GuffMorgan
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2005
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Eddie Current Laconic EC-01
Price: $349.00
I won't go into how the amp is built, what technologies are used, because quite frankly, I don't know a damn thing about amp technologies, I just know what I think sounds good. If you want information on the build of the amp itself then you're best off visiting Eddie Current's website (http://www.eddiecurrent.com) or emailing and talking to the main, Craig, yourself. Any information I could possibly might be incorrect or misleading.
Equipment Used
Headphones
Beyerdynamic DT880 with Cardas cable
Sennheiser HD650 with Cardas cable
Source
Firestone Audio Fubar II USB DAC playing OGG Vorbis
IC
Cardas 800C with Vampire RCA's
I really didn't know about reviewing this amp, or any amp for that matter, in the first place. I just didn't feel my setup was quite good enough. However, be that as it may I decided to take a different approach, that of a modest rig. It's not the best out there, but then it's not the worst either, it's pretty affordable, and since the EC-01 is pretty affordable itself (at about $350) I figured it might fit right in. This is actually my first extensive listening time with a tube headphone amp (my first time to hear one being at the recent Dallas meet, Pabbi's HA-2). Again, perhaps it might be better to have someone review who has more time spent with tubes, but then this amp could be viewed as a nice entry point into tube amps, so again I talk myself into the review.
I've spent all week listening to the amp so far, and I will spend another week listening to it to see if there are any sonic changes as the time goes on. One thing that is really nice about the amp is that it comes with 100 hours already on it (though I can't really have any thoughts about changes over burn in, unless it changes this next week). Anyways, on to the review! Just a foreword, if the thoughts seem broken and quick it's because I'm writing my thoughts as I listen to each song, but I will try to expand where I can. I've been working on the review off and on all day since I woke up at about 9AM, I wanted time in between listenings, didn't want to overload my ears with a constant stream of different songs.
Individual Headphone Impressions
HD650
The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Way I Feel About You: Picked this album because it's really light on the bass throughout the whole thing and I was curious how much bass the amp would provide. Shockingly it adds just the perfect amount of bass to the music making it more enjoyable, which is bad because it makes me want to turn the music up even louder (which this amp can definitely do). The organs on it sound just excellent as well, great impact with all instruments, definitely makes the album a toe tapper.
Dredge - Whoa Is Me: First off I want to squeeze this in... one of the best albums ever. Anyways, this song probably has one of my favorite drum lines out of anything I've ever heard, so an amp has to do it perfectly otherwise it's just a let down for me. To be more specific of the part I really look for, the chorus drum part, I know it by heart. This amp does it just right, the snare drum is perfect in the amount of snap it has and it brings a smile to my face.
The Mars Volta - Cygnus.... Vismond Cygnus: The bass in this song is kind of recessed, but awesome sounding, and at first I was afraid that the amp might make it too prominent. I was suprised to find that it didn't bring it to the front too much, it keeps it within the music, but still very very enjoyable. This song is also great for testing the balance between lows mids and highs, which it does fairly well, though at times the highs are still a bit piercing, but then I don't know that I can blame that on the amp as much as I can the band. It handles the articulation of this style music with a quickness that I didn't really expect it to have, granted not as much as the Gilmore Lite, but I'd say it does very well for being a tube amp.
Hot Water Music - The End Of The Line: Have to know how it handles distorted guitars, and it does so with great smoothness, a very natural sounding distorted guitar (is that an oxymoronic statement?), if anything I feel I can atleast judge this part like a pro. The guitars sound very real, a smooth clean distorted sound, but still keeping that bite.
Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day: Wanted to hear some acoustic guitar, male vocals, and other instruments. I'm a fan of male vocals on the Gilmore Lite, but this amp does it just as well, a very smooth and airy quality in Stevens voice, the acoustic guitar and banjo sound very articulated, a decent amount of impact in them giving them a percussion quality to them. Honestly, every instrument in this song sounds very good, very musical.
The Roots - Web: Bass, drums, vocals. That's it, this is hip hop in its basic form, and it's very enjoyable through this amp. Like I've already mentioned, the drums are very tight, the bass is tight and fat with a nice impact, and the vocals are quick. What more could you ask for?
27 - Danger Bird: Ah, female vocals. Enjoyable, very enjoyable. I really don't know what else to say, her voice sounds soft and soulful.
Charles Mingus - Sketch Four: Sweet sweet muted trumpet. The amp gives this song a very warm feeling to it, very relaxing. It seems that the amp is usually pretty detailed and quick, but yet it still retains it's musicality for this slow moving smooth jazz song. Very nice job.
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand: A quick paced Led Zepp song, and again, as I've hammered in by now, the EC-01 keeps up with it just fine. It seems to have no problem making classic rock sound excellent.
Ben Folds - Fired: This amp does snappy drums wonderfully, very crisp and quick, snappy if you will. The piano is nice and smooth, especially in the solo, everything in this part is huge and very grand, very open drums and piano with a fat bass line, and the amp handles it wonderfully. Ben's vocals always seem to have a dry and airy sound to them, which I enjoy, and this amp seems to handle them nicely.
Okay, I think that's enough with the HD650, now onwards to the DT880 with the Cardas recable...
DT880
The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Way I Feel About You: The bass doesn't seem to be as prominent this time around, well, it's there it's just not as prominent as it is with the 650's, but that is no fault of the amp. Very good articulation throughout the whole song, but since this album and these headphones are more on the bright side it's a bit too much for me, the amp can't take enough of the bite off with the tubes for me. I won't hold that against the amp though, I knew it would be like this before I even pushed play on this track. However, the song is still a bit enjoyable, more so than it would be if I were listening to it with the Gilmore Lite instead of the EC-01. As it is, I don't think I could listen to it on the Gilmore Lite.
Dredge - Whoa Is Me: Luckily this song is more on the warm side, so it's a lot more enjoyable. With the Beyers the song is very detailed, but still with a smoothness, thanks to the amp, the lends to a more musically detailed sound. The part that I loved about this song, the snappy snare, with the 650's and this amp are even more enjoyable with the 880's. There's an extra bit of crispness that is added without the headphones getting too bright (praise you tubes). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lean back, close my eyes, and enjoy the rest of this song.
The Mars Volta - Cygnus.... Vismond Cygnus: Alright, bright highs on this song, will the amp tame them some before they reach the 880's? We shall see in about 15 seconds... kind of. Yes they do seem a bit more tamed than if I were to be using the Gilmore, but even still, a bit too shrill at times. The bass sounds absolutely fantastic, very detailed, very round (? don't blame me, it just sounds like the right word for me), very wonderful sounding. I think it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways. No problem with the articulation in this song at all, the subtle quickness of the amp coupled with the details of the 880's have absolutely no problem keeping up with the fellows of The Mars Volta at all.
Hot Water Music - The End Of The Line: I didn't expect it, but the snappyness of the drums at the intro of the song is really cool coupled with the 880's and the EC-01. Anyways, on to the guitar, has a different sound to it (to be expected, different headphones), but it still keeps a very life like quality to it. It just leans a bit more to the detailed side of things than with the 650's (again, expected). Still very good and musical sound to it, though.
Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day: Really the only difference on this song between the two sets of headphones is that the 880's are just a shade more detailed with it, otherwise all of the qualities are about the same, very nice sound, enjoyable.
The Roots - Web: Bass isn't as "bloated" as it is with the 650's, which I actually enjoy on this song. The vocals sound better, faster, but the drums and bass don't sound as good. This suprises me because I usually love drums with these headphones. I guess they're just too tight for me on this song, the amp doesn't add enough thickness to them.
27 - Danger Bird: Her voice seems to have the same softness and soulful sound to it as before, but with an added amount of detail to it, a bit more airy than before. I really enjoy this song with the EC-01/DT880 pair up.
Charles Mingus - Sketch Four: Hmm, well, I kind of forgot I was writing a review while listening to this song, which I guess could be part of the review. I just got lost in the music, this sounds excellent, very just... fun. Musical, smooth, detailed, jazzy (hah) as it were. The pairing does everything perfectly on this track.
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand: This song actually seems to be a bit brighter with the 650's, though I'm not exactly sure how, maybe it's just my imagination. Which actually leads to me preferring the 880's with this amp on this particular song, has a nice smoothness but while still retaining the level of detail. And of course, no problem at all keeping up with the pace.
Ben Folds - Fired: Piano sounds quite nice, the notes seem a little bit more seperated, but still smooth and warm. The bass is nice and tight thoughout the whole song, which is impressive since at parts distortion is used on it, which tends to make a bass sound a bit more loose. Again, the solo, very nice job done by the amp, all the instruments stands out perfectly. The piano is smooth and articulate, the drums are quick and snappy, the bass is tight and warm. Nice.
You'll have to forgive me, but I tend to enjoy my 650's a bit more than my 880's, so my review might be skewed a bit more towards them, so you 880 fans out there take any slanderous remarks on the 880 with a grain of salt.
Overall Impressions
This amp has no problem at all driving either pair of headphones, and I believe it could probably drive any pair of headphones you throw at it. My main problem is just that there is not enough play in the volume when listening to the 880's and 650's, the gain just seems to be set too high for a headphone amplifier to me. Sometimes I enjoy listening at low levels, kind of just having the music being background noise as I do other things. The 880's can be done this way, but not the 650's because at that low of volume the right channel cuts out. Most of the time when I'm listening at higher levels the knob sits at about 9:00, which as I said, just isn't enough space to play with volume for me, unlike on my Gilmore Lite where the volume sits at about 12:00 with the 880's, which seems about perfect for me.
The build of the amp is extremely solid, I could see building a house using only EC-01's and the big bad wolf would never be able to blow it down... or knock it down with a bulldozer for that matter. Everything about it is sturdy, and I really find it asthetically pleasing, with it's rustic military look to it.
With everything said about the volume problem, I really enjoyed the sound of the amp, it seemed to round everything sharp, making everything a bit more smooth. If it weren't for the fact the amp is far too powerful for my headphones, and that it cuts out at low levels (around 7:30 - 8:00), I wouldn't be sending it back to Craig and you'd see my Gilmore Lite for sale in the forums. If the cutting out could be fixed, and if he makes a solution to the power "problem" (not really a problem since the amp is supposed to be powerful), such as I've heard talk of him possibly making an external impedance box from another reviewer, then this amp could be a big big winner in my book. If you have any questions about anything I've said in this review, or just want clarification about something, feel free to ask me in this thread, or PM me if you want.
P.S.
Sorry about the length, I tend to ramble, but hopefully amongst my rambling people will find answers to questions they might have about the amp.
Price: $349.00
I won't go into how the amp is built, what technologies are used, because quite frankly, I don't know a damn thing about amp technologies, I just know what I think sounds good. If you want information on the build of the amp itself then you're best off visiting Eddie Current's website (http://www.eddiecurrent.com) or emailing and talking to the main, Craig, yourself. Any information I could possibly might be incorrect or misleading.
Equipment Used
Headphones
Beyerdynamic DT880 with Cardas cable
Sennheiser HD650 with Cardas cable
Source
Firestone Audio Fubar II USB DAC playing OGG Vorbis
IC
Cardas 800C with Vampire RCA's
I really didn't know about reviewing this amp, or any amp for that matter, in the first place. I just didn't feel my setup was quite good enough. However, be that as it may I decided to take a different approach, that of a modest rig. It's not the best out there, but then it's not the worst either, it's pretty affordable, and since the EC-01 is pretty affordable itself (at about $350) I figured it might fit right in. This is actually my first extensive listening time with a tube headphone amp (my first time to hear one being at the recent Dallas meet, Pabbi's HA-2). Again, perhaps it might be better to have someone review who has more time spent with tubes, but then this amp could be viewed as a nice entry point into tube amps, so again I talk myself into the review.
I've spent all week listening to the amp so far, and I will spend another week listening to it to see if there are any sonic changes as the time goes on. One thing that is really nice about the amp is that it comes with 100 hours already on it (though I can't really have any thoughts about changes over burn in, unless it changes this next week). Anyways, on to the review! Just a foreword, if the thoughts seem broken and quick it's because I'm writing my thoughts as I listen to each song, but I will try to expand where I can. I've been working on the review off and on all day since I woke up at about 9AM, I wanted time in between listenings, didn't want to overload my ears with a constant stream of different songs.
Individual Headphone Impressions
HD650
The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Way I Feel About You: Picked this album because it's really light on the bass throughout the whole thing and I was curious how much bass the amp would provide. Shockingly it adds just the perfect amount of bass to the music making it more enjoyable, which is bad because it makes me want to turn the music up even louder (which this amp can definitely do). The organs on it sound just excellent as well, great impact with all instruments, definitely makes the album a toe tapper.
Dredge - Whoa Is Me: First off I want to squeeze this in... one of the best albums ever. Anyways, this song probably has one of my favorite drum lines out of anything I've ever heard, so an amp has to do it perfectly otherwise it's just a let down for me. To be more specific of the part I really look for, the chorus drum part, I know it by heart. This amp does it just right, the snare drum is perfect in the amount of snap it has and it brings a smile to my face.
The Mars Volta - Cygnus.... Vismond Cygnus: The bass in this song is kind of recessed, but awesome sounding, and at first I was afraid that the amp might make it too prominent. I was suprised to find that it didn't bring it to the front too much, it keeps it within the music, but still very very enjoyable. This song is also great for testing the balance between lows mids and highs, which it does fairly well, though at times the highs are still a bit piercing, but then I don't know that I can blame that on the amp as much as I can the band. It handles the articulation of this style music with a quickness that I didn't really expect it to have, granted not as much as the Gilmore Lite, but I'd say it does very well for being a tube amp.
Hot Water Music - The End Of The Line: Have to know how it handles distorted guitars, and it does so with great smoothness, a very natural sounding distorted guitar (is that an oxymoronic statement?), if anything I feel I can atleast judge this part like a pro. The guitars sound very real, a smooth clean distorted sound, but still keeping that bite.
Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day: Wanted to hear some acoustic guitar, male vocals, and other instruments. I'm a fan of male vocals on the Gilmore Lite, but this amp does it just as well, a very smooth and airy quality in Stevens voice, the acoustic guitar and banjo sound very articulated, a decent amount of impact in them giving them a percussion quality to them. Honestly, every instrument in this song sounds very good, very musical.
The Roots - Web: Bass, drums, vocals. That's it, this is hip hop in its basic form, and it's very enjoyable through this amp. Like I've already mentioned, the drums are very tight, the bass is tight and fat with a nice impact, and the vocals are quick. What more could you ask for?
27 - Danger Bird: Ah, female vocals. Enjoyable, very enjoyable. I really don't know what else to say, her voice sounds soft and soulful.
Charles Mingus - Sketch Four: Sweet sweet muted trumpet. The amp gives this song a very warm feeling to it, very relaxing. It seems that the amp is usually pretty detailed and quick, but yet it still retains it's musicality for this slow moving smooth jazz song. Very nice job.
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand: A quick paced Led Zepp song, and again, as I've hammered in by now, the EC-01 keeps up with it just fine. It seems to have no problem making classic rock sound excellent.
Ben Folds - Fired: This amp does snappy drums wonderfully, very crisp and quick, snappy if you will. The piano is nice and smooth, especially in the solo, everything in this part is huge and very grand, very open drums and piano with a fat bass line, and the amp handles it wonderfully. Ben's vocals always seem to have a dry and airy sound to them, which I enjoy, and this amp seems to handle them nicely.
Okay, I think that's enough with the HD650, now onwards to the DT880 with the Cardas recable...
DT880
The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Way I Feel About You: The bass doesn't seem to be as prominent this time around, well, it's there it's just not as prominent as it is with the 650's, but that is no fault of the amp. Very good articulation throughout the whole song, but since this album and these headphones are more on the bright side it's a bit too much for me, the amp can't take enough of the bite off with the tubes for me. I won't hold that against the amp though, I knew it would be like this before I even pushed play on this track. However, the song is still a bit enjoyable, more so than it would be if I were listening to it with the Gilmore Lite instead of the EC-01. As it is, I don't think I could listen to it on the Gilmore Lite.
Dredge - Whoa Is Me: Luckily this song is more on the warm side, so it's a lot more enjoyable. With the Beyers the song is very detailed, but still with a smoothness, thanks to the amp, the lends to a more musically detailed sound. The part that I loved about this song, the snappy snare, with the 650's and this amp are even more enjoyable with the 880's. There's an extra bit of crispness that is added without the headphones getting too bright (praise you tubes). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lean back, close my eyes, and enjoy the rest of this song.
The Mars Volta - Cygnus.... Vismond Cygnus: Alright, bright highs on this song, will the amp tame them some before they reach the 880's? We shall see in about 15 seconds... kind of. Yes they do seem a bit more tamed than if I were to be using the Gilmore, but even still, a bit too shrill at times. The bass sounds absolutely fantastic, very detailed, very round (? don't blame me, it just sounds like the right word for me), very wonderful sounding. I think it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways. No problem with the articulation in this song at all, the subtle quickness of the amp coupled with the details of the 880's have absolutely no problem keeping up with the fellows of The Mars Volta at all.
Hot Water Music - The End Of The Line: I didn't expect it, but the snappyness of the drums at the intro of the song is really cool coupled with the 880's and the EC-01. Anyways, on to the guitar, has a different sound to it (to be expected, different headphones), but it still keeps a very life like quality to it. It just leans a bit more to the detailed side of things than with the 650's (again, expected). Still very good and musical sound to it, though.
Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day: Really the only difference on this song between the two sets of headphones is that the 880's are just a shade more detailed with it, otherwise all of the qualities are about the same, very nice sound, enjoyable.
The Roots - Web: Bass isn't as "bloated" as it is with the 650's, which I actually enjoy on this song. The vocals sound better, faster, but the drums and bass don't sound as good. This suprises me because I usually love drums with these headphones. I guess they're just too tight for me on this song, the amp doesn't add enough thickness to them.
27 - Danger Bird: Her voice seems to have the same softness and soulful sound to it as before, but with an added amount of detail to it, a bit more airy than before. I really enjoy this song with the EC-01/DT880 pair up.
Charles Mingus - Sketch Four: Hmm, well, I kind of forgot I was writing a review while listening to this song, which I guess could be part of the review. I just got lost in the music, this sounds excellent, very just... fun. Musical, smooth, detailed, jazzy (hah) as it were. The pairing does everything perfectly on this track.
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand: This song actually seems to be a bit brighter with the 650's, though I'm not exactly sure how, maybe it's just my imagination. Which actually leads to me preferring the 880's with this amp on this particular song, has a nice smoothness but while still retaining the level of detail. And of course, no problem at all keeping up with the pace.
Ben Folds - Fired: Piano sounds quite nice, the notes seem a little bit more seperated, but still smooth and warm. The bass is nice and tight thoughout the whole song, which is impressive since at parts distortion is used on it, which tends to make a bass sound a bit more loose. Again, the solo, very nice job done by the amp, all the instruments stands out perfectly. The piano is smooth and articulate, the drums are quick and snappy, the bass is tight and warm. Nice.
You'll have to forgive me, but I tend to enjoy my 650's a bit more than my 880's, so my review might be skewed a bit more towards them, so you 880 fans out there take any slanderous remarks on the 880 with a grain of salt.
Overall Impressions
This amp has no problem at all driving either pair of headphones, and I believe it could probably drive any pair of headphones you throw at it. My main problem is just that there is not enough play in the volume when listening to the 880's and 650's, the gain just seems to be set too high for a headphone amplifier to me. Sometimes I enjoy listening at low levels, kind of just having the music being background noise as I do other things. The 880's can be done this way, but not the 650's because at that low of volume the right channel cuts out. Most of the time when I'm listening at higher levels the knob sits at about 9:00, which as I said, just isn't enough space to play with volume for me, unlike on my Gilmore Lite where the volume sits at about 12:00 with the 880's, which seems about perfect for me.
The build of the amp is extremely solid, I could see building a house using only EC-01's and the big bad wolf would never be able to blow it down... or knock it down with a bulldozer for that matter. Everything about it is sturdy, and I really find it asthetically pleasing, with it's rustic military look to it.
With everything said about the volume problem, I really enjoyed the sound of the amp, it seemed to round everything sharp, making everything a bit more smooth. If it weren't for the fact the amp is far too powerful for my headphones, and that it cuts out at low levels (around 7:30 - 8:00), I wouldn't be sending it back to Craig and you'd see my Gilmore Lite for sale in the forums. If the cutting out could be fixed, and if he makes a solution to the power "problem" (not really a problem since the amp is supposed to be powerful), such as I've heard talk of him possibly making an external impedance box from another reviewer, then this amp could be a big big winner in my book. If you have any questions about anything I've said in this review, or just want clarification about something, feel free to ask me in this thread, or PM me if you want.
P.S.
Sorry about the length, I tend to ramble, but hopefully amongst my rambling people will find answers to questions they might have about the amp.
