hirgard
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
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Greetings all.
This is my first review here so I'm sorry if there's anything I missed.
Back to the topic then, I searched a little bit and didn't found any review at all about the pairing of beyer's dt 880 32 Ohm version with the Little Dot MK II tube amp so I guess a little review won't hurt eh? I'm still new to some terms the reviewers here used to describe sound signatures but I'll try my best
.
To start with, my dt 880 (premium) was bought from Amazon in spring 2011 and the Little Dot MK II amp safely arrived here a few weeks ago. The headphone had gone through some 300+ hours of burn-in while the amp a tad bit over 100 hours. Also, I'm using the stock tubes that came with it (the Mullards, Vokshods, and some Russian power tubes is still in transit though). The sources are my trusty Sansa Clip and a rockboxed Sansa Clip+.
Note: I still prefer the old Clip as the newer Clip+ was a lil bit 'suffocating' to me. Also, you may call me the persistent lurker around here (I found out about the rockbox mod in someone signature too
)
Build:
Now as my first tube amp, the LD Mk II build quality is pretty nice. The black glossy paint really helps a lot with the tube glow during the night and I even thought of putting it somewhere on display as it have that classy feel to it. Now I do understand there are much finer workmanship out there, but at this price, I won't complaint much.
Sound:
Now here's what motivated me to do this impression (straight out of my lurker paradise here). First do note that I really don't buy all the hype surrounding a product. Also I'm a pretty hard-to-please guy when it came to spending my hard-earned money (still a student here).
But my skepticism with the amp was grossly misplaced. As this is the first time in my life I ever felt so much enjoyment out of my music. I even try to 'hate' the amp at some point (especially to cancel out placebo and other whatnots) but the sound was so much alluring that it is even a mistake to not love it. At times, I left my listening session and came back later at a somewhat bitter mood to try listening to Muse - Uprising and some Japanese song and again, the amp really just made my day all more lovely.
I can't really explain it then. How do you exactly explain 'enjoyment' anyway? But I can safely say that Little Dot MKII did made my collections of pop songs (and even those lossy mp3s) which I normally skipped through any day of the week quite listenable and very much enjoyable
.
To describe in three words, this amp made my music delicious, seductive, and engaging.
Using audiophile terms, the sound was dynamic, smooth, but not much extended in the bass department and the treble is almost average. The soundstage too doesn't feel very much different (or maybe the tubey soundstage was not much pronounced with DT 880).
Synergy:
This section was to briefly see what effect does the amp has on my budget setup.
Sansa Clip: neutral, flat freq response (think I read it somewhere in CNET test)
DT 880 32 ohm: Neutral, airy, tight bass response, mid-size soundstage, bright, dry, lifeless, analytical.
Now with the amp as the middleguy, it adds a little tint of warmth, tones down the brightness, detail is a bit recessed but not that much, injects life and blends it with the airiness of the dt880 natural signature. And there you have it, a delicious delicacy in your ears.
I guess that's all for now. I'll update later when those new tubes arrive. Also, if there's anything I left out, feel free to ask below.
Thank you for your time ^^
-Hirgard
This is my first review here so I'm sorry if there's anything I missed.
Back to the topic then, I searched a little bit and didn't found any review at all about the pairing of beyer's dt 880 32 Ohm version with the Little Dot MK II tube amp so I guess a little review won't hurt eh? I'm still new to some terms the reviewers here used to describe sound signatures but I'll try my best
To start with, my dt 880 (premium) was bought from Amazon in spring 2011 and the Little Dot MK II amp safely arrived here a few weeks ago. The headphone had gone through some 300+ hours of burn-in while the amp a tad bit over 100 hours. Also, I'm using the stock tubes that came with it (the Mullards, Vokshods, and some Russian power tubes is still in transit though). The sources are my trusty Sansa Clip and a rockboxed Sansa Clip+.
Note: I still prefer the old Clip as the newer Clip+ was a lil bit 'suffocating' to me. Also, you may call me the persistent lurker around here (I found out about the rockbox mod in someone signature too
Build:
Now as my first tube amp, the LD Mk II build quality is pretty nice. The black glossy paint really helps a lot with the tube glow during the night and I even thought of putting it somewhere on display as it have that classy feel to it. Now I do understand there are much finer workmanship out there, but at this price, I won't complaint much.
Sound:
Now here's what motivated me to do this impression (straight out of my lurker paradise here). First do note that I really don't buy all the hype surrounding a product. Also I'm a pretty hard-to-please guy when it came to spending my hard-earned money (still a student here).
But my skepticism with the amp was grossly misplaced. As this is the first time in my life I ever felt so much enjoyment out of my music. I even try to 'hate' the amp at some point (especially to cancel out placebo and other whatnots) but the sound was so much alluring that it is even a mistake to not love it. At times, I left my listening session and came back later at a somewhat bitter mood to try listening to Muse - Uprising and some Japanese song and again, the amp really just made my day all more lovely.
I can't really explain it then. How do you exactly explain 'enjoyment' anyway? But I can safely say that Little Dot MKII did made my collections of pop songs (and even those lossy mp3s) which I normally skipped through any day of the week quite listenable and very much enjoyable
To describe in three words, this amp made my music delicious, seductive, and engaging.
Using audiophile terms, the sound was dynamic, smooth, but not much extended in the bass department and the treble is almost average. The soundstage too doesn't feel very much different (or maybe the tubey soundstage was not much pronounced with DT 880).
Synergy:
This section was to briefly see what effect does the amp has on my budget setup.
Sansa Clip: neutral, flat freq response (think I read it somewhere in CNET test)
DT 880 32 ohm: Neutral, airy, tight bass response, mid-size soundstage, bright, dry, lifeless, analytical.
Now with the amp as the middleguy, it adds a little tint of warmth, tones down the brightness, detail is a bit recessed but not that much, injects life and blends it with the airiness of the dt880 natural signature. And there you have it, a delicious delicacy in your ears.
I guess that's all for now. I'll update later when those new tubes arrive. Also, if there's anything I left out, feel free to ask below.
Thank you for your time ^^
-Hirgard
