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UPDATE #5, 3/26/08 1:00AM - 2MOVE and MODIFIED D2 UPDATE
I just spent the last 9-10 hours with all the amps, and a well burned in 2MOVE from Skylab. I first listened them all with the ALO modded HFI-780, but my current sinus infection must be boosting the vampire wire 780's bass a bit too much vs 7-10 days ago. So, I switched to my APS re-cabled RS-1 for more detail and layering, and more balanced bass, and listened to everything again. Having just gotten the APS re-cabled RS-1 and also re-cabled my Edition 9, it is an eye opener into hearing that the ALO modded HFI-780 are darker and bassier and less open at quiet volumes than I remember with the first part of the review (they do open up at higher volumes but louder make my sinus headache worse). Right now I am preferring the RS-1 and Edition 9 vs my 780's with 666 hours on them (don't laugh, that's how many hours they have
).
All Amps were reviewed as before, using only their USB DAC as source, via Macbook. The D2 was also tested with new opamps, with a LM6172 replacing the LT1364, and a THS4032 replacing the NE5532.
I used the same music as in the first test, but had to add a few more items: "Handel Messiah" conductor Christopher Hogwood, William Orbit "The Best of Strange Cargo", James Asher "Shaman Drums", Guinea Pig "Cool Cats", Jack Johnson. I also threw in various pop artists from my kid's music in 128kbps to test with poor sources.
The 2MOVE sounded closer to the Predator than the PICO, but with a little more treble extension and what I would call a slight midbass hump that I did not hear in the Predator other amps. The 2MOVE was what I would call warm and mellow - but not dark as it had a little bit more treble up top, in between the Predqtor and PICO (like the D2). The Predator seems to have a little better bass presence, especially helpful with the RS-1 which I feel are usually a little bass shy with bowls. The Predator's high end was also more suited to the RS-1 and HFI-780's which already have a strong treble presence. Bass and treble were not overpowering with any of the amps with the RS-1.
The 2MOVE was more forward and up front than the Predator or Pico, which didn't help the soundstage with Handel's Messiah when listening via the RS-1. The 2MOVE still has excellent ambience and detail of the large venue, but you are definitely closer to the choir. The Predator's bigger soundstage was itself beaten by the Pico by a small margin, which produced a more 3D Cathedral space. With one small studio recording (Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on FIM XRCD), I can almost hear the drums and cymbals echo off the walls with the 2MOVE, but that coloration does not appear to be there with any of the other amps.
The 2MOVE with piano and saxophone was sweet and seductive, like the Predator, where you could hear the warmth and the reedyness both at the same time. Where the 2MOVE also excelled was in acoustic music like Jack Johnson, like in "Badfish" on Look at the Love We Found, or "Times Like These" from the "On and On" album.
ALL the amps did electronic music well, like William Orbit, Chris Spheeris, James Asher. And ALL the amps are particularly ruthless with poor quality Mp3, revealing the poor dynamics and compression artifacts. With ALL of the amps I heard a grating quality with my kids' 128kbps pop/hip hop like Plain White T's. The Fray, Cartel, Avril Lavigne, Boys like Girls, Chris Brown, Wyclef Jean, Rihanna, Fergie, etc, which rubbed me the wrong way.
Back to the good stuff. What surprised me was listening to Diana Krall - the PICO just sounds more natural and transparent with songs from "Girl in the Other Room". This album gets included every time I do a review because it is mastered with some sibilance or harsh highs still remaining, so it makes a good test album to see how the amps or headphones handle it. While the Pico handles this the best, just above the Predator, I thought the 2MOVE was the most irritating of the amps with this partitcular album, and this hurt it's score. However, with the low-bitrate kid's music above, it was no more irritating than any of the other amps.
Now we get to the D2 with rolled opamps, using the LM6172 and THS4032 opamps, which would be about $25-30. The opamp change definitely changes the character if the amp, and it is less "Pico-Like" and more 2MOVE-like, except that it handles the one Diana Krall CD a little better/smoother, and it is slightly less forward, and the midbass hump is less. So, I guess that makes it more predator-like then?
The D2 does Saxophones VERY well now vs stock. It is like magic, wave the wand, and the D2 is transmorgrified into something else.
Having picked out the areas where one amp excels over the others, or falls behind the others, it makes it even harder to rank the top 4 amps. The Predator, 2MOVE and modified D2 sound the closest to each other's sound signature or flavor. While the Pico and stock D2 sound the closest to each other's sound signature. A similar sound signature is a "reminds me of" NOT a "sounds just like". That puts the amps in 2 camps, yet makes all the rankings fall between a 9.4/10 and a 10/10, and in my opinion too close to call based on sound alone.
The D2 with rolled opamps I feel is a little better than the 2MOVE, while the 2MOVE is better than the stock D2. So, my ranking has a tie for 3rd, and a tie for 4th...
1. RSA Predator (good bass and soundstage, more body, organic, full)
2. D2 with rolled opamps (LM6172/THS4032 - balanced, not too forward, sweet/magical Saxophone, almost mesmerizing like Predator, almost tied)
3. 2MOVE (sweet mids and saxophone, midbass hmmm, failed the bad mastering diana krall test, great detail and air, too large and heavy)
3. PICO (smooth and transparent without coloration, Great DAC, won the bad mastering Diana Krall test, but nothing special with piano and sax like the others, too neutral as an amp - how is that possible, maybe not because there is something around 2Khz that is not right with RS-1)
4. D1 with rolled opamps (AD743 main/LMH6643 buffer/LTC6241HV DAC - powerful, punchy, energetic, alive)
4. D2 stock (thin in the middle, neutral with good bass,)
5. Lyrix (good frequency balance, lacking details and air vs the others)
6. D1 stock opamps (put AD823/NE5532/AD8616 back in right before I shipped it back for the 2-3db channel imbalance, too edgy and bright and distant)
Quote:
I just spent the last 9-10 hours with all the amps, and a well burned in 2MOVE from Skylab. I first listened them all with the ALO modded HFI-780, but my current sinus infection must be boosting the vampire wire 780's bass a bit too much vs 7-10 days ago. So, I switched to my APS re-cabled RS-1 for more detail and layering, and more balanced bass, and listened to everything again. Having just gotten the APS re-cabled RS-1 and also re-cabled my Edition 9, it is an eye opener into hearing that the ALO modded HFI-780 are darker and bassier and less open at quiet volumes than I remember with the first part of the review (they do open up at higher volumes but louder make my sinus headache worse). Right now I am preferring the RS-1 and Edition 9 vs my 780's with 666 hours on them (don't laugh, that's how many hours they have
All Amps were reviewed as before, using only their USB DAC as source, via Macbook. The D2 was also tested with new opamps, with a LM6172 replacing the LT1364, and a THS4032 replacing the NE5532.
I used the same music as in the first test, but had to add a few more items: "Handel Messiah" conductor Christopher Hogwood, William Orbit "The Best of Strange Cargo", James Asher "Shaman Drums", Guinea Pig "Cool Cats", Jack Johnson. I also threw in various pop artists from my kid's music in 128kbps to test with poor sources.
The 2MOVE sounded closer to the Predator than the PICO, but with a little more treble extension and what I would call a slight midbass hump that I did not hear in the Predator other amps. The 2MOVE was what I would call warm and mellow - but not dark as it had a little bit more treble up top, in between the Predqtor and PICO (like the D2). The Predator seems to have a little better bass presence, especially helpful with the RS-1 which I feel are usually a little bass shy with bowls. The Predator's high end was also more suited to the RS-1 and HFI-780's which already have a strong treble presence. Bass and treble were not overpowering with any of the amps with the RS-1.
The 2MOVE was more forward and up front than the Predator or Pico, which didn't help the soundstage with Handel's Messiah when listening via the RS-1. The 2MOVE still has excellent ambience and detail of the large venue, but you are definitely closer to the choir. The Predator's bigger soundstage was itself beaten by the Pico by a small margin, which produced a more 3D Cathedral space. With one small studio recording (Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on FIM XRCD), I can almost hear the drums and cymbals echo off the walls with the 2MOVE, but that coloration does not appear to be there with any of the other amps.
The 2MOVE with piano and saxophone was sweet and seductive, like the Predator, where you could hear the warmth and the reedyness both at the same time. Where the 2MOVE also excelled was in acoustic music like Jack Johnson, like in "Badfish" on Look at the Love We Found, or "Times Like These" from the "On and On" album.
ALL the amps did electronic music well, like William Orbit, Chris Spheeris, James Asher. And ALL the amps are particularly ruthless with poor quality Mp3, revealing the poor dynamics and compression artifacts. With ALL of the amps I heard a grating quality with my kids' 128kbps pop/hip hop like Plain White T's. The Fray, Cartel, Avril Lavigne, Boys like Girls, Chris Brown, Wyclef Jean, Rihanna, Fergie, etc, which rubbed me the wrong way.
Back to the good stuff. What surprised me was listening to Diana Krall - the PICO just sounds more natural and transparent with songs from "Girl in the Other Room". This album gets included every time I do a review because it is mastered with some sibilance or harsh highs still remaining, so it makes a good test album to see how the amps or headphones handle it. While the Pico handles this the best, just above the Predator, I thought the 2MOVE was the most irritating of the amps with this partitcular album, and this hurt it's score. However, with the low-bitrate kid's music above, it was no more irritating than any of the other amps.
Now we get to the D2 with rolled opamps, using the LM6172 and THS4032 opamps, which would be about $25-30. The opamp change definitely changes the character if the amp, and it is less "Pico-Like" and more 2MOVE-like, except that it handles the one Diana Krall CD a little better/smoother, and it is slightly less forward, and the midbass hump is less. So, I guess that makes it more predator-like then?
Having picked out the areas where one amp excels over the others, or falls behind the others, it makes it even harder to rank the top 4 amps. The Predator, 2MOVE and modified D2 sound the closest to each other's sound signature or flavor. While the Pico and stock D2 sound the closest to each other's sound signature. A similar sound signature is a "reminds me of" NOT a "sounds just like". That puts the amps in 2 camps, yet makes all the rankings fall between a 9.4/10 and a 10/10, and in my opinion too close to call based on sound alone.
The D2 with rolled opamps I feel is a little better than the 2MOVE, while the 2MOVE is better than the stock D2. So, my ranking has a tie for 3rd, and a tie for 4th...
1. RSA Predator (good bass and soundstage, more body, organic, full)
2. D2 with rolled opamps (LM6172/THS4032 - balanced, not too forward, sweet/magical Saxophone, almost mesmerizing like Predator, almost tied)
3. 2MOVE (sweet mids and saxophone, midbass hmmm, failed the bad mastering diana krall test, great detail and air, too large and heavy)
3. PICO (smooth and transparent without coloration, Great DAC, won the bad mastering Diana Krall test, but nothing special with piano and sax like the others, too neutral as an amp - how is that possible, maybe not because there is something around 2Khz that is not right with RS-1)
4. D1 with rolled opamps (AD743 main/LMH6643 buffer/LTC6241HV DAC - powerful, punchy, energetic, alive)
4. D2 stock (thin in the middle, neutral with good bass,)
5. Lyrix (good frequency balance, lacking details and air vs the others)
6. D1 stock opamps (put AD823/NE5532/AD8616 back in right before I shipped it back for the 2-3db channel imbalance, too edgy and bright and distant)
Quote:
| Originally Posted by Raw notes jotted down while listening: Predator - ALO 780 = less treble extension, best bass Predator - RS-1 Handel mellow, good soundstage Yamamoto piano good Diana Krall voice smoother than 2move Jazz at Pawn - smooth, natural live William Orbit - punchy 2MOVE - ALO 780 like Predator with more treble, mid bass hump 2MOVE RS-1 Handel mellow forward Yamamoto good piano Diana Krall good bass, voice grating Jazz at Pawn sax sweet William Orbit - punchy PICO - ALO 780 clean bass, transparent PICO RS-1 Handel more 3D soundstage, clear airy Yamamoto bright piano, wrong Diana Krall best voice Jazz at Pawn - saxaphone thin William Orbit - punchy D2 modded - ALO 780 like MOVE but not as bright & less midbass hump D2 modded RS-1 Handel open slt more highs, violins closer than singer? Yamamoto less bright vs pico Diana Krall not bad at all Jazz at Pawn - sax sweet/magical William Orbit - punchy |
