New Amp from HeadAmp - GS-X Mini

[thehutch]

Hmmm.

Ferrum has a smaller width to sound stage but has significantly more height
Vocals wise, ferrum is more powerful and airy while GSX mini is thick and lush. Similar smoothness
Bass quantity is similar but ferrum has more control.
GSX mini is warm sounding but ferrum is more neutral (A70pro is more cool/clinical)
GSX mini has a touch more forward mids compared to ferrum (similar to comparing to a70pro)
Clarity wise ferrum is better.
Enjoyment wise both are similar
Similar to the a70pro I spoke on, this applies to most headphones I tried except Susvara.

It looks similar to when I compare to a70pro, but that amp has a way lower enjoyment factor for me unless you are into clinical sound.

I did a video review for amping susvara, but don't think its appropriate in this thread.

That’s a great rundown. Matches by very superficial impressions of Ferrum from CanJam. Thank you.

 

[devilboy]

Hmmm.

Ferrum has a smaller width to sound stage but has significantly more height
Vocals wise, ferrum is more powerful and airy while GSX mini is thick and lush. Similar smoothness
Bass quantity is similar but ferrum has more control.
GSX mini is warm sounding but ferrum is more neutral (A70pro is more cool/clinical)
GSX mini has a touch more forward mids compared to ferrum (similar to comparing to a70pro)
Clarity wise ferrum is better.
Enjoyment wise both are similar
Similar to the a70pro I spoke on, this applies to most headphones I tried except Susvara.

It looks similar to when I compare to a70pro, but that amp has a way lower enjoyment factor for me unless you are into clinical sound.

I did a video review for amping susvara, but don't think its appropriate in this thread.

Spot on

 

[tassardar]

I have to say the difference is not huge, maybe the warm tone is the only thing really obvious across headphones, the rest can range from really hard to detect to obvious depending on which headphone you use. I compare them with AB switch within seconds (I have duplicate cables and use a m17 balance line out for fastest switch)

For a headphone like say Diana phi, I enjoy the gsx mini significantly more then A70pro and it’s more of a different taste than technical performance.

 

[planar shill]

So I keep reading that the GS-X mini is not a good pairing with the Susvara and that the sound stage is narrow. To me, the Susvara sounds quite awesome with it. What would be a class A competitor to the GS-X mini that is a wide/less intimate? What about one that pairs well with the Susvara?
WaveTheory just came out with a new video basically saying the same thing I see in here. The same-ish result as GoldenSound too. I just don't ever get the feeling that it is headphone picky.

 

[thehutch]

So I keep reading that the GS-X mini is not a good pairing with the Susvara and that the sound stage is narrow. To me, the Susvara sounds quite awesome with it. What would be a class A competitor to the GS-X mini that is a wide/less intimate? What about one that pairs well with the Susvara?
WaveTheory just came out with a new video basically saying the same thing I see in here. The same-ish result as GoldenSound too. I just don't ever get the feeling that it is headphone picky.

It’s not about synergy, though, right? It simply doesn’t have enough power to drive Susvara to potential. Without enough power, soundstage on Susvara collapses. It can still sound great in many other aspects, just smaller.

 

[planar shill]

I don't think that's true. I'm fairly certain the power thing is a myth. Like yes the Susvara requires more power, but it doesn't really need more than a couple watts to get to jet engine levels. Maybe it is a current versus voltage thing that causes synergy problems? I'm not really an expert with this stuff. I took this chart from PfS's youtube channel.

 

[planar shill]

It’s not about synergy, though, right? It simply doesn’t have enough power to drive Susvara to potential. Without enough power, soundstage on Susvara collapses. It can still sound great in many other aspects, just smaller.

The other thing that makes me question that is that certain amps get recommended for the Susvara with a similar or less amount of power, it seems like the GS-X mini in particular gets the reputation for being bad with Susvara. The narrow sound stage thing is a general criticism of the GS-X mini that I have seen regardless of the headphone pairing. Even when it pairs well, it is considered narrow staging for the price.

 

[thehutch]

I don't think that's true. I'm fairly certain the power thing is a myth. Like yes the Susvara requires more power, but it doesn't really need more than a couple watts to get to jet engine levels. Maybe it is a current versus voltage thing that causes synergy problems? I'm not really an expert with this stuff. I took this chart from PfS's youtube channel.

Someone smarter than correct me if I’m wrong, but yes, I think current matters here. But it’s also about headroom. Just because an amp can drive to high SPL doesn’t it has enough power.

 

[tassardar]

by theoretical power requirement, a Susvara will not need more then 500mw of power at 60ohm. 500mw translates to about 110db of sound. Most of us probably peak at 100 (80db +-20db dynamics) so we won’t even use a fraction of power. Also all speakers have distortion and it’s way higher then amps.

Now why do they sound different, many possibilities. I am no electronics/sound engineer so this are just my guess. It may be due to stuff like how they both distort and when combined it’s terrible. Or when the gsx mini is outputing the power needed by Susvara it’s at its poorest. Other possibilities is the sound signature don’t quite fit each other or the way the gsx mini react to the power loading of Susvara (or the other way round) is the least optimal.

Or maybe it’s all just psychoacoustic when one person highlighted it’s bad, everyone thinks it’s bad haha.

I’m the rare few that owns it with other “good” amps and I did a comparison video on it using Susvara . As the outcome is not really good for the gsx mini so I didn’t post here. My biggest guess is the sound signature (byproduct of a lot of factors) dont quite fit each other and their combined outcome is not as good.

But that said it’s still more enjoyable to listen than some amps. Enjoyment is not the same as technical performance. So if you enjoy it all is good.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

The GSX-Mini, in general, is not a good pairing with extremely inefficient planars. That's just the reality. The GSX is an endgame SS amp for dynamic drivers and easy to drive planar magnetic headphones like the high end Mezes and most Audezes but it just doesn't have the voltage output to properly drive PM's like the Abyss 1266, Susvara, HE-6 and the Modhouse Tungsten.

It's unfortunate but the amp wasn't designed with those headphones in mind. That's why I push back against the "endgame" badge this amp has been given. It just isn't versatile enough to drive everything well but undemanding headphones can be driven to their fullest potential with the GSX Mini. It's got the power and refinement to get everything out of cans like the Focal Utopia, Sennheiser HD800s and the ZMF dynamics.

I love my Mini but I'm not going to pretend that it's a good fit for Susvara style headphones. You need a monster amp for those and the GSX isn't that.

 

[thehutch]

Regarding the discussions here about SPLs, power calculations based on sensitivity don’t take into account how well an amp performs at those levels. This is what I mean by headrooom. Most (all?) amps perform best in a small percentage of their overall capability and, beyond that, start to distort.

Here’s a GoldenSound measurement that illustrates this for the Mini. Total Harmonic Distortion Plus Noise is lowest on the Mini around 30mW to 50mW. Above 50mW, it starts to increase. Above 200mW, it starts to go through the roof. At 500mW needed to power Susvara to 110dB, THD+N is at nearly 5% (five!!) for the lowest frequencies.

THIS is why the Mini can’t power the Susvara and all those other insensitive cans.

Full measurements here:

 

[thehutch]

Ack, I said higher distortion at lower frequencies. I meant impedance and I meant at higher levels, now the lowest.

And oops left out the GoldenSound measurements page:

https://goldensound.audio/2021/09/30/headamp-gs-x-mini-headphone-amplifier-measurements/

 

[rwelles]

When I followed the link, it showed that at 50 ohms, there was 1% distortion at 3.2 watts output, not 5% at 500 mW.

Obviously, I must be missing something here...

 

[thehutch]

When I followed the link, it showed that at 50 ohms, there was 1% distortion at 3.2 watts output, not 5% at 500 mW.

Obviously, I must be missing something here...

Yes I totally misread the legend — I was reading the 600ohm line not the 50 ohm. So note remotely as extreme as I suggested. Still shows how high outputs start to distort.

 

[tassardar]

The graph only tells about the distortion numbers which don’t quite correlate in real world experience. That’s why it’s probably something else. Also unless you listen at 90 db with peak 110 db which is insane loud, I don’t think most of us even need more then 60mw (80db peak 100db)