Massdrop x Alex Cavalli Liquid Carbon X Amp $160USD (~$230 AUD) + Shipping @ Drop

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• 

  jasswolf on 27/12/2019 - 16:19

  +2

  This is a pretty competitive price range for amps in 2019, where you can get the SMSL SP200 for a little more during a proper AliE sale and get a much better amp, or you can step down to the JDS Labs Atom if you're not concerned about a balanced amp (and for headphones, it's a little silly).

  Soon, there'll be even better budget options, with the Schiit Magni 3+ and the Magni Heresy slowly becoming available. This is a bit average in the face of all that, hence why it's at half its original price.

  • 

    thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 16:38

    a balanced amp (and for headphones, it's a little silly).

    What about IEM’s (sensitive IEM’s). I’m sure they are the ones which benefit most from ‘balanced’ or ‘low-distortion’.
    Apparently noise levels with THX amp’s are so low there is little need for going with balanced design.
    But for some IEM users they may need the best they can get.

    Disclaimer: I am a speaker person and my knowledge with ‘personal audio’ is quite limited.

    • 

      jasswolf on 27/12/2019 - 17:26

      +1

      In terms of objective measurements, all the amps I named are all-but noise and distortion free. Balanced cables are designed for stage performance because of the distance of the cabling involved. For a desktop amp, it's pretty obsessive.

      The SP200 is a THX AAA 888 amp (and balanced), while the Magni Heresy and the Atom are op-amp designs, and the Magni 3+ is a discrete amp.

      I have an Atom, and it is very, very clean, and covers most use cases. Those new Magnis will become the standard recommendation for headphones, particularly the Magni 3+ as op-amp designs seem to take a touch off the strength of the bass.

      From a subjective standpoint, this review did a great job of breaking down the differences between the two (with some mentions of the Atom):

      https://www.headphones.com/blogs/news/schiit-magni-3-magni-h…

      • 

        thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 17:35

        +1

        Thanks for info / link.
        I suggested sensitive IEM’s since I heard they commonly struggle with high noise-floor.

        I use balanced cables myself for my speaker setup. And yes you are right they were designed for long distances of cabling.

        Still only own / use one pair of headphones, so I am still very far from buying anything else related to headphones. But still good information to know.

        • 

          alvian on 27/12/2019 - 18:58

          -1

          @thebadmachine:

          I use balanced cables myself for my speaker setup.

          Sorry what? What are these balanced speaker cables (and balanced speaker) that you mentioned? I have never seen a speaker with balanced input or any amplifier with balanced speaker output. What benefits do balanced output signal has over unbalanced and how does the speaker convert a balanced signal into sound? I might be missing an entire section of speaker design theory and didn't know it, so please show me.

          (I know about balanced interconnects and the benefit of noise rejection with balanced line-level signals. And I also know that some old speakers use XLR solely as a connector to carry normal unbalanced signals. Please skip those parts in your explanation.)

          • 

            thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 20:19

            @alvian: Yes I use XLR cables into powered monitors. It seems you asked me to skip the rest so thats about it.

            “my speaker setup.” I probably should have written “powered monitor setup” but it was I was trying to differentiate between ‘headphones’ & ‘speakers’.

            • 

              alvian on 27/12/2019 - 20:24

              @thebadmachine: I see, balanced interconnect to the in-built amp, so nothing new there.

              • 

                thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 20:26

                @alvian: Yes. Hope I came off as being honest instead of trying to “invent” or suggest some kind of new technology.

                • 

                  alvian on 27/12/2019 - 20:27

                  @thebadmachine: I thought someone invented a way to wire passive loudspeakers in a balanced arrangement like with the "balanced" headphones.

              • 

                thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 20:28

                @alvian: By the way our previous interaction was a poor attempt at humour. Just in-case it came across differently on your end. (Edit window comment)
                Since you have been pretty consistent with your fixing edits in the past.

                • 

                  alvian on 27/12/2019 - 20:33

                  @thebadmachine: I did ask you to skip "the rest" because I didn't want to waste your time and effort researching and explaining something I already knew. Your two-sentence reply was clear and precise and it was exactly what I wanted to read.

                  Although it was a bit annoying to have an anon negging my question without giving me a satisfactory explanation.

                  • 

                    thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 20:37

                    @alvian: I’m referring to Another thread, awhile back.
                    I called you out failing to fix your typing mistake (my poor attempt at humour).

                    It’s all good.

                    • 

                      alvian on 27/12/2019 - 20:48

                      @thebadmachine: Oh you mean this!. That's ancient history but I was embarrassed by the mistake and I was hoping nobody would point it out.

                      • 

                        thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 20:50

                        @alvian: When you lose an edit window and the mistake is burned-in forever.
                        (Also when posts / deals get locked and there is a mistake)

                        • 

                          alvian on 27/12/2019 - 20:59

                          @thebadmachine: Posts don't get locked unless you consistently reverted edits made by Mods/PUs. I can edit the first post of OzB if I wanted to (perhaps that's a novel way for a PU to be banned). Have you had a post locked? I am curious to find out why it happened.

                          • 

                            thebadmachine on 27/12/2019 - 21:52

                            @alvian: I associated a deal’s edit window being closed as the same as locked (the “edit” tab being removed).
                            I have requested a post be locked due to a query being solved and thought it was basically the same thing.

                            PS you are a higher level (pro), so you must see things differently. The first post on ozb is definitely ‘locked’ from my part.

                            • 

                              Moderatorhamza23 on 27/12/2019 - 22:34

                              @thebadmachine: FYI users cannot edit their posts if they are older than 14 days by default, the edit option disappears as you say. However if you need to do so you can report the post and we'll open editing again or edit it for you.

                              Thanks

                              • 

                                alvian on 27/12/2019 - 22:53

                                @hamza23: Well there you are, another mistake from me. Is there a way for me to temporarily turn off PU status without logging off, so that I can view OzB from the prospective of a normal user?

  • 

    arkdog on 27/12/2019 - 18:08

    Thanks for this - I was getting tempted to pull the trigger as I'm hunting for a headphone amp right now.
    I'll hold off and do more research (admittedly I've done so much that I was getting sick of it.. and this discount nearly got me to jump purely out of being tired at reading forums and reviews + research)

    • 

      jasswolf on 27/12/2019 - 18:35

      +6

      I can boil it down more for you:

      • JDS Labs Atom or Schiit Magni Heresy for under $180
      • SMSL SP200 for under $300 with cashbacks and coupons from AliE
      • Magni 3+ for under $200, but preferably under $180

      If the Magni 3+ is locally stocked, you should be getting good value.

      • 

        pauliau on 27/12/2019 - 19:22

        Good luck finding an sp200 for under 300! Hovers around 400aud plus gst. I’ve been looking since release.

        • 

          jasswolf on 27/12/2019 - 19:32

          +1

          @pauliau: Was US $260 ex GST for 11.11, then it was around USD $30-$40 off between site and store coupons from the right store (I think the SMSL one), then 15% cashback (calculated before GST) was basically $50.

          Was basically $305-$310 if you did all of that (though you'd still be waiting for the cashback).

      • 

        arkdog on 28/12/2019 - 11:52

        +1

        Thank you again mate.

        I was looking to drive a pair of AKG K712 Pros, or the Kxxx (source: rega turntable)

        I hadn't looked at the SP200 previously.

      • 

        DevlicK on 22/01/2020 - 08:58

        +1

        Would also like to thank you for this.

        Looking for something to drive 6xx. Currently using an audio interface (Behringer UM2)

• 

  nick nick on 27/12/2019 - 18:34

  That's a lot of buzzwords, i'm sure you can do better elsewhere for $230

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  krisspy on 28/12/2019 - 10:09

  Has this turned into Ozsnakeoil?