divad68
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2006
- Posts
- 13
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Well, I took a gamble and bought one of these off Ebay (still linked to Ornec) for £99, to drive my Sennheiser HD650's. Other than my little PA2V2, which can't hanle the 650's, this is the first headphone amp I've heard. Although it certainly 'drives' the 650's with some ease and the overall sound does seem to have tightened up considerably, it has done so to the point where I could almost describe it as being 'hard'. This is compared to what I hear straight out of my Yamaha DSP-A1 HT amp or from my Ipod line out. This characteristic is also evident through my HD595's and HD485's.
It almost feels as if there is less bass, but I guess what I am hearing is, in fact, bass being more tightly controlled. Overall the sound is distinctly more dynamic as a result, but certainly less 'lush', too. Vocals, female in particular, now sound a little 'glassy' where before they were smoother. Is this what I should expect a dedicated headphone amp to sound like, or is it simply a result specific to the TW-J1? Maybe I'd be happier with a tube amp?
It almost feels as if there is less bass, but I guess what I am hearing is, in fact, bass being more tightly controlled. Overall the sound is distinctly more dynamic as a result, but certainly less 'lush', too. Vocals, female in particular, now sound a little 'glassy' where before they were smoother. Is this what I should expect a dedicated headphone amp to sound like, or is it simply a result specific to the TW-J1? Maybe I'd be happier with a tube amp?