2. amps-preamps
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Rupert Neve's RNHP & beyerdynamic Amiron (not great)

Wonderful reviews all around but I am disappointed. Headphones: beyerdynamic Amiron Home. DACs: either Fiio M11 or RME ADI-2 DAC FS. Cans are 250 Ohms.  For Fiio I bought a balanced cable from beyer: definitely much better result than 3.5mm, especially to drive 250 Ohms. I was hoping to further improve the sonic experience with this well regarded amp. But as it is, the results are not better or even the same -- they are obviously worse than even Fiio driving beyer by itself (with that cable).  
I first connected Fiio 3.5mm to RHHP's RCA with Audioquest Big Sur. Most definitely not a 'wow'. Then I tried balanced XLR cables from the RME DAC to RNHP's balanced inputs (adjusting reference level). A bit better, but definitely worse than RME ADI-2 DAC just by itself (it sports a headphone amp). In fact, the headphones sound just amazing driven just by this DAC, so connecting this DAC to RNHP doesn't make any sense unless somehow RNHP improved on the DAC amp (and it most definitely doesn't). 
So far my "improvement" only makes things worse, which is very unexpected given the rave reviews. Either I am doing something wrong, or both the Fiio, and especially the RME, are that good already and hard to beat...

What do people think?
ghjuvanni

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
Neve made some highly regarded mixer consoles over the last few decades, but that does not mean the circuit couldn't be better- nothing is perfect in this world, which also means that something else can be better, and that price or reputation might not have anything to do with it, as you've experienced.


If I were you though, I would allow the amp and the cables plenty of time (at least 50 hours) to break-in and warm up, as you might find that in that time they have changed.
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