[Arthur Li]

I've been using the moon neo 230 HAD to drive both the elear and the ie800.
Maybe the word "lifeless" is slightly exaggerated, but I do find that the elear fails to show the shimmery texture of female vocal. I mainly listen to japanese female vocal such as Aimer and I do find myself enjoy the ie800 more when listen to this type of music.
Despite all the negatives I find on the elear, I must admit it got its own way in presenting music to th

 

[Arthur Li]

to the listeners.

 

[ahossam]

Just a/b my elear to the senn ie800, I was shocked by how many details I've been missing on the elear. The elear does have more impactful bass slam than the ie800, but it's ability to reveal micro details in the bass region is clearly inferior. Also, elear just cannot do justice to female vocal. Female vocal sounds lifeless and dull on the elear. Overall, I would say that the elear disappoints me by quite a bit. However, I do not plan to sell them as they certainly has an unique tonality.

Me too highly disagree with this statement, Elear is very good at details retrieval, sometimes its better than my Noble Katana.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

@ArthurLi:  What amp/DAC are you using?

 

[Arthur Li]

  @ArthurLi:  What amp/DAC are you using?

I am currently using the Moon by Simaudio Neo 230 HAD as both dac and amp. I think this unit's amp section is capable of driving the elear with authority. However, some reviewers do claim that the built-in dac of this dac/amp combo is not very good.

 

[doctorjazz]

I have to say, the Elear is pretty easy to drive...works well with my HTC10 and with Pono (single ended). That said, I'm sure there are synergies to be had with some upstream gear and improvements depending on the matches. And, again, these are a really odd set of cans to my ears; not odd in a bad way, just have a different view of the musical world than most audiophile gear I've listened to. I'm hoping to post my review soon (if I can get off my rapidly enlarging bum!!!).

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

For me it has been great. The Deckard is a clean, neutral amp with lots of power. The Elear although not requiring a ton of power really scales well to the clean power of the Deckard. 4w at 20ohm. I can drive the Elear on medium gain at like 11:00 on the dial.

Just a quick shot of the moment. Got moved around today so not at my long headphone table ha


I totally agree on this. The Deckard has great synergy with the Elear. Love how the bass can dig down deep. For me I have it on medium gain and about 1130. (Music playing in the background of the store so I have to go a little higher to counteract). Rest of the frequencies sound well balanced and clear.

 

[geoffalter11]

Just a quick shot of the moment. Got moved around today so not at my long headphone table ha


I totally agree on this. The Deckard has great synergy with the Elear. Love how the bass can dig down deep. For me I have it on medium gain and about 1130. (Music playing in the background of the store so I have to go a little higher to counteract). Rest of the frequencies sound well balanced and clear.

Thanks for posting this MTMECraig... I couldn't agree more.  I am continually surprised by how great of an amp the Deckard has become for me.  I know there are better amps and better dacs, but with my current headphone stable I get clean, neutral (with a touch of warmth) power with an incredibly black background and low distortion.  When I went to buy it, I called and spoke with a gentleman at Audeze who helped to design the Deckard.  He helped me to understand that I would need to spend in upwards of $2,000 to see a significant uptick in resolution and quality.  I can't say if that is true or not, but I can say that I am completely satisfied with it as my main rig.  It has a great ability to dig deep into the bass, present a clear and focused midrange, and extend up into the treble with air and sparkle.  The only headphone that I don't love with my Deckard are my ZMF Omni's.  They need a touch more power to completely take hold of the modified fostex driver.  They sound good through the Deckard, but not exquisite like my Elears or Dharma D1000's.  For me, the price to performance ratio of The Elears and Deckard is fantastic.

 

[pofdstudios]

Has anyone paired the Elears with the Woo Wa7's? Wondering if the Woo has enough power to drive these without an issue

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  Has anyone paired the Elears with the Woo Wa7's? Wondering if the Woo has enough power to drive these without an issue

It worked well with my LCD-2.2. Harder to drive than the Elears.

 

[pofdstudios]

Man! Im in a quandry. I HATE choices like this  but I can pull the trigger on a new set of Elears ( Using B&W P7W now) or I can get a portable DAP Astell & Kern AK300 that ive been eyeballing for awhile now. I run a Dragonfly Red now on my iphone but as you know thats not exactly "High Fidelity" that I use while hiking. I can only purchase one ......sigh

 

[jb001e9634]

So far my current setup including the Elears sounds much more Analogue than any other digital music I've heard - whether that's a good or a bad thing, it reminds me of Rothley pre and power amps and Castle speakers. I think I'm hearing the music instead of listening to the production. Technically perfect? probably not, enjoyable?, definitely.

I like it.

 

[TWerk]

The Deckard is a fantastic amp. I was buying amps and dacs and the works and it was a very annoying process, until I got to the Deckard and I was all done with it. Which is exactly what I wanted, it's not fun playing the amp/dac game and paying those shipping costs to send the heavy packages across the country.
 
There are amps that make things overly bright and harsh and amps that are overly smoothed and lacking in extension. I think the Deckard takes the perfect middle road, offering a power sound with the air and extension up top, power down low and not the harsh fatigue. It's a great amp.
 
If your looking for a warmer leaning amp, the Nuforce HA-200 is the way to go there, and pairs very well with some phones too.

 

[jb001e9634]

The Deckard is a fantastic amp. I was buying amps and dacs and the works and it was a very annoying process, until I got to the Deckard and I was all done with it. Which is exactly what I wanted, it's not fun playing the amp/dac game and paying those shipping costs to send the heavy packages across the country.

There are amps that make things overly bright and harsh and amps that are overly smoothed and lacking in extension. I think the Deckard takes the perfect middle road, offering a power sound with the air and extension up top, power down low and not the harsh fatigue. It's a great amp.

If your looking for a warmer leaning amp, the Nuforce HA-200 is the way to go there, and pairs very well with some phones too.

I agree, initially the buying and trying is ok but it becomes tiresome. Funnily enough I had a Deckard and moved it on because it didn't impress me much more more than my Mojo, I also tried it just as an amp and concluded the same. Nothing wrong, just not lots better. I've now got the Ha200 fed by the Mojo and the compact works well for me. Lots of detail from the Mojo and impact from the Nuforce. I'm hearing and feeling the music now. Win-win. I'm sure better sound can be had, but it's clear that it's the sum of the parts that count and improving all 3 would be costly both in money AND time. I think sometimes you have to figure out when somethings good and staying with that is ok - it is for me at least.

 

[TWerk]

If you play the game a little while, you eventually hear what you are looking for and can say, I'll stick with this!
 
Yep, I like both amps a lot. If I only had to stick to one, it would be the Deckard, but there are headphones (like my DT1770) that just sound excellent with the Nuforce. I'm very happy to have both of them in the arsenal. The good thing with the nuforce is that it was quite a good, low price for a full sized desktop amp.