This is a really tough review because to my ears this DAC doesn't really have it's own signature. So the best I can do is compare it to my old ODAC and Modi, but all based on memory.   First off, Headroom had stopped selling their own brand of gear so I just HAD to buy this. Headroom should reconsider and hire a marketing guru. The small size and plain design doesn't help much. They're built like a tank though and not made out of plastic! Their stuff is much better than all the other Schiit. I skipped it for over a year because I thought it'd just...

This will be a short review based on maybe on 12-15 hours of use. If you think that's not long enough you can skip it.   I was a bit worried that this would be some cheap gimmicky toy amp because of the name. This is instead a seriously good amp! I love it.   Sounds great with ALL my headphones and does not add any major coloration to any of them. It works equally well with the HD-598, HD-650, K400, DJ100 and modded Q701. It sounded especially good with the hard to drive K400! All my headphones and music sounds as it should. Sounds transparent...

Sounds great with the modded AKG Q701. Nearly as good with that as my main amp that originally cost $350. Impressive! In fact, the Vali added nothing to the sound of the modded Q701, which is perfect. I would say the resulting sound is similar to that of the O2 but with very very slightly fuller mids and very slightly smoother treble. We're talking maybe a 2% difference. The Vali sounds dead neutral to my ears with the Q701. I also tried my K400 and the Vali added nothing.   I then tried the HD-650 and Koss Pro DJ100. Sounded terrible and no better...

6-7 hour impressions. I will update/edit this more as I listen to it more. If you don't like this please GET OUT!!!.   These are only impressions vs the bass port modded Q701.   Slightly fuller sounding in the mids than the Q701m. Barely audible. K712 adds some slight warmth to recordings that are already warm. The Q701m does this less. K712 to me sounds slightly more forward in nature than the Q701m, especially in the low mids. The Q701 low mids are leaner but still nice and full without being too forward. The soundstage of the Q701m is...

Got the unit in and on day one it randomly sounded OK and then would crap out on me. In total I wasted probably 6 hours of my day off trying to fix issues I thought were a fault of my computer. I kept thinking that I had fixed it and then the issue would come back. First I thought it was interference with my ethernet port, bad usb cable, bad hub, noisy power etc. I tried every combination I could find. I even attached the amp to different wall outlets and with and without noise filtering on my surge protectors. In the end there is NOTHING wrong with...

Mids are nice and full sounding. Not thin or lean at all. If they are it's due to a poor amp match or supposed to be that way in the recording (yeah really). I've even gotten good results with an O2, E9 and Micro Amp. Not much else yet. They sound natural to me. To me this headphone really excels with female vocals. They're very slightly forward sounding. I would say the low mids are more neutral. They're not as forward as those of the Anniversary and I like that. With some recordings the Q701 can sound nearly as warm and full sounding as my HD-650...

This won't be an in depth review, just a few short impressions. Scored these for $90 at Radioshack. I always wanted to try a V-Moda headphone that wasn't too bass heavy.   Since all my portable players were dead I used my O2+Modi (transparent IMO). The low mids were shoved in my bass and these were too bassy. Well guess what? The cause was my powered USB hub crapping up the sound and with the amp/dac and these headphones I was able to detect it. Problem fixed!   They have a slight mid-bass emphasis and I was surprised that the low bass...

Just a few impressions since nobody really reads these:   All my headphones work well with it. Everything sounds just like it should. Garbage tracks actually still sound like garbage. Very revealing (yes, I know) and if my recording sounds tinny/harsh/thin it will sound like that (unless I'm using the HD-650) without any change Doesn't sound bright (if it does, it's the recording or headphone) and doesn't require a specific type of headphone for good "synergy" (IMO so far). Doesn't sound cold/thin etc. It's warm (sounding) if the recording or...

Compared to Q701: (most of this has already been mentioned in other reviews)   More forward sounding and upfront, except for upper mids (and most female vocals) Warmer and fuller sounding than Q701, but not by much. Sounds slightly more muffled and not as clear. Imaging seems better. I think my brain is just fooled due to flat pads and a warmer sound signature. Way less treble and upper mids took a nose drive. Sounds darker than MY HD-650. Weird. Soundstage seems much smaller and the sound is definitely less airy. The deal killer for me...

This review is mainly for the DAC part only with L7. Mostly in comparison to my Schiit Modi. Just a few random things to note:   Sounds flat with a touch of warmth. Actually, just slightly more than a touch. It wouldn't be my first choice as a budget DAC if I was using just an HD-650. It seems OK for the K702 Anniversary. Based on memory, the HRT MSII seemed warmer sounding. Everything is nice and full sounding in comparison to my Schiit Modi (doesn't mean it's better). The Modi is a bit thinner, but clearer and with a larger soundstage. Detail...

I will compare the Modi vs the ODAC for this mini-review. They both have the same general "signature" and really just sound very transparent/flat/balanced. I can't really detect any coloration and they don't alter the sound of any of my headphones or make them sound different than how they're supposed to be. I doubt that there is a headphone that would sound bad with the ODAC or Modi. For testing I used the Schiit Magni and Headroom Micro Amp + Astrodyne (both transparent). I used the AKG K400, Koss Pro DJ 100, HD-650 and Q701. It was the easiest to...

  Fairly neutral but sounds slightly bright and lean sounding at times. To my ears, definitely more so than the O2. I had them both within the last 6 months.   I felt it sounded good with the HD-650, HD-598 and my DJ100 but just decent with my Q701. For my Q701 with this amp I would probably prefer to use it with a warmer sounding source such as the Fiio E17. I think the docked Ipod Touch 2G to Magni made the Q701 sound a bit harsh/tinny/metallic sounding. Modi to Magni was a little better.   I sold the Magni after a few months and switched...

I'll try to be brief here, which is nearly impossible for me to do.   I bought this headphone last month and previously had two pairs. Those pairs had really anemic upper mids and had bloated mid-bass. This pair does not. I even used my old reference tracks I tried previously and this pair has a quite balanced sound signature. Not dead neutral or completely uncolored, but I would say it's just smooth sounding. Possibly one of the most musical headphones i've owned.   This headphone for me makes a lot of my crappy recordings that are harsh and...

I found these brand new at a local thrift store brand new for $30! To me due to them being very colored to my ears, they're not worth that. Their sound signature just doesn't play well with my ears.   They do feel like the bass is a bit excessive. I think it seems worse than it is due to a severe lack of treble. These aren't as dark as the TMA-1, but maybe close. Some of my favorite tracks seem to sound a bit murky and almost congested. Total lack of sound clarity, but some other tracks are fine.   I was shocked at how fatiguing the mids are...

These are just some very early impressions since almost nobody reviews the super cheap Koss products under $30 other than the KSC75 etc.   First impression from a Clip+ was that the bass was a bit bloated (not the Clips fault). I stopped using that immediately and switched to my Headroom Micro Amp and ODAC (both very neutral). I don't know if they'll sound as good with portable devices. Maybe an amp is a good idea? Remember..early impressions.   The sound is quite full and kind of warm sounding for a $18 headphone. There's quite a lot of...

NOTES: SKIP THIS FIRST PART I had a heck of a time getting this to sound right. It made me aware of nearly THREE problems with my setup. Not even kidding. My desktop computer's rear USB port does not work with this. A powered USB hub is required. Next for some strange reason I have to use high gain on my Q701 with this dac and my Headroom Micro Amp. With 8% volume. If not, the Q701 is too fatiguing. This never occurred with my HRT MSII. On that, Medium was fine.   I'll keep this short (EDIT: whoops guess not). First impressions of this over my...

I don't really like this. My impressions of it have been like a roller coaster. First it sounded good, then just ok, then terrible and back and forth. It will sound good on some headphones, but then on other ones it will sound like garbage. I don't want a DAC or AMP like that really.   If you don't agree with my impressions, then that is OK. These are just my opinions and how I heard it.   These are for straight out of the DAC:   My impression of it is that it makes the lower mids of my headphones (sound) much too forward. My DJ100...

My first desktop amp I got was the Schiit Asgard. Can't believe I went so long with just weak portable amps. I bought the Asgard for the HD-600. Found it drove that perfectly, but made my K702 and K601 sound like poop. ATH-AD2000 also sounded bad too. D2000 however was pretty impressive on it. Went with the E9 and found I preferred the K702 on that, but still liked the Asgard for the HD-650.   My goal was to find an amp that sounds equally good with BOTH the HD-650 and the K702. I remember one night comparing all my amps for the HD-650 and it...

Basically this is a mini DAC for your computer with a jack for headphones. From what I've read it has a 7.8 ohm headphone output, which might be unsuitable for IEMs and some portable headphones.   I actually bought this to use for my DJ100, HD-598 and other headphones for when I can't use my main DAC and amp. I actually expected to return this or sell it immediately.   Really surprised how good it makes the HD-598 sound. Some amazing synergy there it seems like. I actually don't think it's being under-amped because in my experience the HD-598...

(science guys feel free to ignore this review. Thanks)   As most people know by now, I've always disliked most Sennheiser headphones. They're not bad, but the sound from the HD-600 and HD-650 just doesn't engage me and is not that fun. They're not clear enough, don't have enough detail or treble or are muffled. I previously had the HD-650 and HD-600 twice with various amps. The HD-600 is good, but it's not for me. Loved it for movies and games though, but for music it put me to sleep.   When I got the HD-598 I loved it. Compared it to the...