[woof37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomy3555 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Woofy, the Denons neither like or dislike the Icon the lack of oomph is the same with them as well. I'm beginning to think that something is wrong as I can't get much at all. Yes, even with High Gain. and the batteries seem to dicharge very fast so maybe I have a defective power source. I'll have to email Nuforce and check it out.

I'm thinking you're right...the other folks say that the Denons have plenty of drive through the Icon Mobile. Jason is so quick on CS that he'll probably have a new one shipped to you before you even request it. I'm super impressed with the little I know about this company so far. Spent my $100 and am planning to just enjoy my tuneage in the office.

 

[boomy3555]

Excelent,
The Denons are particulary amazing set of cans bur it's realy interesting how different amp and cables alter the soundstage and spaciousness of them.
I shortened my stock cable with a nice Paliics 3.5 so I could "Portablize" my 5000's around the house and at work a bit and it narrows the soundstage quite a bit, without the long OFC dual ground cable. I made the rest of the cable into an extension with a 1/4" jack but without the common ground wire going the whole length and the termination in the middle the Denons are very bright and narrow. The spaciousness is also a bit smaller. I'm going to have to recable to get the "Denon" sound back again
I'm really looking forward to getting my new Head-Direct EF-1 hybrd to see what a tube can do for them. Right now it's the Travagans red with a volume limiter for the Denons

 

[dwong]

The EF1 sounds great with my D2000's. Hope you get the same very positive results as well. Volume has never been an issue with the Nuforce Icon Mobile with my D2000's or UE sp3 IEMS on high gain. I'd send it back to Nuforce-Icon to see whats up with it.

 

[demo1]

So i expect my nuforce mobile icon to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait. I'll be sure to post back of my first impressions; not only to this particular amp but to my first in general. I don't know what to expect really.

 

[kbug]

Very interesting portable amp indeed. I will keep an eye on more reviews about it.

 

[Rex81]

I just ordered one myself. I'm curious to see if I like it 4 times more than my Fiio E5 ($25 vs $100). I have no experience with a DAC but I think I could definintely benefit from one as my "home rig" consists of my headphone out on my entry level Gateway laptop.

I see that the icon struggles a bit with the HD600, but I heard no mention of what it will do to the HD650. Would one expect similar results? HD650 is looking like my next purchase.

 

[Lil' Knight]

If it can't drive the 600's, the same will be with the 650's.

 

[woof37]

I just gave mine the required 4hr charge time and listened to it for about 15 minutes. Very, very nice, especially for $100. Maybe some sort of crossfeed or rolloff function would be nice, but for a non-broken in DAC/amp combo in this price range, it's outstanding.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it can't drive the 600's, the same will be with the 650's.

Well, it "can" drive them, but not to high volumes and not as well as some other portable amps. It will still drive them louder than any of my iPods can. At normal volumes the HD600 sound nice with the Nuforce, but the dynamic range isn't as great due to less power than they need.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, it "can" drive them, but not to high volumes and not as well as some other portable amps. It will still drive them louder than any of my iPods can. At normal volumes the HD600 sound nice with the Nuforce, but the dynamic range isn't as great due to less power than they need.

Yep, every portable can "drive" the 600/650

The only problem is to where

Does this one make some differences from the itouch's hp-out? I'm thinking of getting it to drive my ESWs.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep, every portable can "drive" the 600/650 The only problem is to where Does this one make some differences from the itouch's hp-out? I'm thinking of getting it to drive my ESWs.

It drives my ESW10 well, and slswiser loves the improvement with his ESW9 as well as his ESW10.

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, it "can" drive them, but not to high volumes and not as well as some other portable amps. It will still drive them louder than any of my iPods can. At normal volumes the HD600 sound nice with the Nuforce, but the dynamic range isn't as great due to less power than they need.

X2. I've the HD650 and it does drive them, but NOT to high volumes, but certainly loud enough for me.

 

[Rex81]

Would you think it would be worth getting the HD650 if this was the only amp I would use to drive it for a while?

I love the Senn sound, but I don't want to buy the phones if another headphone would sound much better on the Icon for around $250.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rex81 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would you think it would be worth getting the HD650 if this was the only amp I would use to drive it for a while? I love the Senn sound, but I don't want to buy the phones if another headphone would sound much better on the Icon for around $250.

I think the Nuforce could keep you happy while you save for a desktop tube amp for the HD650, unless you are a full volume Infected Mushroom kinda guy, then you need a Denon D2000 instead and buy a $35 D5000 cable from markl and install that on the D2000.

 

[Rex81]

Ok. Got a problem. I received the Icon Mobile today. Charged it up, plugged it in and listened for a while. Disappointed. HeadphoneAddict, I know on your review you said it benefited from burn in. How much did it improve? Because right now, I'm getting ready to box it up and put it up for sale (this will be my 50th post!). I compared it with my Fiio E5 and the Fiio spanks it. The bass goes deeper, the sound is more full and the mids aren't in your face like they are from the Icon. I actually prefer the unamped sound directly out of my $350 laptop.

This post is sounding a lot like a bashing, and I don't mean it to. I guess I was just hoping for a lot more. I'm in the process of running some pink noise through it now, and will do that for the next few days, I guess. Hope it helps.

Either the Fiio is the best value in the entire world and kills amps costing 4 times as much, the Icon NEEDS burn in time, or the Icon just isn't any good. Gotta be one of those three.

Edit: I also wanted to mention that the Fiio gets far louder than the Icon. Which surprised me since its, again, 1/4 of the price, and 1/4 of the size.