gimmeheadroom
Headphoneus Supremus
I guess you're not in Europe? I tried to buy a Soekris and everything is apparently out of stock.
New Amp from HeadAmp - GS-X Mini
- Thread starter Rhamnetin
- Start date
So long as you are happy that is all that matters.
Richardhoos
100+ Head-Fier
Doing some rough ABing tonight with VC and Stellia. Obviously both are spectacular for unique reasons.
-I seem to be able to appreciate the Stellia more out of my mojo (compared to VC out of mojo).
-and I give the nod to the VC out of Qutest/GS-X mini.
I think that with the Stellia on Mojo, I’m able to listen louder than I can with the Stellia from the Qutest/Mini. Out of Mini, it can get a little sharp.
With the VC from Qutest/Mini, this set up really is beautiful, tons of detail and slam and able to listen for hours. I’ve had this set up for months and have really loved it. Only reason I was experimenting with the Stellia is ...
Recently with a newborn girl, I’ve only been able to do portable listening from Mojo so I acquired the Stellia to see if it was a better match for the Mojo than the VC (on mojo just felt like something was missing) which indeed from quick impressions, Stellia-Mojo is the better match there.
*listening to the new Future Islands album out of Qobuz stream. A great album btw.
-I seem to be able to appreciate the Stellia more out of my mojo (compared to VC out of mojo).
-and I give the nod to the VC out of Qutest/GS-X mini.
I think that with the Stellia on Mojo, I’m able to listen louder than I can with the Stellia from the Qutest/Mini. Out of Mini, it can get a little sharp.
With the VC from Qutest/Mini, this set up really is beautiful, tons of detail and slam and able to listen for hours. I’ve had this set up for months and have really loved it. Only reason I was experimenting with the Stellia is ...
Recently with a newborn girl, I’ve only been able to do portable listening from Mojo so I acquired the Stellia to see if it was a better match for the Mojo than the VC (on mojo just felt like something was missing) which indeed from quick impressions, Stellia-Mojo is the better match there.
*listening to the new Future Islands album out of Qobuz stream. A great album btw.
gearocdguy
100+ Head-Fier
We the same setup, sans the VC. Try comparing the Qutest -> Mini vs. Mojo -> Mini. I tried it on my Ether2s and couldn't hear the difference, so I sold my Qutest (only to buy it back in a moment of weakness).
I hear you on the Stellia's sharpness. I crave that detail, even if it makes my ears bleed. I have not heard the VCs, but I think the consensus is that they are warmer than the Stellias. I imagine if the Qutest -> Mini -> Stellia are too sharp, Hugo 2 -> Stellias would be worse.
Just out of curiosity, is there any chance that a "wooden" front panel be introduced?
That will be really amazing!
That will be really amazing!
I did some interesting A/B comparisons with the GSX Mini, a top-of-the-line tube amp - ampsandsound Mogwai SE, RME ADI-2 DAC and Denafrips Pontus (R2R) DAC - the headphones I used were: Verite Open, Focal Eligia (closed back) & Verite Closed.
I am in my mid 50's so the following results may be a consequence of me losing some hearing capabilities - or my mind... , so please take this as a grain of salt.
I always heard that to hear differences between different amps or DACs I needed a sensitive & reveling headphone.... so I assume that both Verites + the Focal Elegia do qualify as such.
I first went back and forth with both Verites between the GSX Mini and the Mogwai SE, I did volume matching by ear so this is by no means scientific measuring.... and... I am sorry to say, I could hardly tell any difference in sound quality, mids, sound stage & bass between both amps - I use the RME ADI-2 DAC on this test. Listening very hard I could say that "maybe" there was a bit more bass on the Mogwai but nothing that stands out easily. I thought to myself that I must be crazy because everybody is in love with the ampsandsound Mogwai SE (and it cost twice as much as the GSX Mini) so I called up 2 of my young kids - with no Hi Res music experience - but with young ears who I thought would be able to tell me.... "how can't you hear the difference?.....", well, they said they did not hear any difference either.
Unable to tell the difference I figured that the default tubes which came with my Mogwai SE must be just so-so..... so, I spent $200 and bought a better pair of power tubes and a new input tube.... I used the amp for about 1 week and then run the same test again..... no difference from my first try, I could hardly tell the 2 amps apart....
Disappointment was growing to high levels.
I thought that maybe my DAC, the RME was not up-to-the task so I decided to buy a R2R DAC called Denafrips Pontus, I had never tried a R2R DAC and the Pontus reviews were very interesting so I decided to give this technology a try.
The Pontus gave my music a bit more warmth - just a bit - and the sound was very involving and musical, but again, it is NOT night and day compared to the RME.... in my experience, differences tend to be way too subtle compared to the amounts of money invested.
.... to be continued as I run a few more tests.
I am in my mid 50's so the following results may be a consequence of me losing some hearing capabilities - or my mind... , so please take this as a grain of salt.
I always heard that to hear differences between different amps or DACs I needed a sensitive & reveling headphone.... so I assume that both Verites + the Focal Elegia do qualify as such.
I first went back and forth with both Verites between the GSX Mini and the Mogwai SE, I did volume matching by ear so this is by no means scientific measuring.... and... I am sorry to say, I could hardly tell any difference in sound quality, mids, sound stage & bass between both amps - I use the RME ADI-2 DAC on this test. Listening very hard I could say that "maybe" there was a bit more bass on the Mogwai but nothing that stands out easily. I thought to myself that I must be crazy because everybody is in love with the ampsandsound Mogwai SE (and it cost twice as much as the GSX Mini) so I called up 2 of my young kids - with no Hi Res music experience - but with young ears who I thought would be able to tell me.... "how can't you hear the difference?.....", well, they said they did not hear any difference either.
Unable to tell the difference I figured that the default tubes which came with my Mogwai SE must be just so-so..... so, I spent $200 and bought a better pair of power tubes and a new input tube.... I used the amp for about 1 week and then run the same test again..... no difference from my first try, I could hardly tell the 2 amps apart....
Disappointment was growing to high levels.
I thought that maybe my DAC, the RME was not up-to-the task so I decided to buy a R2R DAC called Denafrips Pontus, I had never tried a R2R DAC and the Pontus reviews were very interesting so I decided to give this technology a try.
The Pontus gave my music a bit more warmth - just a bit - and the sound was very involving and musical, but again, it is NOT night and day compared to the RME.... in my experience, differences tend to be way too subtle compared to the amounts of money invested.
.... to be continued as I run a few more tests.
I am certainly not in the audio science crowd, I believe every component can potentially make a difference; with that being said, your results seem to be the same that anybody who earnestly does this type of test concludes. The apparent facts are, at the Amp and DAC level, everything is practically audibly transparent and differences are mostly inaudible. Its a tough pill to swallow. I've done similar tests between a Ampsandsound Pendant, a JDS Labs EL II and a generic Samsung Galaxy phone; it was tough to discern difference between any of them, and while I was reliably able to note differences, at no point did I feel any of those were improvements over each other. Only with headphones can I most easily note differences and improvements during A/B tests.
I'm in my early-30s and have a musician and pro audio background, so while I'm certainly not in the golden ears crowd, I feel I am in the median of most audiophiles when it comes to discerning differences. It's all about just being honest with ourselves at the end of the day lol.
For me it's not so much something is better but, different. I can hear differences in equipment but when I start to hard A/B without giving extended time to a listen the differences are less stark and more rushed. Let the Mini settle.. listen to it for a couple weeks, then swap.
I agree with this definitely. A/B testing is nice, I enjoy doing it; but it's also a bit of a forced environment. It's not easy to pull off.
And I absolutely agree with you assertion about differences vs. Improvements; a lot of times i can discern differences but I'd be hard pressed to really determine how much "better" they may be than each other.
But its all a part of the fun of this hobby!
So how is your experience with this amp while driving Susvara? I have Susvara as well and I am considering this amp.Ok, we will see today
It's very good but little too bright and detalited.
Not exactly how I'd describe this amp
With Susvara i prefer tubes.
Hi. Did anyone have a chance to compare the gs-x mini with burson audio soloist 3x?
I'm looking for a good amp which is capable to drive efficiently hard to drive planar-magnetic HP. Ideally with a neutral tonality.
Thanks.
I'm looking for a good amp which is capable to drive efficiently hard to drive planar-magnetic HP. Ideally with a neutral tonality.
Thanks.
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