http://www.headfonia.com/nwavguys-objective-2-by-jdslabs-and-epiphany-acoustics/
Δυστυχώς αποδεικνύεται ότι το Headphonia είναι κατευθυνόμενο...και έχει σαφέστατα εμπορικά οφέλη από τα reviews...
Ο ενισχυτάκος ΔΕΝ υπολείπεται σε μπάσα ούτε έχει πρόβλημα στις μεσαίες.
Φυσικά και δεν είναι ο σούπερ ντούπερ χαιντάδικος ενισχυτής... αλλά παίζει πολύ καλά... προσπάθησα πολύ να δω εάν έχουν δίκιο, αλλά δεν μπόρεσα να το επιβεβαιώσω με τους δικούς μου ενισχυτές... ο Musical Fidelity HPA έχει μια μικρή αίφνης αίσθηση ότι έχει λίγο παραπάνω μπάσο... αλλά μόνο απειροελάχιστο...και ελάχιστη ανάλυση παραπάνω... μιλάμε για μικρές διαφορές... ακουστικά που χρησιμοποίησα είναι τα Sennheiser HD800 και τα HD650...
Κρίμα στην Headphonia... το είχα παρατηρήσει ότι λένε βλακείες εκεί που πρότειναν εκείνο το πανάκριβο Γερμανικό κουτάκι media player...
Η απάντηση του NwAvGuy...
The Headfonia review is an interesting read. As I see it, there are five main issues:
1 - Sighted listening bias is huge. I've provided several examples of well run studies that demonstrate how our brains seriously alter what we hear when we know what we're listening to. See my Subjective vs Objective article. Just like with the Benchmark DAC1 that also measures very well, many people hear what they expect to hear--a "clinical" or "lifeless" sound. But it's much easier to give the DAC1 a good review as it's ten times the price and is not as big of threat to other products. And the much higher price people also helps its cause in terms of listening bias. But, in reality, I'll happily challenge Lieven to a public blind listening test between the O2, DAC1 and any of the Violectric amps. I'm confident he will not detect any difference.
2 - Some amps do alter the sound (some would say they're "colored"). That especially includes amps with a higher output impedance, those overloading their op amps, using tubes, single-ended designs, or using a virtual ground--including most Cmoys. Even in a blind test these amps might stand out because they're not sufficiently accurate to begin with.
3 - The concept of "headphone and amp synergy" is flawed in many ways. First of all, most headphone amps are not designed for a specific headphone. They're marketed as being suitable for a wide variety if not most all headphones. Second, even if you follow a reviewer's specific recommendation to pair Amp A with Headphone B that combination only sounded good to THAT REVIEWER USING HIS MUSIC. It's like a wine reviewer saying the Smith 2007 Cabernet goes well with a certain cheese. But with a different cheese he prefers the Wilson 2008 Merlot. The next person might have the opposite opinion. Once you start using headphone amps as non-adjustable equalizers that alter the sound you open up an impossibly subjective can of worms that's more about personal tastes than the product in question. Finally, buying an intentionally "colored" amp to correct for some headphone flaw is very limiting in terms of your ability to listen to other headphones--current or future--with that amplifier. If you buy Lieven's pitch, you might need a different amp for each headphone
4 - Headphone manufacturers don't design their headphones to require "correction" by a colored amplifier. The entire audio signal chain is designed to be as accurate as possible. The recording engineers mixing and mastering the music we listen to strive to use accurate amplifiers like the O2. If you want to hear the music as the artist and headphone manufacturer intended, you want to keep the signal as accurate as possible. Accurate gear is a transparent window to your music, colored gear forces you to listen to your gear.
5 - Follow the money. While reading the Headfonia review you're being bombarded with ads for other headphone amplifiers in the right hand column. Headfonia obviously receives revenue from the very industry they're reviewing. While that's not uncommon it is a conflict of interest. Having worked in the industry I can testify there are some unspoken rules that you either follow or risk negative consequences. Just ask Peter Aczel.
