J**R
A star off merely for the price. Sound is fantastic.
A very good amplifier that will drive most headphones that are between 32 and 600 ohms. I don't think they have enough power for orthodynamic headphones that require more current, however. I've had this for about five months, and bought it from display, so it already had some burn-in. I am confident that the sound has settled in, and it's both smooth, crisp, and detailed from the low end to the top.This is a good reference headphone amp, which does not have a huge sound-stage, but offers a fast delivery, with punchy bass, well-controlled and quick transients--giving the sense that music is leaping out at you. I especially like how voices and cellos sound on this amp. Acoustic percussion and drums also sound great because of the quick timing of the amp.I would not, as the previous reviewer, recommend going straight out of a laptop headphone jack. You should use a very good external DAC, or hook it up to a very good CD player. The source is very important, because this amp doesn't add much color, and can even dry the music out a bit, in my opinion. Thus, it's also important to go with well-recorded CD quality music files at a minimum to appreciate what this amp has to offer.Otherwise, you will end up amplifying distortions and grainy sound, which is not a good idea, in my opinion.I totally agree with the end assessment though, as it seems there are headphone amps in this price range now that compete with this one, and depending on what you are looking for, may be better for you.If you love hearing the detail in any kind of acoustic music or dance, and have reference headphones like the Sennheiser 600s or Beyerdynamic DT150 headphones, you may really like this. I'm not sure if it's ideal for rock or hip-hop though, because it may sound too detailed and polite for rock, and lacking in pounding sub-bass for hip-hop. On the other hand, you will probably be able to concentrate on the lyrics better than with some systems.I'm a dad who can't just crank the volume on my main speaker system in the evening, so entering a private little world of bliss (with reasonable volume levels) is a very nice luxury.My only question is whether to trade this in to the dealer and get the Lehmann Linear. But then again, I know at the price it's going for, there are other competitors there, too. Also, one important factor is getting good interconnects. I use Chord, but I'm sure there are many good cables out there.
