Little Dot Mk1+

So this buddy arrived recently at home, to be honest it is my first amp using tubes, that's an hybrid amp and I can't say whether I see a very big difference with my Lake People G109 yet. I noticed some warmth that I was not able to hear before so I guess the coloration "happens".
However, I am curious to know whether some dudes in and there have purchased and tested one.

Testing setup :
- DAC Fostex HPA4
- Headphones : HD650

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/little-dot-i-headphone-amp

 

I wanted to give a little feedback after 1 week and a half of use. I tested this amp with several headphones :

• HD650 mainly
• NAD VISO HP50
• HE400i

My other amplifier is the Lake People G109. I don't know how good it is to compare an hybrid to a solid state one. At least I can give my impressions and feelings but feel free to rocket my comments if you see any sensitive point.

So, mister Little Dot 1+ was sold as a very good price/performance deal. I got to say that for 100€/$ (yeah because we shipping it is almost the same thing in the end) this buddy performs not bad. But to be honest I didn't felt that "tube" feeling I already got with other good tube amps. Currently, I am happy seeing two bulbs on my desktop configuration but I don't think they bring much to the amp to be honest. Like, it is hard for me saying that but it is true.
On the other hand, I noticed that the electric isolation is not very well done. I got this little ripple from our 50Hz (I took the 220V version though) and this sucks... I don't have such a problem with the Lake People amp. This may be due to my electrical circuit but I expected this amplifier dealing with it as my another amp does. I don't know.

Regarding the sound, there is a clear lack of trebles (maybe the upper part). So depending on the headphones you may or may not notice it. Strangely, I felt not much differences with the HD650 whereas the HP50 clearly pointed out this lack. The HE400i is bass oriented so it was fine but still the bass definition was muddier, and for an ortho, this sucks...

To sum up : I think the Little Dot 1+ was meant to show up bulbs on a desktop but there is a clear lake of definition. It rounds corners (bad for lows and bad for trebles). I am a little bit too harsh with this buddy though. I may edit this content later.

 

Thank you for your answer, I'll have a look then .