[Baten]

Soekris has something wrong on its side, as it use opamps,

Citation needed.. Opamps are not some unholy suddenly-it-sounds bad thing you know. Soekris has nothing "wrong" on its side.

 

[rkw]

The first idea that popped into my head was - is it possible to retain the positive qualities I mentioned earlier while adding a better sense of impact if I use the DAC in pair with a proper headphone amplifier?

The Soekris is an all-in-one combination DAC/preamp/headamp in a compact, convenient package. Of course you can enhance performance with a standalone, dedicated headphone amplifier. I find that a Schiit Jotunheim drives my HD650 better than straight from the Soekris. However the Soekris headphone amp is still good enough that I use it directly because of the convenience.

 

[sajunky]

Citation needed.. Opamps are not some unholy suddenly-it-sounds bad thing you know. Soekris has nothing "wrong" on its side.

Opamps work on the principle of reducing distortions having a huge open loop gain 100000 or more with multiple amplification stages. By using negative loopback such redundant gain is reduced to a number required by the application, typically between 1 to 100. Problem with using general purpose opamps is that negative loopback signal arrives with a delay. It means that for a moment during fast transients there is a huge gain that can saturate indiviual stages. Exit from the saturation stage is slow - actually slower than eventual overshot on the output you can observe on the oscilogram. Designers do the best reducing overshot, but nobody cares that during a short moment device is not transparent, meaning a small variation of signal is not coveyed to the output as should. Our brain notice missing parts, we can hear that sound become sterile clean for a dominant tone, but less grass.

A second problem with opamps, they work in class B, as distortions are reduced by huge negative loopback (which is not working ideal way as seen above). Designers like Soekris know tricks how to force biasing to class AB, but it is changing dynamic parameters in uncontrolled way.

A solution to these problems is to use negative loopback only on the single (individual) amplification stage, not across multiple stages. I don't need to bring citations, any good audio book covers such topic. And of course, with a small open loop gain, class B distortions cannot be tolerated, class A is required.

 

[technisummer]

I see. I'm assuming an Asgard 3 isn't really gonna cut it then, since it's not purely class A?

What about the RebelAmp?

 

[hpamdr]

The Soekris is an all-in-one combination DAC/preamp/headamp in a compact, convenient package. Of course you can enhance performance with a standalone, dedicated headphone amplifier. I find that a Schiit Jotunheim drives my HD650 better than straight from the Soekris. However the Soekris headphone amp is still good enough that I use it directly because of the convenience.

This is also why I kept my 1541 it is a small box I can use during vacation or when working at customer place. I have the best portable solution to enjoy music on headphone when I cannot use home setup.
About amplifier, I have SS amplifiers for clinical and reference listening (even ESS DACs) and tube amplifiers for enjoyable listening even if it add distortion, emphasis,...
Soekris xx41 are for me the best compromise I can afford in this price tag. (Even TT2 is not as good to my ears)

 

[hippos233]

Just got my 2541 today and tried it on my system with comparison of my Lampizator Amber 2 which is also designed based on Soekris' module. They share a similar sound signature and are both transparent, smooth, and musical. Amber 2 provides a bit more details, a larger horizontal soundstage, and punchy bass performance; and 2541 has a better performance in mid and vocal. This is a stunning result for the 2541 which is ~$900 cheaper than Amber 2 (which is the price I bought it five years ago). I'm now considering to let go my Amber 2 since I'm not very often stay in my home. I'm very happy with 2541 for its size and weight.

BTW after I used a Stealth M7000 with a C7-C14 adpter on 2541, it became more detailed and had a slightly more punchy bass, but I have to say its bass is still the part I'm most unsatsified with.

 

[cats4cans]

Recently bought a dac1421 and was looking for confirmation on my impressions. I’ve been surprised at how favorably it compares to my other DACs given that it cost so much less and has a functional headamp and volume control. I’m going to keep my Chord Qutest for sure (some audio gear makes me sentimental), but the dac1421 could permanently replace the MHDT Orchid. It seems a little lacking as a preamp directly to a speaker amp or as a headphone amp though that isn’t why I bought it.
How does the crossfeed implementation compare to others you’ve heard? I’m still trying to get a feel for if crossfeed is worth pursuing. I was hoping to see more amp pairing examples in the thread to give me some ideas.

 

[lokhanglee]

The Soekris is an all-in-one combination DAC/preamp/headamp in a compact, convenient package. Of course you can enhance performance with a standalone, dedicated headphone amplifier. I find that a Schiit Jotunheim drives my HD650 better than straight from the Soekris. However the Soekris headphone amp is still good enough that I use it directly because of the convenience.

I was struggling about whether to get a dedicated amp. Actually the rational me knew that I did not really need it, but the irrational me kept tempting me to go for it. Now your post has saved me (and my pocket). Thank you dude.

 

[adydula]

Dont struggle the 2541 and its internal amp is just fine for 90% of headphones out there.....
There are always some ineffiecient, low sensitivity cans that "might" benefit from more power but they are
far a few between...

Good Luck and Good Listening!

 

[gylyf]

I added a Lyr 3 to my 2541 because I wanted to see how my HD600s, which felt a little underpowered by the 2541, would fare with the Lyr (quite well, it turns out), but I’ve recently been enjoying the convenience of listening to my Grados, and even some earbuds, out of the 2541 when I don’t feel like waiting for the Lyr to warm up.

 

[adydula]

I added a Lyr 3 to my 2541 because I wanted to see how my HD600s, which felt a little underpowered by the 2541, would fare with the Lyr (quite well, it turns out), but I’ve recently been enjoying the convenience of listening to my Grados, and even some earbuds, out of the 2541 when I don’t feel like waiting for the Lyr to warm up.

HD 6XX are high impedance cans and dont really need tons of power.
Level set so the same volume is in both and test...

Pretty much the same IMO.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

HD 6XX are high impedance cans and dont really need tons of power.

They need voltage. In balanced mode the 2541 has enough to do ok but there is room for improvement.

 

[gylyf]

They need voltage. In balanced mode the 2541 has enough to do ok but there is room for improvement.

That was my experience. The Senns were fine out of the 2541 (balanced), but a little underwhelming. The Lyr really helps open them up.

 

[lokhanglee]

I added a Lyr 3 to my 2541 because I wanted to see how my HD600s, which felt a little underpowered by the 2541, would fare with the Lyr (quite well, it turns out), but I’ve recently been enjoying the convenience of listening to my Grados, and even some earbuds, out of the 2541 when I don’t feel like waiting for the Lyr to warm up.

When talking about warm up - I usually pair 2541 with my Denon D9200 and occasionally I found my D9200 too bright. One day I have got something to handle so I went away without turning off 2541, and when I came back 30 minutes later I could feel that my D9200 did not sound that bright.

And D9200 is rather easy to power so yea I may not need a separate amp.

 

[adydula]

They need voltage. In balanced mode the 2541 has enough to do ok but there is room for improvement.

We all hear differently..