Iriver IHP120 sound quality - wow.

[greenhorn]

I can hardly feel the need for a portable amp for this one. It sounds so good directly from the headphone output.

I am using it with either Shure E5 IEMs or Audio Technica EC7 earbuds.

When I had an iPod I largely preferred to use it through my META42 portable amp, the difference in sound quality was important. While with the Iriver... I prefer not to carry the amp around anymore.

Any experiences confirming / contradicting mine?

 

[listening]

Hi greenhorn,

I've had an iRiver HP-120 for 3 years and love it. Sounds great with my Ety4P. However, about 2 weeks ago I purchased a Portaphile v2^2 maxxed as I was in search of "a little more". It made a huge difference in my mind. I do like to listen at fairly high volumes, and the amp really shines there. The music is clean, clear and very dynamic.

I'm also thrilled at how low level detail seems more clear than before. I'm told the line output of the HP-120 is pretty decent and it seems the amp makes the most of it.

Really, it's simply a matter of what pleases you!

 

[wolfen68]

I also like the H1xx. The headout is ok (but it has hiss and is not as dynamic with IEM's), but I prefer it's lineout to an amp...and really prefer the optical out to a DAC.

 

[The Monkey]

H120 + MicroStack = good. very very good.

 

[Packgrog]

I've been using the H120 for years now, and recently discovered that the sound quality from it's headphone out was lousy in comparison to that of my Cowon A2. Not only does it have a lot of hiss with IEMs, but it also lacked the controlled bass and clear soundstage that the A2 has.

Of course, thankfully, I recently received my RSA Tomahawk this week. Using this with the line-out of the H120 provides better sound than the headphone outputs of both players. The H1xx is a great player, but it's headphone output isn't great. Use an amp with the line-out. It's MUCH better. Especially if you're going to use high-end IEMs like the E5!

 

[Laptopia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfen68 /img/forum/go_quote.gif and really prefer the optical out to a DAC.

But I thought you had to run the optical out signal *through* a DAC. How can you prefer an optical signal *to* a DAC? (I would imagine that an optical signal is just light signals that specify 0s and 1s.)

 

[Laptopia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Packgrog /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been using the H120 for years now, and recently discovered that the sound quality from it's headphone out was lousy in comparison to that of my Cowon A2. Not only does it have a lot of hiss with IEMs, but it also lacked the controlled bass and clear soundstage that the A2 has. Of course, thankfully, I recently received my RSA Tomahawk this week. Using this with the line-out of the H120 provides better sound than the headphone outputs of both players. The H1xx is a great player, but it's headphone output isn't great. Use an amp with the line-out. It's MUCH better. Especially if you're going to use high-end IEMs like the E5!

When you say "line out", do you really mean "headphone jack"? My H120 and H140 have only a headphone jack and optical out, no line out.

 

[Slogra]

I don't have my iriver with me now, but i believe the optical output doubles as line-out. Unfortunately on both headphone and line-out i get hiss. The hiss is at a fixed volume at a pretty high frequency, so it's not that bad, especially when you use high impedance headphones with little high frequencies

. I believe the digital optical out doesn't suffer from hiss.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can hardly feel the need for a portable amp for this one. It sounds so good directly from the headphone output. I am using it with either Shure E5 IEMs or Audio Technica EC7 earbuds. When I had an iPod I largely preferred to use it through my META42 portable amp, the difference in sound quality was important. While with the Iriver... I prefer not to carry the amp around anymore. Any experiences confirming / contradicting mine?

Yeah, the iRiver iHP-120/140 is very noisy. Too much hiss/buzz through the lineout and headphone output for jacking in sensitive IEM's into. But with an Amp, the iRiver is my favorite portable source.

Since the Tomahawk is so small, I finally have a portable solution that I can take with me easily. And the Tomahawk filters out the noise superbly.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slogra /img/forum/go_quote.gif II believe the digital optical out doesn't suffer from hiss.

Nope, but it has quite a bit of jitter. If you ever wanted to test how much jitter a supposedly "jitter proof" source like the Benchmark DAC1 and other are, try comparing with the iRiver's optical line out. But then again how many DAP's out there support FLAC and have a digital output?

-Ed

 

[Packgrog]

The optical-out port doubles as a line-out port. You have to specifically turn on the optical output (you'll see a little red light come on inside the port), otherwise it's just a line-out.

And as Edwood said, the H1xx has a lot of background hiss, but a nice headphone amp like the Tomahawk can pretty much eliminate the hiss. I'd had to stop using my H120 for a little while because of the hiss, but now with the Tomahawk I can use it again. Thank GOD, 'cause it's possibly the most versatile and usable player around thanks to Rockbox and it's use of the H1xx's special features (radio tuner, optical ports, recording functionality, etc.). I'm SOOOO glad I can use it again.

But again, it's very noisy without an amp. Get an amp to get the best out of it.

-Packgrog

 

[NelsonVandal]

IHP120/140 has a line-out. The sound improves greatly with a good portable amp. In comparsion the headphones out has recessed mids and sounds muddy.

 

[MrFaust]

I use my iHP-120 with a Mister X built XP Amp.

However I am looking for another portable source with a much larger storage capacity. Waiting for MacWorld Expo to see what Apple has instore for us. Otherwise I would probably try to get an iHP-140 and upgrade the drive to an 80gb.

 

[chat7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFaust /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use my iHP-120 with a Mister X built XP Amp. However I am looking for another portable source with a much larger storage capacity. Waiting for MacWorld Expo to see what Apple has instore for us. Otherwise I would probably try to get an iHP-140 and upgrade the drive to an 80gb.

what theme do you use on your player? It's very nice. I want to try.

 

[crypt@]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob ♫ /img/forum/go_quote.gif But I thought you had to run the optical out signal *through* a DAC. How can you prefer an optical signal *to* a DAC? (I would imagine that an optical signal is just light signals that specify 0s and 1s.)

That is exactly how I run mine, optical out from the iHP-140 to the Azur 840C then lineout into the SM-3 and onward to ATH-W5000.

There is no comparison between sound out of the DAC in the 840C to the iHP-140 internal DAC, if only the 840C can be powered from battery and doesn't weight 8.5kg...