No one would have expected that the 9018 DAC in the HA-1 on a neutral EQ via Foobar can house superior depth of field over the SPL Phonitor Mini. When comparing it to the SPL Phonitor Mini by connecting the two of them together, you'll be able to hear an audible downgrade in clarity and dynamics (the dynamics have been downgraded despite the host of Crossfeed and Angle toggles used with the SPL Phonitor Mini). To get a better understanding of this subject, read our article on 10+ Best Mini MIDI Controllers for DAWs + Live. It is even great flat line, benchmarking tool to compare to other products. It would be tough to compare it to other amps in this price tier, there aren't any other $800-$900ish headphone amps that sounds as harsh and grainy as the SPL Phonitor Mini does.įor reference, compare it to an HA-1 from Oppo, while this isn't the best DAC/Amp in this tier, but it is certainly one of the most useful and jam-packed ones with features that make life very easy for a receiver. It'll essentially be tough to find a $800-$900 amp that sounds inferior to the SPL Phonitor Mini and you won't hear an amp as unique as this one in a similar price range. However, with regard to the literal clarity, it proves to be inferior to many $800-$1000 amps in the market.Įven the Ess9018 DAC inside the portable Calyx M ($999) sounds much clean and clear with the headphones that you can test. SPL fans were expecting Phonitor Mini to offer something nice or perhaps useful incentive to purchase, but there objectively and you can spot it to an extent. This amplifier does not have the juice to justify usage with Planar headphones. The amp is not banging out serious or crisp clarity at this price point and it feels lacking in authority and substance. As proven by the usage of sets like the K812 from AKG, Noble K10 customs, and Beyerdynamic T1 that still sound shoulder shrugging worthy when they're paired with the SPL Phonitor Mini. If not, then it would be an obsolete amp for people interested in digital music output via computers.Ĭlarity and solidity that is provided by higher output amps aside, the clarity will likely not be affected by the lack of wattage output with the Ether. If that is the case, then this amp would be a decent buy, especially if you're able to find a used one. It seems quite obvious that this amplifier has been designed for people with vintage setups, maybe for those with CD players, Vinyl, or tape decks as their source. There is no upside to using hard toggles on an amplifier if you're sourcing the Phonitor Mini with a USB DAC, so this mic isn't recommended to people who don't use a PC/Mac for housing their music collection and library. The implementation of physical toggles for it seems to be a grand idea, at least until you realize that the freeware programs like Foobar2000 also offer all of these kind of toggles too. The front panel of this amp will offer up unique Crossfeed and angled speaker effects to audio experience via physical toggle switches - Input selection (RCA or XLR), Mode, Matrix, Angle, Crossfeed, and Center. Having XLRs right next to the RCAs on a single-ended only output amp is a bit strange. It is super bulky and cumbersome to opt for a dual giant XLR left and right cables (instead of going for the right cables), and be stuck with 1/4 output. While it isn't ideal to have both if the amp isn't offering a balanced output, it is better to have either or swap the front space for a single 4-pin balanced XLR output instead. Moreover, it has basic left and right XLR and RCA inputs. This amplifier only outputs 1/4 single-ended as there are on balanced output options available.
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