Superpredator
Headphoneus Supremus
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HeadRoom Balanced Desktop with internal DAC vs. Cayin HA-1A with Monarchy M24: Impressions using the K340
Note that impressions using the selfish and difficult K340 are not representative of how either of these amps functions with any other headphones.
Equipment:
Rig A: CD > 1212m > Dayton optical cable > Home module DAC > HeadRoom Balanced Desktop with Home module, stepped attenuator and Astrodyne power supply
Rig B: CD > 1212m > Blue Jeans LC-1 > Monarchy M24 with Amperex 6922 gold-pin > Aural Thrills ACS copper > Cayin HA-1A with RCA 6BQ5, RCA 12AU7 clear top, Cayin 12AX7
Headphones: K340, modified, Headphile BlackGold, Fitz BlackClover single-ended adapter
Introduction:
My first impression of the Balanced Desktop was that it was extraordinarily neutral running a pair of balanced K701, and not entirely fun to listen to. Heaps of power and a strong sense of control, but too much sharp, thin precision for the already precise (and sometimes thin) K701. When the Balanced Desktop first arrived several weeks ago I was experiencing some sensitivity in my left ear, and I didn’t find it very useful to take notes or do any real critical listening. I don’t recall whether I was using the Desktop’s internal DAC or my Monarchy M24, whether I had crossfeed engaged or not, etc., so I won’t delve into my several-week-old impressions that are no doubt stale anyway. A few days before the meet my symptoms abated, and just this past Sunday I finally did some real listening. The following are my impressions, though I wish I had more time with happier ears.
Balanced Desktop with internal DAC:
Cat Power - The Covers Record
The first thing I noted was that, at times, crossfeed felt like a bit of necessity. Without it the sound was dry, thin, and sort of unpleasant, imparting a tinny, weak quality on the K340 that anyone familiar with these headphones would recognize as a clear sign of a synergistic mismatched. Engaged the bass and midrange filled out quite nicely; notes were rounder, with much more solid and pleasing impact. Unfortunately crossfeed also seemed to zero out some of the spatial detail, the little subtleties and air that convey the sense of Chan Marshall and the instruments around her being in an actual room. For the K340, the choice was easy, as crossfeed was the difference between listenable and not.
And very listenable it was. The Desktop filled the K340 out as nicely as I’ve heard and more, with a balanced, liquid sound complete with a very black background. Highs were sweet and a touch soft and the K340 midrange was velvety and rich. While the Desktop is not exactly tubey, it definitely has a certain mix of liquidity and life in the midrange that one could consider tube-like. Bass was tight and lively. Details were present but somewhat reserved, less in your face than the Cayin. Notes moved through the attack-decay-sustain-release progression perfectly. Piano was right on, big and clear, reminiscent of Jan Meier’s sound, though it seemed more in line with the rest of the presentation here. I found the Desktop/K340 match a bit dark, and pleasantly so. Even with crossfeed engaged the Desktop eked out some pretty nice imaging to perhaps compete with the Monarchy/Cayin. The crossfeed function actually created imaging and placement more similar to the M24 than itself with crossfeed off.
Massive Attack - Blue Lines, Live With Me
Again crossfeed deepened the bass and filled out the midrange, with more weight and extension in the lows than the Cayin. Terry Callier sounded fantastic, as did the rest of the male vocalists. And again I got liquid sound, this time with big bass, plenty satisfying on tracks where it was abundant. The Desktop reminded me why the K340 are THE headphones for Massive Attack. Where natural spatiality isn't critical and bass is, crossfeed is a no-brainer, although on Massive Attack tracks where there were more instruments, vocalists and other sounds than in the sparse Covers Record, crossfeed seemed to smush a lot of the notes into one place. A backup vocalist who should have been placed very distantly off to the left and towards the back of the stage was too close and imprecise, kind of smeared at several distances at once.
This was my first encounter with HeadRoom’s crossfeed, and it seemed less subtle and also more of a critical function than the crossfeed on the Corda Aria or SuperMacro IV.
I also have the sense that Desktop’s internal DAC is a perfect match for the amp section. When my ear was bothering me I believe I was feeding the Desktop with the Monarchy at first, and a switch over to the internal DAC revealed a more relaxed sound.
Cayin HA-1A with Monarchy M24:
Cat Power - The Covers Record
Unfortunately I do not have all of the Cayin’s tubes replaced with NOS / vintage; specifically I haven't replaced the 12AX7 with a 5751 to get the noise floor down (and a more refined sound, I imagine). The background was noticeably fuzzy, more so in ultralinear mode than triode, the latter reducing it to just barely perceptible with music playing. I had to turn the volume all the way up on the Desktop with gain on high to get that kind of background noise.
The Cayin struck me as being quite powerful and very, very detailed. I didn’t have to strain at all to hear the sounds of the pick on the strings, the sound of Chan Marshall’s rear squeaking around on the bench, or the sound of her mouth forming words. It was right there. Highs were a touch sharp and emphasized with sibilant moments sounding somewhat rough but it was layered on top of a very full, tubey, airy midrange. Bass was tight and tube-affected. Attack was crisp but the unconstrained highs sort of detracted. Notes lingered just right. I think the Cayin gets the nod for female vocals, with a really fine combination of airy and ethereal with sultry and rich. Chan had a hauntingly realistic presence comparable to the Monica 2, although enveloped in a bigger soundscape, with a strong sense of the headphones completely disappearing, a difficult feat with the K340 in my experience.
Massive Attack - Blue Lines, Live With Me
With Massive Attack I noted a very big, wide soundstage for the K340, getting sounds well outside the headphones, occasionally believably into the room. Imaging bordered on holographic, with very precise placement and distance and tons of realistic depth. Bass was tight, although not a lot of quantity with the K340 on lighter tracks, which is typical of the K340. Where more present bass was high quality and detailed but did not go as deep as the Desktop. I noted a very textural tonality overall, although Terry Callier didn’t sound quite full enough, and vocals and violin in the upper midrange had a slight etched quality. A little thin on Mezzanine.
Summary:
The Balanced Desktop offers the K340 a holistic, commanding, and enjoyable sound. It felt like a complete experience, tackling two very different genres with ease. Although I’m betting the K340 can go even further, I don’t think I’ve heard better yet. The Cayin, despite some serious strengths, seemed a little incomplete in comparison. I hope to address the Cayin’s somewhat bright nature with more tube rolling and better matching, although a balanced amp is still on the table.
Note that impressions using the selfish and difficult K340 are not representative of how either of these amps functions with any other headphones.
Equipment:
Rig A: CD > 1212m > Dayton optical cable > Home module DAC > HeadRoom Balanced Desktop with Home module, stepped attenuator and Astrodyne power supply
Rig B: CD > 1212m > Blue Jeans LC-1 > Monarchy M24 with Amperex 6922 gold-pin > Aural Thrills ACS copper > Cayin HA-1A with RCA 6BQ5, RCA 12AU7 clear top, Cayin 12AX7
Headphones: K340, modified, Headphile BlackGold, Fitz BlackClover single-ended adapter
Introduction:
My first impression of the Balanced Desktop was that it was extraordinarily neutral running a pair of balanced K701, and not entirely fun to listen to. Heaps of power and a strong sense of control, but too much sharp, thin precision for the already precise (and sometimes thin) K701. When the Balanced Desktop first arrived several weeks ago I was experiencing some sensitivity in my left ear, and I didn’t find it very useful to take notes or do any real critical listening. I don’t recall whether I was using the Desktop’s internal DAC or my Monarchy M24, whether I had crossfeed engaged or not, etc., so I won’t delve into my several-week-old impressions that are no doubt stale anyway. A few days before the meet my symptoms abated, and just this past Sunday I finally did some real listening. The following are my impressions, though I wish I had more time with happier ears.
Balanced Desktop with internal DAC:
Cat Power - The Covers Record
The first thing I noted was that, at times, crossfeed felt like a bit of necessity. Without it the sound was dry, thin, and sort of unpleasant, imparting a tinny, weak quality on the K340 that anyone familiar with these headphones would recognize as a clear sign of a synergistic mismatched. Engaged the bass and midrange filled out quite nicely; notes were rounder, with much more solid and pleasing impact. Unfortunately crossfeed also seemed to zero out some of the spatial detail, the little subtleties and air that convey the sense of Chan Marshall and the instruments around her being in an actual room. For the K340, the choice was easy, as crossfeed was the difference between listenable and not.
And very listenable it was. The Desktop filled the K340 out as nicely as I’ve heard and more, with a balanced, liquid sound complete with a very black background. Highs were sweet and a touch soft and the K340 midrange was velvety and rich. While the Desktop is not exactly tubey, it definitely has a certain mix of liquidity and life in the midrange that one could consider tube-like. Bass was tight and lively. Details were present but somewhat reserved, less in your face than the Cayin. Notes moved through the attack-decay-sustain-release progression perfectly. Piano was right on, big and clear, reminiscent of Jan Meier’s sound, though it seemed more in line with the rest of the presentation here. I found the Desktop/K340 match a bit dark, and pleasantly so. Even with crossfeed engaged the Desktop eked out some pretty nice imaging to perhaps compete with the Monarchy/Cayin. The crossfeed function actually created imaging and placement more similar to the M24 than itself with crossfeed off.
Massive Attack - Blue Lines, Live With Me
Again crossfeed deepened the bass and filled out the midrange, with more weight and extension in the lows than the Cayin. Terry Callier sounded fantastic, as did the rest of the male vocalists. And again I got liquid sound, this time with big bass, plenty satisfying on tracks where it was abundant. The Desktop reminded me why the K340 are THE headphones for Massive Attack. Where natural spatiality isn't critical and bass is, crossfeed is a no-brainer, although on Massive Attack tracks where there were more instruments, vocalists and other sounds than in the sparse Covers Record, crossfeed seemed to smush a lot of the notes into one place. A backup vocalist who should have been placed very distantly off to the left and towards the back of the stage was too close and imprecise, kind of smeared at several distances at once.
This was my first encounter with HeadRoom’s crossfeed, and it seemed less subtle and also more of a critical function than the crossfeed on the Corda Aria or SuperMacro IV.
I also have the sense that Desktop’s internal DAC is a perfect match for the amp section. When my ear was bothering me I believe I was feeding the Desktop with the Monarchy at first, and a switch over to the internal DAC revealed a more relaxed sound.
Cayin HA-1A with Monarchy M24:
Cat Power - The Covers Record
Unfortunately I do not have all of the Cayin’s tubes replaced with NOS / vintage; specifically I haven't replaced the 12AX7 with a 5751 to get the noise floor down (and a more refined sound, I imagine). The background was noticeably fuzzy, more so in ultralinear mode than triode, the latter reducing it to just barely perceptible with music playing. I had to turn the volume all the way up on the Desktop with gain on high to get that kind of background noise.
The Cayin struck me as being quite powerful and very, very detailed. I didn’t have to strain at all to hear the sounds of the pick on the strings, the sound of Chan Marshall’s rear squeaking around on the bench, or the sound of her mouth forming words. It was right there. Highs were a touch sharp and emphasized with sibilant moments sounding somewhat rough but it was layered on top of a very full, tubey, airy midrange. Bass was tight and tube-affected. Attack was crisp but the unconstrained highs sort of detracted. Notes lingered just right. I think the Cayin gets the nod for female vocals, with a really fine combination of airy and ethereal with sultry and rich. Chan had a hauntingly realistic presence comparable to the Monica 2, although enveloped in a bigger soundscape, with a strong sense of the headphones completely disappearing, a difficult feat with the K340 in my experience.
Massive Attack - Blue Lines, Live With Me
With Massive Attack I noted a very big, wide soundstage for the K340, getting sounds well outside the headphones, occasionally believably into the room. Imaging bordered on holographic, with very precise placement and distance and tons of realistic depth. Bass was tight, although not a lot of quantity with the K340 on lighter tracks, which is typical of the K340. Where more present bass was high quality and detailed but did not go as deep as the Desktop. I noted a very textural tonality overall, although Terry Callier didn’t sound quite full enough, and vocals and violin in the upper midrange had a slight etched quality. A little thin on Mezzanine.
Summary:
The Balanced Desktop offers the K340 a holistic, commanding, and enjoyable sound. It felt like a complete experience, tackling two very different genres with ease. Although I’m betting the K340 can go even further, I don’t think I’ve heard better yet. The Cayin, despite some serious strengths, seemed a little incomplete in comparison. I hope to address the Cayin’s somewhat bright nature with more tube rolling and better matching, although a balanced amp is still on the table.
