oicdn
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2006
- Posts
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This is NOT an endorsement for the Diablo or the company from which it's from. This is a REVIEW of the PRODUCT, and nothing more. Implied or otherwise, it's simply a review like of any other product.
There is much controversy on this amp, arguably much more than anything else out there. You can use the search function if you want to get specifics on it, but in synopsis, this amp was pre-ordered by MANY and over 2 years went by with various degrees of promises ranging from “next week” to “it's been shipped.” Most everybody that pre-ordered the amp has a sour experience with Larry Milligan due to this amp. Ranging from receiving defective units multiple times, to outright not getting anything at all. It was like pulling teeth for some to even get a response via eMail, let alone get refunds or amps. It's a large understatement to say this was a monumentally sour situation for the community.
However, it's a two sided sword. Although most everybody who has had contact with Larry has had a sour experience with him, there are in fact a FEW who have had positive experiences. Both ranging from being happy of just getting returned eMails and functional units to actually getting repaired or working units. No doubt the other side of the sword is sharper, but one can't say there are some, even if very few, satisfied customers. And this is where all the negativity comes from....nobody EVER focuses on the positives, rather, are pessimistic about the situation at hand before giving any kind of insight on the product itself.
So this is like any product, it is up to YOU as the consumer to be presented with all the necessary information, and decide for yourself if you deem it worth the risk of your time, energy and most importantly, money. Many say it's not worth the effort and better can be had elsewhere or it's a disservice to give any kind of press to this person, which is likely the case, but that's for nobody to decide except yourself after being presented with all the information, as ultimately, it will in fact boil down to what YOU want to do with YOUR money.
There are several head-fiers, mostly non-owners, who are curious on it's sound. A few of the people who have contacted me are owners who want a second opinion, but were either scared to come forward in fear of harassment or just would rather not have to deal with explaining how they received a working unit(s) and communication when many others aren't even getting eMails returned, they feel so burned by the situation, they would prefer not to hear anything ever again about LaRocco Audio or this debacle.
And that brings me to where I am today. A head-fier contacted me via eMail asking me if I was interested in hearing a Diablo. As said above, several customers received multiple units (which I'll go into further later), either due to them being defective, having defective chargers or getting an updated version. However, as weird as that may sound, Larry never asked for them in return and after the customer confirmed of a working unit and asking what to do with all the defectives or extras, has also lost what communication they had been previously been getting so well. So, a head-fier had multiple units, some of which were paper weights, some that were sent with defective AC adapters but was a working unit, yet continued to receive entire packages, not just AC adapters. From what several have told me, this case is NOT a unique situation as it's not user serviceable, so a battery issue or anything of the sort could only be rectified by getting sent a new unit or sending yours in because the construction is like the PRII in which it's two halves, upper and lower. Difference is, Larry decided to GLUE them together. Bad idea IMO.
So, I was given this amp, under the condition of if being “mine” so to speak, but if Larry asks for it back, that I return it to him or to Larry, also with the hopes of getting a review in the mean time. It had less than 50 hours on it hence the reason it looks so new, cause essentially, it is. I WILL NOT name this person, as so not to invite PMs or other messages. Why? It's not my place to name this person and put them on the spot. If he wants to come forward he can, but it's not of my liberty to “dig his hole” as well, if that's even what would happen. But again, it's not my place. Also, regarding burn-in, other owners have stated that the burn-in was pretty much complete at ~40-50 hours, as some have over 200 and no sound changes, so I saw no problem doing this early.
People were questioning my involvement with Larry, which as said above, was not the case. I DID however have contact with him regarding some technical issues. I was lucky enough to get responses back that alleviated the issue (AC adapter related). I asked what the “updates” were to the more recent units and have yet to get a reply, so it's another case of him fixing a problem, but then ignoring everything afterwards like many owners are experiencing or experienced. So it appears, I'm now in the same boat as everybody else, lol.
I believe that the amp should have a “fair shake” so to speak. After all, it's a PRODUCT review, not a COMPANY review. And as said by other head-fiers, it should just be looked at like any company with arguably good products but horrible customer interaction even outside of this community, the buyer should beware.
I, as well as several other OWNERS, believe there is more than enough bad press and the opinion of the company behind the amp is CLEARLY apparent. So why such the hassle behind a review? If the opinions of the company are so widely known and apparent, why the fuss? ANY OUNCE of research on the topic at hand can be found ad-naseum, so for you vigilant ones out there, rest knowing you did your “job”. It would only be a story of a fool and his money if he chose to ignore everything presented to him and ended up a statistic, and likely, there's nothing you could do to change that persons mind in the first place anyways. It's not called “only looking out for myself”, it's called reality.
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Equipment used was:
Source: Laptop playing through iTunes and/or Foobar lossless and/or 128-256 AAC or mp3, iPod nano
DAC: Keces DAC-151
Interconnects: ALO Au/Ag, Turbodock
Headphones: UM2, RP21, DT770, SR80 (my buddy wasn't around to use his RS2's)
Songs used:
Rise Against – Prayer of the Refugee
Guster – Satellite
Joe Budden – Three Sides to a Story
Nouvelle Vague – Too Drunk to F**ck
Superbus – Radio Song
Pepper – Zicky's Song
At the Drive In – Arcarsenal
Beatnuts – No Escapin This
Chiodos - Prelude
James Freeman and Orchestra – Black, Black, Black is the color
Julius Airwave – Marina
Radical Face – Welcome Home
Kid Koala – Fruit Belt
Randy Travis -Three Wooden Crosses
Le Tigre – Decepticon
United States of Audio – Back to the Basics (2003)
Xenakis – Metastaseis
Wu-Tang – One of These Days
30 Seconds to Mars – The Kill
I tried to get most every genre out there, as well as some tracks I'm VERY familiar with as some headphones excel at some tracks/genre's better than others. Keep in mind this review has been taking place while posting on forums and doing various tasks on my computer since receipt of the amp a couple days ago, with me taking notes on separate occasions. I think if you sit and listen to music and the same tracks back to back to back, after a couple hours, it all starts sounding the same, hence the angle I'm attacking the completion of this review as such.
Now, that all of that has been disclosed, on to the review/comparison. I decided it would be best to do these as a comparison rather just review each. Why? They are of the same price and the iQube is regarded by many as the “bar” for which to achieve, alongside some other amps, generally speaking. Of course opinions vary, but that's the general consensus.
So here are the pics:
That is as far apart as one can disassemble it....which sucks.
Build quality
Diablo – A very BEAUTIFUL amplifier. All machined aluminum, with some pretty meticulous details. Solid, as it should be, and it just “feels right”. Not heavy, not feeling empty. The edges of the face plates, however as mentioned in other threads are sharp. Oddly, I think it's a machining result though, because not ALL of the edges on my amp are sharp, it's hit and miss. Conversely, gluing the two pieces together is STUPID. I can understand not having user serviceability like a D1, or other amps, but GLUING the cases together does nothing for anybody except make you cuss harsh words for having to send it back on something that may be super easy like a bad battery.
iQube - Of similar build quality with a satin finish rather than a raw machined look. It seems like a more refined piece rather than brute sexiness. I however DID NOT take apart the iQube due to the reputed puzzle like construction. Which I think is cool, but again, maybe not the smartest thing. Many users have just said the heck with alkalines or lithiums and decided for the shorter battery life in favor of not having to take it apart to change batteries. Otherwise, it's also of a “feels right” construction. Although I thought I'd never like rubber on an amp, it adds a certain symmetrical sexiness to it. Also, the texture differences of the smooth almost plastic like feeling and look of the aluminum is like a sensory twist....I like it.
Ergonomics
Diablo – Interesting enough, most people associate putting their portable amps in their pocket. With the knobs as such, this manner makes PERFECT sense. The tactile feel of them is also “just right”, smooth and not easy to knock and move, but easy enough to move without thinking “these could be easier to turn”. However, the roman numerals viewable through the top holes/slits are somewhat difficult to read and almost moot to have. Although, it is a cool little feature and attention to detail none the less. The split jacks I've never been a fan of, having one on the front and one on the back. Although I still DO NOT like it, at least it's implemented correctly with the Diablo being a mini jack, and not a ¼ jack. Aside from there being a jack on the back, the placement of the jacks is nice though. The power switch however, with headphones plugged in is a bit of a PITA to work. It being recessed doesn't help things either.
iQube – VERY VERY VERY well laid out. The large center knob makes changing volume very easy. Switching the unit on is easy, and switching from low to high gain is easy. Also, the spread apart jacks on the back make it where you can choose to have you plugs terminated with F12's, Switchcrafts, or Neutrik variants, pretty endless variety as they will interfere with nothing. A VERY good idea considering so many companies try to cram EVERYTHING up front, where, the iQube manner makes perfect sense. However, this presents a minor issue. If you're carrying your amp in your pocket, it will be resting ON the jacks and IC's if you have the volume knob facing up, which depending on the situation, is probably not the most ideal (as same goes to the Diablo). Otherwise, in any other situation, is probably the best solution to alleviating the front panel clutter many amps encounter while still maintaining a reasonable size. Kudos. One concern I have though, is how much volume knob travel there is. Which I have no gripe against as it allows you to finely adjust your volume. But with the Grado's on low gain, I could withstand it being maxed for a short period of time. On high gain however, I couldn't. Which suffice to say means I should be on high gain, but I was using Grado's...what about harder to drive phones? I don't own anything higher than 80Ohm, so I can't comment on anything past there, but it's a concern I have without being able to physically trying higher impedance phones. Also, the gain switch isn't as largely dramatic as it is on say a Hornet as the gap between low and high gain isn't as largely prevalent like on other amps. SO I'm left wondering how well the iQube can drive like 250 ohm phones if the volume knob was close to ¾ when using Grado's, and just around ½ for DT770's. Granted that's at the point of rather high, but somewhat tolerable listening volumes. But point is, there's still a lot of knob travel for easier to drive phones.
Treble
Diablo – Grain free. Very smooth sounding. Exemplary in reaching the extremities. Sounds a little synthetic on some frequencies, but nothing worth pointing out specifically. However, my UM2's didn't SHINE on them in this respect, but still sounded good. IMO, UM2s are hard to make shine in the highs to begin with. It's transparent with EXCELLENT decay. However, some recordings sound somewhat blurry in this regard with decay and separation. A good recording is a must. Otherwise, it's enough to hang with the Lisa and other premium amps.
iQube – Pretty much spot on with Skylabs reviews of it being very transparent and clean. It does better the Diablo in this respect. I can't really point out anything wrong with it, or that I disagree with.
Midrange
Diablo – Wow...it sounds clean. It's very articulate. There's a lower midrange hump though where the lower frequencies overlap and it sounds WEIGHTY. It may be from the bass knob implementation, but it sounds a little slow in comparison to how everything else is presented.
iQube – VERY VERY neutral. It has a sense of clarity that's unrivaled. It somewhat reminds me of a Xin SMIV in this regard, but a notch or two better. Very liquidy and smooth. Skylab mentions a hint of reticence which I cannot discern, but in any case, both he and I agree it's something nobody should be worried about.
Bass
Diablo – CLEAR WINNER here. Although it's not really surprising given it's circuitry and designer. Although, the bass knob is NOWHERE NEAR as evident as say like the LISA or PRII. It does something a little different, rather than “boosting” anything (in comparison of course), it just under-tonally makes it WEIGHTY sounding. Not necessarily bigger, but sounds weighty and authoritative. It does however, sound a SMIDGE less smooth than the iQube. Also, it seems to have a bit of a delay on bass adjustments, like it lags between when I turn the knob and I get results, definitely unlike the PRII and Lisa.
iQube – VERY smooth and refined sounding. Doesn't ever hint at being aggressive, but it is smooth and TIGHT. Very articulate on double bass songs as well. Doesn't seem to flinch with anything bass related you throw at it. Again, incredibly smooth and authoritative without being aggressive, I guess Skylab is right when he says “neutral comes to mind.”
Neutrality
Diablo – While it does have a sound, it's fairly neutral with the bass NOT implemented. Otherwise, it has a weighty, tube-like sound quality coming from it. Although, it's neutral, it has the “house sound” of the PRII and LisaIII, although, you could distinguish between them, you can tell it's of them same brethren.
iQube – Definitely the “KING” of neutrality as the term did keep getting said in my head throughout listening. You can easily discern what headphones' qualities are throughout listening to the iQube as it doesn't mask, assert, or make anything apparent. It just plays and reveals the track being played through it, and delivers it to your cans. No tube-esque signature, nothing...just reproduction.
Other qualities to mention
Diablo – While it's a great amp, it does have a couple things against it (company aside). The battery life is rated at 50 hours or so. The manual says not to drain the battery completely, but you almost HAVE TO to see what you're looking at battery life wise. I saw 22 hours out of mine before I could tell it was about to die from volume decreasing and distortion becoming prevalent with bass knob maxed and ½ volume in high gain. Mind you, I had mine for a day before the other thread was posted, so it saw a complete full charge and played on the charger as well.
There's a pop whenever headphones or the IC is inserted into the amp. Power on or even if it's been turned off for a couple seconds, the pop will still happen regardless of the volume setting. And it's an obnoxious pop, not like a thump, but a POP. Also, there's the same pop when the power is switching on OR off. It's of the same intensity as inserting or removing the headphones, well, perhaps taken down a notch.
I did not experience the same hum or whatever noise when it was also plugged into the charger that many reported having.
The PANA feature is cool, but that's about it. Maybe novelty is a better word. What it does is let you, in a linear fashion, go from left-right stereo(normal), to mono, to right-left stereo(reversed). It works flawlessly as evidenced by simple tracks where you know what's coming from what channel, although, I can see no advantage to using it, so it wasn't really implemented and I left it alone. Lastly, with that knob, there's no viewer, clicking or anything to let you know what position you're in, so you're likely never SPOT ON mono, unless you're at the obvious extremes where the knob is maxed out in that direction. A useless feature? To me it was, to others it may not be, but I didn't use it.
iQube – And this is where the iQube differs. There is NO pop or anything when turning on, or inserting cables or headphones. It's a VERY nice comforting detail to have being used to hearing an obnoxious pop. Like said repeatedly, this amp seems to be a refined, very well thought out design.
However, the only thing I can really point out, it does have a quirky kind of presentation, which isn't even a negative, more or less a characteristic. I dunno if it's the signature of the Class D or what, but it sounds “hollow” or I dunno, not sound stage concerned, but just SPACIOUS and hollow. It's nothing negative, just something I found interesting enough to mention. All other SQ characteristics aside, it's how you would be able to tell it were an iQube. It's unlike any other amp, and as said, is probably attributed to the Class D nature. Not 100% sure though. In any case, a VERY nice amp and quality.
In summary
I felt as if the review was warranted. Not just to be “facetious” or anything of that nature, but because there was all this hype around this amp from a reputedly shoddy character, but not really any talk or reviews about it. Which I felt was not only unfair to the PRODUCT(not company), but to the community who was left in the dark about it's sound unless you were on the receiving end of the deal. This was made in reference to there being a bunch of hype around it, but no real feedback. Here's another thread with the SAME intentions and purpose, but without the negativity surrounding it.
HeadphoneHaven - Where Music Enthusiasts Gather. -> Diablo Walks The Earth...
In the case of this, there should be no biased judgments against the product itself, only against the company which puts it out. Let the product speak for itself, especially if it's a working unit. Then, let the CONSUMER decide if it's worth his effort of the risk to pursue getting one. You can only warn so much before it appears as an agenda or childish effort to bash somebody or something without personal warrant. I found that many of the bashers were only bashers because of not an experience they had themselves, but because it was friends of friends of friends who had the experiences or was something they read about online. I understand the loyalty aspect of it all, but does it honestly and ultimately give you the right to badmouth something or someone you haven't first hand experienced? Seems a little childish and immature like the kids on the playground “he doesn't like Jimmy, so I don't like him...” when you haven't even talked or had any interactions with the guy or product it doesn't give you anything to talk about, just as those who haven't heard anything to recommend/against something.
That STILL does NOT mean I condone his practices or his past, but I for one, was at least willing to give the PRODUCT a fair shake. Which is more to say than many other people.
Now the all bearing question, who do I think wins? With the price tags aside, which is an important factor (which we Americans have no control over the dollar value), both amps are fantastic. Well, given the history of the Diablo, that holds a major toll on it. The loud popping noises when inserting anything into it are bothersome. Also, user serviceability not being an option is also a huge flaw. But it's appearance is one to demand attention. The attention to details is unlike anything else out there. Also, it's ergonomics and tactile feel are “just right”.
But given the past of the Diablo, I couldn't recommend it to anybody unless they were able to physically hold it in their hand before handing money over, i.e purchasing in person or purchasing second hand from a reputable source. The sound emitted from it is definitely top tier quality, but there is in fact too much to risk, especially when you're talking that kind of amount of money.
Where, on the other hand, the iQube comes from an extremely reputable source, is of the same caliber build quality, and also offers the same top tier sound. You don't have some of those, arguably by some useless features, you get a top class amplifier which imposes hardly any characteristics on the sound, yet breathes a new life into your music collection.
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*A couple notes about the Diablo. This unit from what the owner has told me is a “dated” unit. Also, one of the reasons this unit was received was because the previous units' charger was faulty (and also likely believed the battery to be bad). One owner even said the replacement unit he was sent according to Larry is “modded and enhanced”. As to what those differences are, who knows, as Larry has yet to reply to my question about it and the owner can't recall exactly what they were when Larry disclosed what the mods were. Lastly, the LED's are faulty on this unit. It doesn't light up either when charging like it's supposed to or when turned on. Everything else is functional, and working properly, but the LEDS won't light up. I can't exactly go into the amp and check for shoddy contact points as the unit is glued shut.
That part aside, it seems there were various configurations owners received. Some owners reported that their Diablo is bright, while this one sounds somewhat warm and dark, but definitely not muffled, and definitely NOT bright. In fact, it synergizes very nicely with Grado's. Another owner said his controls affect the sound much more than the one I have does, and is of a different implementation that what others have said it does on their units. i.e. The bass knob is nowhere near subtle when in use, like mine is. Which is likely where all the varying opinions in SQ are coming from.
As nobody's apparently sounds similar, this review cannot be concrete in any shape or form given the inconsistencies in the manufacturing and whatnot. Some people think it's one of the better amps out there, while others think it's nothing special and actually gave it away, lol. Who knows if those opinions are attributed to the either sour or pleasant interaction, but none the less, the opinions of SQ are not just varied, but GREATLY varied. And again, is likely due to the model variations and inconsistencies in manufacturing...
That said, one of the owners is sending me his “modded” version which he feels is a better representation of what the Diablo has to offer, to compare the two, and give an update on the differences....but in any case, BUYER BEWARE.
There is much controversy on this amp, arguably much more than anything else out there. You can use the search function if you want to get specifics on it, but in synopsis, this amp was pre-ordered by MANY and over 2 years went by with various degrees of promises ranging from “next week” to “it's been shipped.” Most everybody that pre-ordered the amp has a sour experience with Larry Milligan due to this amp. Ranging from receiving defective units multiple times, to outright not getting anything at all. It was like pulling teeth for some to even get a response via eMail, let alone get refunds or amps. It's a large understatement to say this was a monumentally sour situation for the community.
However, it's a two sided sword. Although most everybody who has had contact with Larry has had a sour experience with him, there are in fact a FEW who have had positive experiences. Both ranging from being happy of just getting returned eMails and functional units to actually getting repaired or working units. No doubt the other side of the sword is sharper, but one can't say there are some, even if very few, satisfied customers. And this is where all the negativity comes from....nobody EVER focuses on the positives, rather, are pessimistic about the situation at hand before giving any kind of insight on the product itself.
So this is like any product, it is up to YOU as the consumer to be presented with all the necessary information, and decide for yourself if you deem it worth the risk of your time, energy and most importantly, money. Many say it's not worth the effort and better can be had elsewhere or it's a disservice to give any kind of press to this person, which is likely the case, but that's for nobody to decide except yourself after being presented with all the information, as ultimately, it will in fact boil down to what YOU want to do with YOUR money.
There are several head-fiers, mostly non-owners, who are curious on it's sound. A few of the people who have contacted me are owners who want a second opinion, but were either scared to come forward in fear of harassment or just would rather not have to deal with explaining how they received a working unit(s) and communication when many others aren't even getting eMails returned, they feel so burned by the situation, they would prefer not to hear anything ever again about LaRocco Audio or this debacle.
And that brings me to where I am today. A head-fier contacted me via eMail asking me if I was interested in hearing a Diablo. As said above, several customers received multiple units (which I'll go into further later), either due to them being defective, having defective chargers or getting an updated version. However, as weird as that may sound, Larry never asked for them in return and after the customer confirmed of a working unit and asking what to do with all the defectives or extras, has also lost what communication they had been previously been getting so well. So, a head-fier had multiple units, some of which were paper weights, some that were sent with defective AC adapters but was a working unit, yet continued to receive entire packages, not just AC adapters. From what several have told me, this case is NOT a unique situation as it's not user serviceable, so a battery issue or anything of the sort could only be rectified by getting sent a new unit or sending yours in because the construction is like the PRII in which it's two halves, upper and lower. Difference is, Larry decided to GLUE them together. Bad idea IMO.
So, I was given this amp, under the condition of if being “mine” so to speak, but if Larry asks for it back, that I return it to him or to Larry, also with the hopes of getting a review in the mean time. It had less than 50 hours on it hence the reason it looks so new, cause essentially, it is. I WILL NOT name this person, as so not to invite PMs or other messages. Why? It's not my place to name this person and put them on the spot. If he wants to come forward he can, but it's not of my liberty to “dig his hole” as well, if that's even what would happen. But again, it's not my place. Also, regarding burn-in, other owners have stated that the burn-in was pretty much complete at ~40-50 hours, as some have over 200 and no sound changes, so I saw no problem doing this early.
People were questioning my involvement with Larry, which as said above, was not the case. I DID however have contact with him regarding some technical issues. I was lucky enough to get responses back that alleviated the issue (AC adapter related). I asked what the “updates” were to the more recent units and have yet to get a reply, so it's another case of him fixing a problem, but then ignoring everything afterwards like many owners are experiencing or experienced. So it appears, I'm now in the same boat as everybody else, lol.
I believe that the amp should have a “fair shake” so to speak. After all, it's a PRODUCT review, not a COMPANY review. And as said by other head-fiers, it should just be looked at like any company with arguably good products but horrible customer interaction even outside of this community, the buyer should beware.
I, as well as several other OWNERS, believe there is more than enough bad press and the opinion of the company behind the amp is CLEARLY apparent. So why such the hassle behind a review? If the opinions of the company are so widely known and apparent, why the fuss? ANY OUNCE of research on the topic at hand can be found ad-naseum, so for you vigilant ones out there, rest knowing you did your “job”. It would only be a story of a fool and his money if he chose to ignore everything presented to him and ended up a statistic, and likely, there's nothing you could do to change that persons mind in the first place anyways. It's not called “only looking out for myself”, it's called reality.
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Equipment used was:
Source: Laptop playing through iTunes and/or Foobar lossless and/or 128-256 AAC or mp3, iPod nano
DAC: Keces DAC-151
Interconnects: ALO Au/Ag, Turbodock
Headphones: UM2, RP21, DT770, SR80 (my buddy wasn't around to use his RS2's)
Songs used:
Rise Against – Prayer of the Refugee
Guster – Satellite
Joe Budden – Three Sides to a Story
Nouvelle Vague – Too Drunk to F**ck
Superbus – Radio Song
Pepper – Zicky's Song
At the Drive In – Arcarsenal
Beatnuts – No Escapin This
Chiodos - Prelude
James Freeman and Orchestra – Black, Black, Black is the color
Julius Airwave – Marina
Radical Face – Welcome Home
Kid Koala – Fruit Belt
Randy Travis -Three Wooden Crosses
Le Tigre – Decepticon
United States of Audio – Back to the Basics (2003)
Xenakis – Metastaseis
Wu-Tang – One of These Days
30 Seconds to Mars – The Kill
I tried to get most every genre out there, as well as some tracks I'm VERY familiar with as some headphones excel at some tracks/genre's better than others. Keep in mind this review has been taking place while posting on forums and doing various tasks on my computer since receipt of the amp a couple days ago, with me taking notes on separate occasions. I think if you sit and listen to music and the same tracks back to back to back, after a couple hours, it all starts sounding the same, hence the angle I'm attacking the completion of this review as such.
Now, that all of that has been disclosed, on to the review/comparison. I decided it would be best to do these as a comparison rather just review each. Why? They are of the same price and the iQube is regarded by many as the “bar” for which to achieve, alongside some other amps, generally speaking. Of course opinions vary, but that's the general consensus.
So here are the pics:
That is as far apart as one can disassemble it....which sucks.
Build quality
Diablo – A very BEAUTIFUL amplifier. All machined aluminum, with some pretty meticulous details. Solid, as it should be, and it just “feels right”. Not heavy, not feeling empty. The edges of the face plates, however as mentioned in other threads are sharp. Oddly, I think it's a machining result though, because not ALL of the edges on my amp are sharp, it's hit and miss. Conversely, gluing the two pieces together is STUPID. I can understand not having user serviceability like a D1, or other amps, but GLUING the cases together does nothing for anybody except make you cuss harsh words for having to send it back on something that may be super easy like a bad battery.
iQube - Of similar build quality with a satin finish rather than a raw machined look. It seems like a more refined piece rather than brute sexiness. I however DID NOT take apart the iQube due to the reputed puzzle like construction. Which I think is cool, but again, maybe not the smartest thing. Many users have just said the heck with alkalines or lithiums and decided for the shorter battery life in favor of not having to take it apart to change batteries. Otherwise, it's also of a “feels right” construction. Although I thought I'd never like rubber on an amp, it adds a certain symmetrical sexiness to it. Also, the texture differences of the smooth almost plastic like feeling and look of the aluminum is like a sensory twist....I like it.
Ergonomics
Diablo – Interesting enough, most people associate putting their portable amps in their pocket. With the knobs as such, this manner makes PERFECT sense. The tactile feel of them is also “just right”, smooth and not easy to knock and move, but easy enough to move without thinking “these could be easier to turn”. However, the roman numerals viewable through the top holes/slits are somewhat difficult to read and almost moot to have. Although, it is a cool little feature and attention to detail none the less. The split jacks I've never been a fan of, having one on the front and one on the back. Although I still DO NOT like it, at least it's implemented correctly with the Diablo being a mini jack, and not a ¼ jack. Aside from there being a jack on the back, the placement of the jacks is nice though. The power switch however, with headphones plugged in is a bit of a PITA to work. It being recessed doesn't help things either.
iQube – VERY VERY VERY well laid out. The large center knob makes changing volume very easy. Switching the unit on is easy, and switching from low to high gain is easy. Also, the spread apart jacks on the back make it where you can choose to have you plugs terminated with F12's, Switchcrafts, or Neutrik variants, pretty endless variety as they will interfere with nothing. A VERY good idea considering so many companies try to cram EVERYTHING up front, where, the iQube manner makes perfect sense. However, this presents a minor issue. If you're carrying your amp in your pocket, it will be resting ON the jacks and IC's if you have the volume knob facing up, which depending on the situation, is probably not the most ideal (as same goes to the Diablo). Otherwise, in any other situation, is probably the best solution to alleviating the front panel clutter many amps encounter while still maintaining a reasonable size. Kudos. One concern I have though, is how much volume knob travel there is. Which I have no gripe against as it allows you to finely adjust your volume. But with the Grado's on low gain, I could withstand it being maxed for a short period of time. On high gain however, I couldn't. Which suffice to say means I should be on high gain, but I was using Grado's...what about harder to drive phones? I don't own anything higher than 80Ohm, so I can't comment on anything past there, but it's a concern I have without being able to physically trying higher impedance phones. Also, the gain switch isn't as largely dramatic as it is on say a Hornet as the gap between low and high gain isn't as largely prevalent like on other amps. SO I'm left wondering how well the iQube can drive like 250 ohm phones if the volume knob was close to ¾ when using Grado's, and just around ½ for DT770's. Granted that's at the point of rather high, but somewhat tolerable listening volumes. But point is, there's still a lot of knob travel for easier to drive phones.
Treble
Diablo – Grain free. Very smooth sounding. Exemplary in reaching the extremities. Sounds a little synthetic on some frequencies, but nothing worth pointing out specifically. However, my UM2's didn't SHINE on them in this respect, but still sounded good. IMO, UM2s are hard to make shine in the highs to begin with. It's transparent with EXCELLENT decay. However, some recordings sound somewhat blurry in this regard with decay and separation. A good recording is a must. Otherwise, it's enough to hang with the Lisa and other premium amps.
iQube – Pretty much spot on with Skylabs reviews of it being very transparent and clean. It does better the Diablo in this respect. I can't really point out anything wrong with it, or that I disagree with.
Midrange
Diablo – Wow...it sounds clean. It's very articulate. There's a lower midrange hump though where the lower frequencies overlap and it sounds WEIGHTY. It may be from the bass knob implementation, but it sounds a little slow in comparison to how everything else is presented.
iQube – VERY VERY neutral. It has a sense of clarity that's unrivaled. It somewhat reminds me of a Xin SMIV in this regard, but a notch or two better. Very liquidy and smooth. Skylab mentions a hint of reticence which I cannot discern, but in any case, both he and I agree it's something nobody should be worried about.
Bass
Diablo – CLEAR WINNER here. Although it's not really surprising given it's circuitry and designer. Although, the bass knob is NOWHERE NEAR as evident as say like the LISA or PRII. It does something a little different, rather than “boosting” anything (in comparison of course), it just under-tonally makes it WEIGHTY sounding. Not necessarily bigger, but sounds weighty and authoritative. It does however, sound a SMIDGE less smooth than the iQube. Also, it seems to have a bit of a delay on bass adjustments, like it lags between when I turn the knob and I get results, definitely unlike the PRII and Lisa.
iQube – VERY smooth and refined sounding. Doesn't ever hint at being aggressive, but it is smooth and TIGHT. Very articulate on double bass songs as well. Doesn't seem to flinch with anything bass related you throw at it. Again, incredibly smooth and authoritative without being aggressive, I guess Skylab is right when he says “neutral comes to mind.”
Neutrality
Diablo – While it does have a sound, it's fairly neutral with the bass NOT implemented. Otherwise, it has a weighty, tube-like sound quality coming from it. Although, it's neutral, it has the “house sound” of the PRII and LisaIII, although, you could distinguish between them, you can tell it's of them same brethren.
iQube – Definitely the “KING” of neutrality as the term did keep getting said in my head throughout listening. You can easily discern what headphones' qualities are throughout listening to the iQube as it doesn't mask, assert, or make anything apparent. It just plays and reveals the track being played through it, and delivers it to your cans. No tube-esque signature, nothing...just reproduction.
Other qualities to mention
Diablo – While it's a great amp, it does have a couple things against it (company aside). The battery life is rated at 50 hours or so. The manual says not to drain the battery completely, but you almost HAVE TO to see what you're looking at battery life wise. I saw 22 hours out of mine before I could tell it was about to die from volume decreasing and distortion becoming prevalent with bass knob maxed and ½ volume in high gain. Mind you, I had mine for a day before the other thread was posted, so it saw a complete full charge and played on the charger as well.
There's a pop whenever headphones or the IC is inserted into the amp. Power on or even if it's been turned off for a couple seconds, the pop will still happen regardless of the volume setting. And it's an obnoxious pop, not like a thump, but a POP. Also, there's the same pop when the power is switching on OR off. It's of the same intensity as inserting or removing the headphones, well, perhaps taken down a notch.
I did not experience the same hum or whatever noise when it was also plugged into the charger that many reported having.
The PANA feature is cool, but that's about it. Maybe novelty is a better word. What it does is let you, in a linear fashion, go from left-right stereo(normal), to mono, to right-left stereo(reversed). It works flawlessly as evidenced by simple tracks where you know what's coming from what channel, although, I can see no advantage to using it, so it wasn't really implemented and I left it alone. Lastly, with that knob, there's no viewer, clicking or anything to let you know what position you're in, so you're likely never SPOT ON mono, unless you're at the obvious extremes where the knob is maxed out in that direction. A useless feature? To me it was, to others it may not be, but I didn't use it.
iQube – And this is where the iQube differs. There is NO pop or anything when turning on, or inserting cables or headphones. It's a VERY nice comforting detail to have being used to hearing an obnoxious pop. Like said repeatedly, this amp seems to be a refined, very well thought out design.
However, the only thing I can really point out, it does have a quirky kind of presentation, which isn't even a negative, more or less a characteristic. I dunno if it's the signature of the Class D or what, but it sounds “hollow” or I dunno, not sound stage concerned, but just SPACIOUS and hollow. It's nothing negative, just something I found interesting enough to mention. All other SQ characteristics aside, it's how you would be able to tell it were an iQube. It's unlike any other amp, and as said, is probably attributed to the Class D nature. Not 100% sure though. In any case, a VERY nice amp and quality.
In summary
I felt as if the review was warranted. Not just to be “facetious” or anything of that nature, but because there was all this hype around this amp from a reputedly shoddy character, but not really any talk or reviews about it. Which I felt was not only unfair to the PRODUCT(not company), but to the community who was left in the dark about it's sound unless you were on the receiving end of the deal. This was made in reference to there being a bunch of hype around it, but no real feedback. Here's another thread with the SAME intentions and purpose, but without the negativity surrounding it.
HeadphoneHaven - Where Music Enthusiasts Gather. -> Diablo Walks The Earth...
In the case of this, there should be no biased judgments against the product itself, only against the company which puts it out. Let the product speak for itself, especially if it's a working unit. Then, let the CONSUMER decide if it's worth his effort of the risk to pursue getting one. You can only warn so much before it appears as an agenda or childish effort to bash somebody or something without personal warrant. I found that many of the bashers were only bashers because of not an experience they had themselves, but because it was friends of friends of friends who had the experiences or was something they read about online. I understand the loyalty aspect of it all, but does it honestly and ultimately give you the right to badmouth something or someone you haven't first hand experienced? Seems a little childish and immature like the kids on the playground “he doesn't like Jimmy, so I don't like him...” when you haven't even talked or had any interactions with the guy or product it doesn't give you anything to talk about, just as those who haven't heard anything to recommend/against something.
That STILL does NOT mean I condone his practices or his past, but I for one, was at least willing to give the PRODUCT a fair shake. Which is more to say than many other people.
Now the all bearing question, who do I think wins? With the price tags aside, which is an important factor (which we Americans have no control over the dollar value), both amps are fantastic. Well, given the history of the Diablo, that holds a major toll on it. The loud popping noises when inserting anything into it are bothersome. Also, user serviceability not being an option is also a huge flaw. But it's appearance is one to demand attention. The attention to details is unlike anything else out there. Also, it's ergonomics and tactile feel are “just right”.
But given the past of the Diablo, I couldn't recommend it to anybody unless they were able to physically hold it in their hand before handing money over, i.e purchasing in person or purchasing second hand from a reputable source. The sound emitted from it is definitely top tier quality, but there is in fact too much to risk, especially when you're talking that kind of amount of money.
Where, on the other hand, the iQube comes from an extremely reputable source, is of the same caliber build quality, and also offers the same top tier sound. You don't have some of those, arguably by some useless features, you get a top class amplifier which imposes hardly any characteristics on the sound, yet breathes a new life into your music collection.
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*A couple notes about the Diablo. This unit from what the owner has told me is a “dated” unit. Also, one of the reasons this unit was received was because the previous units' charger was faulty (and also likely believed the battery to be bad). One owner even said the replacement unit he was sent according to Larry is “modded and enhanced”. As to what those differences are, who knows, as Larry has yet to reply to my question about it and the owner can't recall exactly what they were when Larry disclosed what the mods were. Lastly, the LED's are faulty on this unit. It doesn't light up either when charging like it's supposed to or when turned on. Everything else is functional, and working properly, but the LEDS won't light up. I can't exactly go into the amp and check for shoddy contact points as the unit is glued shut.
That part aside, it seems there were various configurations owners received. Some owners reported that their Diablo is bright, while this one sounds somewhat warm and dark, but definitely not muffled, and definitely NOT bright. In fact, it synergizes very nicely with Grado's. Another owner said his controls affect the sound much more than the one I have does, and is of a different implementation that what others have said it does on their units. i.e. The bass knob is nowhere near subtle when in use, like mine is. Which is likely where all the varying opinions in SQ are coming from.
As nobody's apparently sounds similar, this review cannot be concrete in any shape or form given the inconsistencies in the manufacturing and whatnot. Some people think it's one of the better amps out there, while others think it's nothing special and actually gave it away, lol. Who knows if those opinions are attributed to the either sour or pleasant interaction, but none the less, the opinions of SQ are not just varied, but GREATLY varied. And again, is likely due to the model variations and inconsistencies in manufacturing...
That said, one of the owners is sending me his “modded” version which he feels is a better representation of what the Diablo has to offer, to compare the two, and give an update on the differences....but in any case, BUYER BEWARE.
