[Swimsonny]

GoVibe VestAmp+ Headphone Amplifier Review

 
Introduction:
 
I have had a variety of the Jaben House Brand’s amps now but they all belong in the lower price range but now I am finally entering the more expensive price ranges with the VestAmp+ that is also a USB DAC. This is quite a bit more than the others I have and this retails for $438 so roughly about £300. So yes it is quite an expensive piece of kit but is a sleek portable headphone amp with the added benefits of being a USB DAC so I can see the appeal.
 
 

 
 
 
Accessories:
 
This does not really come with anything and less than cheaper models like the cricri. It comes with a USB cable to charge and connect it to a computer but that is it. It lacks any interconnects or carrying case and it comes with nothing exciting and a white cardboard box. For £300 you may want something a little nicer but then chances are you will use aftermarket interconnects and will not have a need for the likes of a carrying case.
 
 

 
 
 
Design and Features:
 
The design is gorgeous as far as I am concerned. In a sleek matte black finish it looks great and the design is thin and rather small for an amp/DAC in some terms. It has a very attractive looking volume control as well which is actually a problem in its self. It does have a fair bit of writing on the top of it (names, features etc) but it does not look tacky.
 
Feature wise, it does not have that many and some are plain silly. It has a 3.5mm input and output and on the back the micro USB input for when you use it as a DAC. Next to the USB input you then have a switch so you can choose whether you charge or not when using it as a DAC that is a nice option although I feel it is a bit pointless, seeing that I have not noticed any performance differences with it on or off and I just tend to leave it on. We then have the last physical feature that is just silly in how it is positioned and that is the gain switch. It is on the PCB board itself so you have to get a screwdriver and undo the housing just to switch the gain, quite an effort when the cheaper cricri has it on the housing.
 
 

 
 
You then have its two uses, a USB DAC and as a headphone amp. The headphone amp is straightforward and you simply plug in some headphones and a source.
 
The USB DAC has a few more different uses but first I will say what it offers. It states a sampling rate up to 192KHz but with USB audio only going up to 96KHz this makes me feel a bit dubious of that rating so in more honesty it is a 24bit/96KHz USB DAC. So I said you can use it in a few different way and firstly it would be to straight up use it as a USB DAC and headphone amplifier and that would be to select it as the output on your computer and then plug some headphones in. However there is also a hidden option to use a line out of this, so you do not use the devices amp section and just the DAC so you can then feed this into a separate amp, I love this feature and use it to great effect.
 

 
I really do wish that this come with some instructions because so many owners are probably in the mist over the full potential of this device, hey I would not be surprised to find this does even more that I am unaware of.
 
Size and Portability:
 
This is in all purposes a portable amp as far as I care, I take this to sixth form, on the train, in the car and I use it at home. It can be used with any device as it does not have the interference problems that some of the cheaper Jaben amps have which is great and as I hoped for as I can pair this with my iPhone 4.
 
 

 
As for the size it is thin and sleek and sits nicely on the back of a player. Its dimensions are actually identical to the Fiio E17 but it has sharper edges which I think makes it more ergonomic on the back of a DAP but not as smooth and comfy in your hand.
 
 

 
 
Actual measurements are:
 
Height – 1.5cm
Width – 5.5cm
Length – 10cm
 
Being 1cm shorter than iPhone 4 and tad smaller in width, all it really ads to something like and iPhone is a bit of depth and using with something like a small iPod Nano like I have been doing it is like carrying the amp with a little screen on it, the Nano adds nothing. It sits in my pocket nice and is actually not very heavier being a clear bit lighter than the E17.
 

 
BUT…. Yes there is a but and this is why I struggle to use it as a portable amp. The volume knob is stupidly sensitive, I mean if it is your pocket and you walk a few steps, the volume will go crazily high or even turn off, I do not mean a small movement makes a crazy volume change but it easily moves about, walking is bad, slightly touching it not much better and stairs are a killer.
 

 
Driving Power:
 
This can actually driver my Sennhesier HD580 smoothly and confidently which was actually a bit of a surprise because it managed it to sufficient vlumes on low gain and on high gain you could really blow the rooth with volume, not that you want to. These are 300 ohms which is the hardest to drive headphone I have so I do not know how it would cope with something like an Audeze or Hifiman.
 
Hiss:
 
I paired it with a range of IEMs, some really quite sensitive and I was on the look out for any kind of underlying hiss and even on the lowest volumes the background was dead quiet. This is a great amp if you plan on using this with a IEM and on the go, just make sure that you have it on low gain.
 
Build Quality:
 
Other than the problem I have talked about regarding the volume knob, this is built pretty well. A well polished all metal housing protect the inside PCB and is tightened securely by screws. Of course you can undo the housing to change the gain so tightening them back up is down to you. Everything is flush and well aligned which is a problem that haunts DIY amps even if you do the solder job perfectly. It does not have anything that pokes out and could be the cause of any mishaps and overall the build is impressive.
 
Overall Sound:
 
The VestAmp can be used as many different things but how ever you use it, it does have a overall sound signature and that is neutral, very wide, very detail and pretty extreme in the treble. In fact synergy with bright headphones can be rather poor because this makes them so sparkly they sound too bright and fatiguing. This is the only really problem because the amp is actually more detailed than the Objective 2 that I have and is perhaps even wider in the soundstage. The background is rather black and silent when being used as a DAC and it does not make any frequency feel lacking and the bass still has oomph if the headphone and music does, it just does not boost it. For smoothness it is a bit edgy especially in comparison to the Objective 2 that is smoother.
 
As a portable it does do well, I especially like it with a warm IEM as it makes them sound very detailed yet still warm. A portable amp is one of my favourite uses for it, reminding me heavily of the Pico Slim from what I remember of it, yes it is larger but it does have a DAC.
 
As a DAC/Amp from a computer it sounds less detailed than as just an amp but also a lot smoother, it does sound very good and on high gain it can pair nicely with most things, even though very small. This is probably the worst way that I think you can use it though because the sound is much better in the next way I use it. However it still does produce a good sound, just I feel we do lose detail on this method.
 
My favourite use of it is as a DAC with a line out feeding to the objective 2, it sounds amazing combing the best of both devices, black background and transparency of the VestAmp and the smoothness and neutrality of the Objective 2. They pair very well and they really do sound awesome.
 
Conclusion:
 
This is very good sound and transparent amp, what a solid state is meant to be. However it doe shave its problems like with bright headphones or headphones with peaky treble, the Sony MDR-EX1000 for example is a no go with this but then so is the much loved Pico Slim. The main problem that I have with this however is the volume knob and no matter how silly its sounds, it does make using this hard work on the go even though everything else is perfect for portable use. However the sound is great and I love using it as an amp and a USB DAC!

 

[Swimsonny]

My Unboxing Video and Set Up Guide