Superlux HA3D Headphone Amplifier.

[musikmaschine]

The question is about the sound quality, i read it's a tad bright hence a good match for cans with a darker signature but the mids are recessed. Is it a worthwhile purchase as far as inexpensive amps go?

Eh, i can always try for 30 days just wondering if there's anything particularly wrong with it. I've not seen anything else for under 85€ that is capable of driving high impedance headphones with balanced xlr inputs.

[musikmaschine]

I decided to wait and check out a few other options but i'm kinda stuck. I thought the Superlux being £69 it was a no brainer and would be worth alone it for driving a few pairs of less sensitive headphones.

For a little more i could get the Project Headbox or go for something better like a Creek or Rega. I want something that will lift the veil of the HD600s and give them a more analytical sound for sound design and some mixing mixing but mainly listening and referencing/checking mixes with the vrm box. The HA3D actually has the right input to connect the vrm box but most other amps have rca inputs and i could use the balances inputs with a dac.

I've read a few reviews of their heaphones and they generally say they compare to phones costing 3x as much. I'm wondering if the same could be said for their other gear.

[Rolo 46]

Just bought one from Thomann
Its a Sound devices clone .. tut tut.
But very effective and will drive all cans even HD650 v well
I use mine with a Lossless IPod Classic 160 and HD 650s and HD 25s.
Recomended.
Can output 3v ie 34dB gain.

[musikmaschine]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

Just bought one from Thomann
Its a Sound devices clone .. tut tut.
But very effective and will drive all cans even HD650 v well
I use mine with a Lossless IPod Classic 160 and HD 650s and HD 25s.
Recomended.
Can output 3v ie 34dB gain.

Glad to hear it cause i ordered it a couple of days ago!

Yeah i read about the sound devices amp but i didn't see one till after i placed the order, tut tut indeed! I read that Superlux may be the oem brand for bigger companies which would make sense, otherwise how can they get away with such obvious cloning?

I actually have some hd25s as well so that's good to know. I figured with the price being what it is it could good for modding as well and the balanced inputs make it a pretty versatile amp for the money but of course it's all about the sound. On that note what would you say are the biggest differences with amplification?

[Rolo 46]

Compared with the IPod Classic, which barely is able to drive HD650s, the HA3D has bags of gain.
The top is well defined which is helpfull
Midband perhaps a trifle sucked out
Overall, powerful and pleasing
3+ outputs very conveinient for headphone comparisons.
Balanced in, TRS and 3.5mm useful
With a full 160 Gb of Loss-less it makes a wonderful traveling companion.
21 Cent version of a Sony WM DC6.
What mods are you planning?

[musikmaschine]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

Compared with the IPod Classic, which barely is able to drive HD650s, the HA3D has bags of gain.
The top is well defined which is helpfull
Midband perhaps a trifle sucked out
Overall, powerful and pleasing
3+ outputs very conveinient for headphone comparisons.
Balanced in, TRS and 3.5mm useful
With a full 160 Gb of Loss-less it makes a wonderful traveling companion.
21 Cent version of a Sony WM DC6.
What mods are you planning?

Cool. So any good for studio use you think? Probably too much to ask for a £70 amp but i can use to connect different headphones to my internal soundcard without having to crawl under the desk!

I read about the recessed mids so if it's too bad for more critical use i'll look at replacing the caps or opamps but apparently it's not easy. Can always appy an eq anyway. It's my first foray into amps so i think it's a good place to start. I read it sounds better with a dac so that will probably be the next purchase once i have a soldering iron.

Everyone seems to be modding everything these days so seems silly not to get involved.

[Rolo 46]

I could eq on the classic but wont
Nothing is perfect

[musikmaschine]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

I could eq on the classic but wont
Nothing is perfect

True. if it's not neutral i'll use it just for driving low output sources and for enjoying music. There's a few other low end options i'm looking at anyway, there's the UK version of the Objective2: Epiphany Acoustics | World class headphone amplifiers made in England

And the matrix m-stage and and bossfet v2.1, all around £180 so a few good options it seems sub £200. Thanks for replying anyway, i'm sure i will get some good use out of it.

[Rolo 46]

Rechargeables are a pain in the arse
What gain
1 and 2.5 X what does that mean?
Toytown imho.
The HA3D gives 33dB ,thats gain.

[musikmaschine]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

Rechargeables are a pain in the arse
What gain
1 and 2.5 X what does that mean?
Toytown imho.
The HA3D gives 33dB ,thats gain.

I normally just charge four and swap them when the others run out. I only have one adapter that fits anyway so the batts have been really useful. Haven't looked at the specs of the others but what headphones would require 33db of gain?!

Not sure what 1x and 2.5x means but you can read more about the original design etc here NwAvGuy: O2 Details

Rival a benchmark DAC??? Ok this warrants further investigation!

Got the Superlux today anyway and it's smaller than i thought so more portable than i realized. Great little amp for smartphones or ipods, tablets etc. From initial listening the HD600s have greater resolution and spatial imaging. I can hear how they've been struggling with the insufficient impedance, they really seem to have come alive. If this is what a £70 amp can do i'd love to hear them with a high end DAC.

[Rolo 46]

Try an Apogee Duet I or II
33dB means you can drive HD650 from any line source ,pro or consumer
30 pin line out on a IPod/pad is a revelation imho

[musikmaschine]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

Try an Apogee Duet I or II
33dB means you can drive HD650 from any line source ,pro or consumer
30 pin line out on a IPod/pad is a revelation imho

I guess it's got headroom the drive anything and higher impedance can as well, didn't consider that. I've tried a few sources and i can go about as high as 10 o'clock before it starts to get uncomfortable listening.

Just amping the HD600s with any source has been a bit of a revelation. Like going from a grey cloudy day to clear blue skies with the sun shining high in the sky, not a cloud in sight. To me everything sounds better, the bass mids and highs but most noticeably the low end has greater definition. Overall greater clarity and resolution.

A great little amp. I've tried the HD600s with a few different sources and nothing has cut through the veil like the HA3D has. Apparently it's no sound devices so i'd like to hear the senns with better amplification but i'm happy with this and don't feel it's lacking in any major way.

[huub]

I bought it because it was so cheap and I figured I could use it in broadcast vans because the headphone amps on big digital desks usually aren't very good.
It has lots of power but does not sound very good. My HD600 sounds wooly powered by the HA3D and the three headphone outputs do not sound the same. Output 1 is very wooly and the other two outputs seem okay, until you compare them to other headphone amps, then they sound wooly too.
So no good.

[AudioHipster]

Here at Audiohipster studios we use two of these feeding off our Amek desk, and all six channels are quiet with plenty of clean transparent gain, we use power supplies for them. Had Behringer at first total garbage... thru them in the trash. We sent one HA3D to Steve Rothermel designer of the Sason Speaker, to review, he took it apart and sent pic's let me know i can post... he liked the clean uncolored good upper transients and like them enough to not send it back. but uses one to compare headsets with transparent uncolored nakedness ease. Some talk about Sound Devices we know they use world parts for assembly, and we have been trying to get the field mixers from Superlux, but they will not release these yet to the US market, so their has to be a reason for this. verbatim to SD BTW... so no surprise lot of good companies use components from quality suppliers such as Superlux and many others... and most of these Asian companies have top engineers, that are leading and designing some the best components and products... Mipro is one of these...they have best wireless engineers, dedicated leading the world market... so the question is Who's Cloning Who... :~) Cheers Doyen