Well, this is my very first review, here it goes.
Overview:
When I had first heard about PP6 from a Uni tutor, I heard “Tri-amp”, “Active-crossover”, and “2200$”. Normally, I thought the guy was out of his mind. I had already purchased my Fostex TH900 nearly half an year ago and already owned a Unique Melody Miracle paired with Fiio F7 and Stepdance2/O2 amp, buying PP6 was out of question.
However, when I got my first pay from my internship and my secondhand O2 finally broke without warranty, I decided PP6 might be worth an adventure.
Lesson on Active vs Passive
One of the main features of PP6 is the active crossover, unlike passive crossover of many headphones, IEMs. As you know many sound systems cannot cover all audio spectrum-frequencies- with a single speaker. It is inefficient and leads to horrible clipping noises. There is two solutions for this, active and passive crossover.
Passive crossover uses a passive-non gaining-filter consisting of resistors and other signal processor to split the signal from amplifier. Typically, the set up consists of a single amplifier which takes the signal from Source->DAC and splits them into corresponding frequency therefore speakers.
Source->DAC->Amp->(SpeakerHiFreq, SpeakerMidFreq, SpeakerLowFreq)
Active crossover uses an active crossover filter which feeds signals suited for different frequencies to multiple amps of corresponding frequency. I’m pretty sure-correct me if I’m wrong- that PP6 uses a digital signal processor to feed into the 6 (left,right)*(low,mid,high) amps.
Source->DAC/DSP->((left,right)*(low,mid,high)amps)->Corresponding drivers.
Active crossover is generally considered superior as each drivers are better insulated from others and reducing the distortion, power efficient, and generally leads to sound with less clipping. However this maybe counter with introduced noise due to the gain-process.
Order and Delivery:
Order was easy, through the Unique Melody Aus. After that, I got my molding done in a recommended audiologist in Parramatta. It was pretty much the same as when I got my miracle, took 15 minutes on both sides and wasn’t too uncomfortable.
Delivery was slightly more complicated. I submitted my order on early October and hoped to get the device by November 25
th as I had my flight back to Korea. The complication arose from the CIEM cable, the previous model was too loose and had to be replaced. I got my PP6 delivered to me on 5
th of December. It took significantly longer than my miracle which both me and my friend’s were delivered less than 3 weeks. However, I heard other people getting theirs after 3 months, I decided it wasn’t too bad.
Build Quality and Fit:
Fit was superb. I thought my Miracle fit was pretty good, but the PP6 fit was as tight as possible without feeling uncomfortable. I used my PP6 during my flight to Jeju and it had arguably almost as good isolation as my Quietcomfort 15. I also used PP6 while having tea or light meal without too much discomfort.
Build quality of each unit is also superb. PP6 DAC Amp is enclosed in a small-very small indeed considering there was 3000mah battery, 6 amps, and a DAC- aluminum case. The volume knob was smooth and secure, same with other controls. The earpieces too were very well done: no bubbles, my request artwork beautifully painted in. The cable was eye-catching and was not prone to tangling, it’s connection to the DAC/AMP was solid as.
However, PP6 wasn’t entirely without problems. The forementioned issue with cable and earpiece connection wasn’t entirely fixed. Yes, it was reasonably secure, but there were couple of times when I was trying to equip or unequip my PP6 the cable disconnected. Thankfully, my earpieces were very well molded and never fell to the ground, still I was getting pretty worried with the connection. I think the cable connection is one of those things that will get very worn over time. If it gets worse, I will just have to glue mine in.
EDIT: After nearly a month of use, it didn’t get noticeably worse. However, the miniUSB in for PP6 is a bit fragile, just be careful. Use optical if possible, connections are rock solid.
Mobility and Isolation:
Isolation is excellent and considering the PP6 Amp’s small size, this may well be my favorite portable rig. The only limiting factor of this is the connectivity of PP6. I cannot use it with my Android phone nor tablet; I could only use it with my desktop PC and the bulky battery sucking Macbookpro. I’m seriously considering Surface Pro for my PP6, I mean DX100 is 800$, with that price tag, I’d rather buy the Surface.
EDIT: Updates with Android compatibility: Nil. The audio tester, audio recorder apps do not work with PP6 ,they do recognize it but I hear white noise with heavily distorted music. Working on it now. For 100
th time, PP6 do not work with GS3 for now.
Sound Quality:
Get ready for poor grammar, unfinished sentences, and way too many adjectives!
In the end, I never had any experience with the noise problem mentioned in active crossover part.
Conclusion:
Well, this is where I summarize my experience with PP6 and tell you whether you should buy it or not. Few things first:
- PP6 have the sound signature of CIEMs, especially that of UM which means clarity, nice focused bass-sometimes, even over most frequency ranges and so on.
- Compared to headphones with dynamic transducers, obviously PP6 would fail to let you “feel” the bass, depends on person but it never really bothered me. Also, if you try CIEMs for the first time, you will feel that sounds are much more “crowded” due to the combination of small soundstage and fuller sounding med’s.
- PP6 IS NOT Miracle, they have different sound signatures. I guess this would largely depend on which DAC/AMP you have, but with my O2+ Fiio 7, O2, O2 + solo, O2 + Stepdance 2, it was different. I dare say the changes in PP6 were improvements: clarity surprisingly improved, nice interference/beats, reinforced bass.
Now is PP6 worth 2200 price tag? Depends, but I’d say yes. The reasons for it are:
- Miracle which is 900$ which is pretty cheap for what you get, add to that Algorythm Solo-maybe couple or three of them because PP6 is Tri-amp- battery, nice build quality, cable, DSP, magical tri-amping thingy with active crossover, etc, and you get 900+500*2+???= 1900, yes I think the price reasonably justified.
- But is it worth it? Ie) Is active crossover worth it? Well to begin with, only other active crossover experiment I had was with my dad and our quad-amped setup with old-but good- speakers. I can’t say “Oh that active crossover is sooo good” but I can say “there is a definite improvement in sound from Miracle”
- It is not bat-crazy. For an example, you pay 5000$ for Sony R10 and bet the sound quality would be worth it. Now, with R10 you are betting all that money with no warranty whatsoever and a decade old technology. With PP6, you can try something new that’s technically sensible, with warranty, and in a neat package. I think it is worth an adventure.
