Neurochrome HP-1

Ok, so now that I've had some time and the new toy syndrome has worn off... lemme take some grit to my original shine. We had a recent meetup and I got to run it through (albeit briefly) with a bunch more headphones like the HD800, HE-1000v2, Ether-C, Utopia...

- it's very clean and precise
- I don't think I've ever heard my HD650 this "clear" before
- enough grunt for most planars except the HE-6
- maybe best on low gain (too close to tell)
- speed seems to be the name of the game

But...
- there's nothing that I can actually pick on, but for the same fuzzy reasons that the O2 leaves me hanging, to a lesser degree here I yearn for something more



Utopia: there's an upper register ripple in the Utopia that gets accentuated here, but there's a great speed that is brought out by this amp

Ether-C-flow: I wasn't too crazy about the Fleather-C, but it was more tolerable on this amp than others at the meet. Most notably it felt like the decays were faster

HE-6: I was surprised here at what it could do, though you can hear it struggle when pushed hard; I would not be disappointed if this were my only amp, but my Bryston still holds my heart

HE-1000v2: actually I really dug this matchup, more than with the HE-6; it doesn't solve the plastic timbre of the HE1k, but doesn't overdo that airiness that I sometimes get from this headphone

HD800: more of a bunt than a homerun for me; technically good, but all the stereotypes of the HD800 just get pushed moreso and it's polarizing

HD650: like giving a senior a sip from the fountain of youth, brings out a sharpness like saying poom vs koom, both are consonants but the latter kicks rather than pushes

 

Thanks for the write up. I guess I'm curious about a couple of your points. One is that you "yearn for more.". Such as, what? The other was about its accentuation of an upper register ripple. But in looking at this amp's measurements, I don't see it. Are you talking about what you see in the treble region of the Utopia measurements? Or maybe you meant to say something else.

 

On the Utopia, this is a tonality thing with the headphone. A bit like the peakiness of the HD800. The HP-1 just seemed to bring out that "trait" of the headphone more.

As for the "yearning for more", it's simplest to provide an analogy. We had a few people try headphones back to back on the HP-1 and another amp we had on the table. Almost universally we felt the HP-1 was the technically more proficient one, but the other amp was more "fun". Perhaps contestant two had some pleasing distortion, or maybe it was an aesthetic thing that skewed subjective opinions, but nevertheless it was consistent (within our small sample size).

 

What was the source chain you guys used?

 

Swapped between a few things, though nothing super high end. All the fancy gear was feeding other rigs... NuPrime uDSD, SoundAware M1pro dap, iPhone, etc, half the time being fed from my Yamaha MG10/2 mixer.

 

I get what you're saying @Armaegis . I mean - I was one of the guys who built a Sjostrom QRV08, an amp with impeccable specs, all discrete, crazy PSU section... The sound was amazing, but there was always the feeling that I'm missing something the KSA-5 guys have. Maybe that's just in my head, but that doesn't make it any less real for me.

Try the HP-1 with a better dac and see where that takes you.

 

Yeah, I think an amp like the HP-1 is simply going to get out of the way. It's not going to accentuate anything. But rather it's going to be revealing of the innate characteristics of the source chain and transducer. I hope I have it built before the Holo Spring DAC loaner arrives, because it'll be a great tool for comparing Yggdrasil to the Spring.

 

Thank you for the synopsis. I appreciate it. It sounds like most people enjoyed the HP-1. You're absolutely right. If you want an amp that adds a signature to the sound, the HP-1 is probably not for you. If on the other hand you want the amp to get out of the way and let the source and transducer do their job, the HP-1 is likely the best choice out there.

The HE-6 is a hard phone to drive. I'm curious about the Bryston amp you mention. Would you provide a model number so I can look up the specs?

Thank you for presenting my amp in Winnipeg. I really appreciate it.

Tom

 

Oi, yeah and I think the QRV08 components are even smaller than the HP-1 aren't they?

And uh... I need to borrow a dac from one of the guys. Somewhere amidst all the trading and selling, I realized I don't have a "real" dac left
Though to be fair, my uDSD is decent and I know it the best. Comparing dacs is always exhausting.

 

This is where the engineering part of my brain collides a bit with my ears. I love the numbers and specs as much as the next guy, but then sometimes I listen and there's a disagreement.

The Bryston amp I'm using is actually one of their power amps; I have the B60 which is essentially the 2B with one of their earlier preamp models combined into a single chassis (one of these days I'll get a BHA-1 to try). But really, the HE-6 is simply an unfair test for any headphone amp and an unrealistic yardstick for any manufacturer to chase after. One power amp that I really want to try is the Benchmark AHB2, which boasts phenomenal numbers.

Out of curiosity Tom, what do you use as a source?

 

Tom,
Any chance we could get a loaner to send out to able bodied interested pirates?

 

I've actually got the loaner unit right now, and offered to organize a tour for Tom. So uh... I guess I'll take some names and we'll go from there? Or I'll send a message to @sphinxvc ...

 

Would love to seal the HP-1 on a loaner tour. Count me in.

 

Interested!

 

Very interested

 

Loaner thread started here: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/loaner-neurochrome-hp-1.3244/#post-96392

 

Alrighty, Fishski's QRV08 has arrived at my door. So now I've got the Canuck amp on my left, the Swedish(?) amp on my right, and somewhere in the basement is an unfinished B22 that I'll probably never get around to. This should be an interesting comparison of high-end DIY designs.

Just a reminder that we'll be starting up a loaner program for the HP-1 soon (see above post), and for those interested we'll be sending the QRV08 along with it for comparison purposes.

 

Okay okay, after a couple hours with the three loaner amps on my desk... Neurochrome HP-1, Sjostrom QRV-08, Wolf Ear Makoyi... this is how I would characterize them:


Neurochrome HP-1




Sjostrom QRV-08





Wolf Ear Makoyi:

 

Samurai jack ftw