[cooperpwc]

It looks like they both have output impedance of 0.18 ohms so no difference there, equally acceptable for everything from low to high impedance headphones.

 

[notusramone]

hi guys. I am going to purchase the Phonitor Mini next week for my HD600, any advises?
The only thing I am not happy with the Mini is that there seems no balanced output...that makes me wonder why it has balanced input...
anyone could explain this? What is the advantages to have a balanced input whilt not balanced output?

 

[plakat]

SPL is primarily a studio company, professional equipment mostly uses symmetric XLR connectors for various reasons. I still don't know whether the Phonitor 2 has a balanced circuit design or not, so the outputs might be pointless anyway.

 

[notusramone]

  SPL is primarily a studio company, professional equipment mostly uses symmetric XLR connectors for various reasons. I still don't know whether the Phonitor 2 has a balanced circuit design or not, so the outputs might be pointless anyway.

thank you Plakat!
Do u mean there is acturally no difference between the two inputs? 
For example, if my DAC has both balanced and unbalanced output, when connect to Mini/Pronitor 2, will there be different sound? 
I ask this because I am considering buy RCA or XLR cable, you know that the cables are... expensive.

 

[plakat]

  thank you Plakat!
Do u mean there is acturally no difference between the two inputs? 
For example, if my DAC has both balanced and unbalanced output, when connect to Mini/Pronitor 2, will there be different sound? 
I ask this because I am considering buy RCA or XLR cable, you know that the cables are... expensive.

Once again: I can't swear on that, but so far I can't remember anyone saying that the Phonitor 2 does have a fully balanced design. I have to admit that I don't consider that too important anyway... the Phonitor 2 I own is a very capable amp, its little brother should be as well as it shares the core parts 1:1 as far as I know.
 
I still prefer XLR balanced cables (with myself coming from pro audio) as its the more robust connection (electronically as well as physically). But do not spend a fortune on cables... that won't get you anywhere. Stay within sane limits, get a cable of good quality (as can be had at professional equipment stores like Thomann in Europe) and you'll be well served. Absolute no need to spend more than 50-60,- on a pair.

 

[notusramone]

got it! Then I will choose freely from XLR and RCA. Acturally I found that I may buy XLR for the DAC, and leave RCA for my CD Player...
thank you again.

 
Once again: I can't swear on that, but so far I can't remember anyone saying that the Phonitor 2 does have a fully balanced design. I have to admit that I don't consider that too important anyway... the Phonitor 2 I own is a very capable amp, its little brother should be as well as it shares the core parts 1:1 as far as I know.
 
I still prefer XLR balanced cables (with myself coming from pro audio) as its the more robust connection (electronically as well as physically). But do not spend a fortune on cables... that won't get you anywhere. Stay within sane limits, get a cable of good quality (as can be had at professional equipment stores like Thomann in Europe) and you'll be well served. Absolute no need to spend more than 50-60,- on a pair.

Got it! Then I will choose freely from XLR and RCA. Acturally I found that I may buy XLR for the DAC, and leave RCA for my CD Player...
thank you again.
But acturally I will do a A/B test to see if there is any difference between XLR and RCA connection from a same source.

 

[plakat]

You're welcome.
Compare to your hearts content, but don't let any differences in gain between RCA and XLR deceive you, i .e. The two variants may have differences in volume that might be problematic for a comparison. Norm levels are quite different as well, RCA uses 0dB, XLR comes at +4dB.

 

[notusramone]

You're welcome.
Compare to your hearts content, but don't let any differences in gain between RCA and XLR deceive you, i .e. The two variants may have differences in volume that might be problematic for a comparison. Norm levels are quite different as well, RCA uses 0dB, XLR comes at +4dB.

nice!
I ordered the Mini yesterday, now it should be on the way home

 

[plakat]

  nice!
I ordered the Mini yesterday, now it should be on the way home

I think you won't be disappointed. As I took away from my talks with one of SPLs founders the essential parts in the signal path are the same with both Phonitor 2 and Mini, the price difference comes from features they left out. The right way to go in my opinion...
Let us hear your impressions when it arrives.
 
Btw.: they put an extra LED into the headphone jack to indicate mute state (not just red around the volume control, but in the headphone jack as well). Nice touch...

 

[gnadna]

I preordered the Mini.  Should be out my May/June

Hello hifiguy,

have you been able to compare the mini and the phonitor2?

Thanks in advance for your feedback

 

[Quinto]

  nice!
I ordered the Mini yesterday, now it should be on the way home

So, what do you think?

 

[Mach3]

So stranger no one has done a direct comparison of the phonitor 2730 vs phonitor 2 1280 yet. Also from the specs, the original phonitor appears to have more grunt with high impedance headphone. Whereas the phonitor 2 offers more power to lower impedance headphones.

 

[darkless]

So stranger no one has done a direct comparison of the phonitor 2730 vs phonitor 2 1280 yet. Also from the specs, the original phonitor appears to have more grunt with high impedance headphone. Whereas the phonitor 2 offers more power to lower impedance headphones.

 
The Phonitor 2 output power seemed plenty when I briefly tried mine with an HE-6 during a meet last October. The owner auditioned the combo for a while and seemed very pleased with what he heard. He told me afterwards that he was now considering getting a Phonitor 2 as replacement preamp for the vintage speaker amp normally used to power his HE-6.
 
As for specs, IMHO the newer Phonitor 2 still seems to be the better amp despite the minor differences in output power:
 
Phonitor 1
Crosstalk: -67 dB
THD: 0,005%
Noise A-weighted: -97 dB
Dynamic Range: 129,5 dB
Max input level: +24 dBu
Impedance: 9 Ohm
 
Max. Output Performance (taken from SPL home page):
1,7W (+32,2dBm) @ 1 kHz and 600 Ohms connection
360mW (+25,6dBm) @ 1 kHz and 30 Ohms connection
 
Phonitor 2
Crosstalk; -106 dB
THD&N: 0,00085% (0,00091% for headphone)
Noise A-weighted: -104,76 dB (-103,98 dB for headphone)
Dynamic Range: 134,37 dB (133,62 dB for headphone)
Max input level: +32,5 dBu
Impedance: 0,18 Ohm
 
Max. Output Power (taken from SPL home page):
2 x 1W (+30 dBu) @ 1 kHz and 600 Ω connected impedance
2 x 2W (+30 dBu) @ 1 kHz and 300 Ω connected impedance

 

[Anda]

 
The Phonitor 2 output power seemed plenty when I briefly tried mine with an HE-6 during a meet last October. The owner auditioned the combo for a while and seemed very pleased with what he heard. He told me afterwards that he was now considering getting a Phonitor 2 as replacement for the vintage speaker amp normally used to power his HE-6.

 
My Yamaha is going nowhere 

The idea was to use the Phonitor 2 as preamp so the crossfeed could work it's magic together with the power amp. Phonitor 2 could then act as headphone amp with my other headphones in the same setup.

 

[darkless]

  My Yamaha is going nowhere 

The idea was to use the Phonitor 2 as preamp so the crossfeed could work it's magic together with the power amp. Phonitor 2 could then act as headphone amp with my other headphones in the same setup.

 
Ah yes! That lovely vintage amp of yours was a Yamaha! Damn me and my poor memory. Thanks for setting me straight. I hope you're still having lots of quality time with your HE-6