forsberg
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
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I got my hornet on June 2nd and will be updating this thread throughout my hornet burn-in process. As the title suggests, I am not a guy who has golden ears. I can't tell the difference between 320k vs FLAC files (heck, even most 192k I cannot tell a difference). I cannot tell the difference between 44.1khz or 48khz. I cannot tell the difference between cables (digital or analog). I don't do a lot of critical listening as most of my listening is done at work or during my commute.
Why am I writing this thread when there are already many other threads describing hornet burn-in?
Well I am skeptical of burn-in, to me at least. The biggest noticeable difference to me was upgrading from cheap ibuds to my current 5 pro's. When I had my first amp, the pa2v2, I did not notice much of an improvement over my stock ipod mini (1st gen) - if I listened carefully for every note then maybe 1 in 5 tracks I can notice the bass a bit boomier. That's it - and I had to pay REAL close attention to hear the differences. So after reading those threads about the sucker punch in the head or how new hornet sounds like total crap vs. 200hr burnt-in one, I thought to myself there is NO way it can make that much of a difference - these guys must have golde - no, platinum ears to be able to describe the difference so drastically.
So now I will be describing my experience of the hornet burn-in process, from an average listener point of view.
Current burn-in time: ~190 hours
Setup: Pro.DAC -> Hornet -> 5 Pro (90% of my listening time) Meizu miniplayer -> Hornet -> 5 Pro (10%)
0 Hours
Plugged it in, switched it on for first time, and I was surprised at how silent it was. With the pa2v2, there was always a hiss even if you didn't even plug anything to its input. With the hornet, it is dead silent. Played first track (Linkin Park - Given Up) and the music just starts from its "blackness". Notice an immediate impact and a definite improvement over headphone out of Meizu. The bass is pretty strong on the Meizu already, but the Hornet just takes it to a new level - it's actually giving me a headache. The overall sound just seems "bigger". Didn't notice anything special with the mids or highs, maybe because I was just so overwhelmed by the bass.
As for input from DAC, the sound is slighty better. There is even more "blackness" to it than the meizu. Most of my comments from this point on will be from this setup, as my future listenings from my DAP will be on a bus so don't really pay much attention to the details.
One of my biggest gripes with the pa2v2 is that the volume knob is not accurate at all during low volume levels, which is the max I can stand with my IEMs. Whenever you turned the knob just a bit, either one of the channels go out, or it goes way too loud way too fast. It was a pain to deal with. With the hornet, no matter how low you turn the volume knob, it just works as instructed.
75 Hours
I explictly noted this point in time because from trose49's thread, he mentioned from 75-190 some of the bass started to subside. To me there is no difference at all and then I started to think "Man, see this burn-in stuff is just head-fi voodoo talk". I just thought it sounded exactly the same as when I first got the amp.
120 Hours
OK here we go. I finally start to notice a little bit difference. Now, I don't know if it is my ears adjusting to the amp or what, but it seems like the timbre for the high notes has improved. Guitars sound more real when I am listening to Eric Clapton's Unplugged than at the 0 hour point. Note that it's not a "WOW the guitars!!" effect but more of a "Hmmm, yeah I can hear it is better by a bit" effect. But if I am walking on the street there'd be no way I'd hear this difference with all the traffic. I also noticed that there is more weight to the notes, and I hear more of the different instruments played at the upper range that I didn't particularly notice before - can hear this while playing Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible album. Surprisingly these high notes do not hurt my ears (sibilence?) but it just seems to flow with the music. As for the bass, it no longer gives me a pounding as it doesnt have that insane boom I got at first. Again, don't know if it is ears just getting used to it or a real burn-in effect.
140 Hours
OK, brought my work rig home to continue burning in throughout the weekend. It is now Saturday morning, and I haven't noticed much change within my last posting, but for kicks I just went back to listening the Meizu headphone out for a while. What used to sound very good to me, now seems very... flat on a line. It sounds like there is a blanket covering up the music that I TOTALLY didn't notice before prior to the hornet. Testing with Buble's album again, the best I can describe is that with the hornet I can feel the air around him. In between each line he sings, I can really hear the echo around his voice (decay?), crisp and clear. However now straight out of the meizu, Buble's voice sounds like he is trying to sing in a smoky building. If this is supposed to be the "downtime" of the hornet, I honestly do not feel that it is so. It is a great amp. I am loving how the guitars sound now, and I am starting to notice a bit more of the cymbols playing their own beats rather than just something far in the background.
190 Hours
Nothing much different than last post. Did some A/B comparisons between the hornet and pa2v2 just now, and it sounds VERY different. The PA2v2 is kinda like a beer that has been poured too much head and the foam is all over the place, everything is out of control. The Hornet is like the refined beer poured with exactly one inch of foam. That being said, there is really no such thing as a bad beer, so I still appreciate my old amp. I can think of one situation where I WOULD prefer pa2v2 over hornet right now, and that is for reggae. On another note, I find that I really can't listen to anything with hiss in the original recordings anymore. I got too used to the quietness of the hornet that playing old recordings and then hearing hiss just doesn't cut it now. It was never a problem with pa2v2 because there was hiss to begin with, so any recordings old or new sounds ok. Hmm, an amp so good that makes me listen to less variety of music... the irony.
So that is all for now. Will be updating this throughout my journey to the 400 hour mark. I still don't believe I will get sucker punched to the head when it reaches 300 hrs, but we'll see.
Why am I writing this thread when there are already many other threads describing hornet burn-in?
Well I am skeptical of burn-in, to me at least. The biggest noticeable difference to me was upgrading from cheap ibuds to my current 5 pro's. When I had my first amp, the pa2v2, I did not notice much of an improvement over my stock ipod mini (1st gen) - if I listened carefully for every note then maybe 1 in 5 tracks I can notice the bass a bit boomier. That's it - and I had to pay REAL close attention to hear the differences. So after reading those threads about the sucker punch in the head or how new hornet sounds like total crap vs. 200hr burnt-in one, I thought to myself there is NO way it can make that much of a difference - these guys must have golde - no, platinum ears to be able to describe the difference so drastically.
So now I will be describing my experience of the hornet burn-in process, from an average listener point of view.
Current burn-in time: ~190 hours
Setup: Pro.DAC -> Hornet -> 5 Pro (90% of my listening time) Meizu miniplayer -> Hornet -> 5 Pro (10%)
0 Hours
Plugged it in, switched it on for first time, and I was surprised at how silent it was. With the pa2v2, there was always a hiss even if you didn't even plug anything to its input. With the hornet, it is dead silent. Played first track (Linkin Park - Given Up) and the music just starts from its "blackness". Notice an immediate impact and a definite improvement over headphone out of Meizu. The bass is pretty strong on the Meizu already, but the Hornet just takes it to a new level - it's actually giving me a headache. The overall sound just seems "bigger". Didn't notice anything special with the mids or highs, maybe because I was just so overwhelmed by the bass.
As for input from DAC, the sound is slighty better. There is even more "blackness" to it than the meizu. Most of my comments from this point on will be from this setup, as my future listenings from my DAP will be on a bus so don't really pay much attention to the details.
One of my biggest gripes with the pa2v2 is that the volume knob is not accurate at all during low volume levels, which is the max I can stand with my IEMs. Whenever you turned the knob just a bit, either one of the channels go out, or it goes way too loud way too fast. It was a pain to deal with. With the hornet, no matter how low you turn the volume knob, it just works as instructed.
75 Hours
I explictly noted this point in time because from trose49's thread, he mentioned from 75-190 some of the bass started to subside. To me there is no difference at all and then I started to think "Man, see this burn-in stuff is just head-fi voodoo talk". I just thought it sounded exactly the same as when I first got the amp.
120 Hours
OK here we go. I finally start to notice a little bit difference. Now, I don't know if it is my ears adjusting to the amp or what, but it seems like the timbre for the high notes has improved. Guitars sound more real when I am listening to Eric Clapton's Unplugged than at the 0 hour point. Note that it's not a "WOW the guitars!!" effect but more of a "Hmmm, yeah I can hear it is better by a bit" effect. But if I am walking on the street there'd be no way I'd hear this difference with all the traffic. I also noticed that there is more weight to the notes, and I hear more of the different instruments played at the upper range that I didn't particularly notice before - can hear this while playing Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible album. Surprisingly these high notes do not hurt my ears (sibilence?) but it just seems to flow with the music. As for the bass, it no longer gives me a pounding as it doesnt have that insane boom I got at first. Again, don't know if it is ears just getting used to it or a real burn-in effect.
140 Hours
OK, brought my work rig home to continue burning in throughout the weekend. It is now Saturday morning, and I haven't noticed much change within my last posting, but for kicks I just went back to listening the Meizu headphone out for a while. What used to sound very good to me, now seems very... flat on a line. It sounds like there is a blanket covering up the music that I TOTALLY didn't notice before prior to the hornet. Testing with Buble's album again, the best I can describe is that with the hornet I can feel the air around him. In between each line he sings, I can really hear the echo around his voice (decay?), crisp and clear. However now straight out of the meizu, Buble's voice sounds like he is trying to sing in a smoky building. If this is supposed to be the "downtime" of the hornet, I honestly do not feel that it is so. It is a great amp. I am loving how the guitars sound now, and I am starting to notice a bit more of the cymbols playing their own beats rather than just something far in the background.
190 Hours
Nothing much different than last post. Did some A/B comparisons between the hornet and pa2v2 just now, and it sounds VERY different. The PA2v2 is kinda like a beer that has been poured too much head and the foam is all over the place, everything is out of control. The Hornet is like the refined beer poured with exactly one inch of foam. That being said, there is really no such thing as a bad beer, so I still appreciate my old amp. I can think of one situation where I WOULD prefer pa2v2 over hornet right now, and that is for reggae. On another note, I find that I really can't listen to anything with hiss in the original recordings anymore. I got too used to the quietness of the hornet that playing old recordings and then hearing hiss just doesn't cut it now. It was never a problem with pa2v2 because there was hiss to begin with, so any recordings old or new sounds ok. Hmm, an amp so good that makes me listen to less variety of music... the irony.
So that is all for now. Will be updating this throughout my journey to the 400 hour mark. I still don't believe I will get sucker punched to the head when it reaches 300 hrs, but we'll see.
