Chris J
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey Chris,
I've never heard the E17, but at the risk of posting like a broken record, the X5's Line Out is so impressive with an external amp and the HD800 that I've spent about four hours today just trying to identify which of the amps I have, both desktop and portable, best allow that detail and transparency to come through to the HD800.
Using a FiiO HS2 headphone switcher to switch the X5's Line Out between each of the following amps, always comparing only two at a time, with the volumes matched using a Bink Audio white noise WAV file and my JL Audio SPL meter (an iOS app)...
...I've ranked the amps, from best to worst, only for detail and transparency into the HD800, across several DSD2.8 and 96/2 WAV files:
(FiiO X5 Line Out > amp > HD800)
- Meier Audio Corda Stepdance (on 15V external power)
- iBasso PB2 Pelican with 2x OPA1612 duals + dummy buffers (on 16V external power, balanced out)
- CEntrance DACmini CX (with 1-Ohm output impedance mod)
- iBasso PB2 Pelican with 4x LME49990 singles + dummy buffers (on 16V external power, balanced out)
- Oppo HA-1 (balanced out)
I know... This list looks as if it might be upside down, but it's not.
Three years ago, there were some Schiit Lyr fans who were bemused by my having posted that my Stepdance was more detailed into the Audeze LCD-2 than the Lyr, having tried three sets of tubes, including an expensive pair of Mullards, and even with Jason Stoddard (of Schiit) having graciously paid for shipping both ways, so that he could give the Lyr in question a clean bill of health. (He even gave me a pair of tubes for free.) But the fact is, even with the LCD-2 rev.1, which is not known for its resolution, I could discern more detail using the Meier Stepdance, whether using the Line Out from my Sony PCM-M10 Recorder/Player or an April Music DA100 with USB card as my source.
Thinking back, and remembering how "fuzzy" the Schiit Lyr sounded in comparison to the little solid state Stepdance, I can say that the detail and transparency distinctions between the five amps I've listed above are much closer together, even between the 1st and the 5th, and but for using an HD800, and carefully listening to key sections of some favorite test tracks I use for detail and noise floor analysis, I doubt I could tell the difference with the LCD-2 rev.1 or the Oppo PM-1, but I haven't taken the time to find out - these amps are that close in terms of detail.
The original Stepdance is equipped with OPA1611s and I long ago concluded that the iBasso PB2 is at its most analytical and detailed when mimicing the Stepdance by rolling in OPA1612s and dummy buffers. Balanced out, the PB2 has more power than the Stepdance, even with dummy buffers (forfeiting the additional current that could be enjoyed with "real" op-amps as buffers, like the HA5002, but I have yet to find a buffer op-amp that doesn't degrade the PB2's detail and transparency. The HA5002 is just the lesser of several evils, but there's plenty of power for the HD800, on Low Gain, with dummy buffers, so I'm not interested in degrading the transparency for the sake of additional, superfluous power.
On Low Gain, which offers the lowest noise floor, the Stepdance has to run with the volume control nearly all the way up, at about 5 o'clock with the HD800, to match the PB2's balanced out SPL had when its volume is set at 12 o'clock. The little Stepdance is working awfully hard to be driven with a 15V supply voltage, turned nearly all the way up into the HD800's 300-Ohm load, but there's no evidence of clipping and the noise floor is still pitch black. Very, very impressive! The X5 Line Out > 15V Stepdance > HD800 gives me detail and transparency the likes of which I've never heard with any other chain. (More on using different DACs, below...)
The OPA1612-equipped iBasso PB2, by nature of having more power, does a better job than the Stepdance at controlling the HD800 bass and offers more bass energy as well, so I actually prefer the PB2 for use with the X5 Line Out and HD800, especially since it's ever so close in terms of detail, but not quite as good in terms of noise floor - a very dark grey, instead of black - which can only be heard with dead silent gaps in recordings. In fact, with just a little more loss of detail, I prefer the "color" of the LME49990-equipped iBasso PB2, when using the X5 and HD800. The LME49990s are more "musical" and less analytical than the Stepdance or OPA1612-equipped PB2, bringing the HD800 closer to an everyday listening headphone that still has bunches of detail, but which is a little more forgiving with poorly recorded material, especially. But most of the HD800's infamous brightness and harshness is being tamed in these comparisons by the X5's PCM1792A DAC implementation, not by the slight differences between these amps. As I've written before, I would still be using the HD800 only as a piece of test equipment for comparing the detail of upstream components, not for actually enjoying music, if it weren't for having discovered the FiiO X5 Line Out as "the cure" for what ails the HD800.
The big surprise of the day, for me, was that the Oppo HA-1's amp is not as detailed as I had always assumed. I am, however, using a prototype - still waiting for a released version to ship. And again, the HA-1, ranking 5th in my list, is actually quite close to the Stepdance - I'm splitting hairs with the X5 Line Out and HD800 - neither of which are anywhere near being the weakest link in the chain for detail.
I spent another couple of hours today comparing various DACs into the Stepdance > HD800. Again, just looking at detail and transparency, as I weeks ago figured out which DAC pairs best with which headphone, in terms of overall sonics. (The HD800 loves the X5 Line Out, where the LCD-2 rev.1 has enough color on its own, preferring a more neutral DAC, and the Oppo PM-1 can go either way, depending on my mood.)
Here's my ranking of several sources into the 15V Stepdance > HD800 - again, only for detail and transparency, best to worst:
- FiiO X5 Line Out
- USB > 5V battery-powered Resonessence Concero S/PDIF Coaxial out > 12V battery-powered Beresford Bushmaster MkII Analog Out
- USB > Oppo HA-1 Analog Out
- USB > 5V battery-powered Resonessence Concero
- USB > CEntrance DACmini CX Analog Out
- USB > 5V battery-powered DACport LX
- Sony PCM-M10 Line Out
Presented without further comment.
Mike
Oye Mike,
I have also compared the X5 line out to my Beresford Bush Mk II DAC.
They were compared via my Stax SRS-2170 system.
To be fair, I did not do any rigorous testing, but the X5 did seem to be only slightly less alive and transparent than the Beresford, which is very impressive to my way of thinking!
The FiiO E17 is a great DAC for the money, but it just didn't cut it with the Stax SRS-2170, it had a rather dark, veiled, slightly lifeless sound.
But some perspective is needed: I had no qualms about using the E17 to directly drive my Q701 cans!
Chris
