GoVibe - petite or Magnum? Or...?

[tohni]

Hey,
I'd like some recommendations on either of these amps/dacs. I am seriously considering them to boost the sound of my laptop and to have a nice portable amp. Has anyone tried both of them? How do they compare to the Corda Move? Does the crossfeed make that much of a difference? I read oicdn's amp review and I think I m more inclined towards the Magnum. Right now, though, I aleady have a cheapish Cmoy (Lm4562 Opamp) and I think the sound is quite nice. Should I just get an external USB or is the GoVibe amp way better than any 50$ Cmoy could ever be?

Uncle Wilson hasn't replied to any of my e-mails or pms; and I sent him like 10 per day (just kidding

). I also signed up for the Jaben forum, but that is still awaiting approval. How long did it take before he replied to your pms/e-mails?

Thx, any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated...

 

[blippster]

(all opinions are my own, and may be different for your experience)

I had the Petite for a few weeks (bought one to try out, since many people seemed to have good things to say about it). Found it to be slightly on the clinical side and a little dark in presentation especially if compared to a LM4562-based amp, though the sound quality is quite likely a step up.

If you're looking to keep the CMoy and get a USB DAC, the GoVibe DAC (without the amp section) is quite worth it, especially considering the price.

Tried the 2Move for a while only, but it seems to be more neutral than the Petite. Didn't try it with the same equipment so can't give you a further comparison, sorry.

If you need help getting your registration approved, let me know and I'll help you PM Uncle Wilson to remind him.

 

[Blackmore]

Depends with which headphone you may use it. As I understood Petite was made for IEM's kind of things, but seems that Grado have very good synergy as well. I use it with ATH ES7, ESW9 and Koss KSC75 and the results are as follow:

ATH ES7 - can live with it, but only as not main use.
ATH ESW9 - nice, can use a bit body from mids side.
Koss KSC75 - good, especially using through DAC


I hope to get Magnum shortly, so I can compare it to Petite.

 

[tohni]

Aaah, thanks a lot. - Well, I am going to use it with my K500s and K701s mainly. I know: These "scale up enormously with better amplification". Right now, however, I think I am fine with a Cmoy or the like (GoVibe that is). I also have some other phones, but I feel they don't benefit very much from amping. Soundwise, is there a big difference between a DAC for 60 USD - the one I am currently eyeing - and a GoVibe DAC?
I am torn here: I'd like a DAC and a decent amp; but I don't want to carry around two separate boxes all the time.
Is the GoVibe worth the 200 to 300ish USD? Or should I rather stay with my portable setup, get a DAC and then later, when I have bigger funds, maybe buy a used desktop amp?

 

[blippster]

It'll probably be more worth it to get a nice desk amp imo. IIRC, the Petite's datasheet specifies loads of 16 - 120 Ohm (someone correct me if I'm wrong), and the AKGs may be a little beyond the amp to drive to their fullest potential.

Don't know what 60 USD DAC you're looking at, so hard to say. If it's another PCM270X chip based one, the basic sound would probably be fairly similar.

Why would you want to carry the DAC around? Unless you have a laptop, then you could just throw it in the laptop bag.

Whatever it's worth is probably best decided by you, although I don't think the Petite costs that much.

 

[tohni]

Quote:

the AKGs may be a little beyond the amp

K500 have 120 and K701 have 62 Ohms, so it seems they should be alright.

Quote:

Why would you want to carry the DAC around?

When visiting my parents, I'd like to have some nice sound from my laptop. The petite/Magnum are simply more compact, more portable that is.

The petite costs too much for me right now. I already splashed out on an external hard drive plus the K701s. And food is a factor, too.

 

[Navyblue]

Looking at headphone impedance is a bad way to judge a headphone's power requirement.

16-120 ohms kind of specification can only be taken as a guideline, especially when you are dealing with AKGs. K701's 55 ohm is said to be harder to drive than 300 ohms Sennheizer, and the 120 ohms K500/501/601 is said to be more so.

That said I don't mean that the Petite would be insufficient. My very limited experience with it seems to indicate that it isn't incredibly powerful, but let's hear from those who have more experience.

 

[tohni]

Quote:

My very limited experience with it seems to indicate that it isn't incredibly powerful

Thanks. I don't know how much power is necessary. All this power talk is confusing; I find it almost hard to believe that my Cmoy drives the AKGs nicely - but it does.

Quote:

but let's hear from those who have more experience.

x2

 

[mr.khali]

I would like to hear more on this as well. The Go Vibe Magnum has peaked my interest as well but because it is so new little feedback is available. Looks great in the pictures and Oicdn's review makes it sound worth waiting for.

 

[tohni]

Quote:

This tweak will give you the sound of a new amp without paying for one.

Mmm, tweak you say? The only problem I have with my laptop is, that, coming out of the Cmoy, there is a high pitched humming/buzzing sound. Hardly noticable, but it's there. So I am afraid I need a DAC one way or another. BTW, how much are the OP552s?

 

[oicdn]

Owning both, I can tell you the Magnum is quite the step-up from the Petite. The added bass circuit helps give things a nice boot as well.

The DAC section is also pretty damn good and wouldn't hesitate using it as an on the go option. However, the Magnum will NOT charge via USB, so you will also have to have it plugged into the wall if you want to charge it.

 

[Blackmore]

Do not worry about USD 200 worth or not. I can tell you Petite is a very good amp/dac, but not sure what ever it would be an good partner for AKG 501 or 701. Those headphones arent really portable either, so just start from the start, its a portable amp, which is really small size one as well. If I get the chance I will try it with Sennheiser HD650 or something else to hear how it will go.

 

[tohni]

I see, but "portable" doesn't mean that I literally take my full sized hps plus amp when I walk in the streets. Portability is only important for the time I am away from my home and my stereo and have only my laptop as a source. So far, the SQ of my Cmoy is good enough for me - even at home

. The only thing that is really bothering me is the buzzing from my laptop. And I thought I might just buy an amp/DAC in one housing, because taking my Cmoy, my headphones and a dac with me when I want to listen to some high/er quality music away from home seems like a bit too much.

 

[Navyblue]

If you think your CMoy sounds fine with big cans, I don't find it too ridiculous.

FWIW, I tried my K501 on my Sony DAP (kind of known for it's weak output). At max volume I got just enough volume in a quiet environment, but sound is kind of flat. My K501 can do better than that, but I'd say it doesn't sound bad, and probably better than many things out there. A CMoy would have much more juice than my DAP.

I've heard a K701 out of a iQube, and I really enjoyed it, though the volume knob almost hit the roof. I don't know if K701 could do better, but it was pretty good.

 

[tohni]

Strange, that Sony DAP must have a really weak output. When I turn up my Cmoy half way, the volume on the K500s is already insanely loud; it takes a little more for the K701s though.
I am still undecided: I think I'll get myself a small USB DAC and that's that. The petite and the Magnum are just too expensive (for me, at least). Still, it sucks to have to carry around two things, the amp and the DAC, when I want to have great sound on the go. - Can anyone tell me: What is the difference between these cheapish USB DAC which have something like 16 bits and the ones like the Zero, which has 24 Bit? (I know, the numbers are different. But do the numbers indicate a difference in SQ?) Edit: A thread has just started asking the exact question. Maybe that will help.
Another thing: my home hifi amp has a "pure direct" function, i.e. the dsp and the EQ (bass and treble) are bypassed, does this purify an already impure signal coming from the laptop? Would the DAC send a "pure" signal to the amp? Do the two signals differ in any way(Laptop-Amp "pure direct"-HP vs. Laptop-DAC-Amp-HP or speakers)?
Your help would be greatly appreciated, thx...