[sfmatt]

My point was since Madpierrot already has a good DAC, $300 in his pocket and no need for portability then he should look into desktop amps. I don't doubt the D6 is excellent for what it is since I bought it but I would look first into established quality desktop amps before focusing on a portable DAC/amp that no one has reviewed yet.
 
I've not listened to the D6 but I have listened to established top-notch portable amps pico, RSA amps etc and while superior to my D2 they're not in the same league as my $300 Jade. Not even close with 300 ohm cans like the Senns. The huge increase in power and voltage swing in the new generation of portables (P4, D6, Stepdance etc) is a very promising evolution, they will certainly close the gap and who knows maybe even surpass similarly priced desktop amps. I hope so, I'll love it if my work rig is as good as my home rig but until then I stand by what I said, established $300 dollar desktop amps perform significantly better than the current/past generation of pocket amps with many headphones (and maybe for IEMs too, I have never tried myself).
 
I'll let you know in a week if the D6 drives my HD600&650 as well as a good $300 tube amp. Can't wait to try it!

 

[ddr]

 


what other desktop amps in the $2-300 range do you think exceeds the performance of renowned portable amps like the d4, arrow, or predator?

 

[sfmatt]

My Jade and my friends' Darkvoice 336 and Little Dot Mk V, all 3 amps I have listened to extensively with both my Senns and my Beyers. All were linked to good DACs (I have a RME9632).
I have the D2 Viper, my friend has the D2 Boa and I listened to other portables in meets.
 
When the high-power portables like the PB1, Stepdance and P4 came out it got me really excited considering the improvement from the 150mw x 2 D2 to the desktop amps. Power is not everything but it makes a lot of difference with all the cans I have, even with the Grados SR-80 I don't have anymore.
 
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what other desktop amps in the $2-300 range do you think exceeds the performance of renowned portable amps like the d4, arrow, or predator?

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

The D6 can provide about 11 volt of swing and 650 mW per channel into 32 Ohms. The P4 is pretty much the same, with 600 mW per channel. That is definitely on par with some desktop amps. I don't know if that can compare to the desktop amps you mentioned, but it is definitely a whole lot. If those two don't provide enough power, the PB1 at $229 has 25.2 volts of swing and 1400 mW per channel in balanced, and the PB2 has 32 volts of swing and up to 2500 mW per channel in balanced. For single ended, halve those numbers. Those are crazy specs. Hiflight and some other members can drive the HE-6 and even the K1000 from the PB1, albeit not to the absolute best of their abilities. Those are some very hard cans to drive that many desktop amps can not drive very well at all. Th PB2 is even more powerful, and so should be even better. These two amps, along with the Ray Samuel SR71B (which is two to three time the price, BTW) are definitely on par with entry level desktop amps. Portables used to be not that great at driving full size demanding cans, but we have entered a new era. 
 
Just so you know, I have listened to the SR71B with the HE-6, and it drove them beautifully. I did not hear any forms of distortion or congestion. The SR71B is slightly more powerful than the PB1, and significantly less powerful than the PB2. Power stats are not everything, but for the record, the SR71B outputs 1200mW balanced and can swing 26-30 volts. Again, the Hifiman HE-6 is notoriously hard to drive, but after hearing this combo, I no longer doubt the abilities of the new ultra powerful portables. One of the biggest marks of advancing technology is the shrinking size of what used to be large things, like how your cellphone has something like billions of times the computing power of Eniac, which weighed thirty tons and took up two huge rooms. 

 

[sfmatt]

Thank you for sharing your experience with the SR71B. I've been sifting through the related threads for a while and your opinion has been echoed multiple times. There's no doubt these new portables are revolutionary and worthy of our hard-earned dough.
 
Exciting times we live in!

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Quote:

Thank you for sharing your experience with the SR71B. I've been sifting through the related threads for a while and your opinion has been echoed multiple times. There's no doubt these new portables are revolutionary and worthy of our hard-earned dough.
 
Exciting times we live in!

Indeed. I remember when I was lurking around this site a year ago, there was not even half the innovation I see today. Ibasso had their T3 and a few other amps and DACs that were not particularly noteworthy. Now a year later they have some pretty amazing products, pretty much leapfrogging the competition in the process. Their amps are big, so that is probably their main weakness, but if you can't spend a ton and strongly believe in value like I do, their products are very hard to beat. 
 
@Jamato, 
 
Can we get a few more impressions on the sound to hold us at least until some other head-fiers get their D6s?

 

[Croozer]

Thinking about grabbing one of these to drive my D2K's.

 

[jamato8]

The sound is very airy without being bright on the top end. There is a quality to the freedom of the sound that is just, open. I don't know how else to put it. Even with my LCD-2, which like some current, the peaks and bass come through natural and with fervor. The quality is different, on the airiness when compared to my excellent fi.q. I wish the fi.Q had to more open fluid sound of the D6. And if you don't hear the difference in the dac section, well it is my opinion, but the USB dac is a real jump also. 

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Thanks for the mini review of the sound. It sounds really good.

 

[qawsedrf]

Will only receive mine a couple days later. Having my finals in the same time as well, but I'll be sure to pop in a small impression and if possible a couple of pictures.
 
I'm sure many of you will be able to receive them before me, looking forward to read some impressions from you all later during the week.

(it's Sunday here.. Haha)

 

[Madpierrot]

Thanks for the advice but I'll probably stick to a portable for the versatility. I plan to use this at work too so it'll be good to be able to move it around easily.
 
Quote:

My point was since Madpierrot already has a good DAC, $300 in his pocket and no need for portability then he should look into desktop amps. I don't doubt the D6 is excellent for what it is since I bought it but I would look first into established quality desktop amps before focusing on a portable DAC/amp that no one has reviewed yet.

So the D6's dac section should be superior to the D12's but what about the amp section. I'm driving Ultrasone Pro 900s which don't need that much juice so both will do fine in the power department. What I'm interested in is the sound and it seems like from your impressions that it's hard to choose between the two.
 
Opamp rollable means that parts can be swapped out and customized right? Does the D6 have this capability?


Quote:

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Shameless bump for some impressions from those who have heard it. Specifically against D12 (thanks Jamato for the short positive comparison to the P4). I'm getting trigger happy and need to know if the D6 outperforms the D12!

I don't know. The D12 was a surprise to me. I expected it to be good but it is so fluid and natural that I was surprised. The advantage the D6 has is power. It has over twice the voltage swing so much more power. It depends upon what you are driving or what the load is. 

 

[jamato8]

Both the D12 and the D6 have sockets so you can customize the sound to what you like, within the capabilities of the two amps. I am hard pressed as the d12 surprised me but I had to admit, so does the D6. The transparency is just so good. The D6 has the USB capability of 24/96 but only USB it can not be run from Coax and optical like the D12. The dac section of the D12 is also very good. The choices, the choices. Things have advanced so much in the last year. 

 

[charlie0904]

abit of OT if I may, can anyone advise whether a D6 or a PB-2 is a better upgrade?
 
I already have a D4, i do not have 24/96 files to enjoy at the moment. no balanced gear either. If I use PB-2 SE, is it very wasted? I wonder why they have SE and balanced at the same time.

 

[jamato8]

I don't know of anyone that has heard the PB-2 yet, except for iBasso so I not sure anyone can help you at this time. I would guess in a few days there will be some PB2's out there as well as the D6. 

 

[charlie0904]

 
Quote:

I don't know of anyone that has heard the PB-2 yet, except for iBasso so I not sure anyone can help you at this time. I would guess in a few days there will be some PB2's out there as well as the D6. 

thanks for the reply. you will be getting i assume?    
 
yup, will read up on any impressions/reviews.
 
 
cheers