I've been listening to my Phililps GoGear hard drive 2 gb music player with the Decware Zen Head for the last three weeks or thereabouts. I do not use any of the EQ features on the Philips. My headphone of choice for this review is a pair of AKG 271s with velour ear pads. I find the AKG 271s to be an accurate studio monitorish (read: flat sounding) honest sounding set of cans. My Grado 325i performs well with the Zen Head, but given the Grado sonic signature, I choose to focus on the AKG's for this review (Grado 325i and the Zen Head is another review waiting to happen).
Music choices include Issac Hayes', Shaft, Edgar Winter Group's, "Frankenstein," Flogging Molly's Float, Lalo Shifrin's Jazz Meets the Symphony, Maria Muldaur's Midnight at the Oasis, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Alanis Morrisette, "Uninvited," Sarah McLachlan, "Angel" and Mike Oldfield, "Tubular Bells, Pt. 1."
The one thing that I first notice and which impresses me the most is the glorously rich soundstage--it's wide, it's deep, it's three dimensional. This is where the Zen Head excels! The crossfeed works well and I feel no need to ever turn it off (one can if one so desires by taking a trip into the interior of the Zen Head--there one can also change the input impedence, which I left at 10K--the standard setting). I find the crossfeed to be better than the Total Bithead (my only other headphone amp which I've had for a few years). I like how well the crossfeed circuitry works. Simply excellent.
Bass is excellent--tight, controlled, and rich. Midrange and highs are very good. Vocalists come accross well and life-like. Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" sparkles and comes across crystal clear and inviting. Lovely. Morrisette in "Uninvited" has great atmosphere and the vocals are ethreal. McLachlan's "Angel" brings out the goosebumps (but then this song is so well done, I'd get goosebumps even if I heard it over the 8 track in my now long gone 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88) and the vocals come across rich and luscious. There is a bit of warmth reminiscent of tube amps (Decware is famous for its Zen SET amp--I have one), but not the over coloured euphonic golden velvety richness and bloom that I associate with AMC tube amps or even the venerable Dynaco ST70. If anything, the voice of the Zen Head reminds me a bit of my Zen SET Amp (again it's the soundstage and holographic imaging and the way voices sound).
Switching to Lalo Shifrin's Jazz Meets the Orchestra, the opening cut, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is delightful. Here a jazz combo meets a full orchestra and the results are awe inspiring. I usually use this album when I go out to listen to stereo gear as it is well engineered and sounds excellent.
Dynamics are good, soundstage is awesome.
George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord, " takes me back to my soul searching days. Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," sounds rich. Detail is great. Voices handled well. Again, superb soundstage.
Flogging Molly's Float, an Irish folk themed rock band, had good presence, was nicely balanced, and the strings sounded just right. The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein," was nicely handled. Solid bass, wide soundstage.
Issac Haye's Shaft is a revelation. Amazing engineering on the hybrid SACD version. Jaw dropping, goosebumping fantastic. Again, it's got a soundstage to die for and the overall presentation is stellar. The same for Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells, Pt. 1."
The Zen Head is a highly listenable amp. It is a bit tubelike, has an incrediable soundstage, is transparent, and does vocals right--male and female. Sarah McLachlan and Elton John will melt your heart. The Shaft soundtrack is amazing. I should dig out my cd of Holst's Planets and take the trip. I only wish that I had a cd copy of Iron Butterfly's "Ina Gadda da vida."
It's hard to find fault with the Zen Head. One could criticize it for its tube-like sound as it does colour the music, albeit in a way that tube affectionados might relish. I didn't find this colouration to be too obtrusive and actually find it pleasing. One might be dismayed at the largeness of the Zen Head. It's about five inches long and about 3 inches wide. For me sound quality overrides size. If I wanted small, I'd have bought a pair of Yuin PK-2s and run them directly into my Philips and be done with it. Maybe I should borrow my wife's PK-2s, grab my Philips and go for a hike through the neighbourhood tonight...or better yet...grab my son, Zak's African thumb piano and make my own soundtrack as I trek through the neighbourhood...but I digress.
My Zen Head is still burning in (I've only gone through one 9 volt battery--about 40 hours or so). I think I've logged in about 60 hours on it so far. I would expect that in another couple hundred hours, it'll sound even better or that I'll be so used to it, my ears will adjust. This is a headphone amp that I can happily live with.
It is large, but it's robust. The sound is terrific. I'm glad that I purchased it.
Eventually I'll get around to evaluating how well it works with my Grado 325i cans. Some say that the 325i's sound best with tubes, that they have a small soundstage but great immediacy. Hmmmm...maybe there will be a synergy between the Grado 325i and the Zen Head. I'll explore this in the coming weeks.
Cheers!
