[saadi703]

The operation algorithm of such a regulator does not need to be compared by the operation of the volume knob in a conventional amplifier.

FA10 uses a digitally controlled relay control, which allows you to select a large number of steps for working with low volume and allows you to precisely adjust the level even when working with "sensitive" headphones

Yes, it is relay controlled and I can hear the clicks while changing the volume. Another way to handle to problem is to have lower low gain value instead of using 14db as low gain. Yes larger number of steps is understandable but volume variation should be linear over those larger steps however this is not the case. The problem is that change in volume is not llinear and this is true even if I used more "sensitive" headphone such as Sennheisser HD598, Sennheisser HD206, Focal Elex, AKG K702. Same story with harder to drive headphones such as HD800S, Arya and Susvara.

 

[NickT23]

lol, I was just trying to be caution as I might be called wrong for my impressions. Anyways, no worries. I am going to post my impressions in the below post.

Am I might be the one as you were referring ?

 

[cfranchi]

Interesting comparison between FA-10 and A90 : 2 different philosophy.

https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/topping-a90-review-resetting-the-trend/

 

[saadi703]

Interesting.... no offense seems like you like A90 slightly more than FA-10. Whic one do you prefer on your susvara ? How does it performs on both single ended and balance configuration on both amps ?

Is it good enough to own both amps ? Alsoo, i assume you use toping D90 as your main dac for your FA-10 ?

Yes, I am using Topping D90 as DAC because the other DAC I have is iFi Micro iDSD black label which is nowhere as good as topping D90 so I only use it for portable use. Yes, I like A90 more as it appeals me more when I use it with any of my headphones. That is only when I compare both amps otherwise FA-10 is great. D90 + A90 combo is hard to beat in terms of price and performance. I prefer A90 on Susvara mostly however there are certain recordings where I like FA-10 more because of meatier mid range or calmer treble. FA-10 is same weather you use single ended or balance inputs / outputs whereas there is difference in power on A90 and the balanced configuration will have more power. A90 is balanced amp whereas FA-10 is single ended so there are differences on A90 between single ended and balanced configurations whereas FA-10 has no difference.

Yes if one is willing to spend money then differences between A90 and FA-10 are significant enough to own both.

 

[saadi703]

Interesting comparison between FA-10 and A90 : 2 different philosophy.

https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/topping-a90-review-resetting-the-trend/

Yes, he is pretty spot on. These are two different philosophies and I bought the A90 only after reading this and having discussion with Sandu. He did this comparison on my request and he has refereed my name in the comparison as well. When he got A90 for review, at that time I was already waiting for my FA-10 to arrive but I had my eyes on A90 as well after hearing all good things about it. So I asked him to compared A90 with FA-10. Now after owning both of these amps, I agree with his point of two different philosophies.

 

[rmsanger]

Anybody have the FA-10 with a Abyss 1266 ? Also any comparisons to how this sounds against other class a amps?

 

[artist777]

Details and Texture: In terms of details and textures A90 beats the other two amps where THX 887 is second. FA-10 does not lack in detail either but it has the tonality where you have to search and listen for the details whereas on other two amps such details are pretty obvious.

Regarding the darkened high frequencies of FA-10. That is a big advantage relative to other devices. Those, when the detail of high frequencies is at a high level, but there is no dominance of the high-frequency range over the rest part of the spectrum, which creates the effect of a wider dynamic range. Such high-frequency sound is characteristic of a very expensive devices

 

[cfranchi]

My FA-10 has been shipped yesterday, I’ll post my impressions with HE6se and Mojo as DAC.
Seems that Topping is also a very good value with very correct price. I’m tired of gears costing thousands and thousands!

 

[cfranchi]

Interesting comparison between FA-10 and A90 : 2 different philosophy.

https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/topping-a90-review-resetting-the-trend/

I have re-read the comparison, I guess my taste will accommodate FA-10 better, also with HE6se it should be a wonderful pairing I guess.

 

[cfranchi]

I have also ask Flux about their upcoming DAC, it should be something in the same price range than FA-10.

 

[NickT23]

I have also ask Flux about their upcoming DAC, it should be something in the same price range than FA-10.

Interesting, if any update post here. Because Vitalie always dont have time to reply the same email always. Till now, I have not received a respond from him usually !

 

[NickT23]

My FA-10 has been shipped yesterday, I’ll post my impressions with HE6se and Mojo as DAC.
Seems that Topping is also a very good value with very correct price. I’m tired of gears costing thousands and thousands!

Are there any difference of thousand of dollars gears ? Which amplifier did you demo ?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I have been using FA-10 since last 3-4 days and I have used THX 887 for good 6-7 months whereas I have used Topping A90 for one day. Here is a quick comparison / impression of FA-10, A90 and THX 887.

Let us first have a look tonality.
Bass: Both FA-10 and A90 has fantastic bass performance with great impact and slam. It is hard to pick a winner here as in some songs A90 seems to have slightly more slam and impact whereas in other FA-10 seems to have more whereas in some songs they seems on par with each other. I think you would be happy with the bass performance of anyone of them. Listening to songs like "Chocolate Chip Trip" by tool is such a fun experience on both amps. The drum hits are so intense on both the amps. THX887 falls little bit behind both of them in terms of bass performance as it lacks in punch and slam quality shown by other two amps. Bass is where FA-10 and A90 are more similar whereas they both are very different in mid range and treble areas. THX 887 bass impact can feel little plastic at times depend upon the song.

Mid Range: To be honest all three amps has fantastic mid range however there are differences so depending upon your preference you might like one over the other. The FA-10 has full bodies and meatier mid range as compared to the other two amps but this does not mean that other two sound thin. THX 887 has very capable mid range however A90 now trumps it in terms of mid range as it provide such detail nuances in the mid range that you notice every single subtle change. In fact, I prefer the mid range of A90 over the FA-10 because although FA-10 sound fuller and very natural but it does not present as many nuances as A90 does. A90 also appears to me more accurate in terms of how a person sounds. I played back my own voice as well as my friends and family voices as I am very familiar that how they sound in real life and to me A90 came on top. Having said that there are certain songs and singers where I prefer FA-10's full bodied and meatier presentation however in certain songs it becomes boring and monotone. Having said that, I do not have any problem with the mid range of any one of them. Fans of full bodied and meatier mid range will definitely enjoy FA-10 more. Songs like "House of Rising Sun" sounds amazing on FA-10 where the singer already has pretty fuller voice. I do not enjoy FA-10 as much on the female singers though as they appear to sound different than they normally do. If the mixing engineer has not used de-esser on the vocal or their is harshness in the vocals than FA-10 is most forgiving among all these amps and it would make small problems less noticeable.

Treble: This is where A90 and THX 887 are more similar and FA-10 is different. A90 is the most detailed and textured treble among all three amps. I really love the treble of A90 as it has loads of effortless detail. THX887 is the close second in terms of detail and texture. FA-10 does not lack much in detail but the leading and trailing edges of each note are smoothed out so it has less texture and hence smooth treble. I personally prefer the treble performance of A90 as the reason why I have spent thousand of dollars is to listen to a high end system which present every bit of detail and still sounds nice and A90 does that for me. Having said that for modern music with some genres like Hip-hop and R&B etc. some times you want smooth treble and this is where FA-10 shines as the treble removes all the harshness with little to no loss of detail. I personally do no listen to such genres and recording so this does not bother me. If you do not compare FA-10 with one of the most detailed amps like A90 then you would not feel that it lacks in that department either. I am using Topping D90 which is known for easy going treble so this DAC might not be good pairing with FA-10 if you want to have more textured treble. You would be more better off using any high end ESS based DAC which has little be hot treble (such as Matrix X-Sabre Pro). I think it might improve the FA-10 treble performance.

Details and Texture: In terms of details and textures A90 beats the other two amps where THX 887 is second. FA-10 does not lack in detail either but it has the tonality where you have to search and listen for the details whereas on other two amps such details are pretty obvious. A90 is the detail and texture monster.

Dynamics: All three amps are excellent for dynamics however I feel A90 win in the dynamics department as well because it feels very dynamic and engaging on almost every song whereas other two amps can be little picky and like certain type of recordings.

Power: In terms of power FA-10 wins however both A90 and THX 887 has more than enough power to drive any headphone even the hardest to drive headphone such as Hifiman Susvara. A90 can drive the susvara to 80-85db at 1 o clock (high gain) with enough headroom available for quiter recordings. FA-10 can also drive the Susvara to same level with volume knob betwen 2 and 3 o clock however if you further increase the volume then it can make the headphone so loud that it will become speaker but at that point you risk damaging your headphone. THX 887 has a flaw though that if you are using balanced input then it would clip and exhibit distortion in high gain mode. This is the design fault of THX 887. So you have to use unbalanced input on 887 to use high gain without clipping but this seriously decrease the headroom availability. The other two amps does not have this problem.

So compare to A90, the Flux is at smoother / more forgiving / meatier side. That's nice to know, thanks!

Based on your previous post, I think Flux use not gradual volume control, to accommodate many sensitive headphones out there (have more room to move the knob), same like what Wells Audio do to Milo's potentiometer. About difference in volume with headfonia review, could be because of different voltage output from dac.

 

[saadi703]

So compare to A90, the Flux is at smoother / more forgiving / meatier side. That's nice to know, thanks!

Based on your previous post, I think Flux use not gradual volume control, to accommodate many sensitive headphones out there (have more room to move the knob), same like what Wells Audio do to Milo's potentiometer. About difference in volume with headfonia review, could be because of different voltage output from dac.

You are very welcome. Yes, this how best I can describe this amp. I love the sound as well and compliments my other amp. Very happy with it.

The reviewer used Topping D90 (the same DAC that I have) and Matrix Element M and both output 4v and 2v through XLR and RCA output just like most consumer DACs. I have varying degree of sensitive headphones and everyone gave me very little volume until 12 o clock. Not a very elegant solution even if it is done for low sensitivity headphones.

Personally not a big deal for me but the idea was to let everyone know about it as this is purpose of this thread.

I will also speak to flux about it.

 

[saadi703]

I have re-read the comparison, I guess my taste will accommodate FA-10 better, also with HE6se it should be a wonderful pairing I guess.

Good choice. It has muscle to drive the HE6se to fullest and still breaking no sweat. FA-10 is a very good amp for what it is. It sounds very refined.