RHA DAC/AMP L1

2.2 output impedance looks yummy for the Andros. But mini 4-pin XLR, seriously?! 3-gain settings is pretty nice, as long as the hiss is tolerable. Loaner candidate perhaps? I'd be interested since I just got my Andros a few days ago.

 

+1 for Mini XLR
-1 for that web design, jesus.

 

Only a short listen at a show, sadly. Nothing immediately jumped out at me- but I only had my old faithful SE535/spinfits plugged in, which are pretty forgiving but not very isolating as a combo. I was trying to hear DAC nasties, but I suspect that the environment wasn't ideal for it. I guess the fact that I didn't claw it out of my ears right away at least shows that it wasn't the worst of the Sabre worst.

Build quality was pretty on-point, it was sort of Aliens meets Mechano industrial chic, lots of metal and physical controls.. A large-ish unit- longer than a Mojo. probably similar thickness to an uncased one. Possibly too much of a pocket sandwich for some folks- pretty much the size of a DAP on its own. The I/O options were pretty attractive, though.

I did try to ask the RHA guy how well it filtered the USB, especially with respect to noise from phones when banded together (which he said was their expected use case), but he wasn't at all sure.

I'd love to spend more time listening to one in proper surroundings, or failing that, having you guys put one through the ringer properly. It has a lot of potential, but the DAC choice had me wondering.

 

I heard the RHA at the Indulgence show in London as I searched for a good portable solution for my Andromedas. I gave my impressions here.

The RHA was flat and boring, with not much dynamics and a treble that was at times too sharp and strident but not as bad as the Pioneer XDP-300R / 100-R or Onkyo DP-X1. I left the tone controls off and drove the Andros in single mode. Compared to the QP1R, it also lacked impact and heft, had a 2Dish soundstage and lacked some detail.

 

Pretty much a crapshoot asking a sales/promo rep a question like that. Best case scenario, they'll say they don't know. Only goes downhill from there, unfortunately...

 

Worth a punt. Sometimes you come across actual engineers on the stand, with a small company. Having had to babysit stands occasionally at industry expos, I know them feels. The flipside is that I remember how weird the questions can get- even on distinctly non-consumer technology projects.

I do agree, though, the chances are vanishingly small at an event like that. However, RHA were friendly, helpful and had lots of kit to play with, so it doesn't hurt to make polite conversation while you're scooping pockets full of their silicon tips to use with other peoples' headphones

 

I ordered this on Friday. Not sure when I'll get it, I'll keep you guys posted.

Anyone know what frequencies are boosted for the bass and treble? Would love to know. My fellow basshead friend is still waiting on an answer from them. It's been a week, maybe longer, and he has no answer.

 

Totally forget about it and it arrived today. Took a quick listen, sounds good. Charging it up now. I'll report back later. Love the tone controls on the device and its very well built.

 

I'm enjoying the searing insight of "Brooko" on HF, who once threatened me with all sorts of moderation hell for suggesting that low-end Violectric SS amps were too gutless to properly drive the HD650:

He truly brings a piercing, well-informed intellect to the tricky business of evaluating free stuff!

 

I always thought Brooko was a cool dude. He was even siding with a Head-Fier regarding the lack of testing and measurements regarding the Chord Poly. I'm surprised he threatened you like that.

Anyway, back to the Dacamp L1. I haven't mentioned much about it because I haven't had much free time lately. Been incredibly busy. I haven't even tried the dac section yet, I'm hoping Monday I'll be able to. As an amp, it seems decent enough. Definitely need to spend more time with it.

 

Too many new toys at once to fit into what free time you have? Hell, you still have a pretty new gold brick, I think.. surprised you even picked this one up- isn't your portable audio pretty sorted now?

I did like the build quality, but obviously would have needed more time and less noise to come to a conclusion. It could get annoying to need so many different balanced formats, too...

 

Lol. Yes, a few too many toys at once. I completely agree with your last statement. All these connections are driving me mad for sure. I now need 3 different Jack's for balanced. 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm. Very frustrating. I've purchased 4 or 5 different "adapters" to go from 2.5 to 3.5 and not one has worked. I don't know Wtf the problem is. I contacted the guy that made the 2.5mm cable and he is making me an adapter...but I still need a 4.4mm.

 

This might help:

https://www.surfcables.com/products...s-for-nw-wm1z-nw-wm1a-etc?variant=32848530819

 

Sometimes I wonder how on earth these so called reviewers don't hear the piercing sharp Sabre treble. I may have got accustomed to Yggdrasil's R2R sound as it always pops up whenever I move to Sabre land.

 

The same way that people can insist that the HE-400i is clearly superior to the HD650 on anything but really crappy gear- by not actually listening and thinking; there's a lot of it about.

You'd love Brooko's review of the HD800S, too.

 

Only had experience with the DACAMP L1 with their own CL1 and CL750, and both are naturally hot and sibilant earphones, so hard to say anything about them.

Build quality is not bad.

My main pet peeve is that the USB input from AAPL Lightning is variable input. I prefer the kind that retrieves the digital input without going through the iPhone digital volume control layer.