Austin Morrow
Headphoneus Supremus
I wasn’t too interested in the HiFiMan EF2A until I heard from a few people that it actually has a DAC to go along with some tubes. Not believing a word they said, I headed on over to HiFiMan’s website to see what the EF2A was all about. Sure enough, HiFiMan had used a DAC in the EF2A, and it was enough to spike my interest. So, I emailed Fang about it, and he agreed to send me out a unit for review.
The Design
The minute I pulled this little gizmo out of it’s packaging, I was taken aback by the design. It’s a very sleek and attractive little player. An aluminum housing all around the sides, a see through acrylic top plate, and a metal front plate that surprisingly looks more expensive than an entry level amp. While it’s not huge by any means, it’s not as small as say, the Pro-Ject Head Box II, but it does look really simple and clean on a desktop. Since this is a USB DAC, you aren’t going to have any optical or coaxial inputs, which is kind of a downside, but really isn’t necessary since the DAC section of the EF2A only does 16/44.1. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with running 16/44.1 over USB, but most people I know run the higher conversions (24/92) via a coaxial or optical input.
After testing out dozens upon dozens of headphone amplifiers ranging in price from $60 all the way up to $6000, I’ve made a few discoveries along the way. If you have a headphone that scales up well (or scales down well) like the Sennhesier HD800 or HD650, you’ll find that those cans tend to really show their magic if you pair them with a high end source and amp. On the flip side, if you pair them with something like an entry level amp, you’ll find them longing for more since budget amps really won’t reveal much of what the headphones capable of. With that being said, let’s dive into the sound characteristics of HiFiMan’s EF2A.
The EF2A has a very unique presentation. Out of the box it sounded really weak, and my HD650’s sounded weak and dark as ever. A few nights of burn in later, all that weakness disappeared, and the EF2A put a smile on my face. It sounds slightly bright, with a hint of richness in the midrange as a direct relation of the tubes, coupled with a decent low end surge. Another amp that I think can be directly compared to the HiFiMan EF2A is Pro-Ject’s Head Box II, an amp I reviewed a while back. The Head Box II has a more massive low end, with better extension, rumble, and midbass bloom, but is lacking when it comes to the midrange and sparkly-ness in the treble. In fact, the EF2A seems to be a lot more forward and have better micro detail that the Head Box II.
The PCM2702 DAC
Here is the catch with the EF2A: if you aren’t using the DAC section of the EF2A, then the Pro-Ject Head Box II makes the EF2A sound congested and weak. However, you hook up the DAC, and the story flip flops upside down. The soundstage becomes wider, adds a lot more depth, and seems to be a tad more transparent with better instrumental separation. It also may have had a tad bit more sparkle up at the top of the frequency response, but I couldn’t exactly say for sure, as the HD650’s dark presentation can be very non-revealing. While the EF2A doesn’t exactly have a mind blowing soundstage, it’s pretty adequate for the price you pay.
A Few Flaws
While the sonics of the EF2A are pretty good for the price you pay, there are a few issues that shouldn’t be overlooked. Firstly, their seems to be a lot of channel imbalance with or without the DAC section hooked up. I have to turn the volume knob up to about 8 ‘O clock before the other channel even begins to show balance with the other channel. Secondly, there seems to be a lot of gain already added to the amp section. This amp thunders, which isn’t a good thing when it’s combined with the channel imbalance. After things start to balance out, your almost to 9 ‘O clock on the volume knob, which is just too loud.
Final Thoughts
So, where does this leave us? Well, I definitely am enjoying what I am hearing from the EF2A. It’s not the best bang for the buck amp & DAC combo for the sonics that come out of it, but it is a good beginners amp for people wanting to get into headphones and such. Now, if HiFiMan can fix some of the issues with channel imbalance and the maxed out gain, then I’d have no problem recommending this amp. But as of the moment, I’m having a little bit of difficulty doing that.
HiFiMan EF2A @Head-Direct
