[danielwongar]

i have a hunch it is to do with the crossovers, but don't quote me on that. i notified robert and he is looking into it now. lets hope he is able to fix this issue.

 

[soviet911]

So couple of questions to the owners. Has anyone tried the arrow with HD25-1? As well as how robust is it? Any one managed  to break a jack input yet? Any one droped theirs yet? 

 

[wazzupi]

nice to see someone else with an es10+arrow 2g combo. I loved the setting 2 too this es10 can really output some really great bass /w the arrow more than I ever thought. unforunately I sold my arrow 2g because I purchased the jh3a+jh16's...  I do miss and am waiting impatientely for my jh3a GRR.
 
Quote:

I bought a second hand Arrow 2G as I grew impatient waiting for my order. Hopefully I can now cancel that before it gets shipped!
 
Currently loving the arrow's bass boost in conjunction with my es10s. It is very subtle on setting 1 but setting 2 is great for rumbling sub-bass!

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

This is sad. I was thinking of getting this amp for my TF10 and RE0. Why this effect on the TF10 ?

Lol, I didn't think it was that great with the RE0 either. The e-Q7 sounds outstanding.

 

[Hellenback]

Quote:

The Arrow didn't sound too good with my Tf-11 (Tf-10 remold +add'l mid driver) either, but fantastic with my e-Q7.

Hello grokit,
 
Can you go into some depth as to what negative characteristics are evident when pairing the TF10 (11) IEMs with the Arrow (that are remedied by using another portable amp)? For the life of me I can't understand why a fairly neutral amp would have a hard time with one particular brand of ear-phones. What's different about this IEM that makes it a bad match; or are they just very sensitive IEMs that don't derive much benefit from a dedicated amp?

 

[grokit]

I don't think sensitivity or impedance has anything to do with it, as the Arrow is very versatile in those regards. Someone recently speculated above that it could be the crossovers don't mesh that well with the Tripl-fis, that could be it I don't know. As it sounded great with everything else I tried, it makes sense that the Tripl-fis could have an unusual crossover configuration. For myself, I kept the Arrow and ditched my Tripl-fis (and my Super-fis).

 

[dizzyraider]

From my experience, the TripleFi's crossover doesn't work well with additional resistance. When I tried a impedance adapter, the highs are almost completely none existent and it sounded really funky. I'm guessing that is probably what you are experiencing with you Arrow. I think the Arrow has a default 10ohm output impedance and I'm not sure if that has to do with the crossover freak out.

 

[129207]

Quote:

 

Lol, I didn't think it was that great with the RE0 either. The e-Q7 sounds outstanding.

The Arrow made me keep my RE0. It made it sound like a whole new IEM! The bassboost and crossfeed breathe new life into that cold and analytical thing. I can't imagine someone not liking the RE0 + Arrow combo over just the RE0.

 

[grokit]

To be fair to the Arrow I never liked the RE0 with anything else either 

 

[s1rrah]

Although I bought the Headstage Arrow amp for various reasons ...
 
1st: Cause it's good design
2nd: Cause I had recently been re introduced to the passion of portable music by my earlier purchase of an S:flo 2 DAP and I wanted to try and extend it's magic
3rd: Well, cause I just like black (and did I say good design?).
4rd: (can I say 4rd?) ... I was just curious and had money to spare (but I sure didn't know how long it would take!)
 

 
Anyway .. even though I absolutely love the Arrow with my S:flo 2 portable and my Shure SE530 IEM's ... 
 
I can't help but admit that I'm far more astounded by the performance of this (apparently humble appearing) machine with my currently possesed suite of full sized cans.
 
Really. It's, well, quite astonishing for a portable.
 
If you travel a lot and have some decent full sized cans, a decent DAP? And want near top end desktop sound while "on the road" ??? You must investigate this amp. Really, I'm blown away. It's just several notches behind my own Havana/Raptor rig and my roomies Woo 6 SE rig (I am well acquainted with both, BTW and consider them both brilliant).
 
So tonight ... as a test of sorts ...
 
I broke out every full sized can I have access to here in the s1rrah Household(tm) and put each one through a good ten minute listening session. Classical, alt-country, sludge, metal, doom, indie, folk and all points in between, all were represented. And, again (not embellishing in the least; and I've never been a portable guy or fan boi of any kind ... hell, I didn't even consider portable worthwhile until I was introduced to the S:flo player variants) ... but I still have to say, this amp is a revelation. It has neatly and quite matter of factly jockeyed into that rare category of purchased gear (along with the Havana DAC, etc.) known as the "I will never get rid of it Category(tm)." ... LOL.
 
Anyway, so here's the cans I listened to ... consider it a pictorial of sorts; I won't say much for each instance but I will say this for all instances: They all sounded brilliant! I was especially impressed with the Arrow combined with the AKG K701. The Arrow's very awesome bass boost circuit (to this writer's ear, anyway) added just the bit of "UMPH" that these cans need.
 
Anyway ... 
 
Here go ...
 
Arrow settings for all cans:

---

Bass Boost: "1"
Crossfeed: "0"
Gain: "1"
Impedance: "0"
 
...
...
...
...
 
Headstage Arrow (2nd Gen) w/ AKG K701
(very rich sounding, with bass boost set at 1; excellent detail and presence; with other amps not quite suited to the AKG's, they have sometimes come across as "anemic" or "thin" or lacking "muscle" ... here, though? Not the case. Perhaps the most surprising listen of the session.)  
...
 

 
 
...
 
 
 
Headstage Arrow (2nd Gen) w/ Audize LCD-2
(I know it's hard to believe, but I think I prefer the LCD-2 through the Arrow over through the Raptor)  
...
 

 
 
...
 
 
 
Headstage Arrow (2nd Gen) w/ Shure SRH840
(perhaps my fav match with the Arrow amp; again, the first stage bass boost really shines with these and the sound, otherwise, is thick, natural and really nice; the fact that the 840's are closed cans doesn't even slightly impact the sound. In fact, I think I like that.)
...
 
 
 
 
...
 
 
 
Headstage Arrow (2nd Gen) w/ Grado GS1000
(Nit picky cans that I still have learned to love; the Arrow does very very well with them; in fact, I'm still listening to my .flac collection with the GS1000's and the Arrow, 2 hours after taking those shots ... very very nice)
 
...
 
 
 
...
 
So take the above with a few chunks of salt.
 
It's just what I heard tonight.
 
But I stand my ground. The Arrow amp, as portables go ... is pretty damn astonishing.
 
But hey! You sign up and wait a few months to get your own and then do your own tests.
 
Till then?
 
I am only the messenger!
 
Rock it!
 
/s1rrah/
 

 

[cn11]

Curse you for posting those impressions of the Arrow w/LCD-2's!! I want those cans SOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. But I just blew any available budget on home audio gear. Not complaining, I love my new Gallo Strada's and ML Depth-i subwoofer... but your post just rekindles the desire for those lovely orthos. And, as soon as Robert emails me back to say he's ready for trade-in, I'm getting the 2G version you have. 
 
Hope you keep enjoying the Arrow.

 

[Hellenback]

Quote:

To be fair to the Arrow I never liked the RE0 with anything else either 

That's more useful information as it now appears your dislike of the REO/Arrow combo has nothing to do with the amp 

 
@s1rrah
 
It's nice to hear yet another person confirm that this amp does an excellent job with full sized cans. When I first heard it I was also astounded at it's ability to drive big cans well (as opposed to just just loud). On an aside....I'm thinking seriously about an s:Flo after reading so many positive comments.
 

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

That's more useful information as it now appears your dislike of the REO/Arrow combo has nothing to do with the amp 

 
@s1rrah
 
It's nice to hear yet another person confirm that this amp does an excellent job with full sized cans. When I first heard it I was also astounded at it's ability to drive big cans well (as opposed to just just loud). On an aside....I'm thinking seriously about an s:Flo after reading so many positive comments.
 

Point one: I bought the Arrow for portable ... but then realized it would be "quite the champ" in regards to full sized cans. Color me learned.
 
Point two: The S:flo 2 is the dopest, most rad'est, best sounding DAP I've had fun playing with. Might take some coaxing/getting used to ... but (if you can make peace with it's occasional interface glitches?) ... then, I have no problem saying, it's the best portable player you could ever end up with! ...

 

[Hellenback]

Quote:

Point one: I bought the Arrow for portable ... but then realized it would be "quite the champ" in regards to full sized cans. Color me learned.
 
Point two: The S:flo 2 is the dopest, most rad'est, best sounding DAP I've had fun playing with. Might take some coaxing/getting used to ... but (if you can make peace with it's occasional interface glitches?) ... then, I have no problem saying, it's the best portable player you could ever end up with! ...

 
Excuse my ignorance on this but is the S:flo 2 equipped with two WM8740 DAC chips?
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Excuse my ignorance on this but is the S:flo 2 equipped with two WM8740 DAC chips?
 

One per channel, similar to the D4 I believe.

 
Quote:

 
Point two: The S:flo 2 is the dopest, most rad'est, best sounding DAP I've had fun playing with. Might take some coaxing/getting used to ... but (if you can make peace with it's occasional interface glitches?) ... then, I have no problem saying, it's the best portable player you could ever end up with! ...

I hope the Sflo2 is the largest DAP you can accept because the 602 is unfortunately quite ridonkulous.