[jmills8]

Tnx a lot for the input. I see Cowon PL its the amazing day( miss it so much and going to buy 1 more time ) . Could you please tell a bit what Romi have that missed in Phatlab ?

Better build , more power , clean and detailed , more sub bass .

 

[eskamobob1]

I have the first romi amp , two Masskobo , and HAD the phantasy 2. The romi and mass kobo are neck and neck. I sold both kobos. The phantasy was good but not great , sold it. I kept the romi.

Wow. Extremely extremely different opinion than me. I don't have the pro but the 428 is the best ampnive heard in the ~1500 range just end of (desktop, portable, high power, low power, etc). I would personaly rate the technicalities of both the 428 and the phantasy 2 at the very very highest level of portables being a solid several tiers above stuff like the bx2+ (again, not head the pro), HPA-01M, wa8, and c9.

Only place romi beats any of the other mentioned devices is in raw power but it still can't run sus, Diana (V2 and TC) sound better underpowered on 428/phantasy, and the etch gets kinda extreme on other hifimans so you are better off with something like a c9 that can reduce that. Tbh im currious about the pro but in the ultra high end of portables the plus simply gets out competed imo

Edit: these opinions held whether using a p6 pro, hugo 2 or sp1k as a source as well

 

[jmills8]

Wow. Extremely extremely different opinion than me. I don't have the pro but the 428 is the best ampnive heard in the ~1500 range just end of (desktop, portable, high power, low power, etc). I would personaly rate the technicalities of both the 428 and the phantasy 2 at the very very highest level of portables being a solid several tiers above stuff like the bx2+ (again, not head the pro), HPA-01M, wa8, and c9.

Only place romi beats any of the other mentioned devices is in raw power but it still can't run sus, Diana (V2 and TC) sound better underpowered on 428/phantasy, and the etch gets kinda extreme on other hifimans so you are better off with something like a c9 that can reduce that. Tbh im currious about the pro but in the ultra high end of portables the plus simply gets out competed imo



Edit: these opinions held whether using a p6 pro, hugo 2 or sp1k as a source as well

Great to have different opinions and that both had the same amps. I used to walk HK with mass Kobo in my fanny belt. Also we have different ears , culture , likes and music. Also Im a guy who went to over 200 live concerts and have DJd for 12 years so different experience in music.

 

[eskamobob1]

Great to have different opinions and that both had the same amps. I used to walk HK with mass Kobo in my fanny belt. Also we have different ears , culture , likes and music. Also Im a guy who went to over 200 live concerts and have DJd for 12 years so different experience in music.

Genuinely could be as simple as the amps like out different sources differently too because the bx2+ in every setup ive tried it in sounds ****ing horible timbre wise with a tendency towards glare and crunch in the trebble and etch in the vocals and not anything like live music aside from garage party Ska with blow amps and everything turned up to the point its clipping

Just for posterity sake, I listen to basicaly all kinds of music except trap (country, jazz, metal, lofi, hip hop, 90s Ska, etc) and here are some of my favorite portable setups (note, all of them ended uo sounding best to me using P6 Pro on line out over hugo 2, LPGT, and sp1k)

428 -> D8000 Pro - extreme incisiveness with just a hair of sweetness and the best tactility I've heard within texture to date including my desktop chains

428 -> Diana V2 - underpowered, but not by a ton dispite the power ratings. With a bass port on dv2 I could have used a bit more inciveness in the very low bass so not ideal for emd like lorn/infected mushroom, but fantastic timbre, great texture, laser focused stage placement, and just a great experience all around

Wa8/Phantasy II/01M -> HD800S - this 3 part setup ended up being my end game for quite a while. With 3 extremely different sound it ends up being suitable for all music (used 01m for metal/hiphop/edm/etc, phantasy ii for orchestral/ambient/lofi, and wa8 for country/jazz/anything with great male vocals). Tbh, if you told me I could only own 1 headphone this is the setup I would return to even including desktop options for amps.

C9 -> Utopia - while clearly less technical than the 428 or the phantasy ii, I think the synergy here just works better. Extremely deep stage and a bit of lushness to take the glare off of utopia. Overall just a very nice experience

 

[Nostoi]

Genuinely could be as simple as the amps like out different sources differently too because the bx2+ in every setup ive tried it in sounds ****ing horible timbre wise with a tendency towards glare and crunch in the trebble and etch in the vocals and not anything like live music aside from garage party Ska with blow amps and everything turned up to the point its clipping

Just for posterity sake, I listen to basicaly all kinds of music except trap (country, jazz, metal, lofi, hip hop, 90s Ska, etc) and here are some of my favorite portable setups (note, all of them ended uo sounding best to me using P6 Pro on line out over hugo 2, LPGT, and sp1k)

428 -> D8000 Pro - extreme incisiveness with just a hair of sweetness and the best tactility I've heard within texture to date including my desktop chains

428 -> Diana V2 - underpowered, but not by a ton dispite the power ratings. With a bass port on dv2 I could have used a bit more inciveness in the very low bass so not ideal for emd like lorn/infected mushroom, but fantastic timbre, great texture, laser focused stage placement, and just a great experience all around

Wa8/Phantasy II/01M -> HD800S - this 3 part setup ended up being my end game for quite a while. With 3 extremely different sound it ends up being suitable for all music (used 01m for metal/hiphop/edm/etc, phantasy ii for orchestral/ambient/lofi, and wa8 for country/jazz/anything with great male vocals). Tbh, if you told me I could only own 1 headphone this is the setup I would return to even including desktop options for amps.

C9 -> Utopia - while clearly less technical than the 428 or the phantasy ii, I think the synergy here just works better. Extremely deep stage and a bit of lushness to take the glare off of utopia. Overall just a very nice experience

*Puts 428 back at top of the list for next purchase*

 

[eskamobob1]

*Puts 428 back at top of the list for next purchase*

Do it m8. 428 is genuinely astonishing.

 

[Nostoi]

Do it m8. 428 is genuinely astonishing.

Yup, been on my list for aeons. Since I now have the D8K Pro, I feel it would be impolite not to.

 

[jmills8]

Genuinely could be as simple as the amps like out different sources differently too because the bx2+ in every setup ive tried it in sounds ****ing horible timbre wise with a tendency towards glare and crunch in the trebble and etch in the vocals and not anything like live music aside from garage party Ska with blow amps and everything turned up to the point its clipping

Just for posterity sake, I listen to basicaly all kinds of music except trap (country, jazz, metal, lofi, hip hop, 90s Ska, etc) and here are some of my favorite portable setups (note, all of them ended uo sounding best to me using P6 Pro on line out over hugo 2, LPGT, and sp1k)

428 -> D8000 Pro - extreme incisiveness with just a hair of sweetness and the best tactility I've heard within texture to date including my desktop chains

428 -> Diana V2 - underpowered, but not by a ton dispite the power ratings. With a bass port on dv2 I could have used a bit more inciveness in the very low bass so not ideal for emd like lorn/infected mushroom, but fantastic timbre, great texture, laser focused stage placement, and just a great experience all around

Wa8/Phantasy II/01M -> HD800S - this 3 part setup ended up being my end game for quite a while. With 3 extremely different sound it ends up being suitable for all music (used 01m for metal/hiphop/edm/etc, phantasy ii for orchestral/ambient/lofi, and wa8 for country/jazz/anything with great male vocals). Tbh, if you told me I could only own 1 headphone this is the setup I would return to even including desktop options for amps.

C9 -> Utopia - while clearly less technical than the 428 or the phantasy ii, I think the synergy here just works better. Extremely deep stage and a bit of lushness to take the glare off of utopia. Overall just a very nice experience

Glad you found your sound. I had all those headphones aswell.

 

[eskamobob1]

Glad you found your sound. I had all those headphones aswell.

Im glad you did as well! As we all know its a massively subjective hobby. Just giving my own experience so the OP can have as many data points as possible

 

[LuckyPantsu]

Do it m8. 428 is genuinely astonishing.

I’m a bit worried about output power, but looks really interesting. Need to decide between it and Phatlab Ph2 now
But as I have sassy gt already and 1000se are not power-hungry I hope that even modest output level of 428 would be enough

 

[eskamobob1]

I’m a bit worrying about output power , but looks really interesting. Need to decide between it and Phatlab Ph2 now
But as I have sassy gt already and 1000se are not power-hungry I hope that even modest output level of 428 would be enough

First off, HEKSE are going to be a real toss up on the 428. Arya wasnt great on the 428 due to both power and synergy but I also know that the HEKSE is voiced differently and easier to run.

Quickly on the power note though:

Its important to understand how power is measured because mass kobo (and many other Japanese brands) don't do it the same way as most companies. As a general rule, power for solid state amps will be peak output at 1kHz at 1% THD (with whatever load gives the higher number). Essentially the "this is all she's got" number. All the normal brands like topping, singxer, benchmark, and basically everyone that isn't super high end and Asian will report it this way.​

​

MassKobo on the other hand reports sustained output at 1kHz at 0.05% THD (at 32ohm but lets still assume this is max power). Honestly, on most devices this isn't huge but it can have especially present affects when running up against the current limits of a power supply (an issue far more prevalent in portables than most desktop gear obviously). A great example of this is the Audio GD master 9 where this is the difference between a 0.2W output rating and a 9W output rating at 32 ohm.​

​

This is all just to say that while its not a bad idea to look at power, if you dont have the full curve you arent getting the full picture. In my experience the 428, while obviously not even close to the power of a C9 or bx2+, has a lot more on tap than the specs would imply

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[immortalsoul]

What amp is 428. I have the BX2+ and the Cayin C9 and I like both but a new toy would be nice

 

[Nostoi]

What amp is 428. I have the BX2+ and the Cayin C9 and I like both but a new toy would be nice

Mass Kobo.

 

[jmills8]

TH900 with this on the go.

 

[immortalsoul]

Has any of you tried the new Romi BX2 Pro? I really like the sound of the Romi bx2 + more than my Cayin C9 amp and I am really curious about the Romi BX2 pro. I am wondering if it really is a big improvement over the BX2 + because it is twice the price of the BX2 +