$20 less than the past deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/654952
Don't forget the $10 off from referral link or new user discount.
SMSL SP200 THX AAA-888 Balanced Headphone Amp US$140 + US$15 Delivery (~A$218) @ Drop
100
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What is your earphone/headset?
I am buying headset, choosing from one of these: Philips shp9500/Fidelio x2hr/AKG pro K702/hifiman edition xsCurrently have DT990 Pro 80Ohm and 250Ohm, as well as some HD6XXs coming from the latest Drop deal as well as a couple of cheaper IEMs.
I'm not super experienced with headphones yet so I can't give any recommendations from those I am afraid. Hopefully someone else in this deal can give you some pointers.
Great value, but I'm sitting around waiting for a time where I'm confident in grabbing the Asgard 3 (or better). But this is priced up against the Atom range, the Magni Heresy, the Magni 3+, and a few from Topping, where it beats them out handedly.
If you're after a desktop amp at an entry level price, just grab this.
Would it pair well with the HD6XX, R70X, Sundara, Elex?
Though for a desktop amp, three reviews say there is noise with PC?
https://drop.com/buy/smsl-sp200-thx-aaa-888-balanced-headpho…
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/help-electrical-noise-from-p…
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/help-electrical-noise-from-p…At this price point, it's the play. The Asgard is $200 more.
It's a drier sound as I understand it, but you're not going to get mad at that given the imaging and dynamics it offers at the price point.
Oh sorry, I just realised I didn't answer your second question: the issue there is it's such a powerful amp, you can't have it on the same power board as a powerful PC for best results. It is technically noiser, but that level of audible noise is a combination of that mild design flaw and significant EMI.
That's not uncommon for interfaces, pre-amps, and amps.
Doesn't this measure about the same as the Atom (and the Atom seems ever so slightly cheaper)?
With typical amp measurements, they don't account for the ability of an amp to voltage ramp and provide a more refined sound, which typically improves soundstage and dynamic performance of a given headphone.
With typical DAC measurements, they don't really provide for picking up on aliasing quirks that can make or break a unit.
Until we have more detailed tools, as well as means to separate out information from noisy data (i.e. machine learning methods based on known audio/music), you cannot use graphs as the whole picture, not even close.
will this amp be good enough for a pair of high OHM hd6xx? and voll speakers?
looking to replace my topping vx1
This amp has enough power for pretty every headphone you can conceivably throw at it. It will drive the HD6XX with ease, but there's more to this than pure power if you're looking to scale further.
But if you're not willing to spend more than $400, this is it.
sounds good
only issue now is that i just saw thhe ports at the back
my passive speakers use a pair of banana plugs for each speaker (so 4 plugs total) this only has 2 plugs for L/R or 2 xlr connectors. how would i connect them to this?@furythree: It's a headphone amp, so that's not happening.
Sorry, I missed that question the first time around.
Just noob with these kind of stuff, can I just plug this directly to my PC sound card (I have Sound Blaster X3) or do I need something else to enjoy listening to audio? So far I have AKG 712 Pro. Thanks.
You need a DAC, or you're double amping from a crappy DAC source.
You'll need a balanced DAC if you want to run the entire setup balanced. SONCOZ LA-QXD1 from AliE is likely the play right now using coupons and 6% cashback, unless Amazon or AliE come in with something huge over the next 48 hours.
I pair it with topping e50
I could be wrong but I remember seeing people say that this amp is not truly balanced.
I'm more concerned with inputs and what part of the circuit delivers the best sound. Balanced versus single-ended doesn't mean much for a headphone amp in terms of the EMI-protection.
My unit arrived earlier in the week after purchasing during the last deal. Really impressed with the amp so far. Just waiting on my M200 to arrive to pair with it.