[activestatic]

I actually get lower output from the balanced connection. I have the baclanced and RCA connections running from the Geshelli J2 socketed DAC. Both outputs have Sparkos SS2590 Pro Dual op amps on them. I A/B both inputs on the RNHP and the RCA input is a few dB hotter than the balanced connection on the amp. If I start out at 12 o'clock on the RNHP with the XLR input and switch to the RCA input I have to back off to the 10/11 o'clock position to get similar volume. I am using Neumann NDH20 headphones.

 

[SunRa Fan]

I'm a professional recording engineer and have lots of familiarity with Rupert's work in this domain. For example, his old mic preamps are considered fantastic, but largely because of their unique "sound".

So, was curious, does this headphone amp have any particular "sound"? Punchy? Warm?

It's mostly neutral, but has a certain sound that I keep coming back to. It's criticized for not being very resolving but I continue to hear things in recordings through it that I haven't heard from much more expensive gear of mine. In all fairness to Neve, it was never designed for audiophiles in the first place but it became a surprise hit which caused Neve's company to embark on some of the most craven marketing moves ever, so now it's kind of a pariah because of the Neve company's greed. It's a really good $500 amp that Neve now expects $700 for and $1100 for if you want almost the same amp in a nicer box.

 

[Josz27]

Can only address a few aspects. It gave my headphone (1990 pro) indeed more punch, if you consider lower frequencies. I wouldn't describe this amp as warm. Its resolution it's not fabulous to my ears. Other things I might have noticed subconsciously, bought him mostly because of his functionality, simple looking design. Later found some good reviews on the internet. Potentiometer is like turning a spoon in cream.
I have to look up the link for Power unit, which should better the sound of the Standard unit (Netzteil). Can provide it if you like.
Greetings!
I forgot: while switching the device off and Headphone is connected, pushes last sound snippets through the driver.

How do you use your RNHP? which input? A B or C? and what cable? I found it pretty surprising you said that the rnhp had less resolution than the Mojo 2 alone lol, I suspect you could be using a not that good cable and using it with RCA , which could be introducing some noise and as a result less dark background=less clarity and detail.

I have 2 burson soloist 3XP with Supercharger and a power filter, and I use the gryphon via a Japan Canare 4,4MM to XLR to the balanced inputs of the RNHP and I consider it to have excellent resolution, it has pretty great clarity and resolution.

The negatives of the RNHP for me could be: It lacks some soundstage size compared to the soloist but it is better than the gryphon, it could sound sterile in comparison sometimes, also treble refinement is not that good compared to burson.

This is all with the stock PSU, mine has very dark background, no hiss, some people had issue with this, not issues with mine.

I tried to buy the meanwell PSU upgrade to try it with the ifi iPurifier DC2 which I already have, but the package got lost, with the PSU upgrade+the purifier it could be even better, I'm pretty sure it will have even greater clarity since the burson gets more clarity with the ipurifier DC2 .

In short words I don't find the rnhp lacking in resolution or clarity, when using the Balanced output of my dac into the XLR input of the RNHP, it has excellent clarity and resolution and my complaints or things where it is not that great would be in other things.

 

[FunkyBassMan]

It's mostly neutral, but has a certain sound that I keep coming back to. It's criticized for not being very resolving but I continue to hear things in recordings through it that I haven't heard from much more expensive gear of mine. In all fairness to Neve, it was never designed for audiophiles in the first place but it became a surprise hit which caused Neve's company to embark on some of the most craven marketing moves ever, so now it's kind of a pariah because of the Neve company's greed. It's a really good $500 amp that Neve now expects $700 for and $1100 for if you want almost the same amp in a nicer box.

Yeah, agreed on the up-pricing.

It's been long time since the pro audio industry has been a big Neve fan. He's making a living off his name, which is fair of course. But in the modern era, a lot of others have caught up to him I haven't seen much evidence he's ahead of the pack anymore.

 

[trickyRoadsDummyTOOL]

How do you use your RNHP? which input? A B or C? and what cable? I found it pretty surprising you said that the rnhp had less resolution than the Mojo 2 alone lol, I suspect you could be using a not that good cable and using it with RCA , which could be introducing some noise and as a result less dark background=less clarity and detail.

I have 2 burson soloist 3XP with Supercharger and a power filter, and I use the gryphon via a Japan Canare 4,4MM to XLR to the balanced inputs of the RNHP and I consider it to have excellent resolution, it has pretty great clarity and resolution.

The negatives of the RNHP for me could be: It lacks some soundstage size compared to the soloist but it is better than the gryphon, it could sound sterile in comparison sometimes, also treble refinement is not that good compared to burson.

This is all with the stock PSU, mine has very dark background, no hiss, some people had issue with this, not issues with mine.

I tried to buy the meanwell PSU upgrade to try it with the ifi iPurifier DC2 which I already have, but the package got lost, with the PSU upgrade+the purifier it could be even better, I'm pretty sure it will have even greater clarity since the burson gets more clarity with the ipurifier DC2 .

In short words I don't find the rnhp lacking in resolution or clarity, when using the Balanced output of my dac into the XLR input of the RNHP, it has excellent clarity and resolution and my complaints or things where it is not that great would be in other things.

.

 

[trickyRoadsDummyTOOL]

How do you use your RNHP? which input? A B or C? and what cable? I found it pretty surprising you said that the rnhp had less resolution than the Mojo 2 alone lol, I suspect you could be using a not that good cable and using it with RCA , which could be introducing some noise and as a result less dark background=less clarity and detail.

I have 2 burson soloist 3XP with Supercharger and a power filter, and I use the gryphon via a Japan Canare 4,4MM to XLR to the balanced inputs of the RNHP and I consider it to have excellent resolution, it has pretty great clarity and resolution.

The negatives of the RNHP for me could be: It lacks some soundstage size compared to the soloist but it is better than the gryphon, it could sound sterile in comparison sometimes, also treble refinement is not that good compared to burson.

This is all with the stock PSU, mine has very dark background, no hiss, some people had issue with this, not issues with mine.

I tried to buy the meanwell PSU upgrade to try it with the ifi iPurifier DC2 which I already have, but the package got lost, with the PSU upgrade+the purifier it could be even better, I'm pretty sure it will have even greater clarity since the burson gets more clarity with the ipurifier DC2 .

In short words I don't find the rnhp lacking in resolution or clarity, when using the Balanced output of my dac into the XLR input of the RNHP, it has excellent clarity and resolution and my complaints or things where it is not that great would be in other things.

Hello Jos(z/h)
I won't categorically exclude that I make something wrong and I'm always looking for improvements of my chain.
In the beginning I connected Rupert via XLR with my DAC (c658,ess9028pro), cables came from Vovox, Sonorus link direct. Quality improved a lot in comparison to my previous c658-only times because of new Rupert.
Then bought the Mojo2/Poly, connected it with Rupert via 3.5/RCA, used three different cables, all from AQ, reducing length but increasing price, currently BigSur 0.6m. Quality increased again massively, but as you know there's no other possibility to connect both other than with 3.5/RCA.
My three audio devices got a Dynavox 8x socket for audio purposes, but following ifi iPurifier (not sure about the name, but the thing with the two diodes which should light in green to indicate proper socketing and to flatten/smooth the delivery with power through the sockets for the Rupert, at least this is my understanding).
Even thought about buying a 24V switch mode powers supply ( https://www.russandrews.com/eu/the-supplier-dc-24v-21mm-c/ ) but finally decided to save my money for a new alternative Headphone amplifier, I'm currently happy with but does work as a pre-amplifier and I already bought XLR cables (same as above, but shorter) to connect him with Rupert. But testing the connection from Mojo2/Poly via 3.5/RCA to V550 via XLR to Rupert because of the fact that I first want to stress V550 in order to check out if I'm keeping him or not.

Your complaints aboutf soundstage I just can't complain about that, even that I am using closed-back headphones, soundstage and imaging are superb or at least of normal good quality.

But in the recent months I just left out Rupert and connected my headphones directly to mojo2/Poly, and results were simply much better, everyone else's mileage may vary about how much this much may be.

V550 resolves Mojo2/Polyh better than Rupert does, and in both cases there will be noise or distortion through sockets or whatever, in any case in one or two months time I will verify Ruperts capabilities again.

I'll never sell Rupertt, but differences are obvious to mt, even if you're lol'in. I'm constantly trying to reduce noise and surely will test Rupert in one or two months again.

Greetings!

 

[Andii]

I'm a professional recording engineer and have lots of familiarity with Rupert's work in this domain. For example, his old mic preamps are considered fantastic, but largely because of their unique "sound".

So, was curious, does this headphone amp have any particular "sound"? Punchy? Warm?

I'm a recording engineer too! I do mastering as well.

This amp is a very natural sounding neutral. It is not a coloration machine. Its sound and design are 100% appropriate for engineering.

Very strong dynamics and strong imaging.

The build is extremely good. It's heavy and solid. It's simple. All of the connections on it are extremely high quality long life parts appropriate for heavy use. It's a workhorse perfect for the studio.

I'm using mogami quadrupole XLRs. Dead quiet noise floor.



I've had mine 3 years. It's still just as it was on day one and I still like it just as much. It's a permanent fixture in my studio. I do a lot of recreational listening on it too, just like I do on all of my equipment and it's great for that too.

The only negatives are:
- Bright green LED on the channel selector button. It's way too bright in a dark room.
-Start up and shut down sequence. It pops on start up and shut down. I unplug for on and off. I would like to think it was designed this way to eliminate relays for reliability reasons.
- Seems to sound best after it has been on for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Sounds a bit stiff before that. I just leave it on all day.
- Volume pot linearity is shaky before 10 o'clock. It's an alps, a great feeling pot that's just the nature of an analog stereo potentiometer. Gain staging should be set appropriately so that the working range stays above that and then it's very linear. I stage mine so that my average working volume is somewhere near noon.
- Power level is great for most headphones. MOST. Not the extremely hard to drive ones. I use it with Audeze LCD-X for mixing and mastering, abundantly powerful for them. Like it was made for them.

Reccomend. The sound, the build quality, design and the price make sense together for the application.

 

[SunRa Fan]

I'm a recording engineer too! I do mastering as well.

This amp is a very natural sounding neutral. It is not a coloration machine. Its sound and design are 100% appropriate for engineering.

Very strong dynamics and strong imaging.

The build is extremely good. It's heavy and solid. It's simple. All of the connections on it are extremely high quality long life parts appropriate for heavy use. It's a workhorse perfect for the studio.

I'm using mogami quadrupole XLRs. Dead quiet noise floor.



I've had mine 3 years. It's still just as it was on day one and I still like it just as much. It's a permanent fixture in my studio. I do a lot of recreational listening on it too, just like I do on all of my equipment and it's great for that too.

The only negatives are:
- Bright green LED on the channel selector button. It's way too bright in a dark room.
-Start up and shut down sequence. It pops on start up and shut down. I unplug for on and off. I would like to think it was designed this way to eliminate relays for reliability reasons.
- Seems to sound best after it has been on for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Sounds a bit stiff before that. I just leave it on all day.
- Volume pot linearity is shaky before 10 o'clock. It's an alps, a great feeling pot that's just the nature of an analog stereo potentiometer. Gain staging should be set appropriately so that the working range stays above that and then it's very linear. I stage mine so that my average working volume is somewhere near noon.
- Power level is great for most headphones. MOST. Not the extremely hard to drive ones. I use it with Audeze LCD-X for mixing and mastering, abundantly powerful for them. Like it was made for them.

Reccomend. The sound, the build quality, design and the price make sense together for the application.

I figure I'm not the only one to have taken a sharpie pen to the green input buttons.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

I discovered something interesting to upgrade my RNHP. My new meanwell PSU sadly produces a little amount of noise. My amp sounds good but this noise is annoying when trying to use a sensitive IEM. I was googling for DC filters I could buy and then I discovered the FX-AUDIO FX-002. I found no info on the net about this device. It appears to work like the ifi iPurifier. I went and ordered one of them just to try it out. Maybe it even works.

 

[activestatic]

Is it possible to swap out the op amps for the XLR outputs on the RNHP?

 

[Andii]

Is it possible to swap out the op amps for the XLR outputs on the RNHP?

Nothing is swappable. There are only XLR inputs.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

I discovered something interesting to upgrade my RNHP. My new meanwell PSU sadly produces a little amount of noise. My amp sounds good but this noise is annoying when trying to use a sensitive IEM. I was googling for DC filters I could buy and then I discovered the FX-AUDIO FX-002. I found no info on the net about this device. It appears to work like the ifi iPurifier. I went and ordered one of them just to try it out. Maybe it even works.

I ended up ordering two additional devices. They all have arrived.

This device actually works. It is not perfect, it mainly reduces the audible noise from the PSU. Connecting one single FX-002 to my RNHP has reduced the noise floor. The noise floor is much lower but the noise floor still exists. Then I decided to connect a second FX-002 in line. This did the trick, the noise floor is inaudible with my 17 Ohm iem. A good linear power supply would likely still be a better solution.