[tiberian]

wow, just wow. significant improvement over the xp-7 and benchmark dac amp out.
firstly its even more detailed than the benchmark amp, but it doesn't have the harshness, everything's quite smooth, well, not as smooth as the xp-7, but prehead doesn't take away details in order to make things sound smooth. i can clearly notice the subtle details now.
secondly, it has an awesome dynamic, now i can actually feel the drums, and notes are more apparent than before. the bass is tighter and vocals are fuller. the highs are great too!
thirdly, instrument seperation is great, guitars can actually come alive and no longer get overwhelmed by the drums and keyboards. frequency extension is also noticeably better.
kudos to dr meier for making such an excellent product and todd for his fantastic customer service!

 

[ampgalore]

If you ever decide to sell the prehead, I get first dips.

 

[tiberian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore If you ever decide to sell the prehead, I get first dips.

i will once i have enough cash for a balanced rig...

 

[ampgalore]

Congratulations on your new rig!

Can you do a detailed comparison between the Benchmark headphone out and the prehead?

I always felt hte headphone out on the Benchmark is a bit harsh.

 

[tiberian]

let me clean up my apartment first, i got a bunch of stuff lying around and i guess my benchmark dac is buried within a pile of t shirts and cds, using apogee dac now.

i think cosmopragma has both of them and he may be able to give you a short comprasion.

 

[saint.panda]

congrats! The prehead is the best headphone amp I've heard so far. In a direct A/B testing with the RKVII, I preferred the prehead due its naturalness and easiness how it drives all sorts of headphones.
Plus, you've got crossfeed and the preamp feature. If I had that money I wouldn't even think about which amp to get.

 

[dvr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore Can you do a detailed comparison between the Benchmark headphone out and the prehead? I always felt the headphone out on the Benchmark is a bit harsh.

I just picked up a DAC1 last night, and find it painfully bright with the Ety 4p.

Right now I'm switching between the headphone out on the DAC1 and my HA-2, and the HA-2 still sounds a little bright, but not terribly so.

 

[ampgalore]

The headphone amp on the Benchmark is bright. With my HD600, my ears start hurting after an hour or so.

 

[tiberian]

alright ampgalore, just hooked up my benchmark dac-1, now i am going to check out some songs.

 

[kunwar]

The presentation on DAC1's amp is empahsised on the treble and upper mids.
Out of the Talisman, the bass is just heavenly. The treble and mids are delivered with punch and i love it with the MS Pros.
if you prefer a laid back style of presentation, then an amp such as the Ray Samuels's line would be recommended based on views expressed regarding the smoothing factor added to the sound.
I personally love the sound out of even the DAC1 amp. It is energetic to say the least, get's my heart rate up and pumping .

 

[ampgalore]

With me, short sessions with the Benchmark headphone out are okay, but I can't stand long listening sessions, hurts my ears.

 

[tiberian]

ok this is my brief observation.

as kunwar said the presentation on DAC1's amp is focused on the treble and upper mids. cymbals are splashy and loud, and there is not enough bass. things aint that full bodied, smooth, punchy and detailed as well. instrument speration isn't good either.

lets just say the prehead is a level over the benchmark dac amp.

 

[ampgalore]

That's good to know Tiberian. And thanks for all the work!

Have you heard the HR-2? How would you compare the Prehead to the HR-2? Not many people have heard both.

I briefly owned an HR-2. At the time I still had my Grace 901. But I never heard of the Prehead.

 

[tiberian]

never heard the HR2 sorry. i remember there are a bunch of posts in the meet impression forum about prehead vs amps like headroom max, gilmore v2se and the hr2. you may find them useful.

 

[noir]

tell me more good things about the prehead, i am thinking of getting one too