Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

PenisFly_AhhhhScary t1_iy5hsxo wrote

Reply to comment by Clickbaitllama in I may not hear the improvement, but there is an improvement I don't yet know by Gallus780

Quick question but have you tried multiple different amps in different price points with multiple headphones?

8

Clickbaitllama t1_iy5jmam wrote

Couldn't say I've tried the highest ends of audio amplifiers, but i've tried amps from the apple dongle to the balanced output of a thx 789. From the lighting apple dongle, I can definitely hear a difference from let's say my e10k-tc, since even with Iems, I have to max out my phone to get decent volumes.

But when comparing the e10k to other higher end and expensive amps, the only time I heard a meaningful difference was when the e10k either wasn't loud enough or had no headroom. This is with both iems, and open backs (though I don't own anymore open backs, as I sold them).

My question to you though would be have your volume matched, and blind tested your amps? Without that, placebo can very well be in play.

1

coldchillin-nc t1_iy6ppmw wrote

The differences aren’t things like details or timbre. Although that could happen. The biggest differences I hear in scaling up is the stage becoming deeper/wider more holographic and much darker background and a sense of effortless performance. It’s so obvious. It’s not even in the realm of placebo it’s like a slap in the face. But a good one lol

7

PenisFly_AhhhhScary t1_iy5khf4 wrote

i’ll definitely do some blind test when I get a new amplifier. My experience is just trying stuff at stores.

4

CBSU t1_iy6vakt wrote

I blind-tested, to the best of my ability, my Enleum AMP-23R against an Atom amp (made of plastic!) with Hifiman’s Susvara and couldn’t tell a difference. I have mild hearing damage but it shouldn’t be that bad.

Besides the Susvara, I also tried Focal’s Clear and Audeze’s LCD-5. The Clear isn’t said to “scale” particularly well and I’m not familiar enough with LCD-5 to have heard differences there. This was done in my quietest room, which is acoustically treated and quite silent.

That said, I am not a practiced listener by any means and my audio pursuits are based on feelings of “this sounds like live”. I did this test alongside an upgrade-chaser with more discerning ears and we came to the conclusion that it didn’t make an audio difference but they look or feel nice. Our findings weren’t upsetting, I primarily upgrade for aesthetics and wasn’t aware that it was meant to sound better.

0