[Operabuff]

Is there a audiable popping sound heard in the headphones when powering a Corda Rock on or off?

And yes, I know it is good idea to plug in the HP's after powering on, and vice versa, but often I forget...

Thank you!

 

[rasmushorn]

Is there a audiable popping sound heard in the headphones when powering a Corda Rock on or off?

And yes, I know it is good idea to plug in the HP's after powering on, and vice versa, but often I forget...

Thank you!

Yes there is. That is normal for a lot of amplifiers. You should keep your headphones plugged into the amp but make it a habit to turn down the volume to 0 each time after listening. 

 

[Operabuff]

Yes there is. That is normal for a lot of amplifiers. You should keep your headphones plugged into the amp but make it a habit to turn down the volume to 0 each time after listening. 

Thank you for the information. Does the volume setting have an impact on the loudness of the pop? I've seen/heard some amps (not all of them decicated headphone amps) where the pop does not seem to change according to how the volume pot is positione - comes from the power stage in those cases, i guess?

Would you classify the pop as mild or significant?

 

[rasmushorn]

Thank you for the information. Does the volume setting have an impact on the loudness of the pop? I've seen/heard some amps (not all of them decicated headphone amps) where the pop does not seem to change according to how the volume pot is positione - comes from the power stage in those cases, i guess?

Would you classify the pop as mild or significant?

On my Meier amps the pop is there when the volume is a 0 too. I would classify the pop as perfectly healthy but I prefer not to be wearing my in-ears when turning the amp on or off. 

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear Operabuff,
 
Rasmushorn uses the CORDA CLASSIC. This amp indeed does have a small pop when turned ON/OFF.
 
The ROCK is different. It uses the TDA2030 at the output which has a built-in mute/relais. The pop of this amp is extremely low and with many headphone almost inaudible.
 
Cheers
 
Jan

 

[Operabuff]

Thank you Jan!

I guess I should have thought to ask you directly...

B.r.
Patrik

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear Operabuff,
 
" Thank you Jan! "
 
You're welcome! 
 
As a note to the JAZZ and the CLASSIC amplifiers: These all use the concept of active balanced ground. As a result, when the current is turned ON/OFF, the offset voltages at all three output contacts (the three contacts at the headphone plug) are almost the same. Thus the effective offsetvoltage signal is a small, very fast and short living one. It only is pretty audible because it is in a frequency range where the ear is most sensitive.
 
With conventional single ended amplifiers the effective offset voltages are larger but also of a much longer duration. We only hear a low "BUMP" but because of its duration this kind of offset voltage is much more harmfull to your headphone.
 
Cheers
 
Jan

 

[Aplle]

  This headphone amplifier is capable of enunciating things in headphones that I have never before heard in my home systems. No, I have not journeyed terribly far through the chain of headphone amplifiers. Yes, I do have a small history, shown below:
 

1. HeadRoom Home
2. HeadRoom Total AirHead
3. JDS Labs The Element
4. Schiit Magni 2
5. Schiit Mjolnir
6. Schiit Valhalla
7. Schiit Vali

 
Some from my past are more expensive and some less. Yet none of the above are to my ears in the realm of this little, $225 wonder. Amazing.

That's quite an endorsement. Which headphones have you tried with the Rock, and how did they sound together?

 

[sheldaze]

  That's quite an endorsement. Which headphones have you tried with the Rock, and how did they sound together?

For almost all applications of recent, I've been testing pretty much exclusively with my HD650.
 
Why - well, to my ears they are my most finicky of headphones. While I have other headphones that are more euphoric, I find these to require a certain balance to the setup to sound their best. With this amplifier, I find the headphones to have an excellent balance between highs and lows, between fast transient details and warmth. Add in a holographic sense of things happening in the music, and I just swoon 

 

[Psalmanazar]

Is the Corda Rock warm as in it has a bit of a boost to the upper bass and lower mids or warm as in a slightly rolled off treble? I am in search of something affordable that's a tiny bit forgiving/dark in the highs for poor recordings to go with my HD 650s without the gooey vaseline of cheap tubes in the mids and bass that ruins the timbre of distorted guitars. Yes double forgiveness but so many of metal and rock recordings sin so much and needed the cymbal tracks ran through a low pass filter.

 

[silverbox]

  Is the Corda Rock warm as in it has a bit of a boost to the upper bass and lower mids or warm as in a slightly rolled off treble?

 
Slightly rolled off treble according to this http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AllAmpsJuly2013.pdf

 

[sheldaze]

Summer time is approaching, and my home office tends to get a little warm. I currently have an Asgard 2 paired with an ODAC. Well, that Asgard 2 just loves to put out the heat. So time to consider a replacement--at least for summer time. Plus it's an excuse to try another amp

I'm tempted to just go with a portable amp since I know that they are pretty efficient. But I'm definitely drawn to the Corda Rock because of the reviews and testimonials.

The Asgard 2 is a Class A design with 30w of power consumption. The Corda Rock lists "Power uptake 4 Watts." Is that the maximum power usage, and would it be more efficient (less heat) than the Asgard 2?

Did you buy the Corda Rock? Do you recall how it compared to your Asgard 2?
 
I am curious because there are so many questions in other threads, which use the Asgard 2 as a baseline. I own the Vali 2 and Corda Rock. I have never heard an Asgard or Asgard 2.

 

[cel4145]

Yes. I have one. The Corda Rock is a very good sounding headphone amp, although not as powerful as the Asgard 2.

 

[sheldaze]

Yes. I have one. The Corda Rock is a very good sounding headphone amp, although not as powerful as the Asgard 2.

Hmm...
Keeping me interested still in hearing the Asgard 2 

 
 
Thanks for your reply!

 

[JediMa70]

I dont see the hi-low switch so  I guess it works fine without it (i hope at least..). At the moment i'm using a jds labs 02 but it's a pain because has to be recharged too often
I wonder if this Rock works well with my set of headphones: AKG K 702 - Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 oHm, and SPECIALLY Sennheiser HD600 .
any help please