- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Posts
- 17,452
- Likes
- 839
HiFlight likes to play with opamps in various amps, and find the best combo possible and then call it his "topkit" for that amp. And usually his picks are spot on. Going from memory, with the iBasso D2 Viper it was the LTC6241HV with LMH6655 in the ground channel and it sounded as good as a fully burned-in Predator. With the Head-direct EF1 it was the AD743 on a 2:1 adapter with a JJ tube. With the iBasso D1 it was the AD743 on a 2:1 with the LMH6655 in the buffers. And he always manages to find several opamp combos that work very well in addition to that.
I just installed the D10 "topkit" with AD743 and AD8616 as buffers a couple of days ago and I have been listening and trying to compare to my P-51 Mustang, and I can say the Topkit brings the D10 closer to the P-51 than I had ever hoped for. I may actually slightly prefer the D10 now, with the limited phones I have tried so far. It is very good with Senn IE8, and also with my HD600 and D2000, Phonak Audeo and ES3X. I am still testing it out with more phones, but wanted to share this now.
My IE8 are picky about the amp I use and I like it with the IE8 a little more than the OPA2228/AD8656 that I had in the D10 previously. And as an added bonus this new opamp combo works well with my ES3X and HD600 too. Some opamp combos that are great with the IE8 are too thin with my other IEM and headphones (AD8599/AD8656), which is more of an issue I have with the IE8 than the amp. But with the right opamps the IE8 definitely sing, and this is one of those instances, where it brings the D10 close to the level of the ALO Amphora with the IE8. There is minimal hiss with the 16 ohm IE8, but with the ES3X there is a bit of hiss at about the level of the Macbook Pro headphone out or the ALO Amphora. This is easily fixed with a Shure volume attenuator and the volume control rolled about 2 - 3 mm quieter. The sound is good enough that I was going to leave it with these opamps forever, and stop trying others.
I like the sound of the "topkit" (AD743/AD8616) so much I wasn't looking forward to trying out some other opamp combos that I promised to try, but tonight I moved to the OPA2350 with the AD8616 as buffers. With my ES3X this one is totally free of hiss and absolutely beautiful, with good strong bass and excellent transparency. I am listening to Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue" and "Companion" right now and it's like I am right there in the night club. I prefer both of these setups a little over the OPA2228 with AD8656 buffers. It is not quite as good with the HD600 as the others, but still at least as good as stock I think. I still have to try the OPA2350 with the IE8, Phonak, RS-1 and D2000.
I will report back later. And I also have a TLC2202 and a LMH6321 here, but didn't get the EL8201 I was going to test.
EDIT - Okay, the OPA2350/AD8616 works very well with the IE8 as well as my ES3X, although it does have more bass than the AD743 which can be almost too much with the IE8 now (but not crossing that line).
EDIT - I put the AD743 back in and they are still better than the OPA2350 or OPA2228, although the OPA are close. The AD743 is just a little more transparent, and still has great bass.
EDIT - I put in the TLC2202 and it too sounds very good with the IE8, and very much like the OPA opamps did. I must be getting fatigued, because they all sound good to me with very small differences. It also has more bass with the IE8, like the OPA opamps. I still prefer the AD743.
I just installed the D10 "topkit" with AD743 and AD8616 as buffers a couple of days ago and I have been listening and trying to compare to my P-51 Mustang, and I can say the Topkit brings the D10 closer to the P-51 than I had ever hoped for. I may actually slightly prefer the D10 now, with the limited phones I have tried so far. It is very good with Senn IE8, and also with my HD600 and D2000, Phonak Audeo and ES3X. I am still testing it out with more phones, but wanted to share this now.
My IE8 are picky about the amp I use and I like it with the IE8 a little more than the OPA2228/AD8656 that I had in the D10 previously. And as an added bonus this new opamp combo works well with my ES3X and HD600 too. Some opamp combos that are great with the IE8 are too thin with my other IEM and headphones (AD8599/AD8656), which is more of an issue I have with the IE8 than the amp. But with the right opamps the IE8 definitely sing, and this is one of those instances, where it brings the D10 close to the level of the ALO Amphora with the IE8. There is minimal hiss with the 16 ohm IE8, but with the ES3X there is a bit of hiss at about the level of the Macbook Pro headphone out or the ALO Amphora. This is easily fixed with a Shure volume attenuator and the volume control rolled about 2 - 3 mm quieter. The sound is good enough that I was going to leave it with these opamps forever, and stop trying others.
I like the sound of the "topkit" (AD743/AD8616) so much I wasn't looking forward to trying out some other opamp combos that I promised to try, but tonight I moved to the OPA2350 with the AD8616 as buffers. With my ES3X this one is totally free of hiss and absolutely beautiful, with good strong bass and excellent transparency. I am listening to Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue" and "Companion" right now and it's like I am right there in the night club. I prefer both of these setups a little over the OPA2228 with AD8656 buffers. It is not quite as good with the HD600 as the others, but still at least as good as stock I think. I still have to try the OPA2350 with the IE8, Phonak, RS-1 and D2000.
I will report back later. And I also have a TLC2202 and a LMH6321 here, but didn't get the EL8201 I was going to test.
EDIT - Okay, the OPA2350/AD8616 works very well with the IE8 as well as my ES3X, although it does have more bass than the AD743 which can be almost too much with the IE8 now (but not crossing that line).
EDIT - I put the AD743 back in and they are still better than the OPA2350 or OPA2228, although the OPA are close. The AD743 is just a little more transparent, and still has great bass.
EDIT - I put in the TLC2202 and it too sounds very good with the IE8, and very much like the OPA opamps did. I must be getting fatigued, because they all sound good to me with very small differences. It also has more bass with the IE8, like the OPA opamps. I still prefer the AD743.