ab111
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
- Posts
- 85
- Likes
- 13
I decided to write a review because I think there are a lot people on the fence about buying an amp for their headphones and my experience being in the same situation will be able to help others.
A baseline should be set to where I am at audio-wise. I am not an audiophile although others tend to think differently. I enjoy a good sound and try to get the best out my dollar. I have been recently been using my iphone 2g as a source via lod to a Fiio E5 to ADDIEM's (apple dual driver's), rebranded Ultrasone HFI-550's or Shure SRH440's as my somewhat portable rig. At home I have been using my computer with an Auzentech X-Plosion with upgraded opamps (opa 2134, yes for all channels this is before I knew anything about audio) to fiio E5 to the above mentioned headphones. I am somewhat of a basshead so the bass boost has always turned on. To get the results on my computer the itunes eq set to hip hop and Auzentech's eq bass boosted a bit. I much preferred to listening at home as I got this added bass boost without too much frequency overlap.
I should also give a quick impression of the two headphones I will be using to review this amp, the Ultrasone HFI-550 and Shure SRH440's. I initially bought the Ultrasone's due to people raving about Ultrasone's bass. I was somewhat disappointed with these. I have put in over 250 hours on these can's and to get the bass I found I had to pump up the volume considerably, to probably an unhealthy amount for my ears with my iphone>lod>e5 (bass boost on)>550's setup. I did find that the bass didn't overpower the other frequencies too much but the mids were recessed and the high's were harsh. The Shure's have less time on them, about 100 hours. While they don't have the same bass impact, the bass is still there with a bit more forward in the mid's and treble less harsh then the 550's with the same setup.
Packaging and Build Quality
It came in a small cardboard box and each component was bubbled wrapped. Very well packaged and everything came here unharmed and in pristine condition. People's worries regarding this amp is the fact that it is an open design where there is no siding to this amp (refer to pictures above). One must be somewhat careful with this as you don't want to be throwing this thing around because of this but you must also remember this isn't a portable amp that you will be listening on the go. That being said I recently took a plane ride and because I didn't want to deal with foreign country airport security I decided to put this in my luggage instead of my carry on. I figured I didn't spend too much on it so I would take the chance. I placed it back into the box it came in and I am assuming it took somewhat of a beating as I am sure you know how luggage is handled on planes. It came out perfectly fine, mind you it was in the middle of all my clothes.
Sound Quality
Bass
Before I received this amp I was going to sell the 550's as I thought the bass impact wasn't enough for me through my current setup and thought the M-Audio Q40's were going to be the solution. Then I plug these into the Bravo amp and I get exactly what I was looking for. The same bass impact as before with the ear bleeding volume but at a normal listening volume. The bass went a bit deeper but I wouldn't say by much. I found the bass was much tighter and best of all kept that great impact I was looking for.
The Shure's bass also benefited from the Bravo. The missing bass impact from before is now there while keeping consistent with the above results.
Mid's
While listening with the Shure's the mids become even less recessed and and also sound very forward which is a good thing to me. To me i hear a better tonal balance with them amped through the Bravo. With the 550's I can't say this amp did too much with the mids. The same problem I had before with them being very recessed was still there.
Treble
When I initially listened to Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 through my iphone setup with the Ultrasone's I actually couldn't. The treble was way too harsh for my ears so I haven't been able to listen to it. After amping them the it becomes less harsh but still Alicia Key's voice on Empire State of Mind almost has a bit of a "sting" to it. But overall the treble has improved. With the Shure's results are the same, less harsh treble then it originally had mind you it had less harshness then the Ultrasone's to begin with.
Soundstage
As I only have closed headphones there isn't much soundstage to begin with but it did open up a little bit and seemed to give it more resolution, consistent with both cans.
**Penguin Ultra Cmoy amp quick comparison
I would also like to note that comparing it to my penguin ultra cmoy amp, and I can tell you while the penguin is a nice cmoy portable amp and a bit more expensive then the Bravo Audio one, I find the Bravo amp better. The Bravo adds more warmth and resolution. While the Penguin adds more bass due to its bass boost I would not say it adds the best quality bass in comparison to the Bravo.
If there is interest I can do a more indepth comparison between the two.
Final Thoughts
I am extremely happy with this purchase and is highly recommended by me for anyone who doesn't know if they should be buying an amp. The Bravo amp has given my headphone upgrade urge a break and I have just been enjoying music. This is a very inexpensive amp with the option to tube roll, which I haven't been able to do yet. While people will say amps do not transform headphones this one definitely has made my headphones much better. With this open design there are two heatsinks on the left and right side of the amp. These get very hot and you will burn yourself if you touch these after using this amp for a while. On the customer service side, Bravodeals4you always replied to me promptly and was a pleasure to deal with.
A baseline should be set to where I am at audio-wise. I am not an audiophile although others tend to think differently. I enjoy a good sound and try to get the best out my dollar. I have been recently been using my iphone 2g as a source via lod to a Fiio E5 to ADDIEM's (apple dual driver's), rebranded Ultrasone HFI-550's or Shure SRH440's as my somewhat portable rig. At home I have been using my computer with an Auzentech X-Plosion with upgraded opamps (opa 2134, yes for all channels this is before I knew anything about audio) to fiio E5 to the above mentioned headphones. I am somewhat of a basshead so the bass boost has always turned on. To get the results on my computer the itunes eq set to hip hop and Auzentech's eq bass boosted a bit. I much preferred to listening at home as I got this added bass boost without too much frequency overlap.
I should also give a quick impression of the two headphones I will be using to review this amp, the Ultrasone HFI-550 and Shure SRH440's. I initially bought the Ultrasone's due to people raving about Ultrasone's bass. I was somewhat disappointed with these. I have put in over 250 hours on these can's and to get the bass I found I had to pump up the volume considerably, to probably an unhealthy amount for my ears with my iphone>lod>e5 (bass boost on)>550's setup. I did find that the bass didn't overpower the other frequencies too much but the mids were recessed and the high's were harsh. The Shure's have less time on them, about 100 hours. While they don't have the same bass impact, the bass is still there with a bit more forward in the mid's and treble less harsh then the 550's with the same setup.
Packaging and Build Quality
It came in a small cardboard box and each component was bubbled wrapped. Very well packaged and everything came here unharmed and in pristine condition. People's worries regarding this amp is the fact that it is an open design where there is no siding to this amp (refer to pictures above). One must be somewhat careful with this as you don't want to be throwing this thing around because of this but you must also remember this isn't a portable amp that you will be listening on the go. That being said I recently took a plane ride and because I didn't want to deal with foreign country airport security I decided to put this in my luggage instead of my carry on. I figured I didn't spend too much on it so I would take the chance. I placed it back into the box it came in and I am assuming it took somewhat of a beating as I am sure you know how luggage is handled on planes. It came out perfectly fine, mind you it was in the middle of all my clothes.
Sound Quality
Bass
Before I received this amp I was going to sell the 550's as I thought the bass impact wasn't enough for me through my current setup and thought the M-Audio Q40's were going to be the solution. Then I plug these into the Bravo amp and I get exactly what I was looking for. The same bass impact as before with the ear bleeding volume but at a normal listening volume. The bass went a bit deeper but I wouldn't say by much. I found the bass was much tighter and best of all kept that great impact I was looking for.
The Shure's bass also benefited from the Bravo. The missing bass impact from before is now there while keeping consistent with the above results.
Mid's
While listening with the Shure's the mids become even less recessed and and also sound very forward which is a good thing to me. To me i hear a better tonal balance with them amped through the Bravo. With the 550's I can't say this amp did too much with the mids. The same problem I had before with them being very recessed was still there.
Treble
When I initially listened to Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 through my iphone setup with the Ultrasone's I actually couldn't. The treble was way too harsh for my ears so I haven't been able to listen to it. After amping them the it becomes less harsh but still Alicia Key's voice on Empire State of Mind almost has a bit of a "sting" to it. But overall the treble has improved. With the Shure's results are the same, less harsh treble then it originally had mind you it had less harshness then the Ultrasone's to begin with.
Soundstage
As I only have closed headphones there isn't much soundstage to begin with but it did open up a little bit and seemed to give it more resolution, consistent with both cans.
**Penguin Ultra Cmoy amp quick comparison
I would also like to note that comparing it to my penguin ultra cmoy amp, and I can tell you while the penguin is a nice cmoy portable amp and a bit more expensive then the Bravo Audio one, I find the Bravo amp better. The Bravo adds more warmth and resolution. While the Penguin adds more bass due to its bass boost I would not say it adds the best quality bass in comparison to the Bravo.
If there is interest I can do a more indepth comparison between the two.
Final Thoughts
I am extremely happy with this purchase and is highly recommended by me for anyone who doesn't know if they should be buying an amp. The Bravo amp has given my headphone upgrade urge a break and I have just been enjoying music. This is a very inexpensive amp with the option to tube roll, which I haven't been able to do yet. While people will say amps do not transform headphones this one definitely has made my headphones much better. With this open design there are two heatsinks on the left and right side of the amp. These get very hot and you will burn yourself if you touch these after using this amp for a while. On the customer service side, Bravodeals4you always replied to me promptly and was a pleasure to deal with.
