[Skylab]

All:

I am going to loan out my iBasso T2 for people to try. The first 10 people who FOLLOW ALL THE RULES and post below will get a week to sample the amp.

Here are the rules, PLEASE READ THEM FULLY AND CAREFULLY:

1. You *must* have at least 5 feedbacks on head-fi, all positive, and in your post below expressing interest you MUST link to your feedback thread.

2. Open only to residents of the USA. Sorry folks, too expensive and time consuming otherwise.

3. You agree to keep the amp exactly one week and no more.

4. You agree you will take good care of it.

5. You agree you will ship it to the next person on the list via USPS priority mail insured.

6. You will send me a PM with your real name, address, and a phone number, AFTER posting interest below.

7. By posting below, you are agreeing to all of the above rules.

OK, have at it

 

[Ooztuncer]

me me!!!

edit: feedback is in my sig - thanks.

 

[scompton]

I'm interested. I don't own an amp that works well with portables. Mine are all to loud. Here's the link to my feedback

 

[Skylab]

Cool, you guys are in! I'm surprised how little interest there seems to be in general though...

 

[gtp]

Two weeks ago I would have jumped on this!

I was on the fence about trying out this amp but found a used one. Still waiting on shipping...

 

[tjohnusa]

I would love to audition this amp. I will follow all the rules posted. Thanks!

 

[big-fi]

Damn.. I'd love to try it but I can't agree on one rule, as I live in Canada!

Heck, might as well try.. my feedbacks in my sig

 

[itsborken]

I'd like to give it an audition, thanks

 

[slug4life]

I'd like to try the amp. My feedback is here. Thanks!

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big-fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Damn.. I'd love to try it but I can't agree on one rule, as I live in Canada! Heck, might as well try.. my feedbacks in my sig

I'm very sorry, but shipping to Canada is too much of a hassle for this sort of thing.

You other guys are in.

 

[Honus]

I can comply!

 

[Skylab]

Cool!

Guys I am going to cap it there for the time being - as it is this will probably take 2 months to complete. I will revisit it then.

 

[Ooztuncer]

Skylab, thanks one more time for your generosity. I am the first loaner and the T2 arrived today

I wanted to write my initial impressions from a 30-minute listening session. I will update this post probably by Saturday with more listening time.

Gear: Iriver H120 > generic mini-mini > Xenos 1HA-EPC and ibasso T2 > ety er4p.
Music: Cesario Evaro – Café Atlantico; Dave Weckl – Hard Wired.

Story: I came from work and found out that my wife already got the package! I did listen to it for about half an hour, then my iriver h120's battery died and I realized that I forgot the charger at work. Therefore, I am planning to listen to it tomorrow at work at least for 3-4 hours.

My initial impressions are little bit mixed. I really liked its size, the clarity of the sound, and the bass boost option (my er4p appreciates it). However, compared to xenos 1ha-epc it is definitely too bright for my taste, overall it sounds dull, and the upper registers sound artificial. I found it OK for 15 minutes with Cesario Evaro (nothing spectacular but at least there is not too much colorization). Then, I listened to Dave Weckl's album for the rest 15 minutes: cymbals were too tender, there was no decay from the splashes, and the soundstage was limited when compared to 1ha-epc.

It's just initial impressions from a 30 minutes listening so it should be taken with grain of salt and I am nowhere close to Skylab’s skills when it comes to reviews. In any case, I will listen to it until next Monday evening and then ship it to next lucky head-fier on Tuesday morning.


Some Pics:

 

[scompton]

I am the second recipient of Skylab's T2. I received it Thursday and listened for a couple of hours on Friday and Saturday. I listened to an iPod with a Quables line out docking cable, and my UM1 and im716.

I listened to the UM1 for about 2 minutes. The amp is much to powerful for the UM1. I could only move the volume dial about 1/8 inch from full off before the sound was unbearably loud. I've had this problem with every amp I've tried the UM1 with, so it's not a fault of the T2. I think either the UM1 is just too sensitive for amps or the iPod's line out is too loud to use with the UM1. I don't know enough about amps to know if they attenuate the line in signal at all, or just amplify it.

With the im716, I have the same issues that I have with the T1.

1. The amp picks up interference from the hard drive of the iPod. If the amp is against the face of the iPod it will pick up the interference. My iPod case has a belt clip on the back that prevents the amp from getting close enough to pick up the interference. Unfortunately, my line out cable is short, so the iPod and amp have to be in the same pocket or pouch. I don't like having that much in my pocket and I don't like carrying a pouch. I have a longer line out cable at work that I'll try tomorrow. The T1 made noise when I walked with it in my pocket. Hopefully, the T2 will be better.
2. I don't like the volume dial. It is too easy to move it while putting the amp in your pocket or pouch. Fortunately, with the T2, it's happened once and the volume went down. I stopped trying to use the T1 when the volume was raised to a painful level. I also don't like that you can't tell by looking at the dial what the current setting is.
3. In my opinion, it doesn't sound enough better that the headphone out of my iPod to justify the pain of using it. When it's picking up electronic interference, it sounds much worse than the iPod.

 

[Dexdexter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif I listened to the UM1 for about 2 minutes. The amp is much to powerful for the UM1. I could only move the volume dial about 1/8 inch from full off before the sound was unbearably loud.

Just curious, was this with the gain switch on "low gain" or "high gain"?