spinali
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2003
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XENOS 3HA -- INTRODUCTION
Several forum members have asked about the XENOS 3HA headphone amp, but reviews are few and far between. Hopefully, this will go a good start in answering those questions.
Obviously, the 3HA is designed to occupy a market position between the entry-level CMOYs and true stereophile gear. As such, it seems an attractive option for those who don't want to spend all of their available cash on listening gear. My unit cost $129, but prices have come up somewhat since this review, and Canadian shipping is a small consideration.
SOURCE AND HEADPHONES
I paired the 3HA with two output devices:
1. An Aiwa XP-70 portable CD player
2. A third-generation 40 gig iPod
I sampled the amp with two popular headphones:
1. Sony MDR-V6
2. Koss Porta-Pros
OUT OF THE BOX
The XENOS 3HA headphone amp is shipped securely in two cardboard boxes. A meteor could hit this package without doing damage.
The amp itself is 6-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches. The casing is black plastic. The amp comes with a power adapter, a dual RCA to mini-plug cable, a 6 pin to mini-pin adapter (for use with other Xenos products), and a mini-to-mini cable. Underneath, there's a bay for four AA batteries. The unit gives the impression of solidity. It weighs 11.4 ounces, without batteries. It comes with a well-organized, well-written, fully-typset instruction booklet (Xin, take notice), though usage is rather easy.
The 3HA probably isn't an amp you'd take with you jogging, and I'd have my druthers riding a bus or commuter train with it (though I've done that). But as a conveniently portable home headphone amp paired with good phones, you have a nice fit.
There are three rubber-lined controls on the side of the amp -- for volume, treble, and bass. It also has two mini headphone jacks for listening with a friend, a nice touch. If you have a large 1/4 inch jack on your headphones (like Grados), you'll have to buy a mini to 1/4 inch stereo adapter.
I tried it with and without batteries. When I cranked up the volume using the power adapter and without a source connected, there was a very faint background hum at very high volume. At no time did I notice a hum during my music sampling. When I used batteries, the amp was as quiet as a mouse; not a hint of background noise even at the highest volume.
Which brings up the issue of batteries. They fit extremely tight; I had to take a butter knife and push up on the lip of one of the AA batteries to ease it out of the amp. I simply pulled, or rather yanked, the others out.
Okay, it's time to pull out the music.
WITH A CD SOURCE
My Aiwa provides okay CD sound, but lacks crispness and power. Moreover, its bass boost feature is indiscriminate, making the sound duller rather than more powerful at the highest setting.
(V6) I dropped on Pieces de Clavecin by J. P. Rameau -- a chamber music piece that's well-recorded and always seems to sound good. The 3HA (with some fiddling with the knobs) was able to add a crystalline clarity to the harpsichord, and the ensemble suddenly had an expanded soundstage (perhaps five or ten feet, though I realize this is subjective). The recording is exquisite, and suddenly compels listening despite the ensemble's unremarkable instrumentation. (A flute is usually used to double one of the lead violins to add color.)
(PortaPro) Switching to the Koss headphones, the difference becomes pretty profound. The sound loses the dull bass, replacing it with a nicely defined instrumental sound. There's not much soundstage; the instruments seem about a foot away now. However, the sound seems less "colored" than with the V6.
(V6) Next, I put on a 1962 version of Beethoven's 5th Symphony by Herbet Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. It's a fine performance, but time has made the sound mix less than impressive. With CD alone, the sound lacks a focus or immediacy. With the 3HA, I had to turn the treble all the way up, and bump up the bass a little. While the treble boost might make modern recordings sound shrill as fingernails against chalkboard, it's just what this recording needed to give it power. The soundstage was suddenly enlarged (as with the Rameau), and I even enjoyed some orchestral color. The symphony was instantly more appealing and powerful with the 3HA.
(PortaPro) Here's where the amp's added controls really made a difference. By itself, the Koss headphones give a generic sound accented by a layer of bass; equalized by the XENOS' amp, the music was suddenly listenable. As before, the Porta-Pros showed no soundstage at all; however, the sound was clear and uncolored. Even these relatively cheap phones profit from the 3HA touch.
(V6) The Yardbirds' Greatest Hits, Volume One provide a special challenge -- powerful, primitive music with (at its best) a chunky rave-up sound. Unamped, the CD has an urgency and closeness that fits the music; it's unpretentious 60's rock'n'roll. The 3HA renders the instruments with a separation I hadn't heard in the CD alone -- but I'm not sure this is a good thing. Amping especially the band's earlier trax pulls away some of the rawness and urgency. I think I liked the unamped sound better, which better simulated the evocative feelng of listening to great music on a transistor radio. Moreover, the amped sound was ever-so-slightly sibilant on these phones. This was surprising, since the V6 is such a strong hard rock phone.
(PortaPro) The PortaPros don't excel at raw music. Predictably, The Yardbirds songs sounded muddy unamped and amped. I'm not sure I noticed an appreciable improvement in the sound until there was an improvement of production. Classics like "I'm a Man" did not fare as well as vocal-intensive tracks like "You're a Better Man Than I" -- which is still too muddy for my taste.
(V6) Elvis Costello's This Year's Model CD has solid production. Again, the difference between unamped and amped was significant -- but less so than before. The main difference comes as a result of the amp's best feature, the ability to change treble and bass to your liking. For me, having a "flat" sound isn't as important as one one that I really like, and the 3HA definitely added a concise punch to the snare drums in particular.
(PortaPro) Same results as with the Costello tracks, and maybe a little more profound. The PortaPros still don't have a soundstage (getting the pattern?), but gain a crispness with amping. It's more the way the record should sound.
(V6) Every Little Thing is a Japanese pop band with a more produced sound and more modern production than the Elvis Costello CD. But I noticed the same pattern as before. More space, slightly more clarity, more oomph to the percussion. Perhaps I'd have wanted some additional sonic warmth to highlight Kaori's vocals, but I don't think I'm willing to shell out the cash for a tube amp just yet. I was, however, able to rectify this partially by reducing treble slightly, allowing just a touch of reediness in vocals to remain.
(PortaPro) While the XENOS amp can't fix the headphones' "closed-in" feel, the music is rendered as impressively as with the V6 phones. This music gobbles up treble, and again, having the controls to vary it was advantageous. With this more highly produced music, being able to fiddle with the controls allowed me to customize the sound. Nice.
(V6) Okay, what about punk? (What about it? I hear some saying.) Next, I played Feeding of the 5000 by Crass, England's most beloved anarchist band. The studio production on this recording is basic, one-take stuff. With CD alone, the songs have an agreeably monochrome sound, though the sound is a bit thin on the bottom. Amped, the first thing you notoce are the drums; the backbeat suddenly moves the music forward. All in all, however, the difference is subtle.
(PortaPro) Don't skip over this part just because you don't have low-fi anarchist music in your collection. The Porta-Pros show their limitations here; they've never been able to deal with "noisy" music very well. The 3HA adds slight punch to the percussion, and there may be added clarity. But as before, the difference seems to be subtle with this type of recording.
FROM AN IPOD SOURCE
As you may already know, the iPod tops out at around 19,000 cycles per second, so the sound differences with this comparison weren't expected to be as dramatic as they were with a CD source. But a few things surprised me.
The 3HA demonstrated a continued ability to present sound clearly and with percussive punch. You'll probably be keeping the settings close to normal, but it's nice to know that you can vary the treble and bass in the style of an EQ whenever required. It's easy to go overboard with this kind of tinkering, but it's nice to know that "difficult" tracks can be largely corrected (and on the run) without having to switch OP amps.
I listened to punk, pop, reggae, electronic, and enka on the iPod via the Xenos 3HA, and was unable to find any genre (or preset) that satisfied me. That is, unless I listened to music recorded at good to excellent sampling rates (192 minimum, 320 or above preferred). The 3HA requires good source material to really shine.
Moreover, despite its considerable powers, the 3HA can do little to improve the sound of iPod MP3s with deficient production, like vintage reggae, even when encoded at a high bit rate.
SUMMARY
1. As with any stereo component, the quality of the 3HA's sound varies directly with the quality of your source material and recording.
2. The 3HA will enhance the sound of good headphones, but the better your phones, the greater the sonic rewards. Under the best conditions, look for an increased soundstage and crystaline articulation of instrumental sounds.
3. The 3HA can do more with well-recorded music than poorly recorded music (like MP3s sampled below 192) or vintage studio recordings.
4. While it offers good amplification, the selling point of the 3HA is the variable bass and treble, which allow you to customize the sound to a certain degree. An outstanding feature, as is its cost.
5. The 3HA's sound is crisp and supple, but lacks the warm or "tube-ish" sound of more expensive amps.
It's possible you may also need the following hardware:
1. Mini to 1/4 inch stereo adapter, should that be required
2. NiMH battery recharger for four AA batteries
3. Eight NiMH rechargeable batteries (get batteries with a minimum 2200 rating; get eight so you always have fresh batteries on hand)
Check out its performance with the Beyer DT880 here:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=Xenos
Several forum members have asked about the XENOS 3HA headphone amp, but reviews are few and far between. Hopefully, this will go a good start in answering those questions.
Obviously, the 3HA is designed to occupy a market position between the entry-level CMOYs and true stereophile gear. As such, it seems an attractive option for those who don't want to spend all of their available cash on listening gear. My unit cost $129, but prices have come up somewhat since this review, and Canadian shipping is a small consideration.
SOURCE AND HEADPHONES
I paired the 3HA with two output devices:
1. An Aiwa XP-70 portable CD player
2. A third-generation 40 gig iPod
I sampled the amp with two popular headphones:
1. Sony MDR-V6
2. Koss Porta-Pros
OUT OF THE BOX
The XENOS 3HA headphone amp is shipped securely in two cardboard boxes. A meteor could hit this package without doing damage.
The amp itself is 6-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches. The casing is black plastic. The amp comes with a power adapter, a dual RCA to mini-plug cable, a 6 pin to mini-pin adapter (for use with other Xenos products), and a mini-to-mini cable. Underneath, there's a bay for four AA batteries. The unit gives the impression of solidity. It weighs 11.4 ounces, without batteries. It comes with a well-organized, well-written, fully-typset instruction booklet (Xin, take notice), though usage is rather easy.
The 3HA probably isn't an amp you'd take with you jogging, and I'd have my druthers riding a bus or commuter train with it (though I've done that). But as a conveniently portable home headphone amp paired with good phones, you have a nice fit.
There are three rubber-lined controls on the side of the amp -- for volume, treble, and bass. It also has two mini headphone jacks for listening with a friend, a nice touch. If you have a large 1/4 inch jack on your headphones (like Grados), you'll have to buy a mini to 1/4 inch stereo adapter.
I tried it with and without batteries. When I cranked up the volume using the power adapter and without a source connected, there was a very faint background hum at very high volume. At no time did I notice a hum during my music sampling. When I used batteries, the amp was as quiet as a mouse; not a hint of background noise even at the highest volume.
Which brings up the issue of batteries. They fit extremely tight; I had to take a butter knife and push up on the lip of one of the AA batteries to ease it out of the amp. I simply pulled, or rather yanked, the others out.
Okay, it's time to pull out the music.
WITH A CD SOURCE
My Aiwa provides okay CD sound, but lacks crispness and power. Moreover, its bass boost feature is indiscriminate, making the sound duller rather than more powerful at the highest setting.
(V6) I dropped on Pieces de Clavecin by J. P. Rameau -- a chamber music piece that's well-recorded and always seems to sound good. The 3HA (with some fiddling with the knobs) was able to add a crystalline clarity to the harpsichord, and the ensemble suddenly had an expanded soundstage (perhaps five or ten feet, though I realize this is subjective). The recording is exquisite, and suddenly compels listening despite the ensemble's unremarkable instrumentation. (A flute is usually used to double one of the lead violins to add color.)
(PortaPro) Switching to the Koss headphones, the difference becomes pretty profound. The sound loses the dull bass, replacing it with a nicely defined instrumental sound. There's not much soundstage; the instruments seem about a foot away now. However, the sound seems less "colored" than with the V6.
(V6) Next, I put on a 1962 version of Beethoven's 5th Symphony by Herbet Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. It's a fine performance, but time has made the sound mix less than impressive. With CD alone, the sound lacks a focus or immediacy. With the 3HA, I had to turn the treble all the way up, and bump up the bass a little. While the treble boost might make modern recordings sound shrill as fingernails against chalkboard, it's just what this recording needed to give it power. The soundstage was suddenly enlarged (as with the Rameau), and I even enjoyed some orchestral color. The symphony was instantly more appealing and powerful with the 3HA.
(PortaPro) Here's where the amp's added controls really made a difference. By itself, the Koss headphones give a generic sound accented by a layer of bass; equalized by the XENOS' amp, the music was suddenly listenable. As before, the Porta-Pros showed no soundstage at all; however, the sound was clear and uncolored. Even these relatively cheap phones profit from the 3HA touch.
(V6) The Yardbirds' Greatest Hits, Volume One provide a special challenge -- powerful, primitive music with (at its best) a chunky rave-up sound. Unamped, the CD has an urgency and closeness that fits the music; it's unpretentious 60's rock'n'roll. The 3HA renders the instruments with a separation I hadn't heard in the CD alone -- but I'm not sure this is a good thing. Amping especially the band's earlier trax pulls away some of the rawness and urgency. I think I liked the unamped sound better, which better simulated the evocative feelng of listening to great music on a transistor radio. Moreover, the amped sound was ever-so-slightly sibilant on these phones. This was surprising, since the V6 is such a strong hard rock phone.
(PortaPro) The PortaPros don't excel at raw music. Predictably, The Yardbirds songs sounded muddy unamped and amped. I'm not sure I noticed an appreciable improvement in the sound until there was an improvement of production. Classics like "I'm a Man" did not fare as well as vocal-intensive tracks like "You're a Better Man Than I" -- which is still too muddy for my taste.
(V6) Elvis Costello's This Year's Model CD has solid production. Again, the difference between unamped and amped was significant -- but less so than before. The main difference comes as a result of the amp's best feature, the ability to change treble and bass to your liking. For me, having a "flat" sound isn't as important as one one that I really like, and the 3HA definitely added a concise punch to the snare drums in particular.
(PortaPro) Same results as with the Costello tracks, and maybe a little more profound. The PortaPros still don't have a soundstage (getting the pattern?), but gain a crispness with amping. It's more the way the record should sound.
(V6) Every Little Thing is a Japanese pop band with a more produced sound and more modern production than the Elvis Costello CD. But I noticed the same pattern as before. More space, slightly more clarity, more oomph to the percussion. Perhaps I'd have wanted some additional sonic warmth to highlight Kaori's vocals, but I don't think I'm willing to shell out the cash for a tube amp just yet. I was, however, able to rectify this partially by reducing treble slightly, allowing just a touch of reediness in vocals to remain.
(PortaPro) While the XENOS amp can't fix the headphones' "closed-in" feel, the music is rendered as impressively as with the V6 phones. This music gobbles up treble, and again, having the controls to vary it was advantageous. With this more highly produced music, being able to fiddle with the controls allowed me to customize the sound. Nice.
(V6) Okay, what about punk? (What about it? I hear some saying.) Next, I played Feeding of the 5000 by Crass, England's most beloved anarchist band. The studio production on this recording is basic, one-take stuff. With CD alone, the songs have an agreeably monochrome sound, though the sound is a bit thin on the bottom. Amped, the first thing you notoce are the drums; the backbeat suddenly moves the music forward. All in all, however, the difference is subtle.
(PortaPro) Don't skip over this part just because you don't have low-fi anarchist music in your collection. The Porta-Pros show their limitations here; they've never been able to deal with "noisy" music very well. The 3HA adds slight punch to the percussion, and there may be added clarity. But as before, the difference seems to be subtle with this type of recording.
FROM AN IPOD SOURCE
As you may already know, the iPod tops out at around 19,000 cycles per second, so the sound differences with this comparison weren't expected to be as dramatic as they were with a CD source. But a few things surprised me.
The 3HA demonstrated a continued ability to present sound clearly and with percussive punch. You'll probably be keeping the settings close to normal, but it's nice to know that you can vary the treble and bass in the style of an EQ whenever required. It's easy to go overboard with this kind of tinkering, but it's nice to know that "difficult" tracks can be largely corrected (and on the run) without having to switch OP amps.
I listened to punk, pop, reggae, electronic, and enka on the iPod via the Xenos 3HA, and was unable to find any genre (or preset) that satisfied me. That is, unless I listened to music recorded at good to excellent sampling rates (192 minimum, 320 or above preferred). The 3HA requires good source material to really shine.
Moreover, despite its considerable powers, the 3HA can do little to improve the sound of iPod MP3s with deficient production, like vintage reggae, even when encoded at a high bit rate.
SUMMARY
1. As with any stereo component, the quality of the 3HA's sound varies directly with the quality of your source material and recording.
2. The 3HA will enhance the sound of good headphones, but the better your phones, the greater the sonic rewards. Under the best conditions, look for an increased soundstage and crystaline articulation of instrumental sounds.
3. The 3HA can do more with well-recorded music than poorly recorded music (like MP3s sampled below 192) or vintage studio recordings.
4. While it offers good amplification, the selling point of the 3HA is the variable bass and treble, which allow you to customize the sound to a certain degree. An outstanding feature, as is its cost.
5. The 3HA's sound is crisp and supple, but lacks the warm or "tube-ish" sound of more expensive amps.
It's possible you may also need the following hardware:
1. Mini to 1/4 inch stereo adapter, should that be required
2. NiMH battery recharger for four AA batteries
3. Eight NiMH rechargeable batteries (get batteries with a minimum 2200 rating; get eight so you always have fresh batteries on hand)
Check out its performance with the Beyer DT880 here:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=Xenos
