With over 15 years of experience searching for good sound, I share my impressions of headphones and other audio gear, along with my experiences living in Japan.
See also my written reviews on Head-Fi and www.hear.audio.
Regarding product purchase links, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases through links posted on my videos. Likewise links to various dealers. However, this assumes that the products are not returned, so I have no interest in hyping products just for affiliate sales, as that would not benefit me, you, or the company you buy from.
Hi!, Bought a smart Tv with NO Bluetooth is this what I need to use with Bluetooth headphones?, And I would need to connect it via 3.5mm headphone socket on the Tv!, Tia🏴
i think the headphone community is the worst because the gear is usually cheaper and easier to consume and collect and that is what this hobby is about for most people. collecting and consumption nothing else. they do not even care for music most of the times. we pretty much have figured out the technology by now, you can just buy objectively good stuff and leave it at that... but well then you cannot consume more now can you? people need to justify their poor spending habits and the dopamine rush that comes with it by inventing a completely nonsensical hobby. the same type of people who own countless of mechanical keyboards, guitar gear and so forth
I managed to get a load of sought-after tubes right before Russia got sanctioned; their prices all doubled to tripled. I must confess, it's my first amp and I got it exclusively because I've always have a thing for vacuum tubes
I love the color interface! It is simple as long as you understand it basically is the light spectrum from low energy(red) to high energy(violet). Also it looks fantastic! I am tired of lazy people moaning about it! CHORD keep using this interface! It is unique and a great brand image!
You can do all the same controls via the volume knob just like the remote. Vol knob single press-input change, single press and hold-gain, double press-mA change. I just verified this on my S17. Having the temp indicator lets you know why it dropped to 50mA if it happens. Even with the firmware update, some folks don't give their gear enough breathing room. If some want to talk about the temp a lot, that's their problem. I use a separate thermocouple on my other class-a amp and love that this amp has the temp shown. Don't dumb it down just for a few dummies. lol. I think if the vol # size was larger it would be obnoxious. Now it is just as big, or bigger than most others. I can see it from across my room. WOW. You are the first I have heard from many reviews and lots of feedback that this amp is bright. It is one of the best with my HE6se V2 because of its tuby smoothness and having enough power to provide excellent control of that, hard to control driver. I like using my SMSL-SU9 DAC most with this amp. I can hear the difference with my Topping E50 DAC. Love your videos. Thanks!
Thanks for the info. Somehow I missed the other functionality with the volume knob. Some people are more sensitive to the treble peak that HiFiMan headphones have, some not. I guess that includes me.
@@Currawong Exactly. The HE6se V2 has a treble peak that I am sensitive to and the Aune smoothed that out for me. I think it has a lot to do with this driver finally getting enough power to drive more efficiently. Cheers.
fantastic thorough review! just got a pair of these E3 and feel my modest Topping headphone amp is not doing the trick of making them sing... do you (or any of your viewers) have a suggestion for an affordable powerful transparent amp (don't want the E3 presentation to be changed by the amp). my budget for the amp can't go beyond $500. thanks to anyone for the input...
I had one very early on. I also had the heat issue. The thing got EXTREMELY hot. Like 69C hot. I had it on 2" pucks to make room for additional airflow. No help. I don't think they realized what the problem was because I was never offered a fix. Only a refund, which I gladly excepted. Bought a Burson Soloist 3xp, which is also a class A amplifier. Zero heat issues. I could rest my hand on the top of the Burson, unlike the S17 Pro.
i have this amp for just three days and is too short amount of time to judge anything...i try all three headphones that i have (Hifiman Sundara,He 6 v2 and Senn 560 ovation) and difference between 50 and 100 mode i hear only with He6v2 and with that one i dont need to listen particulary carefull...Sundara and Senn 560 ovation - no difference at all....
the 100ma makes the music more exciting, better bass and bigger sound stage. You have to let it run on 100 ma for 30 seconds before you hear a difference. It is not a summer amp. I do notice when the room is cool the s17 doesn't get as hot. It is interesting the low gain has less bass and wider sound stage then the high gain mode. I love this amp and when I hooked up my smsl sh9 to the s17 I got some interesting results which are amazing
Thanks for the comment. I'd be wary in thinking that there are tonal changes from changes in the gain settings, as our ears don't perceive frequencies with the same balance at all volume levels (search for "equal loudness curve"), so it's easy to think there are changes when there aren't. I'm glad the amp is working out for you though!
"It is interesting the low gain has less bass and wider sound stage then the high gain mode..." That's almost EXACTLY how my Gustard H20 acts between gain settings (also Class A/AB: Lo gain: "softer" overall presentation, linear, wide SS; Hi gain: more controlled overall presentation, harder-hitting bass, more "direct" or "unvarnished" sounding; Med gain: a mix of both presentations, IMO;.....
@@Ezees23 also really good pre amps have a low and high gain. My educated guess the magic mostly comes from the dac and pre amp and the amp and speaker compliments The dac and pre amp.
I sold OG Susvara bc it sounded underwhelmed with Macintosh MHA200, given that the Unveiled is more sensitive on paper, do you think MHA200 can drive these properly?
Thanks for this long waited review, which is both informative and fair and ultimately pretty favorable to the S17, which I've had for about ten months. It largely tracks my experience (I also notice little to no difference between current modes) and the bass is quite impactful (my DAC is the R2R Denafrips Ares 12th-1). I mainly use the Hifiman HEK Stealth, which is probably tuned similarly to the bright Hifimans you mentioned, but don't notice any problem with the treble, which is probably one of the few upsides of being 71. BTW, you can lose the remote (though not recommended, of course) since all its functions are duplicated by the volume knob: single tap for input, double tap for current mode, long press for gain level.
Thank you for Aune review. How much power needed for headphones? I know high impedance headphones and planar magnetics require high power. Which parameters i should look? Impedance, type ? I have Drop 6xx,Fiio k7bt. What you buy around 1K headphones/amp-dac price point?
Not all manufacturers will list the output power for different impedances, but the good ones so. If you have a 6xx, maybe check out the ifi zen can 6xx signature edition or the regular latest model ifi zen can. They're not too expensive and should suit your need. I really like their amplifiers and DACs.
Seems like a decent unit but I'm not sure about the 50/100mA selector or the temperature monitor. I feel like I would spend most of my time switching between the two and checking the temp rather than listening to music.
An headphone amp doesn’t need to be 1000$, all it has to do is amplifying the signal without adding noise or distortion, with enough power to drive headphones, and it doesn’t cost this much to produce this circuit in 2024, this is overpriced marketing.
All headphone amplifiers will add noise and distortion. "Enough power" is unfortunately more than just a number. You can observe this by getting something like a Schiit Magni, which has "enough power" to drive most headphones, and hear the much greater bass distortion with a common pair of othordynamic/planar headphones than a more expensive amplifier.
I'm very wary of reviews that don't mention the most important thing, the music and the tracks they listened to and how the device portrayed it. You also have all your toys prominently displayed but no album art or racks of recordings which is a bit of a red flag indicating that the hardware is more important than the music to You. I went through the previous videos and found no mention of any tracks or albums..
I get this criticism. However, while I have in the past put up a selection of tracks I used most recently for evaluation, including some descriptions, I haven't in this video. I don't think it fundamentally changes my impressions of amplifiers, except that it would give some useful examples that people might know. With headphones, it's far more relevant in my opinion.
I have worked in a hotel for 3 years. The electronic PSU's for the 12V Halogen lights, not one was defect (Osram HTM70). The solid copper ballast did fail, around 8. Intensive use in that hotel. So a properly designed electronic PSU is at least as reliable
I want to personally thank you for this review, it's 100% spot on, I recently purchased one based on your review - it's on another level 😀, again thank you for your great, honest, reviews. You are the best reviewer on RU-vid.
I have a Qutest along with an M-scaler. The sound reproduction is honest. If you’ve a good source it’ll reveal the music as intended. I recommend the Qutest, the M-scaler you could add at a later date.
i have a question can it works as a Bluetooth DAP? playing local music with my Bluetooth earbuds without connecting to my phone? because im quite confused with the term Bluetooth receiver xd
High resolution audio is not a consumer format. The system only has certain bandwidth and most consumer systems, even very expensive ones can not reproduce the entire bandwidth. And the law says that when you exceed bandwidth you will introduce intermodulation distortion, unless the signal is filtered which it usually is just because of the way speakers work. But that part of the signal should never be amplified, so each system meant for high resolution audio should have a lopass filter in it... rendering the whole idea moot.
I don't think the Apple dongle is meant to enhance or improve the music. Its purpose is to allow the use of a headphone when using an Apple product since they have eliminated the headphone jack from newer devices, like their iPads and iPhones.
Nice review. I would only consider an amp like this if I wanted to travel with Sus, Tung or even Stealth, but since I don't I think you should really consider trying the Mass Kobo 475. It's a lot cheaper and you get that Mass Kobo sound which is just fantastic. It can power HPs, just not Sus level. For IEMs, it makes everything sound better.
Do you think that a hybrid amplifier like the "Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid" are superior in sound warmth to the dac/amps of iFi Audio like the iFi Audio Zen Can ? The combo that is often cited as reference is the "JDS Labs Atom Amp 2 + Atom DAC 2" because, they say, he does not add anything to the sound of the source and does not create any distortion. What do you think ? My headphones are Beyerdynamic Dt-990 Pro 250 ohms. By plugging this Cavalli Hybrid Tube amp into the headphone output of the MacBook (using an RCA to 3.5 mm jack adapter), will it receive the sound source from my MacBook Air M2 ? (I mean by plugging it into the headphone output of the macbook). Otherwise, I could maybe plug this "Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid" into my external Dac which is the iFi Zen Air Dac (The iFi Air Dac plugs in by USB in my Macbook). Considering that this Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid is already 5 years old, do more recent similar models exist in this same price range? Or maybe Cavalli has released a more recent version of this same amplifier ?
The Luxman has more of a coloured sound, which makes it sound bigger as well, and easier to match with headphones in general. I haven't tried the Luxman with IEMs though.
@Currawong what do you mean by latest version, out of curiosity? Did they make a silent revision to the Z1R? That could explain why I absolutely adore the Z1R I purchased more recently, but sold the pair I had from years ago. 🤷
I’ll be honest, I’m going to sell the rest of my TOTL collection and just keep these Z1Rs. It’s all one really needs to enjoy music and be satisfied. Tired of the audiophile rabbit hole.
Anemic sound = lack of distortion. You guys are confusing clean signal with lack of control. High distortion amplifiers especially with strong 2nd harmonic and even more so with high imd are always seen as having more driving ability. It's sad state that after all those years "reviewers" are still spreading misinformation 😢
Are you sure you posted this on the correct video? I never said the amp sounded anaemic, and I never suggested that it has a lack of control, but if anything, the total opposite. I used the word anaemic to describe how people feel the Hugo 2 is in some set-ups. A separate issue I describe comparing the Hugo 2 as a headphone amp versus the HPA-23RM is that Hugo 2 has clearly *worse* bass control with the IEMs I tested. It's not from the ENLEUM making anything sound more harmonic, but from the opposite -- I know the difference.
