[nashitvakil]

Hi @mrspeakers and other kind members,

I have purchased Astell & Kern SR25 (https://us.astellnkern.com/products/a-norma-sr25).

Will I be able to satisfactorily drive, have enough headroom and enjoy Aeon 2 (Closed) via 2.5mm VIVO Cable? I am looking for a portable solution and hence I want to purchase Aeon 2 Closed. Thanks for helping me out with my purchase decision.

 

[Malevolent]

Would my Hiby R5 have enough power to drive the A2C anywhere near its full potential? It has a full watt behind it. Dumb question, but I just want to confirm - these can be ordered with 3.5mm sockets on the cups, correct?

As far as I know, no. The sockets on the headphones themselves can only accept the Hirose connectors. However, you can order the headphone with different source connector ends (e.g. 3.5mm, 6.3mm, XLR).

 

[Mhog55]

As far as I know, no. The sockets on the headphones themselves can only accept the Hirose connectors. However, you can order the headphone with different source connector ends (e.g. 3.5mm, 6.3mm, XLR).

Thanks bud. They must be relatively difficult to push if they need more than a watt of power. I thought I read that you can order these with different style cup connections. They must be referring to the source end termination. At any rate, I suppose it's safe to remove these from my short list.

 

[mrspeakers]

Hi @mrspeakers and other kind members,

I have purchased Astell & Kern SR25 (https://us.astellnkern.com/products/a-norma-sr25).

Will I be able to satisfactorily drive, have enough headroom and enjoy Aeon 2 (Closed) via 2.5mm VIVO Cable? I am looking for a portable solution and hence I want to purchase Aeon 2 Closed. Thanks for helping me out with my purchase decision.

That's impossible to answer given the data AK posted. They rate "4V balanced no load" as the output. If they have a really strong power supply 4V would be way more than you need, producing 1.3W of power into the headphone. But in practice some of the older AK players used to have relatively weak current output and power would fall into loads below 32 ohms. In short, it's impossible to say for sure, though you'll likely get 2x the power you would out of the single-ended.

 

[nashitvakil]

That's impossible to answer given the data AK posted. They rate "4V balanced no load" as the output. If they have a really strong power supply 4V would be way more than you need, producing 1.3W of power into the headphone. But in practice some of the older AK players used to have relatively weak current output and power would fall into loads below 32 ohms. In short, it's impossible to say for sure, though you'll likely get 2x the power you would out of the single-ended.

Thanks for your reply. My research will continue, I guess, as I am quite new to this hobby and I don't know if it will work with SR25 or not.

 

[godmax]

Would my Hiby R5 have enough power to drive the A2C anywhere near its full potential? It has a full watt behind it. Dumb question, but I just want to confirm - these can be ordered with 3.5mm sockets on the cups, correct?

If you use balanced connection with the A2C you can power them very properly with R5 (in fact I just now use that combination: 4.4mm balanced cable, high gain and volume 34 out of 100 on R5).

 

[Licht]

Thanks for your reply. My research will continue, I guess, as I am quite new to this hobby and I don't know if it will work with SR25 or not.

Output of AK players significantly drops in low impedance.
My SA700 which has same output power as SR25 doesn’t drive ETHER2 well even in balanced output. And Aeon has even lower impedance which means more current required.
Way cheaper Hidizs AP80 pro Copper in balanced output drives ETHER2 way better than SA700.
I won’t recommend A&K players for Aeon or Ether series.

 

[nashitvakil]

Output of AK players significantly drops in low impedance.
My SA700 which has same output power as SR25 doesn’t drive ETHER2 well even in balanced output. And Aeon has even lower impedance which means more current required.
Way cheaper Hidizs AP80 pro Copper in balanced output drives ETHER2 way better than SA700.
I won’t recommend A&K players for Aeon or Ether series.

Hey, thanks for your inputs. Looks like I will have to go for something like a hip-dac/xdsd/xcan combo with my SR25. I hope that will suffice for these cans since I am looking for long lasting portable solution.

 

[mrspeakers]

Hey, thanks for your inputs. Looks like I will have to go for something like a hip-dac/xdsd/xcan combo with my SR25. I hope that will suffice for these cans since I am looking for long lasting portable solution.

The iBasso DX220 with Amp 8 is stunningly good, the only downside is the player's wifi isn't super stable so streaming is only reliable when Wifi is strong. The local storage player sounds great.

Another great choice is the Chord Mojo, which can stream over wifi or bluetooth. I've heard good things about the high-end FiiO players but haven't tried them myself yet. For the iFI gear, a perenial favorite is the iDSD black, very powerful and clean. Too large for a pocket but great for traveling and using on the road in hotels, etc.

 

[nashitvakil]

The iBasso DX220 with Amp 8 is stunningly good, the only downside is the player's wifi isn't super stable so streaming is only reliable when Wifi is strong. The local storage player sounds great.

Another great choice is the Chord Mojo, which can stream over wifi or bluetooth. I've heard good things about the high-end FiiO players but haven't tried them myself yet. For the iFI gear, a perenial favorite is the iDSD black, very powerful and clean. Too large for a pocket but great for traveling and using on the road in hotels, etc.

Thank you for the detailed reply from your end and I will look into above given pairing options.

 

[iFi audio]

For the iFI gear, a perenial favorite is the iDSD black, very powerful and clean. Too large for a pocket but great for traveling and using on the road in hotels, etc.

Thanks a lot

 

[Mhog55]

If you use balanced connection with the A2C you can power them very properly with R5 (in fact I just now use that combination: 4.4mm balanced cable, high gain and volume 34 out of 100 on R5).

Only 34? Do you have the pre amp cranked up? Balanced with my 58X, I'm listening with the volume at 80

 

[godmax]

Only 34? Do you have the pre amp cranked up? Balanced with my 58X, I'm listening with the volume at 80

Yea the R5 is really a powerhouse. Have you set the gain in the R5 to high and the volume control to "exponent volume"? You should be able to drive the HD58X at lower volume ( for reference I have also used ZMF Verite Closed with 300Ω and 99 dB SPL/mW sensitivity on the R5 with around the same volume level as the A2C)

 

[1000ROUNDZ]

Yea the R5 is really a powerhouse. Have you set the gain in the R5 to high and the volume control to "exponent volume"? You should be able to drive the HD58X at lower volume ( for reference I have also used ZMF Verite Closed with 300Ω and 99 dB SPL/mW sensitivity on the R5 with around the same volume level as the A2C)

I just checked my R5 because I was surprised by your listening volume. It's always been set to High Gain and Exponent Volume, but I listen at around 70 with my A2C. 34 is too low for me.

 

[godmax]

I just checked my R5 because I was surprised by your listening volume. It's always been set to High Gain and Exponent Volume, but I listen at around 70 with my A2C. 34 is too low for me.

Strange, I just double checked again, I use a level of 28 to 34 depending on track at moderate to loud listening volume with the A2C, regardless of the player app (Hiby or native Tidal) using custom balanced cable from Hart Audio Cables on the 4.4mm phone out.