Griffin Technologies Powerwave

[elnero]

Anyone using this with headphones? It looks interesting and is getting some raves over at Audio Circles but really very little about it's use with headphones.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Someone did mention that it drove the senns to plenty of volume.

They seem really buzzed about it as far as it's amp capabilities go though. I'd be tempted if I still had unpowered speakers. I'm tempted anyway, but let's not go there

 

[lan]

It's relatively cheap if used for a speaker or headphone amp.

Let's go there

Somebody try it and report back.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Signal to Noise Ratio 85dB

Hmmmm. Well. for the price........

-Ed

 

[ooheadsoo]

I've heard that digital stuff just doesn't have specs that are as good looking yet, but that they sound ok. In fact, everyone says that they sound great!

Wayne from Bolder cables took a look at it and said that any mods to be done to it are pretty time consuming because all the caps are surface mount. Something he felt was a pretty upgrade was just to get rid of the plastic case.

 

[dSquared]

I've had a PowerWave for the past few months (got it well before I ever discovered head-fi, Sennheiser 580s, etc etc). I just dusted it off and gave it a go again.

This is a quickie take, not a comprehensive review as it's 1:00am and I just got home an hour and a half ago.

Test: PowerBook -> USB extension -> PowerWave headphone out -> Senn 580s

Reference: Toshiba 3950 -> Radioshack Fusions -> Headsave Ultra II -> Sennheiser 580s

Short Take: Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. Right off the bat, the bass seems to be better articulated by PowerBook&Wave than Toshiba 3950 + Pimeta. If anyone's interested I'll do more listening and post more detailed results, IF someone can figure out a way to even the comparison, because what I feel like I'm doing right now is comparing two systems, rather than evaluating the PowerWave itself. Or maybe it's because I'm tired and am overlooking obvious ways to test the thing.

Notes: Why am I using two different sources and two different amps?

There's no volume control on the PowerWave, so trying to connect the PowerWave to the Toshiba via RCA interconnect is a one way ticket to deafville. If anyone has suggestions as to how to get around this, please let me know.

Why haven't you tried this before?

Well, I sort of did. When I first got my 580s and plugged them in I thought the noise floor was unacceptable. So I tossed it aside until last night, when I was cleaning my room and decided to consolidate audio eq. I set it up, but ended up using a USB extension cable in order to keep it in my audio cabinet. And, now that I just saw this thread and tried it again as a headphone amp, the crackling I heard was gone. I bet it was EMI from all the other junk on my desk. Oops. Apologies to my PowerWave.

Final note: The light is BLUE. And I mean really really BLUE. (The BLUE is seriously washed out in the pictures.) Well, it matches my PowerMate!

 

[Abula]

Quote:

If anyone's interested I'll do more listening and post more detailed results

I would really appriciate more details if you can do more auditioning. I was thinking of buying it if I buy for a K1000, at $100 is worth a try. Any more info that you can give us will be greatly appriciated.

 

[tortie]

This looks like a good alternative for powering my aura bass shakers. Thanks for the link as I have never heard of this computer amp before

 

[ooheadsoo]

I posted the link last week in the speakers/misc forum but it didn't get much notice. This time, maybe we'll get some more results

Btw, people are comparing this $100 amp to $1000 tube amps

Bass shakers, would be a cool alternative

Oh yeah, here are the two audiocircle discussion links:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...ight=powerwave

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...ight=powerwave

 

[elnero]

Yeah, the amp section seems to be getting some praise over at Audio Circles but there has been very little mention of the headphone out. Any more impressions would be appreciated.

 

[dSquared]

Griffin Technology PowerWave

I. Specs
width: 5 11/16”
depth: 4”
height: 7/8”

Minimum RMS Output Power per Channel:
15 W + 15 W (10 Hz – 20kHz, 10W , 0.1% THD)
Input Sensitivity/Impedance
RCA in (Line Level Mode) –15.0dBu , Greater Than 20kOhms
RCA in (Mic Level Mode) –30.0dBu, 7000 Ohms
Maximum Input Signal
RCA in (Line Level Mode) 0.0dBu
RCA in (Mic Level Mode) –15.0dBu
Output Level/Impedance
RCA out –2.0dBu , 600 ohms
Frequency Response (20Hz –20kHz)
RCA IN to RCA Out, Via USB Loopback
+/- 1.0dB
Total Harmonic Distortion (20Hz – 20kHz)
RCA IN to RCA Out, Via USB Loopback
0.03% Line Level Mode
0.07% Mic Level Mode
Signal to Noise Ratio
85dB
Residual Noise
72dB below nominal input level

II. Out of Box
AC Power Supply
Speaker Breakout Cable
6-foot stereo mini-jack male to RCA male cable
7-inch stereo mini-jack male to RCA female cable
USB Male A to B cable
CD-Rom

III. Build

Even though it’s a plastic case (with a REALLY BLUE LIGHT), it’s a decent quality plastic. The connectors aren’t bad, but don’t look for Cardas quality here. The power supply is a Potrans Elec Corp (unregulated) 12V.

IV. Sound

Test setup: PowerBook -> USB extension -> PowerWave headphone out -> Senn 580s

Test setup 2: PowerBook -> USB extension -> Radioshack Fusions -> Headsave Ultra II -> Senn 580s

Reference: Toshiba 3950 -> Radioshack Fusions -> Headsave Ultra II -> Sennheiser 580s

Test Music:
Paul Schwartz, Aria 2: New Horizon. “Addio”
Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. “The King of the Golden Hall”
Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. “The Bridge of Khazad Dum”
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue “So What”
Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Best of Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong. “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.”
Norah Jones, Feels Like Home. “Creepin’ In”
Emmylous Harris, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch, O Brother Where Art Thou. “Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby”
Loreena McKennit, The Book of Secrets. “The Mummer’s Dance”
Nirvana, Nevermind “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
3 Doors Down, Away from the Sun. “Here Without You”
Outkast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. “Hey Ya”
Eminem, 8 Mile. “Lose Yourself”

Note: I’ve only burned in the PowerWave for about 10 hours, and will update if anything major changes.

System vs System: Bass is where the PowerWave shines. When compared to the Toshiba-Pimeta, bass is clearly articulated (e.g. kettle drums are, uh, more “kettle drum-ish” and the PowerWave really brings out the male choir in “Khazad Dum” ). The soundstage is smaller than the Toshiba, and the highs are brighter (not un-listenable, just brighter). The PowerWave handles complex passages of music much better than the Toshiba (the Toshiba collapses during complex passages), and instrument separation is also better than the Toshiba.

Headphone out vs Pimeta: Unfortunately, I did some testing and realized that the left and right channels are swapped on my PowerWave, so it makes it difficult to do a real comparison. That said, I feel that the Pimeta, when driven by the PowerWave, relaxes the sound a bit, so the music feels like there's more space/ambience than the headphone out.

V. Issues

Volume Control: The PowerWave lacks any way to control the volume on the unit, making it unsuitable for a direct CDP -> PowerWave -> Cans setup.

Connectors: This is nitpicky, but if I had DIY skills, I’d start replacing the RCA connectors on this thing (and headphone jack)

EMI: When I first got my 580s and plugged them in I thought the noise floor was unacceptable, but now I’ve realized it was EMI from all the other junk on my desk. Now that I’ve apologized to my PowerWave, it still remains that the PowerWave is susceptible to it.

Quality Control: The left and right channel on the headphone out on my PowerWave are swapped.

VI. Verdict & Thoughts

Verdict: If you’ve got spare cash, get one and give it a shot.

I read the comments on AudioCircle, and I would caution about getting too excited over the PowerWave.

Edits: Suddenly realized the "well duh!" of how to test the headphone out. Yes, I'm a little slow sometimes.

 

[dSquared]

Download the manual (~1.6 mb)

 

[dSquared]

updated the mini-review to include headphone out vs pimeta (I had a "well duh!" moment this morning.)

 

[Abula]

dSquared,

Thanks for the review, I really apricate. If I can only find $100 ......., looks interesting.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Here's a brand new discussion on the powerwave starting on AC: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...wave+headphone
and a weird one here: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...6e1cd57024e4fa

Here's a thread on the powerwave and Ed Schilling's horn speakers: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...t=9298&start=0
(there's an offhand comment in here on the powerwave as a headphone amp)
(there's also some mod info in here by wayne from boldercables)

Here's powerwave and Omega speakers: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...wave+headphone

Wayne and boldercable's mod thread on the powerwave: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...wave+headphone