[Strayngs]

RIP saw this earlier today too.

 

[smashey]

Okay, thanks for your detailed info. I´v had first DF Red, then Chord Mojo and now ADI-2 DAC fs, and DF Red with ESS was not natural sounding for me. A very musical DAC, but a bit plastic sound. Mojo on the other hand was quite good - more spacious and realistic but didn´t work as preamp that well, i don´t know why.. and i prefer combining devices. It gets too hot as well, when you must charge it sometimes while it´s on. Then AKM's AK4493 in RME sound quite bright and strelile but very realistic and natural and deep/wide! The best so far, but its so clean that ears get tired quite fast, with RNHP as well, because it is also a very clean.. I have Burr Brown DAC in Teac amp as well, but the amp part is not transparent at all in the mid freq area, so i use that one for some hifi speakers only, without DAC part. So far i prefer AKM, even it might be not perfect, but i don´t know if there is a such thing : )

Hi UtaA
Sorry to slightly hijack this thread - I do have a RNHP on the way so it's related - a question on the transition to the RME. I've got a Chord Mojo at present and will probably run the Rupert Neve from that for a while but planning to upgrade to a true deskmounted DAC before the money runs out completely. The two on my shortlist are the Chord Qutest and the ADI-2 DAC fs. I've DT990's and now HD660S headphones, and that may grow to include a closed back option too. I'm curious how you found the transition from your Mojo to the RME?

 

[486892]

Hi UtaA
Sorry to slightly hijack this thread - I do have a RNHP on the way so it's related - a question on the transition to the RME. I've got a Chord Mojo at present and will probably run the Rupert Neve from that for a while but planning to upgrade to a true deskmounted DAC before the money runs out completely. The two on my shortlist are the Chord Qutest and the ADI-2 DAC fs. I've DT990's and now HD660S headphones, and that may grow to include a closed back option too. I'm curious how you found the transition from your Mojo to the RME?

Hi smashey, thanks for your question : )
I should have Chord Mojo now to compare with fresh ears, but I'm located differently with RME and RNHP only at the moment.. but I would say by memory that Mojo is DAC + AMP, and I have used RME DAC only with RNHP, because I prefer RNHP over RME AMP, but still RME DAC + AMP is a much better than Mojo I would say. Mojo is dynamically quite unique and attractive and decent portable DAC + AMP combo, but it gets too hot, especially when it has to be charged while playing. It is very annoying.. RME DAC is a great device, when you can adjust it's Width, Crossfeed and DA Filter, beside other features it offers. I find Slow the best DA filter setup with RNHP, Crossfeed on 2 and Width on 0.85. RNHP is the best headphone AMP I have ever used. The vocals just sound absolutely insane! I use RCA out from RME to RNHP. Both RME and RNHP are very very clean units, so with that combo you can easily trust the result if you want to analyze or produce music. I would recommend Sonarworks Reference 4 to get best out of your headphones! RME and RNHP will not tune your output at all but your headphones are tuned, and most of them not very well.. Overall you will enjoy your RME + RNHP a much more than with Mojo, they are completely in different level! They will last a life time from now I bet! I have zero regrets to them. I do have SSL 2 after RNHP to add a bit more 'life' to sound with 4K effect, but it is not must have combo..

 

[smashey]

Hi smashey, thanks for your question : )
I should have Chord Mojo now to compare with fresh ears, but I'm located differently with RME and RNHP only at the moment.. but I would say by memory that Mojo is DAC + AMP, and I have used RME DAC only with RNHP, because I prefer RNHP over RME AMP, but still RME DAC + AMP is a much better than Mojo I would say. Mojo is dynamically quite unique and attractive and decent portable DAC + AMP combo, but it gets too hot, especially when it has to be charged while playing. It is very annoying.. RME DAC is a great device, when you can adjust it's Width, Crossfeed and DA Filter, beside other features it offers. I find Slow the best DA filter setup with RNHP, Crossfeed on 2 and Width on 0.85. RNHP is the best headphone AMP I have ever used. The vocals just sound absolutely insane! I use RCA out from RME to RNHP. Both RME and RNHP are very very clean units, so with that combo you can easily trust the result if you want to analyze or produce music. I would recommend Sonarworks Reference 4 to get best out of your headphones! RME and RNHP will not tune your output at all but your headphones are tuned, and most of them not very well.. Overall you will enjoy your RME + RNHP a much more than with Mojo, they are completely in different level! They will last a life time from now I bet! I have zero regrets to them. I do have SSL 2 after RNHP to add a bit more 'life' to sound with 4K effect, but it is not must have combo..

Hi - Thanks for the comprehensive response. As luck would have it I'm now committed to the RME so thats the first to arrive, it'll be a month or two before I get the RNHP. It's good to hear the amp in the RME will keep me happy in the meantime. I have other ancillary sources that will also feed the Rupert Neve so I can't put it off for long. Sonarworks for sure when critical monitoring - I actually record through an SSL2 for work so have the 4K option on hand already too

 

[486892]

Hi - Thanks for the comprehensive response. As luck would have it I'm now committed to the RME so thats the first to arrive, it'll be a month or two before I get the RNHP. It's good to hear the amp in the RME will keep me happy in the meantime. I have other ancillary sources that will also feed the Rupert Neve so I can't put it off for long. Sonarworks for sure when critical monitoring - I actually record through an SSL2 for work so have the 4K option on hand already too

Okay, that's great! I also record through SSL2. I have channel gain in zero with 4K and it adds movement to sound which is just sounding good in my opinion. I control the volume with RNHP, so from laptop the sound is 100 and in RME 0.0dBr, and SSL2 0 gain as well, but 4K effect it self increases it a bit with the spice it has. Then I have a simple Olympus recorder where I can record or just play through..

I'll add that you need some feed in SSL2 of course and i have the monitor level half way.. but channel gain in zero with 4K on. And channels setted for an instrument.. Or other way around - setting RNHP volume on half way and controlling with SSL2 monitor level knob.. works both ways.

 

[Andii]

Thought I would drop an appreciation post for the RNHP here in the RNHP thread. Loving it. A great pairing with the 2021 LCD-X for both listening and audio work. Natural high resolution sound and powerful dynamics.

 

[jnorris]

I've had the RNHP for years and I'm glad to see people are still appreciating it, especially with all the Topping, SMSL and Schiit stuff coming so hot and heavy.

 

[jonathan c]

Thought I would drop an appreciation post for the RNHP here in the RNHP thread. Loving it. A great pairing with the 2021 LCD-X for both listening and audio work. Natural high resolution sound and powerful dynamics.

…And think of how much of the music that enriches us was mixed/mastered on Rupert Neve consoles (the industry beacon).

 

[Andii]

I've had the RNHP for years and I'm glad to see people are still appreciating it, especially with all the Topping, SMSL and Schiit stuff coming so hot and heavy.

Definitely. I beyond appreciate it.

I am an audio engineer. I need dynamics and natural sound so I can hear what I'm doing. I feel like the RNHP is a true high performance amplifier that was engineered for/with real human ears with subjective experiences that can't be measured with a machine and is a legitimate tool for engineering audio. It doesn't have a spec sheet that makes people drool because RND isn't full of it, but its real world performance and sound is just stellar.


A lot of the amplifiers out there that are darlings of the audiophile community are really measurement driven and flavor of the week "what's new" hype trains. Made to hook up to an audio precision analyzer and make some spec a certain thing to appease people on internet forums. Meanwhile, music is a lot different than a series of test tones. From any comparisons I have seen done by people with a good ear, a lot of the popular "measurement amps" have flat dynamics that are kind of compressed and the detail is etched and unnatural. I doubt that I could do any audio engineering on a hype train THX amplifier.

When moving settings on a dynamic range compressor for mixing or mastering, how the amplifier presents dynamics accurately is more important than .000001% more of completely inaudible distortion that a machine detected. The distortion on everything is so inaudible now and the spec does not reveal what order the harmonic is or what the distortion is. It's meaningless. Yet that kind of thing drives the audiophile segment of the market.


I really spent a lot of time reading and looking at all of my options in my price range and went out of my price range for the real thing.

No regrets. I am 100% satisfied for both listening and engineering audio. I see this design as timeless. I will use it until it quits and have it repaired and use it some more.

I think this amp is under rated in the audiophile community. It's simple, boring and a little pricey. The specs aren't what ASR readers drool over. It's just an amazing amplifier.

Cheers to everyone with good taste.

I have a lot of experience researching components that have to do with other professions and hobbies with their own obsessive internet communities and there are parallels. The things that look the best on paper and pass the tests the best and get all the hype and praise, aren't usually the ones that are the best experiences for the human senses. Modern engineering done only with scientific equipment and computer models to appease nerds is like artificial intelligence designing art. It's all fun and games until a human has to experience the result.

The RNHP seems like objective and subjective design in perfect balance.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I had one once and sold it. Terrific amp. The SE and XLR both sound great. I've regretted selling it so it's time to buy another one soon. At the time I just didn't feel it was a good fit with my HD650's but I think it would be with the Focal Clears that I use these days.

 

[Andii]

I had one once and sold it. Terrific amp. The SE and XLR both sound great. I've regretted selling it so it's time to buy another one soon. At the time I just didn't feel it was a good fit with my HD650's but I think it would be with the Focal Clears that I use these days.

I know it would be quite a pairing with the clears. It's a great amp, but I can't blame anyone who moved on from it just from the one flaw it has. No muting relay. There's no doubt that having a startup and shutdown procedure with plugging and unplugging is a pain. It's just that its worth it to me, but damn. I would like to know why they designed it that way. It's either for reliability or just to save money in production, but it's going to put so many cycles on the phone jack over time that it's absolutely going to wear it out over the course of years of heavy usage.

 

[Nostoi]

Great amp, indeed. I also had one and sold it, and it's one of those things I regret not having around. Almost certainly will buy again at some point.

 

[jonathan c]

Thought I would drop an appreciation post for the RNHP here in the RNHP thread. Loving it. A great pairing with the 2021 LCD-X for both listening and audio work. Natural high resolution sound and powerful dynamics.

Other than appearance, is there any circuit / design / sound difference between the RNHP above and the Fidelice Precision Headphone Amplifier (which certainly looks more domesticated)? [They both are said to be based off the headphone circuit in the RND 5060 Centerpiece Desktop Mixer.]

 

[Andii]

Other than appearance, is there any circuit / design / sound difference between the RNHP above and the Fidelice Precision Headphone Amplifier (which certainly looks more domesticated)? [They both are said to be based off the headphone circuit in the RND 5060 Centerpiece Desktop Mixer.]

This thread is relevant:
https://forum.headphones.com/t/fide...n-headphone-amplifier-official-thread/4472/29

TLDR: there are a few component upgrades, but I can't find anyone that reported hearing a difference. Still no muting relay. Pretty case.

It's mostly just the case.

 

[Magic77]

Just paired my RNHP with a Behringer FBQ800 EQ. The results are amazing. Anyone else use an EQ with this amp?