Hifiman EF2A USB DAC/Amp appreciation thread
Apr 4, 2015 at 2:14 PM Post #48 of 61
How did the tubes do for you? I have a pair of 6J1P's made in Voskhod coming sometime (been in customs in Chicago for 9 days now) so just wondering the difference.
 
Apr 9, 2015 at 9:56 PM Post #49 of 61
So far I'm loving this amp (not using the dac) with my HD 650's.. I've got a pair of ge tubes that I may swap in to see if they take the edge off some songs being a lil overly bright. For my first headphone amp, i'm pretty happy.

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Aug 4, 2015 at 7:33 PM Post #50 of 61
lithium1085 said:
  Hi everyone,
 
I am a regular lurker and sometimes advice seeker who has been using the HD598 and Hifiman EF2A for over a year now. I just wanted to start this thread to point out how great the EF2A is as a beginner level single box desktop amp/dac solution.
 
I will point out the deficiencies upfront too. It probably has too much gain for low impedance headphones however, once the tubes burn in (at least 100 hours) the painful spikiness goes away. Also, the DAC unit is really basic and it will only handle 16/44 CD quality audio.
However, keeping in mind the beginner level distinction, I think it is a really competent amp/dac offering in the sub $200 range. I would love to hear what other headphones people have tried with the EF2A and your tube rolling experiments. I have shied away from tube rolling till now, but now I am ready to jump in.
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I´m thinking about buying a combo in hifiman, it´s this amp, with de 400i headphones. So if I want to listen to music on 24 bits from X5 what would happend? would the amp not be able to reproduce the music or would it just down sample it? Is it worth it, spending the extra $100 on this amp? 
 
Aug 5, 2015 at 4:33 PM Post #51 of 61
urteaga said:
  I´m thinking about buying a combo in hifiman, it´s this amp, with de 400i headphones. So if I want to listen to music on 24 bits from X5 what would happend? would the amp not be able to reproduce the music or would it just down sample it? Is it worth it, spending the extra $100 on this amp? 
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I don't have the X5 but do have the X1 and I use it with the EF2A sometimes and use the line out of the headphone output with a 3.5 mm to rca connectors to the line in of the amp it works just fine with high rez files as you are not using the dac of the EF2A. Hope that helps. It is not a bad little amp by the way plenty of power to run the planars.
 
Aug 5, 2015 at 6:27 PM Post #52 of 61
buke9 said:
  I don't have the X5 but do have the X1 and I use it with the EF2A sometimes and use the line out of the headphone output with a 3.5 mm to rca connectors to the line in of the amp it works just fine with high rez files as you are not using the dac of the EF2A. Hope that helps. It is not a bad little amp by the way plenty of power to run the planars.
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Ok so it can be used as an AMP only without the DAC interfering, so I can listen to 24 bit music through it without a problem, right?
 
Aug 5, 2015 at 9:21 PM Post #53 of 61
urteaga said:
  Ok so it can be used as an AMP only without the DAC interfering, so I can listen to 24 bit music through it without a problem, right?
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With out a doubt. I have never used the dac on the amp.
 
Aug 18, 2015 at 5:34 PM Post #56 of 61
urteaga said:
  @buke9 what would you say is the sound on this amp?. 
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I'm not the guy to ask this of. I'm fairly new to all this but I know what I like. I find it to be bright and powerful . The amp on my Teac UD-301 is a lot smoother amp that has more of a darker sound that I like as well but it is not powerful enough to drive my HE-400's or Alpha Dogs. I bought a Cavalli Liquid Carbon and it should be done about the end of next month . It was not as bright as the EF2A but just as powerful and very clean sounding.
 
Aug 22, 2015 at 5:35 PM Post #57 of 61
I have read a lot of posts and info and brings me to good and new ideas. I have a Hifiman ef2a with Mullard m8100 tubes and have better gain than the one it came with. My set-up is a pair of Beyerdynamic T90 and Hifiman HE-400 cans which I switch around. I also wanted to know what tubes and so many . Which ones sound good for classic rock to metal or have different brands for music? So if you could please help me by finding the good tubes that i can listen. Thank you
 
Sep 29, 2015 at 4:36 PM Post #59 of 61
pilotnorman said:
  just bought one from ebay, arrived damaged!! so fragile!
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Fragile would not be a word I would use for a EF2A. It had to be packed bad . Was it in the original box?
 
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