[qboogie]

Besides hard to drive planars like the Abyss and Susvara, is anyone using any other headphones with the Formula S? The 300 ohm sennheisers and ZMF cans for example?

 

[FLTWS]

Senn HD800 and HD800S here. Thinking on adding Susvara.

 

[jlbrach]

Besides hard to drive planars like the Abyss and Susvara, is anyone using any other headphones with the Formula S? The 300 ohm sennheisers and ZMF cans for example?

if you do not have a hard to drive planar there is no reason to buy the likes of formula/powerman or bakoon or wa33 etc...plenty of options that cost far less

 

[qboogie]

Sorry, bud, that's not an answer to the question I'm asking.

Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[Slim1970]

Besides hard to drive planars like the Abyss and Susvara, is anyone using any other headphones with the Formula S? The 300 ohm sennheisers and ZMF cans for example?

I’ve used just about all of my headphones with it: LCD-4z’s, MDR-Z1R’s, HEKse’s, HD800S’s, R70x’s, Diana V2’s, and my Pioneer SE-Master1’s. It’s impeccable amplification for all of them. The sound is clean, dynamic, punchy, resolving, open and weighted. It’s really hard to fault the sound Formula S/Powerman. It’s somewhat neutral tuning just goes great with a wide variety of headphones in my opinion.

It’s also a great alternative amp to the sound of my Luxman, which has a warmer, tube-like delivery. When I want a uncolored presentation I switch to my Formula S/Powerman. That’s because the Luxman does have a unique sound signature.

The Formula S/Powerman combo even keeps pace with my Burson Timekeeper power amp. The only thing it lacks in comparison is some midrange presence. The Timekeeper power amp has a more forward midrange with a fuller sound. Transient speed, dynamics, bass, instrument separation, and spaciousness are all there on Formula S/Powerman. It really is a great amp on its own. Adding the Powerman just makes it more competitive and better sounding.

 

[PortableAudioLover]

Besides hard to drive planars like the Abyss and Susvara, is anyone using any other headphones with the Formula S? The 300 ohm sennheisers and ZMF cans for example?

I'll pitch in since I have had a couple of months having the formula S and I just received my Powerman along with broadway S for IEMs and special acrylic board for me to see the brilliant circuit board design yesterday. Simply put, 800S sounds amazing on the FS/PM combo. After speaking to Michael and Shiny, they told me that they tuned the formula S with both 1266 and 800 in mind so you could expect good synergy. Using my poor descriptive words, you hear quality and quantity of bass while highs aren't as shouty and intolerable. The sound (relative to DAVE alone) with the combo sounds fuller, more impactful, with wider sound stage and good vocal density. I have been really happy with my FS/PM purchase since it's able to drive all my headphones (1266, 800s, 650s, etc) beautifully.

 

[DJJEZ]

I'll pitch in since I have had a couple of months having the formula S and I just received my Powerman along with broadway S for IEMs and special acrylic board for me to see the brilliant circuit board design yesterday. Simply put, 800S sounds amazing on the FS/PM combo. After speaking to Michael and Shiny, they told me that they tuned the formula S with both 1266 and 800 in mind so you could expect good synergy. Using my poor descriptive words, you hear quality and quantity of bass while highs aren't as shouty and intolerable. The sound (relative to DAVE alone) with the combo sounds fuller, more impactful, with wider sound stage and good vocal density. I have been really happy with my FS/PM purchase since it's able to drive all my headphones (1266, 800s, 650s, etc) beautifully.

Love the acrylic you added.where did you buy it from?

 

[PortableAudioLover]

Love the acrylic you added.where did you buy it from?

XiAudio itself. Under my repetitive requests (harassment) they agreed to do a custom batch of these boards lol. They also wanted me to let you guys know that these boards will be offered for free and they plan to ship some to Joe so everyone can enjoy Michael’s design haha

 

[qboogie]

I'll pitch in since I have had a couple of months having the formula S and I just received my Powerman along with broadway S for IEMs and special acrylic board for me to see the brilliant circuit board design yesterday. Simply put, 800S sounds amazing on the FS/PM combo. After speaking to Michael and Shiny, they told me that they tuned the formula S with both 1266 and 800 in mind so you could expect good synergy. Using my poor descriptive words, you hear quality and quantity of bass while highs aren't as shouty and intolerable. The sound (relative to DAVE alone) with the combo sounds fuller, more impactful, with wider sound stage and good vocal density. I have been really happy with my FS/PM purchase since it's able to drive all my headphones (1266, 800s, 650s, etc) beautifully.

Thanks

I’ve used just about all of my headphones with it: LCD-4z’s, MDR-Z1R’s, HEKse’s, HD800S’s, R70x’s, Diana V2’s, and my Pioneer SE-Master1’s. It’s impeccable amplification for all of them. The sound is clean, dynamic, punchy, resolving, open and weighted. It’s really hard to fault the sound Formula S/Powerman. It’s somewhat neutral tuning just goes great with a wide variety of headphones in my opinion.

It’s also a great alternative amp to the sound of my Luxman, which has a warmer, tube-like delivery. When I want a uncolored presentation I switch to my Formula S/Powerman. That’s because the Luxman does have a unique sound signature.

The Formula S/Powerman combo even keeps pace with my Burson Timekeeper power amp. The only thing it lacks in comparison is some midrange presence. The Timekeeper power amp has a more forward midrange with a fuller sound. Transient speed, dynamics, bass, instrument separation, and spaciousness are all there on Formula S/Powerman. It really is a great amp on its own. Adding the Powerman just makes it more competitive and better sounding.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I only have the Formula S for the time being (Powerman is coming in hot soon). I listened with both my ZMF VO and VC. The most striking thing that I heard was more noticeable layering and separation and more focused bass, compared to the TT2 single ended. Slightly drier midrange compared to the TT2 though.

 

[PortableAudioLover]

Thanks

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I only have the Formula S for the time being (Powerman is coming in hot soon). I listened with both my ZMF VO and VC. The most striking thing that I heard was more noticeable layering and separation and more focused bass, compared to the TT2 single ended. Slightly drier midrange compared to the TT2 though.

You're welcome. Adding a powerman would definitely help. Before receiving my powerman, my thoughts were like 99% this power supply is snakeoil but was I so wrong. Like @jlbrach said before, adding the powerman definitely brings it up a big notch. One thing I did do before placing the order for powerman was to replace the fuse on the formula S and that also significantly improved the sound and that was when I realized power supply should be paid very close attention to. One interesting observation I found is that Powerman actually uses hifi tuning fuses and not regular fuses. This could be a potential upgrade while you wait for your powerman !

 

[Slim1970]

Thanks

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I only have the Formula S for the time being (Powerman is coming in hot soon). I listened with both my ZMF VO and VC. The most striking thing that I heard was more noticeable layering and separation and more focused bass, compared to the TT2 single ended. Slightly drier midrange compared to the TT2 though.

Cool, how long have you been listening with the Formula S?

 

[Slim1970]

You're welcome. Adding a powerman would definitely help. Before receiving my powerman, my thoughts were like 99% this power supply is snakeoil but was I so wrong. Like @jlbrach said before, adding the powerman definitely brings it up a big notch. One thing I did do before placing the order for powerman was to replace the fuse on the formula S and that also significantly improved the sound and that was when I realized power supply should be paid very close attention to. One interesting observation I found is that Powerman actually uses hifi tuning fuses and not regular fuses. This could be a potential upgrade while you wait for your powerman !

What fuse are you using?

 

[PortableAudioLover]

What fuse are you using?

power house PH5

 

[Slim1970]

power house PH5

Wow, just looked it up. What improvements are you hearing in the Formula S with that fuse?

 

[PortableAudioLover]

Wow, just looked it up. What improvements are you hearing in the Formula S with that fuse?

Better separation, little bit more details and less harshness, also the bass is more controlled but YMMV.