UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Really beautiful when lit up. By far the best looking Oblivion.
Oblivion | UltraSonic Studios
- Thread starter Maxx134
- Start date
Has anyone gotten to compare the Oblivion or Citadel vs. the new Infinity from Ultrasonic Studios? Even impressions from a brief listen would be interesting.
Also about the Infinity: How many power and driver tube sockets does it have (if it uses both power / driver tube topology)? Can it use more power tubes (EG 4 instead of 2), and would there be any benefit to that? And can the tube class (type) be customized (without too much difficulty to implement)?
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Infinity hasn't been born yet. 
SonicTrance
Member of the Trade: Custom Amp Builder
UntilThen is right. It hasn't been born yet so there has been no comparisons. I have built the SE design before but not like I plan to build Infinity. I'll build one for myself first to test and see how it performs. Then I'll build for other people.Infinity hasn't been born yet.
As far as number of sockets etc. The stock version will have either one input tube (6N2P) or two (6AV6)
Anything can be customized though.
Edit: one power tube / channel
Last edited:
BzzzzzT
100+ Head-Fier
I thought I would post my impressions of the Citadel, as I love this amp. I have had the amp for over a month and a half and I have used it for several hours almost everyday while working and chilling. Below is my logic on purchasing this amp and my impressions of it.
When I first saw Tomas's amps, I was really curious. The Little Dot amps were also my first headphone amps and Tomas was very good at modding them. So it felt like I already know him as a friend. When I saw MrCurwen's parafeed circuit executed by Tomas, I was both curious and very impressed. I have built a couple of tube amps and this parafeed circuit addressed the many unique things about using tubes. Speaking generally, in my opinion it was sort of a culmination of many great circuits created by many of the great tube amp builders on DIY audio etc. I have no engineering background and I did not feel confident pulling a build like this off, as many parts were unfamiliar to me and I was really busy with work, with no time for more skull sweat. I just loved the look and layout of this amp, the tubes it used and the power output. So I placed an order quickly.
Tomas was great to work with and before I knew it, the amp was finished. Shipping was extremely quick from Sweden to the US and the amp was packed perfectly. The amplifier is really beautiful to me. I like it's thick aluminum black anodized case. The finish is a beautiful brushed black matte and the aluminum is machined very well. The meters at the top of the amp both look great and are handy to see the state of the tubes. They layout and soldering inside the amp is really good. I have worked on enough amps for myself and friends and this amplifier is much better than most. The components are really high quality and the large Russian military paper in oil capacitors, were built to a very high standard and most use a better quality foil of either aluminum or copper for their conductive plates. The tubes used are in the amp are EL36 and 6SL7 for input and driving the EL36. The EL36 is a great power tube! The 6sl7 sounds great. One thing to keep in mind is that this tube can be noise prone and because headphones are so sensitive, you might notice a noisy tube. You can tap the tube assertively with a hard object if it is noisy and hopefully things will shift and the tube will quiet down. I put modern JJ tubes in mine and they are dead silent. Sovetek/New Sensor also makes a great 6sl7. The modern 6sl7 is superior to even the mil-spec tubes, as they use design improvements that make the tube more stable and this dramatically decreases noise over the old designs.
Some have stated that this unique amp is a hybrid amp. That is not really the case, as the solid state aspect is used to drive the tubes optimally. There is no solid state gain stage on this amplifier, hence it is a tube amp. It is not a “classic-directly-heated-super-lush-retro-oldschool-purist-steampunked-voltage-saggier-than-a-witche's-tits-amp;” it uses solid state, to give it superior operating characteristics, that engineers did not have access to back in the days of yore. Just having a bit of fun, as all my amps were classic. It is very common to use a tansistor to provide current, on the better designed modern tube amps, to give an example. It does use point-to-point connections for the purists out there. As a BIG plus, the circuit does not need expensive output transformers to achieve the best results. This is one of the reasons tube amplifiers are so expensive. Output transformers are the biggest cost of any good tube amp. If you want luxury high quality Japanese transformers wound by a transformer master or the best Swedish R-core output transformers, wound with silver conductive angel hair, expect to pay $$$$s. Due to the circuit, there is no need to use some crazy expensive transformer, to get the highest quality output. You could go OTL, but lets not go there....
One could ask why I bought this amp. I have a really great solid state amp that puts out approximately 5w and uses very nice discreet OPAMPs for audio; using 300MHZ output transistors compared to the typical 20 – 50MHZ typically used in audio. Having a high slew rate, lots of open-loop gain from the two-pole compensation and a incredibly low noise floor, makes this a very nice transparent amp! Blah, blah, blah; enough with the specs onto the Citadel! I bought this amp because I wanted a transparent tube amp that could deliver the current under load (bass) and handle quick transients for transparency. So basically an amp that acts solid state with tube harmonics and presentation. The most important reason though is harmonics. All natural sounds have harmonics. Tubes add harmonics to sound through distortion and from other things like voltage sag, which Tomas's amp does not suffer from. Don't listen to some know-it-all engineer who says it's subjective. It is not and they clearly don't understand how the ear works and have never studied music production where harmonics are used by sound engineers and artists all the time. Because of this harmonic distortion, sounds are easier to hear with the added harmonics. There is no subjective jive ass magic here. If your ear can't hear distortion, you need hearing aids or less libations at the end of the day. Below is a video of a sonic exciter that adds harmonics to an audio signal. This is used in production to add weight to bass without going down further and makes highs come forward in the mix. I use both tubes and an exciter with my stuff too. You can even use them with your own tunes/audio. Just don't add too much secret sauce, or things get harsh.
How sonic and harmonic complexity makes sound more audible:
So going back to my logic above; this amp does everything I wanted it too. Actually it was better than I expected! I have heard amps from most of the boutique and big name makers through local HeadFi meets and from audiophool minded friends. All circuit designs carry certain general characteristics. I preferred push-pull amps for my own builds. I wish more builders would not poo poo PP. PP gives you a tighter sound with superior bass compared to say a SET or OTL. It gets tighter with better low end as you crank up the bias (MORE POWER!). The tradeoff is less lushness and sound-stage compared to the other two circuits and heat. Lushness and sound-stage in my experience from building stuff, is also greatly influenced by the voltage sag from the rectifier as it sags under load. This voltage sag can create some desirable lushness, as these can sag by as much as 40 volts or more under load! Solid state rectifiers will keep up with current demands and not sag, but many don't like having less of the characteristics that voltage sag provides. Yes I know diodes have switching, as someone will point out. I can't hear it though and I think you lose more with sag IMO. The Citadel was a perfect presentation of sound for me. When I compare it to my solid state amp, everything is there and it sounds solid state because of the transparency and the attack of the leading edge of sounds, like you get with good solid state. This is especially true with the bass. The attack is actually ever so slightly more aggressive with the Citadel on bass than my solid state, which surprised me! Normally to get better bass you generally go for more power, which equals more heat, but does not means the current delivery will be much better for demanding drivers, as the speed of delivery is also important. This is also determined by the circuit and this can get complex. These impressions were on my Hifiman Arya's which are not efficient and more current hungry; they like a more powerful amp to get their best. My 5w solid state did have less break-up with really low sub-bass at higher volumes, but this is at levels on the Arya that would damage your hearing or be rocking out loud. I listen to and make to lots of electronic and synth stuff and I like a solid tight amplifier. I have also played acoustic folk for almost 20 years so the timbre of a tube amp and this amps voice is very accurate and pleasing to me while capturing the magic.
This amp is incredibly transparent. It is just as transparent as my solid state, but herein lies the magic. The Citadel presents things in such a way with it's harmonics and nimble circuit, that allow me to notice them. I would listen to songs and say “hey I never noticed that rhythm” or elements were somewhat obscure and now I can tell exactly what it is plainly. The separation and presentation in my mind is such, that when I close my eyes, sometimes it feels as if I could hear around the sound like walking around it. I know a crappy analogy, but this amp really does allow you to move and hear through the music which is incredibly pleasing! It does this better than any amp I have ever heard. It does it so well, that even with it's distortion, which is minor, I will use this to go over mixes to hear things I might miss after moving from my SS amp to double check. I bought this amp for listening to music though. If I was to try to describe it's sound I would say “it has the lushness and sonic beauty of a SET amp, with the control and balls of solid state! I have heard so many amps and this does it better to me than any I have heard. I use it everyday and it's addictive. Also, another thing I forgot to mention, but something that is really important to me, is heat. This amp does not radiate much heat! This is awesome as I live in the desert and I can't have a fireplace in my room. Tomas runs the tubes gently so they don't make much heat and this also gives them a very long lifespan. I can believe how cool this runs!
There are some thing to consider if you are thinking of this amp. This amp seems like it would power almost all headphones fine. Due to the human malware afflicting us, I have not heard many different cans on it. The only cans that I think will be problematic are very current hungry high power headphones. If it likes speaker taps, you should probably use solid state as nothing puts out current better. Inefficient drivers all like lots and lots of current. If you can get by with less power and want more lushness the Oblivion would be a good choice. The Oblivion puts out less power, so it might not have the total control over the low end for more inefficient drivers. This would probably make the Citadel a better choice if this is important to you. I think it's great Tomas offers two flavors of amps. I feel his work is very reasonably priced, given it's very high quality build and even more stellar sound! To me this amp is perfect and I plan to keep it forever! I am very happy I purchased it and I look forward to seeing Tomas's future work and the upcoming speaker amp!
When I first saw Tomas's amps, I was really curious. The Little Dot amps were also my first headphone amps and Tomas was very good at modding them. So it felt like I already know him as a friend. When I saw MrCurwen's parafeed circuit executed by Tomas, I was both curious and very impressed. I have built a couple of tube amps and this parafeed circuit addressed the many unique things about using tubes. Speaking generally, in my opinion it was sort of a culmination of many great circuits created by many of the great tube amp builders on DIY audio etc. I have no engineering background and I did not feel confident pulling a build like this off, as many parts were unfamiliar to me and I was really busy with work, with no time for more skull sweat. I just loved the look and layout of this amp, the tubes it used and the power output. So I placed an order quickly.
Tomas was great to work with and before I knew it, the amp was finished. Shipping was extremely quick from Sweden to the US and the amp was packed perfectly. The amplifier is really beautiful to me. I like it's thick aluminum black anodized case. The finish is a beautiful brushed black matte and the aluminum is machined very well. The meters at the top of the amp both look great and are handy to see the state of the tubes. They layout and soldering inside the amp is really good. I have worked on enough amps for myself and friends and this amplifier is much better than most. The components are really high quality and the large Russian military paper in oil capacitors, were built to a very high standard and most use a better quality foil of either aluminum or copper for their conductive plates. The tubes used are in the amp are EL36 and 6SL7 for input and driving the EL36. The EL36 is a great power tube! The 6sl7 sounds great. One thing to keep in mind is that this tube can be noise prone and because headphones are so sensitive, you might notice a noisy tube. You can tap the tube assertively with a hard object if it is noisy and hopefully things will shift and the tube will quiet down. I put modern JJ tubes in mine and they are dead silent. Sovetek/New Sensor also makes a great 6sl7. The modern 6sl7 is superior to even the mil-spec tubes, as they use design improvements that make the tube more stable and this dramatically decreases noise over the old designs.
Some have stated that this unique amp is a hybrid amp. That is not really the case, as the solid state aspect is used to drive the tubes optimally. There is no solid state gain stage on this amplifier, hence it is a tube amp. It is not a “classic-directly-heated-super-lush-retro-oldschool-purist-steampunked-voltage-saggier-than-a-witche's-tits-amp;” it uses solid state, to give it superior operating characteristics, that engineers did not have access to back in the days of yore. Just having a bit of fun, as all my amps were classic. It is very common to use a tansistor to provide current, on the better designed modern tube amps, to give an example. It does use point-to-point connections for the purists out there. As a BIG plus, the circuit does not need expensive output transformers to achieve the best results. This is one of the reasons tube amplifiers are so expensive. Output transformers are the biggest cost of any good tube amp. If you want luxury high quality Japanese transformers wound by a transformer master or the best Swedish R-core output transformers, wound with silver conductive angel hair, expect to pay $$$$s. Due to the circuit, there is no need to use some crazy expensive transformer, to get the highest quality output. You could go OTL, but lets not go there....
One could ask why I bought this amp. I have a really great solid state amp that puts out approximately 5w and uses very nice discreet OPAMPs for audio; using 300MHZ output transistors compared to the typical 20 – 50MHZ typically used in audio. Having a high slew rate, lots of open-loop gain from the two-pole compensation and a incredibly low noise floor, makes this a very nice transparent amp! Blah, blah, blah; enough with the specs onto the Citadel! I bought this amp because I wanted a transparent tube amp that could deliver the current under load (bass) and handle quick transients for transparency. So basically an amp that acts solid state with tube harmonics and presentation. The most important reason though is harmonics. All natural sounds have harmonics. Tubes add harmonics to sound through distortion and from other things like voltage sag, which Tomas's amp does not suffer from. Don't listen to some know-it-all engineer who says it's subjective. It is not and they clearly don't understand how the ear works and have never studied music production where harmonics are used by sound engineers and artists all the time. Because of this harmonic distortion, sounds are easier to hear with the added harmonics. There is no subjective jive ass magic here. If your ear can't hear distortion, you need hearing aids or less libations at the end of the day. Below is a video of a sonic exciter that adds harmonics to an audio signal. This is used in production to add weight to bass without going down further and makes highs come forward in the mix. I use both tubes and an exciter with my stuff too. You can even use them with your own tunes/audio. Just don't add too much secret sauce, or things get harsh.
How sonic and harmonic complexity makes sound more audible:
So going back to my logic above; this amp does everything I wanted it too. Actually it was better than I expected! I have heard amps from most of the boutique and big name makers through local HeadFi meets and from audiophool minded friends. All circuit designs carry certain general characteristics. I preferred push-pull amps for my own builds. I wish more builders would not poo poo PP. PP gives you a tighter sound with superior bass compared to say a SET or OTL. It gets tighter with better low end as you crank up the bias (MORE POWER!). The tradeoff is less lushness and sound-stage compared to the other two circuits and heat. Lushness and sound-stage in my experience from building stuff, is also greatly influenced by the voltage sag from the rectifier as it sags under load. This voltage sag can create some desirable lushness, as these can sag by as much as 40 volts or more under load! Solid state rectifiers will keep up with current demands and not sag, but many don't like having less of the characteristics that voltage sag provides. Yes I know diodes have switching, as someone will point out. I can't hear it though and I think you lose more with sag IMO. The Citadel was a perfect presentation of sound for me. When I compare it to my solid state amp, everything is there and it sounds solid state because of the transparency and the attack of the leading edge of sounds, like you get with good solid state. This is especially true with the bass. The attack is actually ever so slightly more aggressive with the Citadel on bass than my solid state, which surprised me! Normally to get better bass you generally go for more power, which equals more heat, but does not means the current delivery will be much better for demanding drivers, as the speed of delivery is also important. This is also determined by the circuit and this can get complex. These impressions were on my Hifiman Arya's which are not efficient and more current hungry; they like a more powerful amp to get their best. My 5w solid state did have less break-up with really low sub-bass at higher volumes, but this is at levels on the Arya that would damage your hearing or be rocking out loud. I listen to and make to lots of electronic and synth stuff and I like a solid tight amplifier. I have also played acoustic folk for almost 20 years so the timbre of a tube amp and this amps voice is very accurate and pleasing to me while capturing the magic.
This amp is incredibly transparent. It is just as transparent as my solid state, but herein lies the magic. The Citadel presents things in such a way with it's harmonics and nimble circuit, that allow me to notice them. I would listen to songs and say “hey I never noticed that rhythm” or elements were somewhat obscure and now I can tell exactly what it is plainly. The separation and presentation in my mind is such, that when I close my eyes, sometimes it feels as if I could hear around the sound like walking around it. I know a crappy analogy, but this amp really does allow you to move and hear through the music which is incredibly pleasing! It does this better than any amp I have ever heard. It does it so well, that even with it's distortion, which is minor, I will use this to go over mixes to hear things I might miss after moving from my SS amp to double check. I bought this amp for listening to music though. If I was to try to describe it's sound I would say “it has the lushness and sonic beauty of a SET amp, with the control and balls of solid state! I have heard so many amps and this does it better to me than any I have heard. I use it everyday and it's addictive. Also, another thing I forgot to mention, but something that is really important to me, is heat. This amp does not radiate much heat! This is awesome as I live in the desert and I can't have a fireplace in my room. Tomas runs the tubes gently so they don't make much heat and this also gives them a very long lifespan. I can believe how cool this runs!
There are some thing to consider if you are thinking of this amp. This amp seems like it would power almost all headphones fine. Due to the human malware afflicting us, I have not heard many different cans on it. The only cans that I think will be problematic are very current hungry high power headphones. If it likes speaker taps, you should probably use solid state as nothing puts out current better. Inefficient drivers all like lots and lots of current. If you can get by with less power and want more lushness the Oblivion would be a good choice. The Oblivion puts out less power, so it might not have the total control over the low end for more inefficient drivers. This would probably make the Citadel a better choice if this is important to you. I think it's great Tomas offers two flavors of amps. I feel his work is very reasonably priced, given it's very high quality build and even more stellar sound! To me this amp is perfect and I plan to keep it forever! I am very happy I purchased it and I look forward to seeing Tomas's future work and the upcoming speaker amp!
@BzzzzzT I enjoyed reading your review and look forward to trying an Ultrasonic amp. I didn't watch the videos yet but let me tell you we definitely have something in common about electronic music. Though I also listen to acoustic genres, I'm also deeply into the electronic scene (collecting, research, sound design, producing and sometimes DJ for fun.). It's actually all for fun and you can check out some of my work here including lossless download there too. Sometime I'll hit you up about some ideas and stuff because I've been looking to transition from a digital to more of a hardware setup, and also use (oh brother... digital 
) saturation effects.
Your description of its' sound was quite impressive. Made me curious which DAC you're using with it; if not all for monitoring use with your modular setup?
And did you get good sound out of it as a speaker amp (if it has one)?
Also from your description it would seem that (perhaps) the Citadel has more authoritative bass compared to the Oblivion. But that's just my guess from what I've read here.
I'm actually thinking of going for Tomas's newer amp design Infinity. Though I don't fully understand the design, it seems to have even more power and at least some more options for tube rolling... especially so depending if you get it customized around a tube class that has lots of similar interchange types. But maybe you can fill me in on something - for a headphone like the Heinz "HEDDphone" or Rosson Rad-0, would you say these would likely pair well with Citadel, or possibly even better with the more powerful Infinity amp? I'm not sure if these are efficient or need much current, but here are the specs:
- Rosson Audio Rad-0: 29 ohms and a sensitivity of 98dB/mw (planar driver)
- HEDDphone: 42 ohms and 87 dB SPL for 1 mW (unique AMT driver)
(maybe @SonicTrance can answer that too). Thanks
) saturation effects.Your description of its' sound was quite impressive. Made me curious which DAC you're using with it; if not all for monitoring use with your modular setup?
And did you get good sound out of it as a speaker amp (if it has one)?
Also from your description it would seem that (perhaps) the Citadel has more authoritative bass compared to the Oblivion. But that's just my guess from what I've read here.
I'm actually thinking of going for Tomas's newer amp design Infinity. Though I don't fully understand the design, it seems to have even more power and at least some more options for tube rolling... especially so depending if you get it customized around a tube class that has lots of similar interchange types. But maybe you can fill me in on something - for a headphone like the Heinz "HEDDphone" or Rosson Rad-0, would you say these would likely pair well with Citadel, or possibly even better with the more powerful Infinity amp? I'm not sure if these are efficient or need much current, but here are the specs:
- Rosson Audio Rad-0: 29 ohms and a sensitivity of 98dB/mw (planar driver)
- HEDDphone: 42 ohms and 87 dB SPL for 1 mW (unique AMT driver)
(maybe @SonicTrance can answer that too). Thanks
Oh wow no comparison of the former amps to Infinity was made yet, so I guess it makes this sort of a gamble. But you know amp designs like almost nobody so it should sound great. You did say it will sound more 'tubey' than Oblivion. I suppose that can change depending on which tubes are used with it right? And I think you said that the Infinity has more power for speakers but the headphone load is about the same as the Citadel?
I think I would prefer mine with the same amount of sockets as your other amps: 2x drivers and 4x powers (6 total).
SonicTrance
Member of the Trade: Custom Amp Builder
Very efficient, easy to drive.
Not efficient, needs more power for same amount of volume.
There had been good reviews on Oblivion with Abyss which has about the same efficiency as the HEDD IIRC. I think it's about personal preference if you like the pairing or not.
Yes, the less linear the tube is the more distortion it will produce.
Infinity will have much more power than Citadel and Oblivion across the board. Both for speakers and headphones.
Citadel and Oblivion have two output tubes per channel because they're balanced amps. The output tubes operate in push pull. Infinity will be single ended so only one output tube per channel. I could put two tubes in parallel per channel but it won't benefit anything besides looks. I'd run them cooler than a single tube so the output power would remain the same. Otherwise there will be too much heat. Parallel output tubes are only really used in OTL amps to lower the output impedance. My amps have parafeed output so it's not necessary.
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Nope.
It's not a gamble.Sonic's reply...
I'll build one for myself first to test and see how it performs. Then I'll build for other people.
If anyone can compare Citadel and the forth coming Infinity, it would be Sonic. I believe by now his ears are good enough as he has already produced many Oblivion and Citadel for so many happy customers.
Thanks @SonicTrance thanks, I replied by PM and about your message above:
So you mean the Infinity uses only 4 tubes total (2x driver + 2x power)? My experience with OTL tube amps has been that more power tubes in parallel allows for better soundstage, and instrument separation / 'air'. So are you certain that only 2 power tubes would yield the same good result as 4 in that design?
Since the HEDDphone (which I don't have just yet) is less efficient, looks like it should pair well with the Infinity.
And it's SE so it won't have balanced input, but can probably still have 4-pin balanced output right?
So you mean the Infinity uses only 4 tubes total (2x driver + 2x power)? My experience with OTL tube amps has been that more power tubes in parallel allows for better soundstage, and instrument separation / 'air'. So are you certain that only 2 power tubes would yield the same good result as 4 in that design?
Since the HEDDphone (which I don't have just yet) is less efficient, looks like it should pair well with the Infinity.
And it's SE so it won't have balanced input, but can probably still have 4-pin balanced output right?
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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First of all, well done on an articulated written impression of the Citadel. The above statement is probably not that important in the scheme of things but since I agree with all your points on the sonic qualities of this amp, I'd just like to single out that this amp runs really cool.
Absolutely. While I have not heard Citadel, I've not found the Oblivion lacking in driving my LCD-3f, LCD-X, ZMF Verite LTD Pheasant wood, HD800, Beyer T1.2, HD650 and my son's HiFiMan Arya.
It's been almost a year now since I got Oblivion. I remember last Christmas not for the turkey, presents and friends & family but for Oblivion that arrived on the 23rd of Dec 2019 and the weeks that follow there after. All of the above headphones sound splendid with Oblivion.
I still can't get over how good it looks on the top shelf of my rack ..... besides sounding great ! This picture was taken only 2 days ago.
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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If ever there is a photogenic amp with a headphone, this would be it. I don't use my HD800 much these days but now it sounds almost too good with Oblivion. I'm glad I didn't sell off the HD800.
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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You can turn HD800 around and it will still look as good with Oblivion. Now you can vote which of the 2 pictures look better because I'm selling it to Sennheiser for their historical archives. 
SonicTrance
Member of the Trade: Custom Amp Builder
I'll answer your PM tonight after work. This I can answer now.
Yes.
It's apples and oranges. You can't compare OTL design vs my amps as they're totally different topologys. But, I'm certain that output tubes in parallel will not yield better results than a single output tube in Infinity.
I can put a 4pin XLR output on it for convenience but it will still be single ended.
BzzzzzT
100+ Head-Fier
@BzzzzzT I enjoyed reading your review and look forward to trying an Ultrasonic amp. I didn't watch the videos yet but let me tell you we definitely have something in common about electronic music. Though I also listen to acoustic genres, I'm also deeply into the electronic scene (collecting, research, sound design, producing and sometimes DJ for fun.). It's actually all for fun and you can check out some of my work here including lossless download there too. Sometime I'll hit you up about some ideas and stuff because I've been looking to transition from a digital to more of a hardware setup, and also use (oh brother... digital
Your description of its' sound was quite impressive. Made me curious which DAC you're using with it; if not all for monitoring use with your modular setup?
And did you get good sound out of it as a speaker amp (if it has one)?
Also from your description it would seem that (perhaps) the Citadel has more authoritative bass compared to the Oblivion. But that's just my guess from what I've read here.
I'm actually thinking of going for Tomas's newer amp design Infinity. Though I don't fully understand the design, it seems to have even more power and at least some more options for tube rolling... especially so depending if you get it customized around a tube class that has lots of similar interchange types. But maybe you can fill me in on something - for a headphone like the Heinz "HEDDphone" or Rosson Rad-0, would you say these would likely pair well with Citadel, or possibly even better with the more powerful Infinity amp? I'm not sure if these are efficient or need much current, but here are the specs:
- Rosson Audio Rad-0: 29 ohms and a sensitivity of 98dB/mw (planar driver)
- HEDDphone: 42 ohms and 87 dB SPL for 1 mW (unique AMT driver)
(maybe @SonicTrance can answer that too). Thanks
@BzzzzzT I enjoyed reading your review and look forward to trying an Ultrasonic amp. I didn't watch the videos yet but let me tell you we definitely have something in common about electronic music. Though I also listen to acoustic genres, I'm also deeply into the electronic scene (collecting, research, sound design, producing and sometimes DJ for fun.). It's actually all for fun and you can check out some of my work here including lossless download there too. Sometime I'll hit you up about some ideas and stuff because I've been looking to transition from a digital to more of a hardware setup, and also use (oh brother... digital
Your description of its' sound was quite impressive. Made me curious which DAC you're using with it; if not all for monitoring use with your modular setup?
And did you get good sound out of it as a speaker amp (if it has one)?
Also from your description it would seem that (perhaps) the Citadel has more authoritative bass compared to the Oblivion. But that's just my guess from what I've read here.
I'm actually thinking of going for Tomas's newer amp design Infinity. Though I don't fully understand the design, it seems to have even more power and at least some more options for tube rolling... especially so depending if you get it customized around a tube class that has lots of similar interchange types. But maybe you can fill me in on something - for a headphone like the Heinz "HEDDphone" or Rosson Rad-0, would you say these would likely pair well with Citadel, or possibly even better with the more powerful Infinity amp? I'm not sure if these are efficient or need much current, but here are the specs:
- Rosson Audio Rad-0: 29 ohms and a sensitivity of 98dB/mw (planar driver)
- HEDDphone: 42 ohms and 87 dB SPL for 1 mW (unique AMT driver)
(maybe @SonicTrance can answer that too). Thanks
Hey DecentLevi! I'm glad you liked the review! Your music is really awesome! I like the rhythm and the chill uptempo sound it has! I am still fairly new to recording music and synths; I just got an interface to give you an idea. I would be happy to give any advice I can on equipment, but you definitely have way more experience in electronic music, mixing and recording than me. I don't feel qualified to give much advice on music equipment! I played Irish music on the whistle and uilleann pipes for many years. I came down with a rare auto-immune disease a few years ago that makes my joints sensitive to inflammation, if used excessively. The pipes and whistle were just too hard on my hands. They even bugged my hands when I was in my 20s, as they require a lot of dexterity from your fingers. My fingers did not like the motion and I only really played music with friends as I did not want to inflame my hands any further. I was not able to play music regularly and this made me really depressed. I was a big fan of synth music and electronic music. So I saved up the money to put together a modular system and started learning the keyboard. This does not give my hands any issues and I love the creative possibilities and having an instrument that can play chords! I have just started learning about recording and mixing stuff as I am working on learning both instruments. I will say, hardware does sound awesome to me! There is also something about using a device physically. I have trouble doing everything on the computer.
As I started researching stuff, I learned about different techniques of adding harmonics to sounds and how the ear perceives sound and it's sensitivity to harmonics; I now had a better understanding of why tubes tend to flesh out details and provide a more realistic sound through harmonics. This is also something that is reproducible with equipment. There always seems to be some engineer on a forum saying tubes are subjective or that almost any distortion is bad. There are never any musicians or studio people to chime in. I felt I had to mention it because people will ask “why do you want an amp with a tube and solid state like sound signature?” At the end of the day, it's all about enjoying music!
I'm using the RME ADI-2 for my DAC. I am really happy with it! RME also builds really solid stuff. The amp on it is also really nice! I don't have much experience with many different DACs, but it was a definite step up from my Arcam irDAC. I used to own a Chord Mojo. That DAC gave me nothing but frustration. I also liked the RME's sound more than the Chord.
I don't think you could go wrong with either the Citadel or Infinity! My amp does not have speaker outs as I bought some used powered studio monitors to get better placement and save space. I would lean towards the Infinity if your speakers need the power. How sensitive are your speakers? My 90db Yamaha NS-1000 monitors I used for over 10 years, only needed several watts. I powered them with a 7w set and a 10w push pull and they had more than enough volume to shake the walls.
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