Headroom Supreme and Cosmic Comments Please

[Ken]

The Cosmic Is probably the worlds best portable Amp. It enjoys a great reputation around here. BUT the Supreme seems to have people lukewarm on it.
Why is this so.
This amp has all the components of the cosmic and can be turned into a cosmic with an upgrade.
I would like to hear from people who have owned or do own supremes.
Others who have heard both cosmic and supreme please comment.
For the sake of this discussion I think we all know that in the early days the supreme had a deserved poor reputation. Im sure that was long ago.
Please could members try to comment mainly on more current supreme.

 

[Ken]

bump

 

[kelly]

The Cosmic's design is based around the OPA627 opamp, a well regarded opamp that is also used in the Maxed Out Home, Max and Blockhead as well as many DIY designs you'll find in the forums here and on HeadWize. It's also the opamp Steve McCormack uses in his Micro Integrated Drive upgrade. For Headroom, this is the central component to what they call the "Premium Module."

The Supreme doesn't use the premium module and so is really in a different family of amps along with the standard Home amp. The Supreme shares the same cool little chassis as the Cosmic so they look similar but they don't really sound similar. With even the newest Supreme revision, there seem to be a lot of hot and cold impressions of it. I'm on the cold side, myself. If you're going to go that far, get the Cosmic.

One reason you'll find that people have such high standards on these forums is that with the lower end stuff, DIY designs can quickly compare to the lower end product from commercial companies, sometimes besting them outright. One could make solid arguments for the features of Headroom's lower end amps, especially, since they include Headroom's crossfeed cicuit (which is completely unlike the crossfeed circuit in any of the DIY designs) and sometimes because of their upgradability (The Little) but in general, the thought is -- start with a good design and chipset and THEN look for improvements via the power supply and other components.

Simply put, the trend for the DIY crowd seems to be toward more simple designs with better quality parts--especially in the portables. I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion on the trend to explain people's impressions but I doubt you'd get anything this frank from the DIYers because it might be considered in bad taste for them to compare their products directly with the forum's sponsor's. None the less, they'd almost all agree that the Cosmic is very hard to beat. If you're going to go with a battery powered portable from a commercial company, the Cosmic is "the one." Its praises are not unfounded.

 

[DeanA]

Kelly,

The Total Airhead, along with the Airhead bag, is a very portable package (light, small, etc.). How portable is the Cosmic for air travel, hiking or just a long walk with the dog?

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by DeanA Kelly, The Total Airhead, along with the Airhead bag, is a very portable package (light, small, etc.). How portable is the Cosmic for air travel, hiking or just a long walk with the dog?

The cosmic is much bigger and heavier than the Airbag but still very slender, a sleek little amp that packs nicely in the Traveler bag for airplanes and such. The bulk of the weight is from the 4 D cell batteries required to operate without wall power. This might make it a bit much for jogging but then again, you jog for the exercise, right?

 

[Jeff Guidry]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly ...I doubt you'd get anything this frank from the DIYers because it might be considered in bad taste for them to compare their products directly with the forum's sponsor's...

 

[phidauex]

I think people openly compare their DIY products with company offerings. I for one am not one to pander about, laying kisses upon a company just because they are a sponser. I mean, I lay some kisses on Headroom, because they make very good products, and have great service, but I won't hold back a review because i'm afraid of offending them. And I think they want it that way. I don't think they want to be the big scary sponser that you must bow too in order to keep the forum funded. I think they want this to be an open forum.

At the world of headphones tour, i'll be actively comparing my cmoy amp with the headroom amps. I don't have any fantasies of it beating the nice amps, of course, but i did a pretty sharp job on it, and made a nice crossfeed, so I expect it to be in the airhead/total airhead arena.

Anyway, i haven't heard the cosmic yet, but i can imagine how it would be hard to have a DIY design beat the highest end in its class offering by a company who does it all day every day, with all the best parts. Possible, but unlikely. And if my cmoy DOES beat the cosmic, then i'll be laughing all the way to the bank. But it probably won't.

Peace,
phidauex

 

[Ken]

I understand the politics of discussing this amp. As far as headroom goes you are talking about an A grade operation.

I was hoping more for actual assesment of the Supreme. Kelly gave an excellent run down of the electronics used in the amps.

In headrooms sales pitch they suggest the Supreme for portable applications and that the Cosmic in portable applications may leave you having an amp too good if the equipment used with the amp is not first class.

What I am reading between the lines is the cmoy products may be equal to the Supreme. I beleive this may be so. I have a cha47 2x9 volts and it is very good. I dont like the lack of professionalism in the manufacture. Now I have to be carefull as it was indeed excellently manufactured. BUT it does not have the standard of a headroom product.

In my cha47 I feel that the battery cable will sooner rather than later require a fix as I suspect the cable will thru changing the batteries require a resolder. Actually having to undo screws to get to the batteries. I dont know how many times that can be doen until the screws dont work. You see where im going with this.

The box that the cha47 comes in is not exact its too big for its insides , but its all a compromise. So what I feel that I can get from the Supreme is quality with out maintanence. An amp that is extremely well built and can take the knocks and keep on going for years.

In saying all that I have not seem a supreme or how they connect the batteries. I do have a cha47 I think its sounds excellent. I do listen to only portable music , sony minidisc and er4s I dont mind the extra size in the headroom supreme.

Lastly 9 volt batteries are terrible. Many times I have had trouble with them not connecting properly. Then I dont get to use my cha47 then Im undoing the case to put more batteries in there.

Hope this comes accross as balanced as I do not want to be seen to put the cha47 under attack.

 

[DeanA]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly The cosmic is much bigger and heavier than the Airbag but still very slender, a sleek little amp that packs nicely in the Traveler bag for airplanes and such. The bulk of the weight is from the 4 D cell batteries required to operate without wall power. This might make it a bit much for jogging but then again, you jog for the exercise, right?

Thanks Kelly. I think I'll make the drive to the Headroom show when it comes to Philly and check out the Cosmic/Traveler bag combination for a "sound and tote" test. This would also give me a chance to check out the Base Station.

 

[eric343]

From what I've heard, the Supreme and Hansen board (sometimes incorrectly called CHA47; if it's on a green PCB it's a Hansen) are very close (or equal) in sound quality.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion on the trend to explain people's impressions but I doubt you'd get anything this frank from the DIYers because it might be considered in bad taste for them to compare their products directly with the forum's sponsor's.

Since when have the DIY'ers held back from comparing their products to HeadRoom or any other commercial company? Not only do I not believe this is happening, but I think it's clear from posts here on Head-Fi that people are free to disagree with the sponsors.

If anyone is "holding back" for fear of somehow being in "bad taste" at comparing DIY to sponsors' products, they should remember that these forums are for OBJECTIVE discussion of headphones and headphone-related products. The sponsors know that their products are open to criticism, and sponsorship does not give ANY company an exemption from criticism.

 

[kelly]

I was talking to Jude last night about this with some other people in the channel on IRC. In case clarification is necessary, I wasn't suggesting that people were in fear of not being allowed to post their opinions and be forthcoming with comparrisons. What I mean to suggest, and what some people in the IRC channel agreed with, is that a lot of people here have a lot of respect for Headroom and Meier and don't necessarily flaunt their DIY hobby amps in comparrison. In fact, one person on IRC was telling us how back on HeadWize a lot of people would refuse to sell DIY stuff because they didn't want their hobby to lose Headroom money when Headroom as has done so much to support the market.

Certainly, this doesn't apply to everyone. My only point was that a reason why you may not see a lot of people saying "Don't get ___ amp when you can get as good or better built by a DIYer for a lot less money" may be related to this. Since I'm not a DIYer and don't have any stake in it either way (other than enjoying the fruits of Headroom's sponsorship and trying to talk AOS into building me a PDAC), I thought it worth mentioning.

Clearly, my personal position on the matter is that the low end stuff from Headroom and Meier doesn't meet my needs. Their high end stuff does. I'll attempt to go DIY on whatever my low end needs may be.

 

[Ken]

It should be noted that there still is a large difference between DIY amps. In my small experience here in australia I have had to buy what I hear. My cha47 is better by a mile the altiods amp cmoy. Yet many posts suggested that cmoy was more to my needs . To drive 580sen.

So far the summery could go like this a Supreme is closely equal to a good Cha47 amp

That being said I am still happy to use the more expensive Supreme for the options that are on the amp and the reliability.

 

[Ken]

I just received my Supreme amp and it is not as good sounding as my cha47.
Its close but the cha47 is smoother more 3d soundstage and in all just nicer to listen to.

Well its off the "Goods for sale"

 

[zzz]

I would've suggested keeping it for a couple of weeks and wait and see if anything changes with break-in. Don't forget that Headroom has 30-day money back policy, so it's not like you're risking anything.