I think most of the negative press comes from those using the Grado RA1 with phones other than Grado, and I'm not going to say they're wrong. The RA1 is an excellent choice with Grado phones. I'm using one with the GS1000 and it's a great match. It's pretty much common knowledge in the audio community that Grado headphone amps are optimized for Grado headphones, just as Grado phono preamps are best suited for Grado cartridges. Grado RA1 - Headphone amplifier
Since discovering Grado Headphones, I find that I HAVE to keep mine with me when I am out on the road. I find this unit to be the only way to travel with my power hungry cans.
This little mahogany wood unit does a great job substituting for my home set up. It does not alter the sonics nor does it skimp on providing the power of my home setup. In short, it keeps me happy and looks good doing it. Highly recommended.
This sounds similar to some of the Altoids amps that hobbyist began making in the 1990s. It is made up of cheap opamps in a fancy wooden cigar box but it's still better than the headphone jack of most components. The hobbyists that made those Altoids amps (literally in little tin Altoids mints boxes) continued to revise, improve, use newer opamp chips, and better components... so this headphone amp is not nearly as good as those are. Avoid.
[spelling corrected - Thanks, internet! -ed]
Ok, this is a little better than the sound card in my macbook pro. My apogee one audio interface is almost as good. But neither one is made for powering headphones like AKG K702 or DT990 Pro which are my 2 favorites. I bought this knowing Grado is a good, well respected brand. Sadly, I had to return it. It seems whatever you spend on a headphone, you have to spend at least double on amps to get good sound out of them. Honestly if you are spending 350 on this, move up to the NuForce HDP for 450. It is the absolute best value for the buck. I got one of those because my budget was under $500 for headphone amps, and the good thing is the NuForce HDP gives you preamp, amp, and DAC all in one. If you are buying any headphone over $100, be prepared to spend at least $500 to get the best sound out of them.
I wired this to my imac to listen to my Grado headphones. There is a fullness, not volume, but full sound. I also have a pricey set of B&Ws to compare. I dont regret the purchase. Not to mention the mahogany amp looks good on my desk.
The headphone output on my Emu 1616M seems to have better transient response. mids are definitely cleaner on the Emu, as is the LF production. Highs are fairly equal. YMMV based on the impedance of your cans though obviously. older Sennheiser 600s, JVC HARX900s.
In all fairness, the Emu 1616M has a rather good headphone driver section.
Yeah it works. It looks like it was made by a third grader though in the 1950's lol. Some people have way too much money for useless stuff. I was thinking my headphones would be transformed. They sound pretty much the same just coming out of my receiver.
Buy it if you want a slab of wood with 'GRADO' printed on it.'
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