The Schiit Asgard Headphone Amp

I recently had the opportunity to borrow a Schiit Asgard for a few weeks, and I wanted to just briefly put down my thoughts.

Schiit has a sense of humor about their name. They aren’t shy about playing into it in their marketing materials and manuals.

The amp is a relatively slim profile, solid aluminum enclosure with an RCA input in the rear for your DAC or CD player and a 1/4″ headphone output on the front. Do not cover the vent on the top because it needs the air flow. While this amp WILL get extremely hot to the touch — even the volume knob after a bit gets quite hot — the makers assure that it will continue to operate just fine. It’s all part of the design.

And what a design they have, too. For a mere $250 asking price, this amp has some serious output. I’m used to the RudiStor RPX-33 ($1300+) which is a very capable dualmono headphone amp (and preamp) and it’s actually quite difficult for me to really tell them apart. They both belt out gobs of detail and big, lush soundstage. They’re both extremely capable head amps, no doubt, but when you look at the price, it’s not hard to see that Schiit really has something here.

I would highly recommend this amp for anyone trying to drive the more demanding headphones such as the Sennheiser HD6x0 and Audeze LCD-2. It drove these headphones wonderfully for me.

And thanks again goes to Jude for letting me borrow his amp.

RSA “The Protector” Balanced Headphone Amp

I had the opportunity to borrow a Ray Samuels Audio “The Protector” headphone amp, and I thought I could say a few things before returning it.

The amp has the same great build as always from Ray. The size is the same as the Predator. It has an unbalanced input on the rear, with balanced AND unbalanced headphone outputs on the front. This amp has the ability to split the unbalanced input signal and turn it into a balanced one.

Having a balanced output means that there are ultimately 4 signals, each finally driven with their own amp. Per ear, one of the two signals is 180 degrees out of phase from the other. By doing this, the drivers are both pushed in one direction and pulled in the other. (With unbalanced, the second lead only serves as a ground.) The point of balanced systems is to reduce noise and channel separation by not using a shared ground, and also to improve driver control (DETAIL) by working the speakers from both directions.

My test system is the HeadRoom Ultra Micro DAC feeding the Protector with the balanced Whiplash Audio TWag IEM cable I was also lent. Now, I went into this thinking that I might not even hear the difference or feel that it was a difficult one to pick out. It took about a minute of listening for me to realize the difference, and a quick switch back to my unbalanced TWag and ALO Rx amp confirmed it. Further flipping through different recordings and genres drove it home.

Versus the unbalanced output of my Rx, the balanced output of the Protector brings my JH13′s an absolutely dead silent background, an improved soundstage, and improved detail! Since I’m extremely picky about hiss, I would say the Rx has a barely audible hiss. The Protector has an absolutely black background. Channel pans and effects seem even more vivd somehow. The biggest thing to notice, though, is the gobs of detail with everything! The Rx is no slouch here at all, but with the Protector, instruments like the violin, clarinet, and cymbals have amazing realism. Up close, well-recorded voices and instruments are especially eerie because of how real they sound. I haven’t really tried, but I bet the benefits of high resolution files become more apparent with detail like this. Hearing some of my dnbradio.com set in 128kbps mp3 was a laughable experience. I could hear all those mp3 artifacts clear as day.

As I wait for my JH3A, I really wanted to take a moment to see what improvements the Protector brought. I resisted the Protector because I knew an amp with a balanced INPUT or something would supersede it. Well, I was right, but it turned out to be something unexpected. The active crossover of the JH3A should bring very real improvements considerably above and beyond the Protector, and my wait should be nearly over.

Let me give a big thank you to Jude of Head-Fi.org for letting me borrow the amp and cable!

And for a little disclaimer, I did build Ray’s website for him and think he’s a great guy and amp manufacturer, but I do not let these things color my judgements of this product review or any other.

ATH-ESW10JPN vs JH13 Pro

Someone on Head-Fi asked me to compare the ESW10JPN to the JH13, so I decided to just share my thoughts with a wider audience.

The ESW10JPN, with its rich, wood cups, is a beautiful headphone. It is very light and has a grip on the head that is just right. The supraaural design does fatigue the ears eventually, but it takes a lot longer than I thought it would before I purchased. This is in part due to swivel of the cups and how I can position them to put the pressure on different parts of the ears and head throughout a session. I also like how they are easy to put on and off, and are comfortable to wear around the neck.

When I first tried the pair of my friend’s, I was very struck with the “energy” in the mids and highs. It is a very detailed headphone with a presentation that is very pleasing for many genres. There is great, well-textured bass, but it is not the centerpiece of this sound signature. Acoustic instruments — like the shimmer of strings — sound very vivid and enjoyable. The isolation isn’t great, so I wouldn’t want to use them some place noisy. I’m glad I got a pair of these limited edition headphones before the 1500 were gobbled up. I still really enjoy them.

The JH13, by contrast, is an IEM. They have great isolation. (Though, interestingly, it’s not quite as good as foam tips on universal fit IEMs.) They have a perfectly formed, custom fit for your ear canals, so their uniform pressure throughout your ear easily lets them “disappear”. Compared to the ease of taking the ESW10JPN on and off, a custom IEM like the JH13 is a bit more work. Once you get the hang of it, inserting and removing the JH13 is pretty fast and easy, though (only a couple seconds) but it is a bit more abrasive. And I always wipe earwax and debris from the tips before inserting. With the right fit (JHA has a great track record) and well-adjusted ears (only a few days to a week or so for new wearers) I think the JH13′s are incredibly comfortable. I can wear them for many hours without issue.

The sound is simply incredible. The JH13 is still the best headphone I have and at least among the best I’ve ever heard. It must be those 6 custom spec drivers working side-by-side that give me such a detailed, immersive view into the recording with soundstage that is simply astonishing for an IEM. Historically, it seems that a full-size headphone is needed for this type soundstage, but the detail of the JH13 seems to compensate for their “shortcoming” that they bypass the outer ear and send the sound directly into your eardrums. The first thing a new JH13 owner seems to notice is how HUGE the sound seems to be. The JH13 has some of the best extension on the top and bottom ends of any headphone. The sound signature sides on ruthlessly neutral, but with a bit of a bump in the sub-bass for low end impact that I really enjoy. The bass is massive and detailed, but it never oversteps its bounds like it does when I switch to the UE11.

When I compare the sound of the two head-to-head, there is simply no doubt that the JH13 is the clear winner. Not only does this IEM have a very neutral response curve that doesn’t really favor any genre over another, but it maintains a euphonic sound with anything I throw at it! The isolation assures that you’re starting with a quiet background, and the music is just so clear and beautiful. At the end of the day, I’m apt to say that while the ESW10JPN excels at its strong points and can be a very enjoyable can for many things (particularly jazz and acoustic music) the JH13 just seems to perform perfectly in so many ways.

Both headphones sound great right from an MP3 player’s headphone output, but they also improve with a good amp. The JH13 scales extremely well with better equipment as it seems to sap up and really deliver on exactly what it is fed.

I love my ESW10 very much… I just love my JH13 more. :)

I also started a thread on Head-Fi with this review.

Ultrasone Edition 9 vs Edition 8 Headphones

I’ve owned Ultrasone’s Edition 9 headphones for nearly two years now. While I do like their sound, the insides of the cups are not quite deep enough for my ears. The sensation of them resting on the tops of my ears starts out annoying and becomes downright irritating before very long at all. Well, I finally decided to give them up. They’re now sold and gone. During the transaction, though, I happened upon an opportunity to pick up the new Edition 8′s second hand for a reasonable price. So, since I’ve been wanting to try them for some time now, I decided to jump in and give them a go. I even had a few days with both headphones as I waited for the buyer’s payment to clear.

The Edition 9′s make no attempt to “disappear” due to their clamping force and weight. They have a long cable, terminated with a 1/4″ plug. They are obviously designed for stationary listening, though many have found use for them as a portable headphone. To me, I hear a bit of a bass exaggeration all through the low frequencies. I feel that the Edition 9′s are better suited to a rocker who wants their basslines slamming. Genres like pop, metal, or hip hop seem like they do well since bass is so important there, and detail is not the most important aspect. I always felt the Edition 9′s were really great headphones for me until I tried the JH13 and Edition 8.

The Edition 8‘s are quite a different animal. They are much lighter on my head and the enclosures almost don’t touch my ears at all. This time, it’s the bottoms of my ears that touch the insides of the cups a little. It’s far less annoying, though, and I seem to be able to wear these for much longer without issue. They are terminated with a 1/8″ plug after only 1.2 meters. This, and their weight, make them a much better choice for a portable rig. They also come with a 4 meter extension cable that I have found useful since all my headphones now have short cables.

I have the impression that the sound from the Edition 8 is more polite and balanced. While there is no doubt the sub bass has a somewhat generous boost, everything else seems quite balanced. I find this low bass occasionally annoying, but I think that it is helped with a good amp; my RPX-33 seems to take better control of the bass than my RSA portables. They also have great transients. The speed increase of these drivers mean noticeably improved detail retrieval! Ultrasone’s “S-Logic Plus” on the Edition 8 does seem to increase upon the effect of the “S-Logic” in the Edition 9. The drivers are aimed at the listener’s pinna (the outer ear) so the sound must bounce around the ear before finding the eardrum. This leads to a more “3-D” sound that seems more like a projection. I think the Edition 8 would be better suited to instrumental music like classical or jazz, where neutrality and detail are more important.

It’s interesting to note, though, that I still greatly prefer my JH13 for just about everything. They have much better detail than even the Edition 8. They are more intimate and definite in their view into the recording. The bass, while not lacking at all, is very well integrated and doesn’t stick out as much as the Ultrasones. I’d even go as far as to say that they’re more comfortable. Why do I bother then? Well, I like different perspectives on my music. Sometimes I don’t want to stick my IEMs in my ears, but would prefer to have big, warm pads enclosing my ears and have big bass and a different soundstage.

Thankfully, given that I was already in the process of letting go of the Edition 9, I found that I overall prefer the Edition 8. I really appreciate the increased clarity and more neutral presentation. And the better comfort is icing on the cake.

My Thoughts on JHAudio’s JH13 Pro IEM

Jerry Harvey is a pioneer in custom-molded, in-ear monitors. In 1995, he founded Ultimate Ears and was responsible for engineering their line-up of custom products. After enjoying wild success, capturing 75%+ of the touring musician market, he left to start Jerry Harvey Audio 2-3 years ago. Since Jerry is a pilot, they initially specialized only in aviation headsets — a custom earpiece with an attached boom mic. At the (May) 2009 CanJam event in Los Angeles, though, he proved that he was about to make big waves in the custom IEM market once again.

Now that I have about 2 months of use on my JH13 Pro‘s (and a refreshed blog featuring them top and center) I will hopefully be able to share some thoughts on these unique IEMs. › Continue reading

Miro: Internet TV Made Easy

When Miro 1.2 came out, I decided to give it another try after some previously failed attempts due to annoying bugs. Well, I’ve been using this free and open source, next generation video platform on my Mac for a while now, and I must say it’s quite nice if you fancy yourself watching some of the great, free video content available on the internet.

Miro is RSS + Bittorrent. Find sites with cool videos that interest you, subscribe to their feeds, and when new content is published, you can have it downloaded and waiting for you by the time you realize it’s there. It’s just so smooth the way I can play the first video, and all the new content plays like my personal TV station. Cmd+F throws me into full-screen mode. It didn’t used to work nearly this well, and I’m just all so very pleased with today’s offering. (It will even search and play YouTube videos.)

Ok, so you want to try this. Click the “Miro” link above and grab the player. It comes with some default channels, but I’ve deleted all but the Onion News Network. The Miro Guide appears to be a nice index of most/all of the content available for the platform, but please allow me to recommend a few of my favorites.

• Revision3 is The TV Network of Kevin Rose (of TechTV and Digg fame) with great shows like Tekzilla, Systm, and of course Diggnation. I also have come to watch the goofy Internet Superstar… I haven’t even tasted many of the Rev3 shows yet!
• Mahalo Daily is a great 5-day/wk short form (3-5 mins) show with Veronica Belmont. (Although she’s about to leave…) They visit someone and show of something… usually very interesting stuff. I like the one about the dude who makes music with Gameboys.
• WebbAlert is another daily, short form show with Megan Webb. Just a quick overview of the tech news.
• GeekBrief.TV is yet another daily, short form show with the bouncy character that of Cali Lewis. Again, it’s an overview of the tech news. Maybe a product review or interview here and there.
• commandN is a longer form (15-20 mins), weekly show with Amber MacArthur, Will Pate, and others. They talk about the news and share cool website picks. Amber’s brother, Jeff, usually has a longer segment where he usually reviews a product.
• Hak5 Is a great, long standing show with a great crew. They hack stuff and talk about it on the show.
• Cranky Geeks is a talk show with John C. Dvorak.
• DL.TV is a tech show with some of the folks from TechTV.

Also, anything from Leo Laporte is fantastic. I’m a very regular listener of Security Now, TWiT, MacBreak Weekly, Net@Nite, and Windows Weekly on his TWiT.TV (audio) podcast network. While there aren’t any regular, internet-available video shows from him yet, he’s been talking recently about a new studio he’s setting up where he’ll start doing some video shows. He’s a great personality… One to watch.

I hope I’ve captured the interest of some new internet TV consumers. Watching this web-based, independent content has really never been this easy.

Shure E500 vs UE Triple.fi 10 Pro

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about my audio equipment (or about much of anything) … So allow me to give a short comparison between two of the best universal fit IEMs available. It goes on and on, so allow me to place it below the fold.

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RSA Tomahawk Reflection (Pics!)

I’ve had Ray Samuels’s The Tomahawk headphone amp for about a full month now, so I felt it was about time to report back my experiences. This month gave me time to run it through the first set of batteries and some of a second set. This should have been long enough to fully burn the Tomahawk in. The electronics take 300-500 hours or so to really settle in and emit their final sound signature.

Aside: I can’t bring myself to call this a review because I don’t consider myself much of an genuine audiophile, and I don’t feel I’m really qualified to seriously critique this product. Also, this is the first headphone amp I’ve ever experienced, so I can’t really compare it to anything.

The Tomahawk is a very highly acclaimed headphone amplifier. I’ve read numerous reviews and comparisons – mostly on head-fi.org – about this amp, and everyone seems to think very highly of it. My experience has been just excellent. The amplifier adds smoothness/shininess to the sound that is just a joy to listen to through the E500. In the interest of preserving my hearing, when in a quiet room, I like listening at low volumes. This combo retains thick & juicy dynamics while emphasizing the fact that this little box eliminates ALL hiss/buzz produced by my mp3 player and presents nothing but pure music over a deep, black background.

As for size & build, there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. The Tomahawk is built like a tank… and a very, very tiny one at that. Ray’s amps are built with plenty of TLC, and he doesn’t just throw together these things with whatever chips happen to be cheapest. Each amp is built with the same, high-quality components.

What’s most amazing is the punch that this thing produces. One should not come under the impression that this amp will drive only IEMs. In fact, it will drive all but the most exotic and demanding of headphones with juice to spare. If that wasn’t amazing enough, it will actually perform its duty for over 400 hours solid, about 17 days, or as Ray says, 6 weeks at 10 hours per day. (Apparently, more demanding headphones will start to clip towards the end of the battery life.)

I must also comment on Ray’s customer service. Ray is a really great guy and a pleasure to do business with. He likes to talk to his customers on the phone, so if you’re interested in his products, call him up!

Pics over the jump!

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Shure E500 Review

So I am a crazy man.

I decided I wanted to amp my phones, but my UE Super.fi 5 Pros have been said not to change much with an amp. Plus, from all the discussion on head-fi.org (WARNING: stay clear of that site if you are susceptible to upgradeitus!) I found that it was common opinion that the Super.fi’s, while they are a fine earphone, suffer from some amount of “veil” or lack of balance. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing even, depending on your objective, but I wanted something that was well balanced and “audiophile grade” that I could enjoy wherever I am (such as work for 8 hrs/day).

I wanted something that would fit snugly in my ear and not stick out like the 5 Pros. That ruled out the Triple.fi 10 Pros as they have a similar form factor. And since the best IEM amp that I could find, Ray Samuels Audio’s “Tomahawk,” was designed with the Shure E500’s in mind (along with a few other earphones), I knew I would not be making a bad decision in going with these earphones.

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Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro Review

I got my Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro earphones Wednesday (3 days ago). I had been thinking of upgrading from my Shure E2’s for a while. I just knew there was more to the sound, and I wanted to really be able to rock out properly and independently (when there are others around who might not appreciate teh thumpz). And oh man was I right. I’ll explain how I feel about these phones in various areas.

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