Review: Resonessence Labs Invicta - new high end DAC/amp/playback system

[burnspbesq]

A quick Google search revealed that all of the digital photography blogs are going nuts because Lexar just announced a 256 gig SDXC card, to ship next month. That's equivalent to four maxed-out iPod Touches (or is that iPods Touch?). Expensive (one site said 670 pounds), but...

Now the SD card slot becomes a really interesting feature. That's well over 600 albums at 44.1/16 resolution.

 

[project86]

The best prices always seem to be just a few steps below the highest capacities. I see 128GB cards for $120 to $130. That seems rather reasonable, and you know prices are only going to drop.

 

[bmichels]

Just an idéa . It is small enough to be used outside under the patio with a headphone and the music on the SD Card. So... Could it be possible to power it with an external battery rather than à power cord ?

 

[project86]

Probably. You'd have to figure out some kind of battery setup, but I've heard of guys doing that with their systems for various reasons and it seems very possible. The Invicta should be easy since it is a single unit, and not a monster Class A power hog amp or something like that. It might even be as simple as a UPS battery backup type thing.

 

[bmichels]

Ok , now that i am ready to get an invicta, what high-end headphone can you recommend that Has à good synergy with it ?

 

[twsmith]

Quote:

Ok , now that i am ready to get an invicta, what high-end headphone can you recommend that Has à good synergy with it ?

 
I've been using Senn HD800s with my Invicta -- I think the synergy is fantastic.  But don't use the stock HP cable -- the Stefan Audioart Endorphin cable would be a good choice.   I tried several Cardas cables (including the new Cardas Clear) but didn't like them at all.   Remember that if you're using exclusively the Invicta's own headphone amp (which is outstanding), it is single-ended, so you need to terminate the HP cable appropriately.   I've used an external balanced amp and balanced HPs with the Invicta but find that the Invicta's own HP (single ended) amp to be much superior.  Balanced drive for headphones is vastly overrated in my opinion. 

 

[project86]

Quote:

Ok , now that i am ready to get an invicta, what high-end headphone can you recommend that Has à good synergy with it ?

 
 
Errr..... most of them? Seriously, take your pick. HD800 sounded really great, as did Ultrasone Edition 8, Lawton LA7000/Denon D7000, and a bunch of others that would be considered "high-end". It probably won't be good for the HiFiMAN HE-6, but the HE-500 should be great, and even the "lowly" HE-400 is very enjoyable imo. In-ear monitors also pair well with Invicta, so there are tons of high-end options there as well. 

 

[bmichels]

And how does the LCD-2  or LCD-3  pair with the invicta ?  those are my prefered choice so far...

 

[Radio_head]

The Invicta works very well with both.

 

[sphinxvc]

Proj 86, sorry if I missed this but... Do you know if Resonessence ever addressed the high output impedance issue on the HPOs? Wondering if the production version is more ideal for low imp IEMs and the like. 
 
Thanks.

 

[twsmith]

Proj 86, sorry if I missed this but... Do you know if Resonessence ever addressed the high output impedance issue on the HPOs? Wondering if the production version is more ideal for low imp IEMs and the like. 
 
I'm not Proj  86, but have been a happy Invicta user for nearly a year.   According to the published specs, the Invicta's headphone output impedance is stated as 1.0 ohms.  Sounds like this issue has been addressed in the production units.   I've never used my unit with low impedance IEMs though -- but I would bet it works just fine.

 

[project86]

twsmith answered the question perfectly. The built in amp on the production model should be great.

Also, it looks like they are finally starting to make the announcement about their new Concero product. http://www.ultrahighendreview.com/resonessence-lab-concero-usb-dac/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resonessence-lab-concero-usb-dac

The Resonessence website is supposed to be redone and ready to go any time now, and will have more pics and details about the new Concero. I'll be getting one in for review and am excited to hear what it has to offer. I'm still not clear on some of the details - such as which specific Sabre chip is being used. But if it shares much of the same processing core as the Invicta, it should be a killer for the price.

 

[burnspbesq]

twsmith answered the question perfectly. The built in amp on the production model should be great.
Also, it looks like they are finally starting to make the announcement about their new Concero product. http://www.ultrahighendreview.com/resonessence-lab-concero-usb-dac/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resonessence-lab-concero-usb-dac
The Resonessence website is supposed to be redone and ready to go any time now, and will have more pics and details about the new Concero. I'll be getting one in for review and am excited to hear what it has to offer. I'm still not clear on some of the details - such as which specific Sabre chip is being used. But if it shares much of the same processing core as the Invicta, it should be a killer for the price.

Also here.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/resonessence-labs-concero-dac

Lots of questions, starting with "bus powered?" and "is it really as small as those photos make it look?" But this is really, really interesting.

 

[project86]

Yep, those are both good questions. As for the latter, I do think it is that small. Should make it easy to fit into just about any system... Though it might appear out of place sitting next to some huge amp or something. For bus power, I assume they are using some high quality DC-DC regulators and probably some other scheme for filtering the power. I must say that I didn't think really high quality results were obtainable in this way until I experienced it myself with the Izmo M1 unit.

 

[burnspbesq]

I ordered a Concero.  This should be interesting.