[musickid]

ive owned anni/qutest and now tt2. tt2 is much more transparent and natural sounding less distortion heard. as for overall control of the headphones and effortless presentation the same. i used an mscaler with both. i think with harder to drive headphones the gap would narrow between both options as i was using sensitive oppo pm1 headphones. at the end of the day i would go with tt2 as the analogue out is a single wire so less distortion as there is no separate headphone amp//dac in tt2. youre basically listening to the dac direct as i understand.

 

[Alucard1]

ive owned anni/qutest and now tt2. tt2 is much more transparent and natural sounding less distortion heard. as for overall control of the headphones and effortless presentation the same. i used an mscaler with both. i think with harder to drive headphones the gap would narrow between both options as i was using sensitive oppo pm1 headphones. at the end of the day i would go with tt2 as the analogue out is a single wire so less distortion as there is no separate headphone amp//dac in tt2. youre basically listening to the dac direct as i understand.

I understand it comes to the pure DAC, TT2 is obviously better. How you see the amplifier case? Its Anni as a headphone amplifier is better than amplfier in TT2? I kinda miss crossfeed option in Anni but i use this option in JRiver, and i prefer listening this way, with crossfeed enabled.

 

[musickid]

overall i prefer tt2 driving my headphones than the anni qutest stack. more transparent and natural sounding.

 

[Alucard1]

Hmmm i thinking about switch to TT2 and sell my Qutest/Anni stack.

 

[Flaze]

Honestly man, id stay clear of this one. Tried it at canjam last year with i believe aryas and meze empys with qutest and it sounded pretty underwhelming, especially for the money.

 

[Alucard1]

You mean with qutest/anni stack?

 

[Flaze]

You mean with qutest/anni stack?

yah, it was pretty underwhelming. Ive also had a qutest for about a year and own aryas for several, so the only difference in the chain was anni. I honestly couldnt tell you what the sound profile was since that was about a year ago in canjam, but i recall i was not impressed.

 

[Alucard1]

So when i say i can sell Qutest/Anni stack, you was saying "stay clear of this one", but you say also you was not impressed. So.... You recommend selling Qutest/Anni or not? Im pretty impressed by this big, fast, deep layering sound. Final D8000 sounds pretty dope on this.

 

[Alucard1]

Maybe TT2 is better choice overall, but i was also aiming in McIntosh MHA150.

 

[flxfxp]

If you have annoyance from the fan, you could try a replacement fan. There may be a Noctua fan that fits, and unless you get a bad Noctua they are extremely quiet. Noctua also tend to cool better than any other brand so it would not have to run so fast.

(Can someone please do a measurement of the fan, and post for Head-Fi users?)


Review of Anni in the Feb edition of HiFi News.

I'm going to attempt to replace the fan.

The fan that the Chord Anni ships with is a YCCFan YDL4510B12 fan.
As far as I can tell there are no Noctua/Coolermaster/Scythe fans out there that fit.

Suggestions welcome

Edit: original fan is a ball bearing fan running at 6000rpm, generating 34.6 dBA of noise.
I'll attempt to replace with a Sunon KD1245PFB3-8, 4400rpm ball bearing fan, generating 23 dBA of noise.

 

[miketlse]

I'm going to attempt to replace the fan.

The fan that the Chord Anni ships with is a YCCFan YDL4510B12 fan.
As far as I can tell there are no Noctua/Coolermaster/Scythe fans out there that fit.

Suggestions welcome

Edit: original fan is a ball bearing fan running at 6000rpm, generating 34.6 dBA of noise.
I'll attempt to replace with a Sunon KD1245PFB3-8, 4400rpm ball bearing fan, generating 23 dBA of noise.

The fan will be quieter because it runs at a lower rpm, but that will also mean that it shifts less air, so the electronics (incl mosfets) will run at a higher temperature.
Beware the risk of trading a reduced fan noise, for a higher level of distortion from the amp.

 

[flxfxp]

Replaced the fan, I got zero fan noise now.

 

[Alucard1]

I hope you not fry the amplifier right now. Keep us inform whats gonna happend, this is intresting.

 

[emskymc]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share some thoughts on the Chord Anni, especially since we often hear about it in the context of headphone amps. While it's cool that folks have other go-to options for headphone listening in its price range, I think the Anni deserves a shoutout for something else — its awesome dual role as both a headphone and speaker amp.
I'm not going to dive deep into its sound signature because that's pretty subjective. But I want to share my experience of how efficiently it drives speakers. I've got it hooked up to my ProAc Tablette 10 Signature speakers (10 ohms with an 86dB sensitivity for 1 watt at 1 meter, and they're recommended to be driven by an amp rated between 5 – 50W). Despite the Anni being rated at 10W for 8 ohms, it feels like it punches above its weight with its ability to dynamically adjust the output. My room's about 25sqm, and I barely need to go past 10-11 o'clock on high gain for a solid listening level at 1.5-2m distance. And if I'm listening to classical pieces with a bit more dynamic range, nudging it up to 12-1 does the trick.
On another positive note, it's not surprising how well it handles near-field listening. There's definitely something extra there, though it's hard to say if it's the amp or the speakers doing more of the magic.

So, if you're looking at the Anni just as a headphone amp, you might be missing out. It's got a lot to offer as a speaker amp, and in my book, that dual functionality is a big win.

 

[Alucard1]

Some guys do some measuerement of Anni. I reades about it, just donr remember where. From speakers output, seems Anni have equivalent of maximum 75W of power. Dont if this is true but could be your answer. Maybe. I dont know where that was and i dont know the methodology of the test. Sorry.