Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
REVIEW: Musical Paradise MP-302 Class D headphone/speaker amp with USB DAC
Description
Garry from Musical Paradise asked if I would review a new amp, and he sent me a loaner of the MP-302, which is a kind of swiss-army knife kind of a product. Based around a Class D Digital amplifier core, it can drive headphones off that amp, it can drive speakers (rated at 15WPC, although there is no load rating supplied). It also has a USB DAC, and even a Karaoke function (which can be defeated by switch, and which I never used).
Info: http://www.musicalparadise.ca/mp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=74
It’s a nice looking product. I only wish it had an onboard power supply as opposed to the outboard supply, but it’s very nice ergonomically. You can switch between the analog line in and the USB DAC input.
I used the MP-302 primarily as a headphone amp. Given the VERY affordable price of $125, which includes a USB DAC, and that the headphone output is the same Class D amp used for the speaker outs, this is a very interesting product.
Initially I connected my iPad to the USB DAC input, and played lossless files. The USB DAC worked well, with no operational foibles.
There is a bit louder of a turn-on transient than I would have liked. I would actually recommend plugging in the headphones after turn-on.
Sound
I tried the MP-302 with the Denon D7000, the Beyer T1, and the Hifiman HE-6 – so a low impedance, high sensitivity can, a high-impedance, high sensitivity, and a low impedance, low sensitivity. The latter (the HE-6) did not work well at all, indicating the MP-302 is current limited. It would not drive the HE-6 to reasonable but loud levels without distortion. So for people thinking that this amp would work well with the HE-6, it does not, unfortunately.
To make sure it worked well, I then tried the Denon 7000, which it drove easily and effortlessly. The sound here was quite good (which I will describe below). Encouraged, I tried the T1 – and again, it drove them easily and effortlessly to very loud levels, with plenty of power to spare (again indicating that the amp is better at delivering voltage than current).
It’s a lot to ask a $125 amp/dac combo to drive $1K headphones and sound good. And the MP-302 did an admirable job. Compared to better amps, it lacks somewhat in transparency, is a little bit grainy, and is just slightly bright and lean sounding. But again, that is in comparison to the $750 Meier Concerto, which doesn’t include a DAC! The Meier is a much better amp, but saying this is almost silly. What’s impressive is that the MP-302 actually manages to sound very respectable driving $1K headphones, given it costs $125. I found the sound with the D7000 to be remarkably good, in fact, and would not hesitate to recommend it to D7000 users who wanted a home amp on the cheap.
I compared the sound of JUST the USB DAC in the MP-302 to the USB DAC of the NuForce uDAC by running each of these into my Leben and using it as an amp. The two DACs sounded almost identical. I was surprised, in fact, about how similar they were. This led me to do a quick comparison of the NuForce driving headphones versus the Musical Paradise. Here I felt the MP-302 was a little better sounding, although again the sound was not that different. The MP-302 had a little better bass extension and weight, and was a little cleaner in the treble, although both have a bit of a lean-ish sound compared to better amps.
This is sort of the defining feature of the MP-302's sound when compared to better amps. It's a little grainy, a little veiled, and a little "threadbare", compared to more expensive amps. But in fairness, it costs only $25 more than the uDAC did! Comparing it to the $700+ Meier Concerto really isn't all that fair; but that's all I had to compare it to. I also compared it to the Meier Stepdance portable amp, and the Stepdance sounds considerably better. But even there, it's almost three times the price of the MP-302.
I tried the MP-302 driving some small speakers from RBH Acoustics, and up to a reasonable level, this worked pretty well. The sound signature was the same – generally neutral with just a bit of leanness to the mids and just a bit of mid-treble hardness, in relative terms. But taken on its own, the sound was quite good, and when you consider the price, it’s remarkably good.
I was really worried that all that Karaoke stuff would really mess up the sound, but since there is a defeat switch for it, this did alleviate that concern somewhat. On the other hand, one could imagine at this price point that if those features were eliminated, perhaps the performance as a stereo amp/DAC/Headphone amp could be improved a little over what it is, although again, it was pretty good considering the price.
UPDATE 1-19-11
I was asked by Musical Paradise to try the MP-302 with a better quality, 24V power supply, as opposed to the 18V supply that they ship with it. I did, by way of a "Pink Floyd" 24V supply loaned to me. The results were that the amp did indeed sound better, and seemed to be able to drive headphones with more authority. It was not transcendent, but it was an improvement, and something very worthy of consideration. There is a notable sense of additional ease.
I was also asked to take a picture with the top off - so here is that:
Conclusions
Budget products are a challenge to review, especially when you spend your time listening to much more expensive gear, as I generally do. It’s easier to pick out the slight deficiencies in a budget product than it is to convey just how good the sound is for the money, and that is certainly the case with the MP-302. Here we have a home/desktop amp with a TON of features, that can sound quite good even with high end headphones, that includes a more than decent USB DAC, and that sells for a crazy-low $125. I’ve seen a lot of threads asking “what amp to buy for $100”, and I used to laugh and think “there isn’t one!”. Well, the MP-302 will be my recommendation to anyone wanting a desktop amp that doesn’t break the bank. Does it beat more expensive amps" Nope. But for the money, and given the feature set, it’s hard to go wrong with the MP-302, if you are on a budget.
Description
Garry from Musical Paradise asked if I would review a new amp, and he sent me a loaner of the MP-302, which is a kind of swiss-army knife kind of a product. Based around a Class D Digital amplifier core, it can drive headphones off that amp, it can drive speakers (rated at 15WPC, although there is no load rating supplied). It also has a USB DAC, and even a Karaoke function (which can be defeated by switch, and which I never used).
Info: http://www.musicalparadise.ca/mp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=74
It’s a nice looking product. I only wish it had an onboard power supply as opposed to the outboard supply, but it’s very nice ergonomically. You can switch between the analog line in and the USB DAC input.
I used the MP-302 primarily as a headphone amp. Given the VERY affordable price of $125, which includes a USB DAC, and that the headphone output is the same Class D amp used for the speaker outs, this is a very interesting product.
Initially I connected my iPad to the USB DAC input, and played lossless files. The USB DAC worked well, with no operational foibles.
There is a bit louder of a turn-on transient than I would have liked. I would actually recommend plugging in the headphones after turn-on.
Sound
I tried the MP-302 with the Denon D7000, the Beyer T1, and the Hifiman HE-6 – so a low impedance, high sensitivity can, a high-impedance, high sensitivity, and a low impedance, low sensitivity. The latter (the HE-6) did not work well at all, indicating the MP-302 is current limited. It would not drive the HE-6 to reasonable but loud levels without distortion. So for people thinking that this amp would work well with the HE-6, it does not, unfortunately.
To make sure it worked well, I then tried the Denon 7000, which it drove easily and effortlessly. The sound here was quite good (which I will describe below). Encouraged, I tried the T1 – and again, it drove them easily and effortlessly to very loud levels, with plenty of power to spare (again indicating that the amp is better at delivering voltage than current).
It’s a lot to ask a $125 amp/dac combo to drive $1K headphones and sound good. And the MP-302 did an admirable job. Compared to better amps, it lacks somewhat in transparency, is a little bit grainy, and is just slightly bright and lean sounding. But again, that is in comparison to the $750 Meier Concerto, which doesn’t include a DAC! The Meier is a much better amp, but saying this is almost silly. What’s impressive is that the MP-302 actually manages to sound very respectable driving $1K headphones, given it costs $125. I found the sound with the D7000 to be remarkably good, in fact, and would not hesitate to recommend it to D7000 users who wanted a home amp on the cheap.
I compared the sound of JUST the USB DAC in the MP-302 to the USB DAC of the NuForce uDAC by running each of these into my Leben and using it as an amp. The two DACs sounded almost identical. I was surprised, in fact, about how similar they were. This led me to do a quick comparison of the NuForce driving headphones versus the Musical Paradise. Here I felt the MP-302 was a little better sounding, although again the sound was not that different. The MP-302 had a little better bass extension and weight, and was a little cleaner in the treble, although both have a bit of a lean-ish sound compared to better amps.
This is sort of the defining feature of the MP-302's sound when compared to better amps. It's a little grainy, a little veiled, and a little "threadbare", compared to more expensive amps. But in fairness, it costs only $25 more than the uDAC did! Comparing it to the $700+ Meier Concerto really isn't all that fair; but that's all I had to compare it to. I also compared it to the Meier Stepdance portable amp, and the Stepdance sounds considerably better. But even there, it's almost three times the price of the MP-302.
I tried the MP-302 driving some small speakers from RBH Acoustics, and up to a reasonable level, this worked pretty well. The sound signature was the same – generally neutral with just a bit of leanness to the mids and just a bit of mid-treble hardness, in relative terms. But taken on its own, the sound was quite good, and when you consider the price, it’s remarkably good.
I was really worried that all that Karaoke stuff would really mess up the sound, but since there is a defeat switch for it, this did alleviate that concern somewhat. On the other hand, one could imagine at this price point that if those features were eliminated, perhaps the performance as a stereo amp/DAC/Headphone amp could be improved a little over what it is, although again, it was pretty good considering the price.
UPDATE 1-19-11
I was asked by Musical Paradise to try the MP-302 with a better quality, 24V power supply, as opposed to the 18V supply that they ship with it. I did, by way of a "Pink Floyd" 24V supply loaned to me. The results were that the amp did indeed sound better, and seemed to be able to drive headphones with more authority. It was not transcendent, but it was an improvement, and something very worthy of consideration. There is a notable sense of additional ease.
I was also asked to take a picture with the top off - so here is that:
Conclusions
Budget products are a challenge to review, especially when you spend your time listening to much more expensive gear, as I generally do. It’s easier to pick out the slight deficiencies in a budget product than it is to convey just how good the sound is for the money, and that is certainly the case with the MP-302. Here we have a home/desktop amp with a TON of features, that can sound quite good even with high end headphones, that includes a more than decent USB DAC, and that sells for a crazy-low $125. I’ve seen a lot of threads asking “what amp to buy for $100”, and I used to laugh and think “there isn’t one!”. Well, the MP-302 will be my recommendation to anyone wanting a desktop amp that doesn’t break the bank. Does it beat more expensive amps" Nope. But for the money, and given the feature set, it’s hard to go wrong with the MP-302, if you are on a budget.
