Neurochrome HP-1

There's that *ping* sound followed by a *tick*tick*tick* sound a few feet away, then generally followed by some expletives...

 

If I pay attention to the *tick*tick*tick* I can generally find the part. My old place had carpet with about 10-15 mm pile. I've fished many components out of that after they tried to escape. Current place has hardwood. That requires a flashlight to find parts sometimes. It's usually not a big deal.

 

My current workspace has a rug with a chairmat on top. When I drop stuff I get about two ticks and then usually it's right on the edge which is helpful. Unless I roll my chair and hear a *crunch*...

 

Spoiler

"Just because the Jotunheim came and wrecked shop with the 650 doesn't mean I should have been so harsh on my Cayin. They sounded so similar yet the jot was slightly cleaner in background. The Cayin was a little more layered and deep but still bright like the Joti albeit slightly less hard in the treble. Well Cayin, you are earning your place again after taking a beating from the Jotunheim. You are not so bad after all. I quickly forgot how good you were.... sigh..... Out of context for this thread? Nah.

 

Okay well here it goes..

Neurochrome HP-1 vs Cayin iHA-6

BASS:
I think the bass has decent control over the 6XX driver. It has a punchy kind of sound to it. It got my toe tapping fairly easy. I initially thought it was more punchy down low than the Cayin but song after song after song had them about a tie. The Cayin iHA-6 bass is just a little tighter. I noticed this when listening to Jonathan McReynolds - 'Limp'. The HP-1 played the stomps and kick drums with a fatter sound than the 6 and the 6 played it tighter with better focus.

MIDRANGE:
The HP-1 is evenly balanced but sounds a little more warm in the lower midrange compared to the Cayin but the Cayin has better air and harmonics. The fundamentals of vocals and the balance of the HP-1 sounds decent but more congealed and flat as if they are missing a bit of realism. They sound like a recording and most usually the Cayin iHA6 is being compared to my Trafomatic Head 2 here and it loses in that department. The iHA-6 is pretty good technically but it is the embodiment of what a solid state amplifier sounds like to me and what Stereophile neutral sounds like so I expected the HP-1 to have more realism. Judging by tone alone, pianos, xylophones, and vocals sound a little more earthy and round but it's missing depth and air to me. In comparison the mids sound more dry on the Cayin but pop out with more realism and even better control and resolution. The decay of most voices I heard was a little cut short it seemed sometimes. The Cayin was faster but reverb trails, echos, and decays lingered in the air with more distinction.

On my favorite song for testing is Fleet Foxes - 'The Shrine/ Argument' the chorus come in with harmonies and there I noticed how in comparison to the Cayin the reverb layers blended together and the separation of those layers were blurred whereas the Cayin resolved those layers better and made the voices decline into the background with more realism.

I guess saying the 'hear through' factor is absent for me sums it up and voices really need that to sound convincing.

TREBLE:
I found both of these amplifiers to do treble the same in regards to quality. That is: not hard, bold, or sharply etched but about the same in quantity as the Cayin. The Cayin seems brighter but that is because of the upper midrange, lower treble, and upper treble. The middle treble sounds similar to me on both amplifiers. Analog sounding treble that is solid and tangible both is what both of these miss.

OVERALL BALANCE:
The earthy and colorfully natural timbre of the midrange sounds like it has a weird spot somewhere in the lower or middle mids that may be an accentuation but honestly I can't really fault the balance of the amplifier. It's balance is pretty even otherwise.

SOUNDSTAGE:
This is an area I feel the HP-1 suffers in. It has less depth than my Cayin but about the same width. The Cayin has lost to all amplifiers I have heard at its price or above except for being a little wider/ or equal in width to the Pro but the Pro has much better depth.

TRANSPARENCY/CLEANLINESS/BLACKGROUND:
I think the HP-1 does pretty good here. I could 'hear through' easier on my Cayin but I can't definitively say which is clearer. I am close to saying the HP-1 sounds cleaner by just a little bit.

DYNAMICS/TRANSIENTS/RESOLUTION:
I want to just combine the rest. I think that it has an upfront and direct sound but I am not getting this 'aggression' people are talking about. Not at all. Actually the Cayin seems a little more aggressive. The Cayin is faster and the transients seem more spritely but they as a brand tune for that kind of thing. The HP-1 does decent with the attacks. The resolution is fair but the Cayin resolves a bit better. Microdynamics are better on the Cayin as well.

BUILD:
Let me pause for a second.

Man....to be honest. I am depressed sharing these impressions because I want a few things. I want an upstanding man with the balls to defend his gear on a forum with people being rude to him to succeed after all of the garbage he put up with. I want to see more manufacturers show good and solid data and stand by it when the put a product out. I'd like to see more bang for buck out there because it's getting deep in the market. However, I can't be dishonest and gloss over the issues I have with this particular piece of gear.

I cannot assess the durability because this is only a week loaner. After all of the hands it has been through the amp still looks new but I would not stack anything heavy on it because the chassis bends in at the push of a finger. The knob is nowhere near close to as nice as the Cayin which is only 999. It doesn't turn with the resistance and smoothness something of this price should. It looks like DIY and feels it.

VERDICT

The amp sounds like it can measure good. I mean it's relatively clear and is not grainy but until someone throws up measurements of soundstage, microdynamics, depth, layering, 'hear through factor' and that special instant connection factor, measurements can only show so much. You have to.... HAVE to combine lots of subjectivity. 100% subjectivity (all you can say you prefer) and 100% objectivity(all you can reasonably exploit in regards to testing) not 50/50.

This amp based on the Cayin iHA6 being on the market and Jotunheim a lone is very overpriced at 1299. The only aspects it has that peak its head into that tier of the market is control, and low distortion. The Cayin sits in its spot with a little shakiness like it just won easily but knows it's spot is not there forever.

 

I suppose the pricepoint makes more sense if you purchase the PCB and DIY, so it becomes cheaper, and building it pays off as a side project as well. The completed amp is priced high arguably so less people ask Tom to build it.

 

Thanks for the write-up. I appreciate it. It's always good to hear people's impressions.

I agree that the chassis is a limiting factor as far as the overall experience goes. I can deliver precision electronics. I now need to back it up with a precision enclosure. Gimme time. I'll get there. Of course, that then opens up a whole new Costco-sized can of worms in terms of branding and how to differentiate between DIY and fully assembled. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Tom

 

I will admit that there is an element of that in my pricing for sure. There's a lot of psychology in pricing as well.

Tom

 

One review, two dick growth events. Impressive.

 

Guess that's why the new chassis is blue. All that's left is to have it be in a diamond shape.

 

My comment was supposed to evoke the blue diamond pill actually... Boost for the el dongerino.

Eyecandy wise: I quite like the classically good looks of the Yamaha S3000, but that's an integrated that happens to have headphone out, not headphone amp.

 

Ooooooohhhhh... that makes more sense. I thought you were talking about something like this...

Spoiler

https://www.amazon.com/Mini-inch-Blue-Butt-LifeStyles/dp/B00K3WFMBC

No judgement man. To each their own.

 

Just rotate it 45º on the shelf... See! I'm an engineer. I solve problems.

That's a bit much for me. I do understand that big and heavy sells, but the engineer in me is squirming in his seat. And not from excitement or that ... um ... "lifestyle product" Armaegis pointed out.

Yep. Wood can be really nice if done right.

That's more my style. Skip the fins on the side unless necessary for technical reasons.

I thought those were vacuum tubes...

Long term, I would like to offer cool-looking amps like that at those prices. I wouldn't have to sell very many each month to make that completely worth the effort.

It's funny with the pushback against the blue as it came about from pushback against the black. One option would be to just offer a few choices. Blue, black, red, maybe grey. See what sells.

It's good to know that at least the HP-1 sounds good and is generally liked. That's the important thing here. I can provide it with a new wardrobe later. Thank you for your review. I really appreciate it.

Tom

 

To each his own as far as eye candy goes. But @ultrabike , holy shit, that first Audio Technica thing would look right at home on a shelf in 1987 with a "Technics" ensignia on the upper right.

I like simple and clean. Thomas Mayer builds some of the most visually appealing amps (to me) out there. I also love the look of DSHA amps by @dsavitsk such as the two he brought to the LA meet.

 

Magnificent amp there. Also the AT amp he mentioned, while pretty, sounds like total ass.