[NiGHTSfan]

Sorry if I sound a bit ignorant on this, but I'm just starting to get into high-quality computer audio. I'm using a Musiland Monitor 02US and Sennheiser 555's. Would running the Musiland through this Amp result in a significant improvement in sound quality?

 
 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Sorry if I sound a bit ignorant on this, but I'm just starting to get into high-quality computer audio. I'm using a Musiland Monitor 02US and Sennheiser 555's. Would running the Musiland through this Amp result in a significant improvement in sound quality?

 
 

Hopefully someone will chime in who has heard the Musiland Monitor 02US. 

 

[NiGHTSfan]

Yeah, I think I'll be a while waiting on a response to that one...

 

[Drigga]

How does the ef2a compare to the fiio e7+e9 combo? i need a amp/dac setup for my hd650's..

 

[renniche]

How is the HiFiMan EF2 with the SRH840s? I just bought the 840s and am looking for an amp/DAC combo.

 

[igotnojob]

I am just getting into head-fi and the EF2A was my first headphone amp. This is just my experience with the EF2A but I have found the volume to be too loud with all of my headphones. Then I read on another thread that some others shared the same opinion.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/512922/hifiman-ef2a-gain
 
On my stock EF2A, I hear channel imbalance at low volumes until about the 9 o'clock setting. By this point, the listening volume is louder than what I consider normal medium listening volume. It is so loud that I cannot have extended (longer than an hour) listening sessions without worrying about long term effects on my hearing. This is a particular problem for me because I like to listen at low volumes, sometimes fall asleep with my music on and, at the point at which the volume pot balances both channels, the volume is too loud for that. It is actually bordering on comfort levels. What I have been doing to compensate for this is to turn down the volume below 50% (maybe around 15-20%) on iTunes. This, however, is messing with the original signal with DSP and I can hear the loss in detail. Nevertheless, it is the only way I can comfortably listen to my music with the EF2A. Someone mentioned in the other thread that HE-5 or HE-6 phones could deal with the high gain better but I do not own those phones.
 
For reference, I am using Sennheiser HD580 and AKG K701 cans, and UE Triple.Fi 10 Pro IEMs. I use iTunes -> iBasso D4 DAC -> EF2A. The high gain is still a problem when I use the EF2A's onboard DAC as well.
 
FWIW, despite the gain problems, I still find the EF2A to sound pretty good. I know I am losing detail (a lot) when I lower my iTunes volume but it has a nice, shimmery glistening coloration which I attribute to the tubes compared to the solid detailed presentation of my D4's amp section. Even though I have what I consider to be a superbly clean-sounding Matrix M-Stage SS amp, I decided to chase the tubey sound further and am anxiously awaiting my Woo Audio WA2 to arrive.

 

[misformatt]

The massive gain on my EF2A was simply untenable.  Even with my HE-5's, I couldn't get the volume pot above 10 o'clock or so.  After getting my HDP, I was able to bypass the EF2A's pot, which helped a bit, but there was a slight hiss at that level.  The DAC was ok, but certainly a step below my uDAC2's.  I really wanted to like this unit, and it's really not that bad (once you nerf the volume a bit), but if I had to do it over again, I would look elsewhere. 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I wonder if something changed vs my original EF2.  I have the first EF2 sent to the US, that was demo'd at CanJam 2009, and the gain is just right for custom IEM and HD600/800.  And my volume pot lets me go very low without channel imbalance.

 

[misformatt]

Quote:

I wonder if something changed vs my original EF2.  I have the first EF2 sent to the US, that was demo'd at CanJam 2009, and the gain is just right for custom IEM and HD600/800.  And my volume pot lets me go very low without channel imbalance.

Most EF2 reviews I've read don't seem to have such a massively high gain level; a lot of the EF2A's seem to, though.  I had a bit of channel imbalance on my EF2A until around 9 o'clock, which balanced out well after that.  Unfortunately, even my HE-5's couldn't take volume past 10 o'clock without reaching absurd volume levels.  This only left me with about a 1/3 inch of pot travel to work with.  I thought my unit was defective, but it seemed most users had similar experiences.  It's a shame, because this amp had a lot going for it--especially at its price point. 

 

[m3ta1head]

Which Mullard tubes do you guys recommend for the EF2?  I see a couple of variations on ebay.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-matched-1967-NIB-Mullard-Amperex-6AK5-EF95-6J1-tubes-/360335271522?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item53e5a7e662#ht_1773wt_905
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/2x-NOS-MULLARD-CV4010-VALVE-EF95-M8100-6AK5-5654-Tubes-/270629165066?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3f02c1580a#ht_2179wt_905

 

[TakashiMiike]

Just picked up this awesome amp for a great deal of $120 lightly used, been using it for 3 days now, it's great!!! BIG step up from my nuforce icon mobile. The music has so much more space, layers, I've noticed it's made the high frequencies much more lucid in comparison, and has clarified the entire spectrum quiet a lot.
 
Modded Grado sr60i + EF2A = awesomeness, thanks HPA big fan.

 

[Sysagent]

Another new Hifiman EF2A owner here and new to these forums (Hola!), I have replaced the stock tubes with a pair of Mullards CV4010's of Ebay and I am just in the process of burning it all in, upto forty eight hours or so at the moment...
 
Like others I am having severe gain issues with this amplifier, I am using the internal DAC of the EF2A and a pair of HifiMan RE0 headphones and I struggle to get to the nine o'clock position volume wise here
 
;-(
 
I am prepared to stick with the amplifer as even at these low volumes levels the quality of it shines through for the cost, so with this in mind I am prepared to throw some money at a new pair of headphones that are hopefully a bit more problematic to drive impedance wise so therefore I can get the maximum quality out of the Valve stage of the amp, also as an obvious benefit I will get better sound quality headphones than the RE0's.
 
My budget is around £200 or less, with this in mind I have shortlisted from a technical and review perspective the following three headphones:-
 
Shure SRH840
Beyer Dynamic DT770 80 ohm (or 250 ohm if better)
Denon AHD2000
 
The headphones have to be of a closed type due to me using the setup at work and my colleagues don't want to share the audio bliss I hopefully will be having with the new headphones and I listen to a variety of musical styles from House, The Beatles, Eighties, etc (no Country & Western though sorry)
 
Any help, advise or further thoughts and recommendations greatly appreciated.
 
Many thanks
 
Sys
 
p.s. I know lowering the volume of Foobar is an option but I dont want to lose the resolution,etc...

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Another new Hifiman EF2A owner here and new to these forums (Hola!), I have replaced the stock tubes with a pair of Mullards CV4010's of Ebay and I am just in the process of burning it all in, upto forty eight hours or so at the moment...
 
Like others I am having severe gain issues with this amplifier, I am using the internal DAC of the EF2A and a pair of HifiMan RE0 headphones and I struggle to get to the nine o'clock position volume wise here
 
;-(
 
I am prepared to stick with the amplifer as even at these low volumes levels the quality of it shines through for the cost, so with this in mind I am prepared to throw some money at a new pair of headphones that are hopefully a bit more problematic to drive impedance wise so therefore I can get the maximum quality out of the Valve stage of the amp, also as an obvious benefit I will get better sound quality headphones than the RE0's.
 
My budget is around £200 or less, with this in mind I have shortlisted from a technical and review perspective the following three headphones:-
 
Shure SRH840
Beyer Dynamic DT770 80 ohm (or 250 ohm if better)
Denon AHD2000
 
The headphones have to be of a closed type due to me using the setup at work and my colleagues don't want to share the audio bliss I hopefully will be having with the new headphones and I listen to a variety of musical styles from House, The Beatles, Eighties, etc (no Country & Western though sorry)
 
Any help, advise or further thoughts and recommendations greatly appreciated.
 
Many thanks
 
Sys
 
p.s. I know lowering the volume of Foobar is an option but I dont want to lose the resolution,etc...

Of those three phones, I have only tried the D2000 with the EF2 and they pair up nicely.  I have heard the Shure with a TTVJ Slim portable amp at a meet and liked them, but I never compared them side by side with the Denon.  I still prefer the Denon by a small margin.  And the EF2 does a good job of keeping the bass tight and the mids full.
 
Also, the EF2 will take a nice step up in sound quality if you pick up a nicer external DAC like a Nuforce uDAC-2, and feed the DAC's RCA line-out into the EF2's RCA inputs.  You can lower the UDAC-2 output levels with the analog volume knob, so you still get full bit rate audio going into the EF2 amp.
 
However, if you are listening at very low volumes with IEM through the EF2 and built-in DAC, you are not likely to notice a drop in bit rate by using software attenuation because the volume is already so low.

 

[Sysagent]

Hi Headphone Addict,

Cheers for the response much appreciated!
 
Couple of things on the subject if I can.
 
The Hifiman amplifier I am using is the A variant which is the one that looks like it has a higher output (am I right?), I am concerned that the Denons might have the same issues as the RE0's which is that they are too easy to drive and the same problem will still exist.

Also I will possibly hooking up the FiiO E7 DAC to the EF2A using the L7 LOD option so the volume output won't variable, admittedly this is an unknown (until I try it all out at work on Monday) and the volume level from the phono (CD) inputs maybe at a lesser level than the USB DAC input to the amplifier section, if so the issue is moot.
 
Looking forward to more responses on the subject,
 
Cheers,
 
Sys
 
p.s. Any idea where I could get my hands on some of those Raytheon tubes?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Hi Headphone Addict,

Cheers for the response much appreciated!
 
Couple of things on the subject if I can.
 
The Hifiman amplifier I am using is the A variant which is the one that looks like it has a higher output (am I right?), I am concerned that the Denons might have the same issues as the RE0's which is that they are too easy to drive and the same problem will still exist.

Also I will possibly hooking up the FiiO E7 DAC to the EF2A using the L7 LOD option so the volume output won't variable, admittedly this is an unknown (until I try it all out at work on Monday) and the volume level from the phono (CD) inputs maybe at a lesser level than the USB DAC input to the amplifier section, if so the issue is moot.
 
Looking forward to more responses on the subject,
 
Cheers,
 
Sys
 
p.s. Any idea where I could get my hands on some of those Raytheon tubes?

I don't know much about the A version changes, sorry.  As for the Raytheon, I just got lucky and was there at the right time that someone offered me a pair when I posted I was looking.
 
PS:  I know the Pico DAC > RCA input was louder than the built-in USB DAC, so one with a variable output would be nice for your needs.  I suspect a volume attenuator from Shure or Westone could also be used to reduce the volume with your IEM as well.