Posts by tag
amplifier
Groovy baby. Yeah! How portable audio got its mojo back. With reportedly more than 70,000 units sold since its October 2015 release, Chord’s Mo(bile) Jo(y) has become a personal Hi-Fi…
Building the Starving Student II Hybrid Headphone Amplifier
The popular DIY budget amp has graduated and fully realized its potential. The first Starving Student hybrid headphone amplifier originally debuted in 2008 on Pete Millett’s DIY Audio Pages. Pete…
10 Jaw-Dropping Vacuum Tube Headphone Amplifiers
Vacuum tubes are as much about the sonics as they are about the aesthetics; celebrate great visual design in tube amplification with this list of our favorites! With the relatively…
Review: Hagerman Audio Labs Tuba Headphone Amplifier
Quality over Quantity. Hagerman Audio Labs is a one-man company, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, and dedicated to the design and creation of high-quality audio products. It is the brainchild and…
An Amplifier Primer: Technical Terms for Beginners
Want to better understand the tech-speak you find in marketing materials and equipment reviews? Here’s your crash-course in amplifier terminology and how it should impact your purchasing decisions. Have you…
Building the Millett NuHybrid Headphone Amplifier
How a Fluorescent Display became a Triode Vacuum Tube for Audio The NuHybrid is (as you may have guessed from the name) a new type of hybrid tube headphone amplifier.…
Review: Douk Audio Little Bear B4-X
A Curiosity full of Tubes and Compromises Douk Audio (also known as Nobsound), a subsidiary of Shenzhen Cavins Technology Co., Ltd., was founded in 2013 in Shenzhen China. The company…
Balanced vs Unbalanced Audio Connections
Getting the best sound from your headphone setup can be a balancing act, but does it have to be? A typical headphone source (amplifier, DAP, etc.) supports an unbalanced headphone…
Headphone Impedance Demystified: Do I Need a Headphone Amp?
The importance of matching headphones with audio sources in the pursuit of high fidelity audio. Impedance is one of the basic specifications included with almost every quality pair of headphones…
Review: Burson Audio Bang – Superb Sound Quality, Effortless Sound Yet Small
I have to be honest up front. I tend to use headphones for most of my music listening these days. When Burson gave me the opportunity to review their Bang…
Upgrading the Bottlehead Crack Headphone Amplifier: A Comprehensive Guide
oSo now you have assembled your stock Bottlehead Crack OTL amplifier. You could stop now and live in personal audio bliss. The Crack sounds so good, there really isn’t a…
Building the Bottlehead Crack Headphone Amplifier: A Comprehensive Guide
Originally announced in 2010, the Crack is an affordable tube-based headphone amplifier kit offered by the Bottlehead Corporation located in Poulsbo, Washington State, USA. The company was created by the…
Review: Burson Audio Fun
Excellent Headphone Amp – Looks Good Too I have been an avid headphone user for many years now. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve got to the point…
Review: iFi xDSD Portable Headphone DAC Amplifier
An Excellent but Unfathomable Jack of All Trades In the last few years, iFi has done much to gain success with personal audio electronics enthusiasts. They solidified their position in…
“Op-amp Rolling” in the Objective 2 Headphone Amplifier
Or… My adventures in trying $240 worth of boutique Op-amps in a $60 amp kit. I’ve been curious about the notion of “op-amp rolling” ever since being bitten by the…