[Mateo Sanboval]

anyone doing this post-it mod?



please god..
someone please help me...

Sweet mod brø! And that neon pink is hot fire! You into vaporwave? Props.

 

[coolhandlukeboy]

They are fairly easy to drive at 35 ohms, but they have a low sensitivity of 93 dB (typical for planar). My Cayin N5ii in balanced can get them loud enough, but am I getting the whole signal?

Is the amp supplying enough current to properly drive the HE4XX? According to Cayin, the N5ii can’t.

You wrote this a while back, but figured this might help you.

I know that my phone and ipad cannot drive these compared to my computer DAC, the Asus Xonar. That has an amp built in, and it did a good job. However, I bought the Elemental Watson amp and that was golden with these. Warmish-neutral, but more full, a little more soundstage... just more presence. Was a great purchase and an amazing amp. I was a little leery of ordering from another country, but it was packaged well and I cannot imagine buying another amp, unless it's a full tube amp (the elemental watson is a tube preamp)

 

[BobSmith8901]

You wrote this a while back, but figured this might help you.

I know that my phone and ipad cannot drive these compared to my computer DAC, the Asus Xonar. That has an amp built in, and it did a good job. However, I bought the Elemental Watson amp and that was golden with these. Warmish-neutral, but more full, a little more soundstage... just more presence. Was a great purchase and an amazing amp. I was a little leery of ordering from another country, but it was packaged well and I cannot imagine buying another amp, unless it's a full tube amp (the elemental watson is a tube preamp)

Hi--Thanks for mentioning this amp, I'd never heard of it--I was looking for something like this for my HE-4XX's and other power hungry headphones. The reviews seem to be very positive and I like its simplicity and that they have thoughtfully added a 3.5mm input for a DAP/phone.

Just curious about your shipping experience buying from Jaben Singapore-It looks like they seem to recommend Fedex--I'm in Canada so I know this is all relative to where you're shipping to, and there's customs, etc., but how pricey was the shipping from this company?

Any other thoughts re the shipping/packaging appreciated too.

Thanks again!

 

[coolhandlukeboy]

Hi--Thanks for mentioning this amp, I'd never heard of it--I was looking for something like this for my HE-4XX's and other power hungry headphones. The reviews seem to be very positive and I like its simplicity and that they have thoughtfully added a 3.5mm input for a DAP/phone.

Just curious about your shipping experience buying from Jaben Singapore-It looks like they seem to recommend Fedex--I'm in Canada so I know this is all relative to where you're shipping too, and there's customs, etc., but how pricey was the shipping from this company?

Any other thoughts re the shipping/packaging appreciated too.

Thanks again!

Hey, I just checked my invoice for you and as of last year, shipping was $35.

Customs was something I was also concerned with, but I paid nothing. I received prompt replies to my emails, though initially one employee said there would be a customs fee, I quickly received the following email: "There should be no taxes, my colleague was being cautious. If there is any taxes, FedEx will inform you and pay on your behalf unless the amount is astronomical."

I can confirm I received no customs charge, and I can also confirm that Jaben backs the product up. I thought there was an issue with the amp and they walked me through it. It turned out that a small piece of debris from my desk had been lodged into the jack, preventing me from fully plugging in my phones. Super respectful people with an absolutely gorgeous sounding amp. Cannot recommend them enough.

 

[Shane D]

I just ordered these and can't wait!

I sold my amp and so I am just going to run these out of my Sony NW-ZX300.

Shane D

 

[BobSmith8901]

Hey, I just checked my invoice for you and as of last year, shipping was $35.

Customs was something I was also concerned with, but I paid nothing. I received prompt replies to my emails, though initially one employee said there would be a customs fee, I quickly received the following email: "There should be no taxes, my colleague was being cautious. If there is any taxes, FedEx will inform you and pay on your behalf unless the amount is astronomical."

I can confirm I received no customs charge, and I can also confirm that Jaben backs the product up. I thought there was an issue with the amp and they walked me through it. It turned out that a small piece of debris from my desk had been lodged into the jack, preventing me from fully plugging in my phones. Super respectful people with an absolutely gorgeous sounding amp. Cannot recommend them enough.

Thanks very much!

 

[Vitandus]

I sold my amp and so I am just going to run these out of my Sony NW-ZX300.

I should try the same!

 

[Shane D]

I should try the same!

That is my plan, but I must admit that I am researching amps 24/7.

I am back into the amp VS amp/DAC thing. I asked a few retailers and was surprised at the responses. They all said if you really like your source, and I do, then a DAC is just a duplicate you don't need. Makes sense to me.

I don't go past 60 out of 120 on the volume scale, even in balanced/high gain mode. In SE, high gain mode I push the Grado GH2's to 65. That is the max.

The HE4XX's will be able to use my balanced cable from my Sony Z7's. I can't imagine running out of headroom with that. But I guess we'll see.

Shane D

 

[Shane D]

Just to follow up, I ended up ordering the Topping N3Xs from MassDrop. Dirt cheap at $50.00. Doesn't ship until December 27th though.

Shane D

 

[hsdrggr]

Just to follow up, I ended up ordering the Topping N3Xs from MassDrop. Dirt cheap at $50.00. Doesn't ship until December 27th though.

Shane D

Shane, Not to rain on your parade, but the NX3 has way less output than the NX4 and the NX4 didn’t have enough power to make my HE4XXs sound good. Even with balanced cables the FiiQ Q1Mkii wasn’t quite enough. You mentioned running the HE4xxs balanced. But the NX3 is single ended. Once I got the Xduoo XD-05 connected the HE4XXs came alive. I mean a dramatic difference in sound quality not only loudness. I agree that a DAC may be redundant if you have a clean source but you need to find an amp that has similar output specs to the Xduoo XD-05 in order to get the HE4XX’s to sound good. I too ended up buying and selling 3 dac/Amps before finally settling on the XD-05. I never use the dac side either so if there is a similarly powerful amp-only device out there I would be interested also because the XD-05 is a pretty heavy unit for portable use.

 

[Shane D]

Shane, Not to rain on your parade, but the NX3 has way less output than the NX4 and the NX4 didn’t have enough power to make my HE4XXs sound good. Even with balanced cables the FiiQ Q1Mkii wasn’t quite enough. You mentioned running the HE4xxs balanced. But the NX3 is single ended. Once I got the Xduoo XD-05 connected the HE4XXs came alive. I mean a dramatic difference in sound quality not only loudness. I agree that a DAC may be redundant if you have a clean source but you need to find an amp that has similar output specs to the Xduoo XD-05 in order to get the HE4XX’s to sound good. I too ended up buying and selling 3 dac/Amps before finally settling on the XD-05. I never use the dac side either so if there is a similarly powerful amp-only device out there I would be interested also because the XD-05 is a pretty heavy unit for portable use.

The NX3s puts out 545mW X 2 at 32 Ohm. So, what is the NX4 putting out? 700mW? 800mW?

Shane D

 

[hsdrggr]

The NX3s puts out 545mW X 2 at 32 Ohm. So, what is the NX4 putting out? 700mW? 800mW?

Shane D

My apology. I misread. I didn’t see the S. I was referring to the NX3. Thanks, I’m ordering one now before the drop ends.

 

[Shane D]

I just looked up the NX4. I would never buy that. I had been looking at the A5 (800mW), the O2 (633mW) and the SMSL APII (1000mW).

The NX3s is SO cheap it's worth a shot, IMO.

I used to have an iFi amp and I miss the bass boost for my Grado's.

We'll see if it works out and I won't be hugely upset if it doesn't. Total cost to me is about $84.00, all in, Canadian. I was looking Hard at the A5, but it would have been 169.00 + 15% tax, although Black Friday may bring a better price.

Shane D

 

[DavidA]

Shane, Not to rain on your parade, but the NX3 has way less output than the NX4 and the NX4 didn’t have enough power to make my HE4XXs sound good. Even with balanced cables the FiiQ Q1Mkii wasn’t quite enough. You mentioned running the HE4xxs balanced. But the NX3 is single ended. Once I got the Xduoo XD-05 connected the HE4XXs came alive. I mean a dramatic difference in sound quality not only loudness. I agree that a DAC may be redundant if you have a clean source but you need to find an amp that has similar output specs to the Xduoo XD-05 in order to get the HE4XX’s to sound good. I too ended up buying and selling 3 dac/Amps before finally settling on the XD-05. I never use the dac side either so if there is a similarly powerful amp-only device out there I would be interested also because the XD-05 is a pretty heavy unit for portable use.

Output power usually has no bearing on how a headphone will pair with a amp unless you are at the extremes. Its probably the output impedance of the HE4XX matches with the XD-05 in such a way that it sounds good to you.

 

[hsdrggr]

I just looked up the NX4. I would never buy that. I had been looking at the A5 (800mW), the O2 (633mW) and the SMSL APII (1000mW).

The NX3s is SO cheap it's worth a shot, IMO.

I used to have an iFi amp and I miss the bass boost for my Grado's.

We'll see if it works out and I won't be hugely upset if it doesn't. Total cost to me is about $84.00, all in, Canadian. I was looking Hard at the A5, but it would have been 169.00 + 15% tax, although Black Friday may bring a better price.

Shane D

Actually that NX3S looks like the ticket. The XD-05 is 500mw @ 32ohms so it’s very similar. I use the EarStudio ES100 BT dac/amp as a preamp into my portable amps with a belt clip. Keeps my DAP or iphone wireless so I don’t have to stack. The ES100 sound quality is excellent. It has APTX-HD and LDAC Bluetooth connectivity, so I can’t distinguish it versus wired. Plus the ES100 has an adjustable EQ. That way I can get my music jut right depending on the IEM it headphone I’m using. I just ordered the Nx3s on Massdrop. I have no idea why but they only charged me $39.99.