[unkoman]

Im looking for a portable amp around$100 to use with my e4 and ipod that I will I get in the near future.I've been looking at the go-vibe mk3 and portaphile X2. I've searched around the forum but I couldnt find any reveiws or comment about portaphile X2. The price difference between the two is very close and wondering if the poratphile is worth $15 more than the vibe.

Thanks

 

[fewtch]

Haven't heard the Portaphile, but here's a word in for the go-vibe... if you like quality and simplicity (with as little junk as possible in the signal path), it's a good choice. Also, Norm of Headsave is a good guy to deal with. And the ability to "roll" opamps is rare at this price point.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Haven't heard the Portaphile, but here's a word in for the go-vibe... if you like quality and simplicity (with as little junk as possible in the signal path), it's a good choice. Also, Norm of Headsave is a good guy to deal with. And the ability to "roll" opamps is rare at this price point.

second the go-vibe. been quite happy with my ipod/go-vibe/er6i setup. do it before the end of the month to get the extra opamp for free...norm's a good guy, too. haven't heard the portaphile but have heard good things about it, so you probably can't go wrong either way.

 

[unkoman]

How are the treble and bass response of the vibe? I'm really sensitive to rolled off highs and lows, especially in the 40-hz and 17+khz zone. Most portable dap headphone outs have roll off issues on both end, and that is why I'm considering an amp for my portable set up.

Thanks

 

[unkoman]

Found another amp that fits in my budget: the Mini head AKA mini moy. I read a review that compared vibe and mini moy and the reviewer stated that mini moy outperformed the vibe in sound q, but vibe has the advantage of opamp rolling.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Haven't heard the Portaphile, but here's a word in for the go-vibe... if you like quality and simplicity (with as little junk as possible in the signal path), it's a good choice.

That's right, sometimes less is more!

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unkoman How are the treble and bass response of the vibe? I'm really sensitive to rolled off highs and lows, especially in the 40-hz and 17+khz zone. Most portable dap headphone outs have roll off issues on both end, and that is why I'm considering an amp for my portable set up. Thanks

Depends a lot on the opamp... the AD8620 has excellent extension in both directions. Also depends on the headphones -- I believe the go-vibe matches better with high impedance cans because of its lack of buffers, but Norm himself is a Grado guy and his philosophy is "no buffers."

The go-vibe itself is so simple that there's nothing in it that could roll off frequencies... no input capacitors, etc.

P.S. I'd take comparisons between go-vibe and Cmoys with a grain of salt, because you can't easily compare a commercial amp with a DIY amp. DIY stuff is different every time, and the reviewer may have simply preferred the opamp used for it over the one in the go-vibe.

 

[Andrea]

If you stretch the budget a little you can get the Xenos 3HA ($129.99). Mine is just about to arrive (hopefully

).

 

[mrarroyo]

You should also look at the PAV2. At $60 delivered including a charger is a bargain.

 

[lmilhan]

I bought a Mini Head (through Ebay) for 85.00 shipped. I am very impressed with the way it sounds with my Ipod->PocketDock->Mini Head->Shure E4Cs. I get about 2 weeks worth of normal usage out of the amp before it needs a new battery (I estimate about 30 hours). The amp is very small/portable, and built like a tank. Might be worth checking out for your price range.

 

[unkoman]

Thanks for the great help!