Viva Egoista 845 vs Riviera AIC-10 headphone amplifiers
Thanks to a fellow head-fier, who brought his Riviera AIC-10 to my house, I was able to compare it to Viva Egoista 845 and I must say that I am impressed. I will go into more detail once I acquire my own, BUT I can already say, that AIC-10 is what I was looking for in an amp pairing, hence I made a contractual commitment to buy one.
dCS Bartók and Viva Egoista 845
Bartok has very detailed, transparent and neutral SS amplifier, capable of driving AB-1266 with more authority, than as twice as powerful Hugo TT 2 (out of its rear XLRs). Adding Viva to it, makes it more technically impressive - bass tightens up and is more controlled/articulate/layered, the resolution and detail retrieval improves further, and soundstage becomes more holographic as well. I would call these improvements (for AB-1266) anywhere between 10-20% over what I get direct out of Bartok. Worth the 12'500 EUR price? Well, no, not really. However, if your DAC does not have a capable headphone out (Bartok certainly does), I would definitely recommend Viva to you, as it is the most transparent headphone amplifier I have heard. If you are curious how it changes Susvara, which needs more power than 1266, then guess - it does exactly what it did to 1266, it improves its technicalities, and that's it. If you are happy with the way your headphones sound already, you just want to take it a level or two higher, for sure get Viva!
What I am trying to achieve
Some of you may know what sound signature I am after (if you read my other impressions in my signature), and that I like Valkyria for its meaty mids, which gives me a wonderful experience with pianos and strings. BUT the best mids I have ever heard were Sennheiser HE-1, those were to die for, especially because they were presented in such an intimate way. Because of this, I have been toying with the idea of getting myself a second pair of headphones. I tried Focal Utopia, Hifiman Susvara and Spirit Torino Valkyria, but for EDM, I was always coming back to AB-1266. How can I achieve HE-1's mids with 1266? Is that even possible? I did not like Utopia's bass (not detailed/layered enough), I did not like Susvara's build quality and the stock cable (can be replaced of course), and with Valkyria, the design is over the top (and price is quite steep). What I am trying to say here, is that I always kept coming back to 1266, even if it was flawed in the mids. People told me about Superconductor cable, and I am definitely considering it.
Riviera AIC-10
BUT, I am happy to say, Riviera AIC-10 (to my ears) makes mids sound like they did on HE-1 (comparing from memory of course, so take this with a grain of salt). AIC-10 is not as transparent as Viva, and it does change the presentation. What impressed me with Riviera was how "meaty" the mids became, so so so different from stock 1266. If I could record them for you (just the mids), I don't think you would recognise them, nor attribute them to 1266. They keep the resolution 1266 is known for, but singer is no longer singing from a hallway, but in front of you in a small club, with very little reverb. This is exactly what I remember from HE-1, the intimacy of mids. As opposed to Viva, which made V/U shape just sound more prominent, Riviera changes that presentation to more neutral/natural way. I knew a presentation like this is possible by "just get a tube amp", but I was worried that a tube amp of this sort would loose its resolution and bass precision, well, Riviera does not sound as sharp as Viva, but it still is refined and well defined, but again, I come to the same conclusion - it is meatier.
Music pairing
If you ask me, Viva Egoista 845 and Riviera AIC-10 do sound different, and the pairing will depend on what you want to achieve (or fix in my case). If you like how your source chain sounds, and the headphones you own are perfect to you, meaning you don't want to change anything, definitely get Viva, it is much more transparent / not changing timbre/tonality type of amplifier - AND IT LOOKS gorgeous. Riviera on the other hands, fix what I have been trying to fix with 1266. Would I recommend the amplifier for other headphones? Hard to say, I did not have enough time to listen with Susvara, Utopia nor Valkyria. BUT for me, Riviera does what I wanted all the way - make 1266 a good headphone for Max Payne piano soundtrack, The Weeknd vocal heavy synth pop, and Linking Park indie rock. Will it replace Bartok for vocal less cold EDM? I don't think so, that one is more holographic and colder in presentation (in comparison).
Summary
I know many of you will fundamentally disagree here with me. I should get absolutely transparent source (dac+amp) and then a headphone, that presents it in a way that is again, transparent. But please note, that for me, I am after a certain sound signature, that plays well with music I listen to. For EDM, 1266 is the best headphone. For othet genres that are instrument / vocal focused, I found 1266 lacking. I tried to fix it with other headphones, but those I found lacking too. But now, with Riviera, I found a fix for my favourite headphone, that finally makes it sound like I can make it all with one headphone, no need for swapping (well, headphone swapping, I still need to swap amps, haha). If I could, I would keep both Viva Egoista 845 for EDM, and Riviera AIC-10 for the rest. But that's too much money for me, especially if Bartok is Viva minus 20%, I cannot justify keeping both. If I did not have Bartok with a good enough amplifier, I would definitely chose both. If I was buying other headphone, I would most likely chose more transparent Viva. But for 1266 owners, really, give Riviera a listen, it is that good.
Boring part
I put this last, as most of you already know it. Viva Egoista 845 is a huge 30kg monster, that functions as a space heater, as those 845 tubes are always on. Riviera AIC-10 on the other hand is a hybrid amplifier, that only weights 15kg and runs much cooler. Looks, Viva is something special, you can chose any automotive colour you want. Riviera comes in two colours, and even though my Bartok and Abyss are black, I prefer Riviera gold, it looks very classy in person, not as crazy as Viva. As for tube rolling, Viva does not recommend it, and claims it is better to trust their selection (they tube rolled in the factory). Riviera is of no opinion of sort and you are free to tube roll as much as you want and some people report great results, taking the amp directions needed for headphone pairings (more warmth, less warmth, stuff like that).
