Routa
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2004
- Posts
- 98
- Likes
- 0
My Porta Corda Mk II from the group by arrived today and I managed to get some quality time with my new toy. As I write this little review I'm listening some Auf Der Maur from my iHP-120 and really enjoying myself
This is by no means a complete analytical review, but still I'd like to share some first thoughts of this little amp.
The amp arrived very well in neat little box (thanks PeterR) with ic, adapter tip and manual included. When I picked the box into my hand I thought it's empty, the amp without a battery really is a featherweight.
Build quality of this little amp is impressive, it feels very sturdy despite the light weight. Also the few controls are well placed and have nice precise feeling to them.
Sizewise the amp is perfect companion to my iHP-120 (check the included crap quality pic). I can also fit both iHP-120 and PC MkII into my jacket pocket for portable use if I want, but probably I'll cram all the gear into my Lowepro 30W for longer trips.
Now for sonic impressions. I used iHP-120 with LAME APS/APX mp3's as a source and phones used were Alessandro MS-1s. PC MkII was connected to iRivers line out with the included interconnect.
I also tried very briefly my MX500 buds amped, but actually amping just revealed some annoyng features in their sound and didn't necessarily do them any favours, so I chose just to enjoy the MS-1s with the amp.
The amp was in totally stock form, in A/B mode, running on battery power and crossfeed was not applied. I went on song by song, first listening without amping and then amped and finally back to unamped. I tried to set volume levels as even as I could after switching between unamped and amped modes.
Music included following songs:
Tool - Ticks And Leeches
Stone Sour - Choose
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
The Roots - Sacrifice
The Prodigy - Girls
Massive Attack - Angel
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Who Am I
Godsmack - Re-Align (acoustic)
Propellerheads - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Though my source isn't very high end and the Alessandros necessarily don't need amping with iHP, still I was very pleased with my first hour with this amp.
As some of you might guess when you look at my song list, the first thing I noticed was that Porta Corda MkII adds impact and punchiness to bass and drums. It also made low bass lines in songs like Angel and Choose sound way better, musical and still grumbling and powerful.
Amping also added airiness and space to the overall sound, no matter what song was playing. Unpamped sound was a bit dull and uneventful sounding after I had listened to the same music amped.
I guess there's no turning back anymore, my iHP stays hooked on this little thing from now on
This is by no means a complete analytical review, but still I'd like to share some first thoughts of this little amp.
The amp arrived very well in neat little box (thanks PeterR) with ic, adapter tip and manual included. When I picked the box into my hand I thought it's empty, the amp without a battery really is a featherweight.
Build quality of this little amp is impressive, it feels very sturdy despite the light weight. Also the few controls are well placed and have nice precise feeling to them.
Sizewise the amp is perfect companion to my iHP-120 (check the included crap quality pic). I can also fit both iHP-120 and PC MkII into my jacket pocket for portable use if I want, but probably I'll cram all the gear into my Lowepro 30W for longer trips.
Now for sonic impressions. I used iHP-120 with LAME APS/APX mp3's as a source and phones used were Alessandro MS-1s. PC MkII was connected to iRivers line out with the included interconnect.
I also tried very briefly my MX500 buds amped, but actually amping just revealed some annoyng features in their sound and didn't necessarily do them any favours, so I chose just to enjoy the MS-1s with the amp.
The amp was in totally stock form, in A/B mode, running on battery power and crossfeed was not applied. I went on song by song, first listening without amping and then amped and finally back to unamped. I tried to set volume levels as even as I could after switching between unamped and amped modes.
Music included following songs:
Tool - Ticks And Leeches
Stone Sour - Choose
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
The Roots - Sacrifice
The Prodigy - Girls
Massive Attack - Angel
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Who Am I
Godsmack - Re-Align (acoustic)
Propellerheads - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Though my source isn't very high end and the Alessandros necessarily don't need amping with iHP, still I was very pleased with my first hour with this amp.
As some of you might guess when you look at my song list, the first thing I noticed was that Porta Corda MkII adds impact and punchiness to bass and drums. It also made low bass lines in songs like Angel and Choose sound way better, musical and still grumbling and powerful.
Amping also added airiness and space to the overall sound, no matter what song was playing. Unpamped sound was a bit dull and uneventful sounding after I had listened to the same music amped.
I guess there's no turning back anymore, my iHP stays hooked on this little thing from now on
