Today I auditioned the Pro-ject Headbox Mk II at a local hi fi shop. With me I had a well made cmoy (from jds labs) for comparison purposes. I had 2x 9v batteries in the cmoy which gave the cmoy added clarity and dynamic range, which I needed, given my particular headphones - Beyerdynamic DT990PRO (250 ohm)
Music source was a iPhone 3gs. When listening to the headbox mk II, I did so directly from the iphone (phono cable into 2 rca), but also tried via docking the iphone into a Pro-Ject Dock Box which was then chained into the headbox - a nice little stack. The dock box certainly added some volume and clarity to the Pro-ject sound.
I kept going back to my cmoy amp and wondering whether this $75 tin can could outclass the $200 headbox (actually AUD $470 if you include the dock). I wanted to believe in the headbox, I wanted to buy those cute box components and start building a modular system and eventually get my pc into the mix and maybe even get my old speakers hooked up again.
In the end the cmoy held its ground and proved superior. I couldn't believe it.
The headbox without the dock was similar in volume to the cmoy but lacked tightness in the bass. In the cmoy I could hear the crisp tightness and extra detail in the bass lines (Steely Dan, Riverside, Izz, Tool and some lounge by Afterlife). The headbox bass on the other hand was a bit flabby and not as distinct. Not a bad bass at all, perhaps a different perspective/sound - but I thought it lacked some sparkle and definition. And this is without switching on my cmoy bass boost, which I never did.
Hooking the pro-ject dock box into the equation improved the volume/power substantially and added a bit more clarity, but I still preferred the cmoy for its overall detail, sparkle and tight bass.
The overall tone of the pro-ject stack was good, but felt a bit "plain" and dull compared to the cmoy. Very good but a little uninspiring when doing A/B tests.
Note: when I got my cmoy several days ago I thought it was good, clean and solid, but as I said, with my DT990PRO headphones, I felt something wasn't quite right. I was missing some headroom and bite. Adding the second 9v battery (in series) did wonders for the sound. It didn't make the sound louder, but sort of "filled it in" and supported it with a bit more power somehow. Your mileage with your particular headphones will vary and you may not need that second battery - I did and swear by 18v now. Interestingly, if I was comparing the pro-ject headbox stack against my original single 9v cmoy configuration then I think the results would have been much closer. I think the cmoy would have still won, but I didn't actually test this. Perhaps the headbox would have won esp. with the dock in place as the volume/power of that combination was quite reassuring and nice. Then again we would have been comparing a poor 9v battery in the cmoy vs a power adapter supplying 16v to the headbox - not fair - the 18v cmoy is the better competitor and was what I actually tested.
So that's what happened today in the hifi shop!
Hope this helps someone.
