sennsay
1000+ Head-Fier
A brief prologue, if I may: KHA is my main headphone amplifier, it's built from a kit available from Jaycar Electronics in both Australia and New Zealand. KHA is a name I applied myself and stands for the first letters of Kit Headphone Amplifier, I did this so that I didn't have to write the whole thing out everytime.
It's a pretty easy kit to build, even for noobies at this game and there is a separate +-15 Volt power supply available for it. I have built two already and will have a Mk II version of it soon with highly upgraded parts, known as KHA II. When the damn parts eventually get here!
If anyone is interested, I will post a link for the kit at the end of this review.
For those of you who might be new to this thread and the whole Moon/Earth/Sun business, these are all what are known as HDAMs, a term pioneered by Phillips/Marantz, Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module. An HDAM is an all discrete - ie separate transistors, resistors and capacitors - module that plugs into the same socket that is used by the ubiquitous and much cheaper op-amps we are all mostly familiar with. Consequently, using discrete components makes the HDAM unit much larger and sometimes a set of extension cables are used to lie the HDAM down flat, as opposed to it standing upright in the op-amp socket. Numerous example of this are available to be seen in the Zero's thread.
Briefly, HDAMs are noted for their greater headroom with dynamic signals, expansive soundstage and greater detail in the musical picture. The website to purchase these HDAMs from will be with the KHA link below.
OK, now down to the review itself.
First off, I need to say that if I don't take my Senn 650s off my head while I'm writing this it will take an awful long time to write! With OPA Moon in my amp -KHA- I am constantly drawn into the music, so hard as it is ....... ok, I had to wait until Sara K had finished.
Some time ago in my distant past, maybe some twenty seven/eight years ago, I had the first real shock in my musical evolution. I had just co-created the Hawkes Bay Audio Club with a couple of friends, wanting to expand our musical universe. The head salesman for Perreax Audio at the time brought along an Aura turntable, a magnificent and weighty gold beast, topped with a Dynavector 505 arm and a Koetsu Onyx moving coil cartridge, the sound was so stunning it was a revelation that has stuck with me ever since. Even on the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, the sheer physical presence of that sound opened me up to a whole new world of audio.
Some years later I was to have that arm and cartridge living in my lounge mounted on an Oracle turntable for a month or two.
There have been other quantum leaps in my audio evolution like that and another one came my way yesterday in the form of OPA Moon.
It's come as such a surprise that I will guard a tendency to gush over it, which would not be hard!
Firstly, I need to put it into some form of context, because I am using the OPA Moon in my amp, KHA, and not in the Zero's DAC, which has OPA Earth installed. The two are intimately related because what I am now hearing through the Sennheiser 650s is telling me I wasn't previously getting the best from the DAC with OPA Earth.
Somehow there is a far greater synergy in KHA with the Moon module installed, than there was with OPA Earth in there. I am putting it down to the single ended circuit of Moon being rather different than that of the more complex circuit of Earth as a distinct possibility. So far.
Although the Moon could hardly be described as run-in, of all the three HDAM modules, it has taken by far the shortest time to warm to the task. After a couple of hours warm up, I moved it from my Yamaha CD player to the Mac iBook and it has done nothing but sing it's heart out since. I basically listened to music for hours until 1:30 AM and even then it was a tough call to switch off the kit.
There is a mellifulous and effortless flow to the music that just pours into the Senns, with all styles of music that I have played so far. Classical, jazz, rock and pop and Loreena McKennitt, who has a style all of her own.
The word that really comes to mind for me is LYRICAL. No CD is untouched by it's presence. Actually, I'm not sure audio-gd do it any great favours in describing the way they have; as 'tube like and sentimental'. If you think of that description as soft and warm, it's not accurate. In my system at present, it's that very lyrical nature that is so tube-like. What has surprised me in that are the dynamics! From drums to cymbals there is a realism that just sounds so right that I'm having some difficulty finding the language to describe it. Some of the midrange dynamics just awed me, not in the hi-fi sense of great speed and pushing the emphasis forward, far from it, more in the lines of changing from a 50W amp to 200W, it becomes effortless. Rhythmically it's superb, wonderful timing, yes that's true. In saying that though, it's the small details, dynamic accents, subtle inflections in the way an instrument is played that abound here in a way that Earth didn't do in KHA, as great as it sounded there. It's now as if I can actually here the Zero properly, which shows how terrific the Earth HDAM is in the DAC's output.
I don't see it at all as the Moon colouring the sound of the DAC, quite the opposite. For those in the Zero Owners Club who like their midrange pushed forward, you may find the Moon not to your liking, it's a little more laid back here, though please do NOT claim that to mean it's warm and lacking in detail. You would be missing out big time. Conversely, those of you with slightly bright and/or forward headphones that might like some midrange solidity and dimension in their music may come to really appreciate what the Moon has to offer.
I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say OPA Moon is tube-like in the best sense, open, clean, flowing, lyrical, integrated from top to bottom. I like this better than with my own Trevor Lees tube pre-amp in circuit, though it shares many attributes. OPA Moon in KHA connects me emotionally to the music, it communicates in ways that are truly exciting. There is a greater sense of humanity, easily heard in songs that are duets. With most CDs it's as if I've never really heard them before.
All I can say is, go try it, see if it works for you. I'm buying more next week!
Kingwa, you're a legend!
S-Man
Equipment used in this review is as follows:
Apple G4 iBook; USB lead to PCLink that came with my Zero and thence to the standard optical cable that came with the Zero; Zero DAC with OPA Earth in the DAC and LT1364s in the amp (unused for this review); Neotech interconnects to KHA with OPA Moon; Sennheiser HD 650's with standard cable.
NB: OPA Moon had around 8 hours at the time of these impressions and as of 40 hours plus at present, has only become even more expressive and communicative and utterly addictive. A revelation in the world of music for me. It is still a huge task to switch the gear off at night!
New notes added, 19/10/08 or for those in the US 10/19/08!
KHA's power supply has since undergone a major revision, in that all the standard caps have been replaced with Nichicon FG (Fine Gold) by four and Elna Silmic caps by two, plus all diodes had been changed to Shottkey UF 4001 previously. It's possible their addition may have been nullified by the el cheapo caps at the time, if that's true, they sure as heck aren't now!
However, the enormous changes wrought to the sound of KHA's main board, including HDAM Moon has been dramatic, to say the least.
The overall wonders of OPA Moon have been expanded upon, taking on a new level of transparency that had to be heard to be believed! Gone is the slight thickness in the vocals that PP and I noted, while the slight laid back nature is basically still there, yet is clearer at the same time. Treble has extended and gained speed and openness and while the bass took some time off for a few hours, it has returned with renewed speed, transparency and depth.
Dynamics on a King Crimson Live concert nearly had me changing the underwear several times!
Such speed and clarity, even the distortion used on the guitars was so clean I could listen at higher volume levels without cringing. Awesome!
What I am saying here is that OPA Moon has risen to new heights in my admiration for it's music making abilities, because I can hear much more clearly what is is doing in the system. Simply stunning!
S-Man
Links are as follows: KHA
Jaycar Electronics
KHA power supply (basic though works well, quiet!)
Jaycar Electronics
HDAMs
н¨ÍøÒ³ 1
For those of you who might be new to this thread and the whole Moon/Earth/Sun business, these are all what are known as HDAMs, a term pioneered by Phillips/Marantz, Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module. An HDAM is an all discrete - ie separate transistors, resistors and capacitors - module that plugs into the same socket that is used by the ubiquitous and much cheaper op-amps we are all mostly familiar with. Consequently, using discrete components makes the HDAM unit much larger and sometimes a set of extension cables are used to lie the HDAM down flat, as opposed to it standing upright in the op-amp socket. Numerous example of this are available to be seen in the Zero's thread.
Briefly, HDAMs are noted for their greater headroom with dynamic signals, expansive soundstage and greater detail in the musical picture. The website to purchase these HDAMs from will be with the KHA link below.
OK, now down to the review itself.
First off, I need to say that if I don't take my Senn 650s off my head while I'm writing this it will take an awful long time to write! With OPA Moon in my amp -KHA- I am constantly drawn into the music, so hard as it is ....... ok, I had to wait until Sara K had finished.
Some time ago in my distant past, maybe some twenty seven/eight years ago, I had the first real shock in my musical evolution. I had just co-created the Hawkes Bay Audio Club with a couple of friends, wanting to expand our musical universe. The head salesman for Perreax Audio at the time brought along an Aura turntable, a magnificent and weighty gold beast, topped with a Dynavector 505 arm and a Koetsu Onyx moving coil cartridge, the sound was so stunning it was a revelation that has stuck with me ever since. Even on the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, the sheer physical presence of that sound opened me up to a whole new world of audio.
Some years later I was to have that arm and cartridge living in my lounge mounted on an Oracle turntable for a month or two.
There have been other quantum leaps in my audio evolution like that and another one came my way yesterday in the form of OPA Moon.
It's come as such a surprise that I will guard a tendency to gush over it, which would not be hard!
Firstly, I need to put it into some form of context, because I am using the OPA Moon in my amp, KHA, and not in the Zero's DAC, which has OPA Earth installed. The two are intimately related because what I am now hearing through the Sennheiser 650s is telling me I wasn't previously getting the best from the DAC with OPA Earth.
Somehow there is a far greater synergy in KHA with the Moon module installed, than there was with OPA Earth in there. I am putting it down to the single ended circuit of Moon being rather different than that of the more complex circuit of Earth as a distinct possibility. So far.
Although the Moon could hardly be described as run-in, of all the three HDAM modules, it has taken by far the shortest time to warm to the task. After a couple of hours warm up, I moved it from my Yamaha CD player to the Mac iBook and it has done nothing but sing it's heart out since. I basically listened to music for hours until 1:30 AM and even then it was a tough call to switch off the kit.
There is a mellifulous and effortless flow to the music that just pours into the Senns, with all styles of music that I have played so far. Classical, jazz, rock and pop and Loreena McKennitt, who has a style all of her own.
The word that really comes to mind for me is LYRICAL. No CD is untouched by it's presence. Actually, I'm not sure audio-gd do it any great favours in describing the way they have; as 'tube like and sentimental'. If you think of that description as soft and warm, it's not accurate. In my system at present, it's that very lyrical nature that is so tube-like. What has surprised me in that are the dynamics! From drums to cymbals there is a realism that just sounds so right that I'm having some difficulty finding the language to describe it. Some of the midrange dynamics just awed me, not in the hi-fi sense of great speed and pushing the emphasis forward, far from it, more in the lines of changing from a 50W amp to 200W, it becomes effortless. Rhythmically it's superb, wonderful timing, yes that's true. In saying that though, it's the small details, dynamic accents, subtle inflections in the way an instrument is played that abound here in a way that Earth didn't do in KHA, as great as it sounded there. It's now as if I can actually here the Zero properly, which shows how terrific the Earth HDAM is in the DAC's output.
I don't see it at all as the Moon colouring the sound of the DAC, quite the opposite. For those in the Zero Owners Club who like their midrange pushed forward, you may find the Moon not to your liking, it's a little more laid back here, though please do NOT claim that to mean it's warm and lacking in detail. You would be missing out big time. Conversely, those of you with slightly bright and/or forward headphones that might like some midrange solidity and dimension in their music may come to really appreciate what the Moon has to offer.
I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say OPA Moon is tube-like in the best sense, open, clean, flowing, lyrical, integrated from top to bottom. I like this better than with my own Trevor Lees tube pre-amp in circuit, though it shares many attributes. OPA Moon in KHA connects me emotionally to the music, it communicates in ways that are truly exciting. There is a greater sense of humanity, easily heard in songs that are duets. With most CDs it's as if I've never really heard them before.
All I can say is, go try it, see if it works for you. I'm buying more next week!
Kingwa, you're a legend!
S-Man
Equipment used in this review is as follows:
Apple G4 iBook; USB lead to PCLink that came with my Zero and thence to the standard optical cable that came with the Zero; Zero DAC with OPA Earth in the DAC and LT1364s in the amp (unused for this review); Neotech interconnects to KHA with OPA Moon; Sennheiser HD 650's with standard cable.
NB: OPA Moon had around 8 hours at the time of these impressions and as of 40 hours plus at present, has only become even more expressive and communicative and utterly addictive. A revelation in the world of music for me. It is still a huge task to switch the gear off at night!
New notes added, 19/10/08 or for those in the US 10/19/08!
KHA's power supply has since undergone a major revision, in that all the standard caps have been replaced with Nichicon FG (Fine Gold) by four and Elna Silmic caps by two, plus all diodes had been changed to Shottkey UF 4001 previously. It's possible their addition may have been nullified by the el cheapo caps at the time, if that's true, they sure as heck aren't now!
However, the enormous changes wrought to the sound of KHA's main board, including HDAM Moon has been dramatic, to say the least.
The overall wonders of OPA Moon have been expanded upon, taking on a new level of transparency that had to be heard to be believed! Gone is the slight thickness in the vocals that PP and I noted, while the slight laid back nature is basically still there, yet is clearer at the same time. Treble has extended and gained speed and openness and while the bass took some time off for a few hours, it has returned with renewed speed, transparency and depth.
Dynamics on a King Crimson Live concert nearly had me changing the underwear several times!
What I am saying here is that OPA Moon has risen to new heights in my admiration for it's music making abilities, because I can hear much more clearly what is is doing in the system. Simply stunning!
Links are as follows: KHA
Jaycar Electronics
KHA power supply (basic though works well, quiet!)
Jaycar Electronics
HDAMs
н¨ÍøÒ³ 1
