Headroom Standard Headphone Amp

@Jamey Warren wtf you feed this thing?



Please note this is the prototype and everything will be professionally etched and look nice on the production model.

 

That is an @ohhgourami modded HE-6 not an HD650.

 

Oh haha trying to get rid of it hope to have it gone by this weekend.

 

Sorry I have been pretty busy as of late with work. I will get something written up by Sunday regarding the Headroom Standard.

Thanks

Nicholas

 

Alright sorry for the delay with this been super busy getting everything set up. Of course want to thank @Jamey Warren for giving me the opportunity to listen to the Headroom Standard.

For this review I used the Hifiman HE-6 (@ohhgourami modded) which surprisingly had better synergy in my opinion with this amp than the MrSpeakers Ether. I felt with the slightly bigger sound stage and cleaner sound it was a good pairing.

Please keep in mind I am a noob when it comes to stuff like this so please bear with me while reading. My recommendation as always is listen for yourself and then make a decision. I know right now Headroom is running a wonderful promotion which you can find at https://www.headphone.com/products/headroom-standard-headphone-amp giving folks a $100 discount for pre-ordering.

Build Quality/Looks/Etc: The look of this thing I like the brushed black metal is very clean and the unit is lightweight. Looks sleek and since it's lightweight you might think it's a great portable amp but since it powers on with a wall wart unfortunately that is just not the case. The switches work as they should and the volume pot has a nice simple grip that feels nice when turning.

Bass: I love bass as many of you know but I also enjoy clean bass. I felt on @ohhgourami Krell that the bass is very deep and hits very low. With the Standard the bass hits clean but not as low as say the Krell or even the Schiit Ragnarok. It's not that the bass is light but I feel it's less full and has less impact with the than the other amps I mentioned. Why do I mention these other amps? It's because as you know the HE-6 is a power hungry monster and while reviewing I like to compare the other amps that really do well with the HE-6.

Soundstage: While using the Ether I felt that in many cases the music was a bit too close together at times and it didn't work well with the Standard. However, with the HE-6 which has a slightly more expansive soundstage than the Ether I felt it really started to show it's chops allowing the mids to really take on more life. The instruments were very well separated and the vocals came in clean and clear.

Details/Separation: The Standard though I felt was musical at times lacked the details you would find in other amp pairings. The instrument separation was good but sometimes the layering and detailing of the lower level mids and upper level highs were an issue. It's not smeared just slightly rolled.

Treble: I felt that the treble was slightly rolled with little to no bite. For treble hounds this might be better or worse depending on how you prefer to listen to music.

Mids: The mids specifically vocals is where I felt the Standard really shines as at times that is what the amp seems to focus. Yes the instruments are separated but most of the times the vocals are what really shines above the instrumentals. I felt like the vocals are places slightly ahead of the instruments.

Conclusion: I feel at times it's very difficult for me to analyze gear as I am coming from a BHSE + 007 and am not too familiar with amps priced in the Standards price range. Overall though I felt it was a decent amp with the HE-6 in this price range. Pairing an HE-6 can be very difficult or any other headphone but I do believe in synergy and think there is a synergy between the HE-6 and the Standard. The HD800 also paired well with the Headroom Standard but not at the level of say the Eddie Current Zana Deux Super. At $299 or even $399 this puts this little amp in an interesting predicament as you have many other competitors. Everyone's audio journey is different and if you are just starting out or are constricted space wise than the Headroom Standard is a great entry to mid level amp.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope this helps.

 

I wouldn't say the Standard can hold its own against those amps. You have to think about what do you get between this amp and the others I mentioned. You are getting a very small piece. If given the choice would I choose the Standard against those amps? No. However, if I was limited by a very tight budget the headroom standard would probably be my choice. Especially for the pre order price of $300.