Icon Audio HP8 MKII

OK, I have been listening to an HP8 Mk.2 for a while- factory fitted with Jensen caps, and running the stock David Shaw CV181 brown-based tubes.

I acquired the unit used for a very nice price, in a partial trade for some headphones- which was incredibly lucky. Both parties got what they wanted, which is good karma. I had been considering ordering a brand new HP8, so timing couldn't have been much better. I seem to have a unit which is a couple of years old, but not heavily used- so somewhere between "needs breaking in" and "knackered", which is convenient.

I have been feeding it from a Modi Multibit, or more accurately via the pre-outs of my Jotunheim, which sounds pretty much identical. This is for Reasons, mostly because I have three amps on my desktop at the moment, and I've been having a thoroughly interesting time trying combinations of amp and headphones. Anyway, I did try feeding it directly from the back of the DAC too- with no perceptible differences in sound quality, I just mention that for the sake of completeness,

First up, physically, this is a very solid unit. It's compact, relatively narrow but tall- the transformer housing on the back and the CV181s stick up. Otherwise, it's built like a tank- and weighs about 6kg. RCA connectors are tight, the volume pot is silky with just the right amount of resistance. The front panel OI knob has nice positive detents. The LED is less blinding that I feared it was going to be, so I haven't stuck any ND filter on it, but I should point out that it's a surprising pinky-magenta colour, which is.. interesting. Weird lighting aside, the build gives the impression of solidity and quality.

Now onto the important bit- how does it sound?

Generally, I'd characterise the sound as smooth but detailed. It doesn't slam as hard as some other amps, so it doesn't beat you about the face with attacks. However, there's absolutely shedloads of inner detail and texture- lots of of tracks where I used to assume notes were just tones turn out to have nice inner texture (microdynamics possibly, in local parlance?). Sounds like strings or slightly fuzzed electric bass really come to life, and also tiny tonal differences like slight frequency bends in acoustic bass come over very well. In general, to my ear, it's a fairly natural timbre.

Frequency extension is hard to pin down. Bass is definitely less forward than (for example) on the NBM, however, it's certainly still there, and sounds pleasant and reasonably controlled. It's not as snappy as on a ballsy solid-state amp, but very enjoyable. On my HE-560, which are lean and airy, but go down a respectably long way, this amp is sometimes surprising. The high end is clear and not too rolled-off, but also has a very pleasant, easy "sparkling" quality to it, that means you can hear a lot of what's going on but without fatigue. It sounds like the voicing of the amp is very deliberate- to get a very specific sound, rather than an accident of design, if that makes sense. I'd call the sound "enjoyable", it's quite revealing, but always errs on the side of being pleasant and non-fatiguing. It sounds a bit classically "tubey" and warm, but not excessively so and not at the expense of clarity.

Sound stage isn't unusually wide, it's "normal" , but has decent depth. It's not freakishly wide or narrow, nor is it like a plane of sound intersecting your skull like the Jotunheim. Essentially, the amp doesn't seem to hamper the staging, so it's more a product of your headphones and recording. Listening to full orchestras is a rewarding experience, I caught myself closing my eyes to soak it all in on occasion.

Now some notes on specific headphone pairings- sadly limited to what I have available, so no Utopia, sorry.

Stock HD650:

Let's get this one out of the way, as it's the most obvious. Stock 650 sounds perfectly acceptable out of this amp. However, the amp isn't bright, or as upfront as something like the Jotunheim, so it doesn't really bulldoze its way through the veil. Everything does sound a bit subdued and dark, though not in an unpleasant way. The stock 650's bloomy bass combined with this amp's slightly diffident low-end is a bit underwhelming. It's easy listening, but probably not doing either amp or headphones any favours as a pairing, they're both capable of better.

Modified HD650:

My modified 650 have the dynamat laid out as per @zonto's pictures, plus coin mod. I fixed a tiny bit of fine nylon mesh over the hole in the driver to dial the bass down a bit, as it was swamping other frequencies, out of all my amps. They sound slightly more bassy than stock still, but much snappier in the low end and less veiled up high.

This is a decent combo through the HP8, easy to listen to, and reasonably detailed. Some nice texture. The tuning of the 650, which avoids the upper-mid suckout of some other cans, really shines. It's all as you'd expect, really- the mid-fi champion headphone on steroids scales obligingly. I could quite easily listen to this combo indefinitely, as it's completely inoffensive, but with enough excitement to prevent boredom. Bass is a little more aggressive than I'd expect. While the mod makes it more snappy, it's not super-fast, as we're talking HD650 out of a tube amp. It's a sound that I really enjoy, but people who can only listen to Playnar Bass(tm) may not be satisfied.

Highs aren't too shouty and piercing, they're still there, and cut through the mix, even on layered rock (Radiohead, Kashmir, Pink Floyd etc.). The lack of upper-mid suckout makes the almost nervous sound of fast bowing on violins come through beautifully.

My go to classical test pieces* sounded great- no glaring problems anywhere. "Jupiter" is my go-to soundstage test. While it didn't sound as gloriously gigantic as it does through a pair of Stax, it was wide enough, and had great depth and some good height. Maybe the location was a touch fuzzy, but not in a way that was irritating or tiring.

All in all, a nice combination. The HP8 possibly doesn't have the raw speed and power of something like a Jotunheim, to dominate the crap out of the drivers, but it has a lot more finesse. It won't blow anyone's socks off, but there's a lot to like.

HE-560:

The HE-560 are a sort of middling-to-drive planar, and I didn't really know what to expect. I'm never quite sure about how much current you can expect out of an amp like this.

HE-560 are tuned to be a bit sparse, avoiding the mid-bass hump of the HE-400i, but seemingly rolling off less when they go lower. They have a bit less grain in the higher frequencies, but some people find them a bit piercing and shouty. I personally really enjoy them, even balanced out of a Jot, so perhaps I'm weird. Being playnarz, they're very fast indeed.

These were a pleasant surprise out of the HP-8. They sound a touch warmer, smoother and more civilised than out of a solid state amp, but their speed and decent low end extension seems to compliment the amp nicely. Low frequency growls from the string section in particular were a bit of a revelation. Obviously, the tuning isn't going to survive the Bruckner test terribly well, but this is true of almost all headphones.

The HP8 doesn't change the characteristics of the HE-560, it's still relatively neutral, but seems to civilise everything a bit. It takes the edge off. The slightly steely timbre of the Jotunheim combined with the the slightly plastic timbre of the HE-560 occasionally brought me up short, but this is much less of an issue through the HP8. Everything sounds a lot more natural. It's not a super-dark or syrupy amp though, it's well-designed, so the overall tonal balance is largely unharmed.

Sound stage is a touch narrow, but that's not unexpected for these headphones. I don't expect the amp to work miracles. However, it's not unpleasant to listen to. I suspect that some fatter angled pads would yield an improvement over the stock ones that I am using. It's not really the amp's job to fix this. Bass was surprisingly directional and focussed in some orchestral recordings, though- impressively so.

The fast drivers, and the HP8's love of texture is a killer combination. It pulls out an unusual level of detail across the frequency range, and the almost laxative low bass rumble of an orchestra sounds effortless. These headphones have never sounded so good. I was even able to listen to "Nevermind" without needing to reach for the paracetamol- and could enjoy snarl and roar that I'd never heard before. The speed and snappy sub bass gives the impression of a touch more slam, and the highs cut through with surprising delicacy without being piercing.

An unexpectedly good pairing- given how situational or recording-specific these headphones normally are for me.

HD800:

Sennheiser's legendary but flawed facetweeters. We all know these- tons of detail, fearlessly dynamic, large sound stage, nearly neutral (apart from an upper-mid suckout) that isn't quite exciting enough for some people. Prone to sounding bright, and burdened with one massive flaw- an ugly 6kHz spike (possibly caused by a weird resonance in the capsules?).

These headphones are a real test. People are always looking for amps to make them sound less like a dental drill. How does the HP8 manage? In short, it passes with flying colours.

This amp tames a lot of the harshness without stripping the detail. The relatively polite bass tuning of both amp and headphones doesn't seem to result in an eviscerated listen, either. Fine, delicate details shine through, microdynamics all over the place. My standard "harshness" test track ("Getting away with it (all messed up)" by James) doesn't hurt my head. The highs don't pierce, the vocals don't grate, and the bass guitar sounds lovely and chewy.

My usual bass test tracks are interesting. Massive Attack's "Angel" sounds tight and tough. The Orb's "Towers Of Dub" (album mix, from the original non-remastered edition) is terrifyingly crisp, though the bass sounds incongruously dialled back. This is not a pairing for dubby basslines, which sound better with a big bloomy low end, rather than a painfully pert and controlled one. I'd probably be reaching for at least the HD650M, if not another amp, if I wanted to approximate the rumble and fuzzy swagger of a soundsystem. However, that's more a peculiarity of that style of music than a criticism of the amp or headphones.

The bass isn't lacking per se, though; classic live jungle era recordings sound absolutely banging. "The Dreamer" from "AWOL live" sounds great- the only things missing are the tingling skin and uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. Add those, and retired junglists would be having major flashbacks. Jungle bass was more about frequency, big detuned FM square waves reaching for the brown note. That fares surprisingly well with this pairing. It's maybe a kinder, gentler version for ageing DnBheads, but it sounds really good.

The elephant in the room is that 6kHz spike. I'm honestly on the fence about whether it's a problem through the HP8. Even stuff that can be a little piercing, like songs from "Under The Pink" by Tori Amos, aren't too painful- and the little details sound amazing. I'm inclined to say that the mod is not mandatory, except for people who are very treble-sensitive. Long term listening may be required to decide- sometimes you just get sensitised to things like that over time.

Generally, I would describe the stock HD800 and the HP8 Mk.2 as an absolutely fantastic pairing. Smooth, detailed, airy, decent sound stage. Tubes doing what they do best. I was secretly hoping that this would be the case, but didn't want to assume anything.


Overall, I'm really happy with this amp. It has a really smooth, detailed, effortless sound. While it doesn't have the most slam, it's voiced to sound clean and musical, rather than to be a wild thrill ride. It grows on you. The initial impression of smoothness and lots of texture persists, but I'm really enjoying its effortless way with little details too. The pairing with the HD800 is graceful and apparently painless without sacrificing resolution; no mean feat. While it's smooth, it doesn't get so syrupy that you can't hear anything.

There aren't a lot of good non-hybrid choices around that sort of price point (for UKers) that will drive the HD800 without sounding harsh, or throwing away too many of the technicalities. While it's doubtless outclassed by high end boutique amps, it's a hell of a nice sound- even for the RRP. The build quality feels rock-solid too.

You also don't have to wait a year for it to be built- something that isn't always an option.

I'd take the HP8 over am NBM in a heartbeat for the HD800. The NBM sounds remarkable for the price, but the more laid-back and textured sound of the HP8 really does make for an enjoyable listen. The staging on the HP8 is bigger- the NBM sounds more narrow and slightly more "distant", in front of the listener- like sitting a few rows back. The HP8's sound is bigger, more enveloping. I'm hearing more detail consistently, too. I don't think this is just down to its taming of brighter headphones, as I'm getting similar results from my HD650M.

Downsides? The polite bass can be an issue with slow headphones and loud layered rock. The NBM's slightly bloomy but more forward bass can be more enjoyable in some tracks in the HD650M. However, in those cases, I'd probably just be plugging the 650M into the Jotunheim anyway. It drives them balanced with plenty of brute force and speed, which is what it's for.

The biggest downside of the HP8? It's making me want a better DAC, to see how much deeper I can dig. Used 220v Gumbies don't come up very often.


* "Jupiter" from the Adrian Boult/London Phil recording of The Planets and the final movement of Günter Wand/NDR symphony orchestra's recording of Brucker's 5th

 

Glad that someone was (finally) was able to provide a write-up on this, @Kattefjaes. About time! Even better that it's actually a useful one.

 

Aww, shucks, thanks. The amp more or less fell into my lap at the perfect moment- what else was I to do?

(Though I blame any shockers in the writing on having a stinking cold and thus being drugged up to the eyeballs. I wasn't super-confident about writing it in the first place, anyway..)

 

to answer dear Mr. @Kattefjaes, MingDa/Meixing makes oem stuff in China for Icon Audio, they upgrade/tinker/design in UK, just letting you know. I did not say that their stuff is bad.

 

I've had my Icon HP8 for just under 2 weeks or less with David Shaw printed tubes and upgraded caps.

Good points)

Sexy as hell
Slightly better resolution than the Vali 2 with better staging
Slightly warm and lush



Bad points)

Way overpriced for what you get
Cheap Chinese parts for the price and not made in the UK.
The amp is just a rebadge and slightly modified version of one of the Ming Da amps so they can make extra..
Not as liquid, smooth and resolving as my friends Elise I loaned.

The overall tone is pleasing, slightly peaky upper mids, less laid back than the Vali 2. Good air and extension on the treble and fairly nice tone to voices. Nicely textured throughout with excellent bass extension but lacking in mid bass, impact to give the bass weight.

While the treble isn't harsh I feel the mids come across as slightly dry.

Compared to the Elise I hear the Elise as more detailed, airy, spacious and more natural. The Elise sounds more engaging, lush and seductive while not being overly lush and gooey. Bass extension is give it to the Icon but impact the Elise is more dynamic and punchy.

I think anyone considering the Icon should either go the Ming Da route or simply grab yourself an Elise.

My comments prob seem negative but that's mainly because the performance isn't close to being worth the price. If say it should be priced closer to the Lyr2. I thonl at tje £400 parl ots a really solid amp but at £800 plus for tje upgraded caps no bloody way.

I used them with my HD800 and 650 with Modi Multibit.

 

Seems like Icon Audio have risen the price of the HP8. Standard version cost £849, jensen cap upgrade now cost £995.95.

At those price point it is way too overpriced & can't really recommend them. I wonder why the uk is badly represented on otl headphone amps.

 

I think paying £200 and a pair of HE-400i for mine was a more than reasonable deal, then.

That price really does put it head to head with the Mjolnir 2, though, which is interesting. The Mjo2 with decent tubes gives a good account of itself- though a very different sound (wide, shallow, bags of slam).

Also, "While the treble isn't harsh I feel the mids come across as slightly dry." - WTAF? That doesn't sound at all right. My HP8 may be many things, but dry sure as hell isn't one of them. If anything, it might be a bit too polite and lush for some people- certainly not dry. My NBM was a lot closer to dry (though still quite far from actually being dry) when they were side by side.

(Chain- Gungnir Multibit Gen 5, HP8mk2 w/Jensen caps, HD650M/HD800M, rather than any dodgy HFM or AQ tat. My poor old HE-560 will always sound strange on anything, though they're great for gaming. They sound better on this amp than they should though- slightly EQed, I actually enjoyed them. That's my guilty secret.)

I did have a bit of a (probably power) buzz on it at one point, but Icon re-capped it for me nice and quickly, and did some general housekeeping and wire re-routing, and it came back sounding great.