[edwardsean]

Hi Ray,

I love the Protector and am still surprised by the level of audio quality you were able to shoehorn into such a compact form factor. It was happily part of my dream portable rig. It's still part of my dream portable rig, but less happy as it looks over its shoulder to the SR-71b. I'm glad you haven't stood still. I'm willing to make the moves forward with you. Just a couple questions if you would. How much of a step up is the SR71b from the Protector using a single ended source? Particularly, is it overkill for IEMs like the JH13 compared to the Protector or is it worth the upgrade? Thanks Ray. I'll be looking forward to it.

Edward

 

[3602]

Well, two questions here.
One, power consumption, please. Ten top-notch op-amps...OPA627 (if one can actually get any in these days)? How long until the juice dies?
Two, wouldn't it be easier (arguably better) to use a small 4-channel pot for volume and another (lockable) pot for pan/balance?
Bonus question: Any headphone ever made is just a bit farfetched, don't you think? K1000?
 
Quote:

Please call it the AC130, so I can say to my friends that I have an AC130 in my pocket.

WIN

 

[Trysaeder]

^quality SMALL 4 channel pots are ridiculously hard to find. Even 2 matched normal pots are quite time consuming to find on a mass production scale.
 
I'd love to see a digital control.

 

[3602]

^Hmm yes, got that right.
Even the Fiio E5 has a digital VC...
 

 

[LFF]

I am surprised to read how easily some of you guys are annoyed.
 
I am just happy I can carry great stuff around in my pocket to begin with. Remember the days of carrying bulky walkmen around with one or two mixtapes? I guess that shows my age a bit but I am just fascinated at the stuff you can get nowadays. If I have to take the amp out to fiddle with the knobs a bit then so be it. It's a small trade off for superior sound.

 
If it still bugs you, then get something else and stop complaining.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Would you honestly expect it to say that it won't? ¬ _¬

That would mean it would stand toe to toe with his own Apache.
 

 

[jpelg]

This one is definitely pushing the envelope for battery-powered, mini amps. I love my Protector, and know it can power just about any conventional headphone I would want to throw at it, and sounds great. I would go out on a limb to say I am confident the new SR71b Quad will sound great also.
 
Now, whether you need balanced drive for your headphones, or if the battery-draw and/or dual-channel volume pots of the SR71b Quad will be deterents because of your style of use, I can't say for everyone. Personally, I wouldn't expect many to use this in a "pocketable" configuration. However, for those that want a high-end transportable setup, that operates off-the-grid, and can be packed in a minimal case for easy carry & movement (home-to-office, train/bus trip, long subway commute, outdoor deck, picnic table, hammock), I can see this definitely working well.
 
I look forward to seeing & hearing it.
 

 

[swt61]

 
Quote:

I can't imagine the frustration that users will experience trying to hand match the volume levels using two tiny knobs.  It also means that while portable, you'll always have to take it out of pocket or wherever to make volume adjustments to make sure that things stay matched. 

Quote:

Mr Samls,
  Not sure what your beef is with Mr Maher,  but I think he brings up a good point that using two volume pots is an epic fail.  The question is what is the reasoning behind this? If it because the pany pots are really that good and it's worth the trade off of user annoyance, or that it's just easier to use two and bring the product to market that much quicker?  Coming from the stand point of a consumer I would want something that works right every time that I don't have to fiddle with to get right. I think other have brought up some good ideas to use digital volume control or have special purpose pots made specifically for this amp. Any reason it can't be done that way?
 

Nat and Namin mak good pointz.
 
I had Fitz convert two Darkvoice 336i amps to monoblock balanced amps, one for left and one for right. Balancing the volume pots on those larger home amps was a PITA, so much so that once I finally dialed them in I no longer adjusted the volume anymore.
 
I can only imagine trying to dial in two tiny knobs inside my pocket! I am pretty handy in the pocket dexterity department too, but that's a story for another day.
 
I also don't feel that Nate holds any malice toward you whatsoever. He is simply bringing up quite a valid point. Had you come up with a brilliant solution, I have no doubt he would have praised you for it.
 
Of coarse you also think I'm only here to pick on you too, so I'm sure none of this will matter. Build a great amp at a fair price and we'd all be singing the Ry Samls praises.
 
Oh, I'll be the first to volunteer my balanced [size=10pt]β[/size]22 for the toe to toe shootout as well. Good Luck!

 

[adktitan]

Quote:

I can't imagine the frustration that users will experience trying to hand match the volume levels using two tiny knobs.  It also means that while portable, you'll always have to take it out of pocket or wherever to make volume adjustments to make sure that things stay matched. 

I don't think there will be any frustration at all. It's suppossed to not be matched according to how I read it on his website, so exact volume matching isn't even the purpose of this amp, right? It seems it was designed just the opposite. I mean, the way I read this from the website: 
 
"We have implemented TWO independent, heavily modified Panasonic volume controls, one for each channel, in this design. This will give many listeners out there the ability to balance the left & right channels independently according to their hearing. You might not believe this but more than 80% of the people can’t equally hear from both ears. Also many analog players might not give you equally balanced signals. Music files might not have been recorded with perfect left & right amplitude of signal strength, this dual mono high quality POTs configuration makes it a great feature for many out there."
 
To me, If i was to use this on the train, and the tracks and doors were on my right side, I could turn up the volume on that side to drown them out. Especially if I hear different in each ear. Right?
 
 """  "To meTi

 

[SHADYMILKMAN]

4 pot balanced volume control with a switch for:
 
Left Dual Right
 
One knob, 3 functions ... best of everything!

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

I don't think there will be any frustration at all. It's suppossed to not be matched according to how I read it on his website, so exact volume matching isn't even the purpose of this amp, right? It seems it was designed just the opposite. I mean, the way I read this from the website: 
 
"We have implemented TWO independent, heavily modified Panasonic volume controls, one for each channel, in this design. This will give many listeners out there the ability to balance the left & right channels independently according to their hearing. You might not believe this but more than 80% of the people can’t equally hear from both ears. Also many analog players might not give you equally balanced signals. Music files might not have been recorded with perfect left & right amplitude of signal strength, this dual mono high quality POTs configuration makes it a great feature for many out there."
 
To me, If i was to use this on the train, and the tracks and doors were on my right side, I could turn up the volume on that side to drown them out. Especially if I hear different in each ear. Right?
 
 """  "To meTi

1. If you like skewed soundstage and unbalanced L/R volume levels, by all means, strive to have your channels imbalanced.  Me, I'm extremely sensitive to this and have correctly found/identified channel imbalances in headphones with drives that were supposed to be matched to within 1dB.  So for me, the idea that when I want things to be balanced I have to try and guess my way by matching to independent continuously variable pots is not fun. 
 
2. Raising the volume to drown out ambient noise is a good way to go deaf. 
 
3. If I owned a source that exhibited perceived channel imbalance I wouldn't own it for very long.  And I can't say that I've read very many (any) threads from people complaining about source channel imbalance problems and looking for an amp to fix it.
 
Don't get me wrong, I understand the desire for those that either have hearing loss in one ear or a hearing imbalance.  Heck, the last amp that I built for a friend used dual attenuators because he has about a 3dB difference between his ears.  I was able to design an accompanying scale so that the position of each attenuator was easily able to be matched and then offset one step to account for the desired level difference.  I know that this approach wouldn't be possible in the portable realm (no stepped attenuator small enough) but I simply find fault with the design choice made.  I'd probably end up finding a way to link the two pots if I owned one, maybe something as simple as a rubber band to couple the two knobs together would work ok and allow for in pocket, matched volume adjustments.  Who knows really, it just seems like an odd problem to cause. 

 

[adktitan]

 
 

 
2. Raising the volume to drown out ambient noise is a good way to go deaf. 
 
 

 I thought this device was the new hi-tech way to get that "after the show" ear ringing...one ear at a time...
 

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

I still have the Tomahawk which to me is the ideal portable amp, holding its own with the Hornet and using inexpensive AAA batteries with extreme longevity between battery replacement.  Plus built like a tank--or maybe a missle??

yeah, that's my consolation too (for not jumping on each new RSA or similar product). also testimony to RSA quality that my TH is still awesome. I do look forward to ogling RSA71B pictures here, though!

 

[AudioDwebe]

I don't see how the dual volume pot will be an issue at all, really.  I've currently got the Protector (Hornet in the past), and the volume knob on it has enough resistence that moving it accidently while in the pocket seems almost a non-issue. 
 
Congrats, Ray, for (I'm sure) another fine product.
 
Cheers.
 
'Dwebe

 

[moodyrn]

Well one thing is for sure, he has gotten a lot of feedback and pub about this amp. Which is a good thing for Ray. He can definitely say people know about it; eventhough it doesn't even exist yet.