Super Mini Amp
Oct 15, 2002 at 7:43 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 13

Czilla9000

10 Year Member. Still no custom title.
Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Posts
2,238
Likes
12
I ordered a Super mini Amp by fixup on the 10th, and it has not arrived yet (although I selected priority shipping).

Anyway...


What kind a sound quality can I expect. I am thinking of getting a pair of HD600s, is it REALLY powerful enough? How does it compare to a META42?
 
Oct 15, 2002 at 3:08 PM Post #2 of 13
HI: I also ordered the super mini amp but the default gain is 5 db so I ordered mine at gain of 10 db wich should be twice as loud. If not than a lot louder.
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 9:49 AM Post #3 of 13
LTUCCI1924: about the increased gain, say ur using the amp for portable purposes, is it worth getting the increased gain, to power, say etys?, and on the other hand, say using it for home purposes and hooking it up to a pair of beyer 831's, would it be worth getting the increased gain??

Thanks
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 12:26 PM Post #4 of 13
enak
I don't mean to mislead you. My wife has the mini with a gain of +5 and I find that not to be loud enough for me using the koss-35 at 60 ohms. Fixup told me he likes to put the gain from 5 to 10 so I said make my super mini at a gain of 10. I will be using my portapros at 60 ohms in it. My wife is using a 9 volt batt I will be useing 3 AAA batt so I thought I better get the extra gain. When you order ask fixup about the gain. If you have the er-4p they don't need much power to sound good but the more power the better in my opinion.
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 12:37 PM Post #5 of 13
Czilla9000
HI: I a/b the mini 9 volt at a gain of + 5 to my Max Out META42 at a gain of + 13 and of course my meta sounded fuller bigger and better than the mini. The mini was at max volume while the meta was at half volume. But the mini was holding its own and sounded great witrh the koss-35. I ordered a super mini at a gain of + 10 that uses 3 AAA batt so I will see how it does with my portapros. I can see why some members are calling the mini and super mini a mini meta42. It sounds that good.
 
Oct 17, 2002 at 8:41 PM Post #6 of 13
Whats this thing with changing the gain on the super mini. I've got one and found that it cannot drive certain akg"s which I tried to audition at a local music shop.
has anyone changed theirs? What cost?
 
Oct 17, 2002 at 8:46 PM Post #7 of 13
Changing gain usually involves changing a few resistors. Not a huge deal. I'm sure fixup would be glad to help you, and the cost shouldn't be too high.
 
Oct 17, 2002 at 9:20 PM Post #8 of 13
LTUCCI:

One of the reasons I have been joined these forums is to research some new headphone amps. Home as well as portable. I have had an order to Tangent for an All out Home Meta42 for quite a few weeks now, so do you feel if all things were equal (the gain) the Super Mini would sound similar to your Maxed out from JMT? What would you say were the differences to one who has never heard a Meta42?

Bob
 
Oct 17, 2002 at 11:07 PM Post #9 of 13
HI ALL:
bobjew
There is no extra charge when you order the super mini just ask for the + 10 gain. the super mini and mini at default comes with a + 5 gain. I a/b the mini with a + 5 gain with my Max Out META42 with a + 13 gain and the META42 sounded bigger and fuller and planty of volume to spare with the koss-35. But the mini with a 9 volt batt. sounded very good at full volume and held its own with the Meta42 and was not that far off from the Meta42. I was amazed. Now I will get the super mini with + 10 gain SAT and have good hopes for it. I am hoping that with the + 10 gain the volume will be much louder. The output of the super mini + 10 gain is a whopping 450 m/w per channel. To me thats a WOW.
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 7:51 AM Post #12 of 13
LTUCCI1924
Thanks for the info, ill get the super mini with a gain of 10+
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 3:11 PM Post #13 of 13
enak... Just a word of warning...

Lou likes his music LOUD!
smily_headphones1.gif


YMMV.

Personally, I've been quite happy with the SuperMini and have never approached using the maximum volume (powering Ety ER4P+S adapter). I've been extremely happy with the sound quality, the terrific battery life and the uber-portability. It really is amazing that this device can sound so good and be so small. Kinda like Etys.
biggrin.gif


And, that version of the SuperMini was made before Fixup added feedback loops to more accurately represent the META42 design. If you are ordering a SuperMini now, it will have the feedback loops which are supposed to improve the sound quality.

From what others have posted about the more traditional META42 amps built by Tangent, Eric343, JMT, KurtW, (others?) they have been described as being more open, slightly deeper bass extension, slightly better highs. Do a search on "SuperMini" to see those comments. But, I believe the differences were described as being fairly minor. Sorry, I don't (yet) have a "regular" META42 (yet) to do the A/B comparison, so I cannot give you my comparison/impressions.

Again, all of those reviews were done with the original implementation of the SuperMini. Don't believe I've seen a review of the updated SuperMini compared to a more traditional implementation of the META42.

If anyone has both and can provide a review or can point me to a review, let me know.

Bruce
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top