Super Crap Amps!
- Thread starter Brendon
- Start date
Brendon
Skilled
Thanks guys ! 
@Gannu - Thats not a tube glow ! Thats a Chinese LED bling bling that the amp manufacturer used to compensate for the lack of glow !!!
@cravikum - I am not like Sunny, I have a BUDGET ! (j/k). Actually I bought the P3+ for three reasons. 1. It had plenty of bundled OPAMPS for me to tinker with. The D4 had no bundled OPAMPS and the D10 has just 2.
2. The D4 and D10 do not have a power supply unit bundled and both sound best using battery power while the uDac that I am planning to get sounds great using the 5V USB option only. Also the D10 battery is not user replaceable and will be difficult to replace if it fails.
3. I wanted a separate DAC to use with my PC and the uDAC fitted in my plans perfectly. I just went just $50 over my $300 'fixed' budget.
@hash - Yes both are used to boost the audio ! I use a high impedance headphone which makes it sound not too good straight out of the soundcard. It requires an amplifier to sound its best.
Similarly the Ibasso amp is used with my portable player as I use a high impedance earphone as well !
@Titana/Ultimabasher - It sounds pretty good for the price. The stock Chinese tube is nice but I have changed it to a NOS Jan Philips 6922 tube which is much better sounding IMHO.
Its not a tube amp actually but a tube hybrid. i.e. its a regular transistor amp with a tube preamp to color the sound. However it has all the lush mid range of a tube amp with the inherent defects of a cheap tube amp. So the bass does not hit all that low (compared to the P3+) nor does the treble have that sparkle and crispness that you can get with almost any solid state amp. The treble is very smooth and forgiving with a really nice soundstage but its not as detailed as a SS amp. But I am a vocal lover so its plenty good for me as of now.
The P3+ is getting really nice. Rolling the OPAMPs is addictive as there is a very perceptive change in the SQ. I can get a bright detailed sound, a warm rather tubey sound or a fast neutral sound withwith just the default OPAMPS.
And its more than a match for the HD650. It adds some life into the laid back sound of the HD650 which makes for a very engaging sound.
And yes you are spot on ! I have bought a uDAC. It cost me $119 ($99 + $20 shipping) from Amazon.com
I am really broke so this will be my last audio purchase of note for this year (fingers crossed !). Ill probably maybe spend a little on OPAMPs and tubes to tweak the sound to my liking.
@Gannu - Thats not a tube glow ! Thats a Chinese LED bling bling that the amp manufacturer used to compensate for the lack of glow !!!
@cravikum - I am not like Sunny, I have a BUDGET ! (j/k). Actually I bought the P3+ for three reasons. 1. It had plenty of bundled OPAMPS for me to tinker with. The D4 had no bundled OPAMPS and the D10 has just 2.
2. The D4 and D10 do not have a power supply unit bundled and both sound best using battery power while the uDac that I am planning to get sounds great using the 5V USB option only. Also the D10 battery is not user replaceable and will be difficult to replace if it fails.
3. I wanted a separate DAC to use with my PC and the uDAC fitted in my plans perfectly. I just went just $50 over my $300 'fixed' budget.
@hash - Yes both are used to boost the audio ! I use a high impedance headphone which makes it sound not too good straight out of the soundcard. It requires an amplifier to sound its best.
Similarly the Ibasso amp is used with my portable player as I use a high impedance earphone as well !
@Titana/Ultimabasher - It sounds pretty good for the price. The stock Chinese tube is nice but I have changed it to a NOS Jan Philips 6922 tube which is much better sounding IMHO.
Its not a tube amp actually but a tube hybrid. i.e. its a regular transistor amp with a tube preamp to color the sound. However it has all the lush mid range of a tube amp with the inherent defects of a cheap tube amp. So the bass does not hit all that low (compared to the P3+) nor does the treble have that sparkle and crispness that you can get with almost any solid state amp. The treble is very smooth and forgiving with a really nice soundstage but its not as detailed as a SS amp. But I am a vocal lover so its plenty good for me as of now.
The P3+ is getting really nice. Rolling the OPAMPs is addictive as there is a very perceptive change in the SQ. I can get a bright detailed sound, a warm rather tubey sound or a fast neutral sound withwith just the default OPAMPS.
And its more than a match for the HD650. It adds some life into the laid back sound of the HD650 which makes for a very engaging sound.
And yes you are spot on ! I have bought a uDAC. It cost me $119 ($99 + $20 shipping) from Amazon.com
I am really broke so this will be my last audio purchase of note for this year (fingers crossed !). Ill probably maybe spend a little on OPAMPs and tubes to tweak the sound to my liking.
FaH33m said:
Very true!!
^Titana - rolling amps cannot keep upgrades at bay. It's just a way of consoling oneself. If the sound was truly neutral, (which it is not on the STX), you would never want to change a thing. You can get used to, and live with perfection. But you need to spend a lot more...
Brendon
Skilled
^^ Exactly ! I found a neutral setup for the P3+ which I have used for a few days. However I could not resist and I swapped the OPAMPs yesterday to get a slightly colored sound that was not really neutral. Now I am planning to get one more OPAMP that is supposed to be very bassy to see how that will work out.
Metalspree
Skilled
@Brendon,i might fly in to Mumbai when i visit India in a few months to listen to your setup
Brendon
Skilled
@titana - Will let you know. I have not done an AB comparison yet but they are pretty similar actually. The UDAC is slightly more neutral than the Hotaudio (the Hotaudio is a pretty warm DAC).
Will do a proper AB test shortly and will post my impressions.
@Faheem - Yeah dude, organise some meet soon !
At the very least we should swap our amps and earphones (for a week or so) since you stay so close to my office.
@Superfrag - Yeah, headphones prices are going up ! Earlier Sennheiser HD600 was the top dog of headphones. Now HD800 is there. Beyerdynamic have their new top dog in the T1 and Grado has already 2 $1k+ headphones models. Sigh
Will do a proper AB test shortly and will post my impressions.
@Faheem - Yeah dude, organise some meet soon !
At the very least we should swap our amps and earphones (for a week or so) since you stay so close to my office.
@Superfrag - Yeah, headphones prices are going up ! Earlier Sennheiser HD600 was the top dog of headphones. Now HD800 is there. Beyerdynamic have their new top dog in the T1 and Grado has already 2 $1k+ headphones models. Sigh