSD256, Native DSD128 and MQA. Play It All Direct From Your Pocket!
Use it all around from home to travel. TR-Amp can be great substitution for any DAC.

Made in Europe
TR-Amp designed, produced and assembled in Europe. SMT production line is from Swiss and all components are sourced from European distribution. Up to 5 years of extended warranty is available on demand.

Power​	16 Ω​	>2.5V/400mW​
​	32 Ω​	>3.4V/350mW ​
​
Dynamic Range:​	> 107 dB​
Frequency Range:​	10 hZ – 50 kHz​
THD+N (2.7V, 32R)​	<0.005% ​
SNR​	>114dB​
​
Line out​	​
​	Direct​	PreOut​
Output​	2.1V​	3.4V​
THD+N​	<0.005%​	<0.007% (2.8V)​
SNR​	>114dB​	>114dB​
Dinamic range​	>107dB​	>107dB​
Chanel separation​	>107dB (1kHz)​	>103dB (1kHz)​

​

Does it have balanced output?

 

[gLer]

Does it have balanced output?

No, but if you read my review you'll see you don't need it...

 

[397324]

On a more positive note, EarMen has told me a better quality USB cable is in production and they will send me one free of charge when available. I realise it's an easy cable to replace, but if you wanted to "Keep it in the family", just message them on their site. What aftermarket cables are you guys using? I'm in the UK

I have also asked about the noisy volume pot and will report back with the answer.

EDIT. Sorry, didn't see the post above.

They asked for my address 6 weeks ago, but still no cable. I'm in the UK, not the moon! I've got it for sale for £145 if anyone is interested.