New to the forum but have been lurking for a while.
Recently purchased the Voyager as an upgrade to what I consider the very capable Fiio E11 for the price. Intial impressions weren't positive (paired with my Beyerdynamic DT 770 80 Ohm with about 30 hrs on them, ipod classic, a Pure i-20 dock and Teac UD-H01 dac) even though I managed to get the Voyager brand new at a heavily discounted price. I felt like the Fiio sounded warmer and provided that controlled lower end impact that brought a smile to my face, whereas the Voyager felt a little underwhelming in all areas sonically. The Fiio definitely has more power, never needing to go past 4 on the dial, whilst the Voyager needed to be pushed to 12 o'clock position to achieve the same volume level. I felt that I may have been foolish to be expecting too much of a diffference but based on the reviews and pricing difference between the two amps and there is a masssive difference in pricing therfore it would be fair to assume a consequential improvement in sound quality.
Forward to 75-80hrs of burn in time with the Voyager and the DT 770's, listening to it again, as much I want to say there was no difference, there definitely is. Using a Ipod Classic 7th Gen with apple lossless encoding sitting on top of a Pure i-20 digital dock feeding a Teac UD-H01 Dac via optical, I first listened to Tracy Chapman's live recording of her 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival, not the best listening test in the world due to the quality of the recording but to make my point, I have up until now only really ever listened to hip hop, soul & r'n'b, although Tracy's vocals aren't a million miles away from a soul artist, I found myself listening to the entire recording transfixed by her vocals, the acoustic guitar sounded incredible and the soundstage seemed so immersive, as if you were there sat in the audience, close your eyes and you could picture her on stage. The Voyager sounds, and I have very little frame of reference but can only describe it as if I were pouring a bottle of full fat milk over a bowl of cereal, encompassing eveything and adding to the texture and flavour without taking anything away, I know that is a strange analogy but it just sounds so lush compared to when I first turned it on and I think that describes the Voyager in a nutshell. I sat at work today thinking about how this little thing had changed in to a much more capable beast and how I couldn't wait to get home to try it out again just to make sure that it wasn't a subconscious placebo effect to justify my purchase.
Listening to John Legend's Set Me Free from his Evolver album this evening, the vocals are haunting at the best of times but the Voyager handles every nuance in his voice with great aplomb. The same can be said for Joss Stones Could Have Been You from her Colour Me Free album or anything from Maxwell or D'Angelo. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds O'Children is just mesmerising (yes the one from Harry Potter). During the 75-80 hrs burning in period I must have spent approximately 8-10 hours listening to it during this time and I really didn't expect to see any change to its sonic characteristics, but to me, it definitely sounds less muddy and provides a sweeter bass response then when I first listened to it. The bass is tight but the extension is there when the music requires it. (thats without using the contour switch and I know the 770's are meant to be bass heavy).
I just want to say that I may need to get another job to finance my urge to keep upgrading, currently considering the Sennheiser HD 650 but leaning towards something that will be more portable like the Beyerdynamic DT 1350 (thank you Jude and Tyll for your reviews) as I am very happy with the 770's for home use although I may upgrade my fiio lod to a silver based lod (nothing too expensive) but won't be upgrading this amp anytime soon (even if do get the HD650's).
I have enjoyed reading up on your varied experiences with your own equipment and look forward to continue reading up on all your reviews and experiences with your own gear in the future. Just wanted to say thank you all for sharing your experiences with the likes of myself as they have provided me with an opportunity to understand life's too short to listen to poor quality sound through ipod ear phones.
Hope it's better than my current Cryo Copper IC.
