July 9, 201015 yr I was curious but had to start reading the review with my eyes rolled, which made it difficult to continue. First off I have to admit: I’m becoming a huge fan of headphone amps. Really, posting that on a headphone forum? No way. The seller describes the design of the M-Stage as being a fully discrete Pure Class A design. It appears that the left and right channels share the same power supply and then things break down to a dual mono design from there, although of course they share the same PCB. It uses high quality parts such as Nichicon KG capacitors, a smooth ALPS potentiometer, a Burr/Brown OPA2134, etc.I stopped reading after that.
July 9, 201015 yr You should have a listen to my NOS DAC - it uses 8x oversampling I was curious but had to start reading the review with my eyes rolled, which made it difficult to continue. Really, posting that on a headphone forum? No way. I stopped reading after that.
July 9, 201015 yr Justin: ha! Didn't you know a cmoy breaks down into dual mono at the output jack? Don't forget that it's fully discrete class A despite using an opamp.
July 9, 201015 yr Didn't notice that one....funny. Oh yea, isn't every amp a cmoy "essentially"? Win!
July 9, 201015 yr Not to derail the thread, but what is your guy's opinion on the Matrix M-Stage (another discrete amp). Matrix M-Stage amp review: simple, cheap, and excellent. - Head-Fi.org Community I know I shouldn't trust head fi but this was a convincing review. Seems like it could be an alternative and I haven;t read about noise/heat issues for it either. Fishy. An amp which allegedly runs in class A but doesn't even get warm, yeah. Either it's a very low powered amp or it's not class A.
July 10, 201015 yr specs from the ebay listing I saw for a ver 2 Matrix M-Stage: Frequency Response: 10 Hz (-0.3dB) ~ 35kHz (-1dB) Signal to Noise Ratio: >95dB (0dB) Distortion: <0.001% (6 mW/300 Ohms) Input Impedance: 47 kOhms Output Impedance: Line-out 60 Ohms, Phone-out 5 Ohms Output Power: 200 mW/300 Ohms, 400 mW/60 Ohms Power Support: AC 220-240V/100-120V (Please specify) Front Panel Color: Black/Silver (Please specify) Weight: 2 kg Device Dimension: 280 x 110 x 42mm Seriously though, a 15 page review for a $250 amp?
July 10, 201015 yr Seriously though, a 15 page review for a $250 amp? I skipped all his technical mumbo jumbo and went straight to his amp comparisons...which as I said, were pretty informative.
July 12, 201015 yr ok, so from the reaction, I am going to assume that the M-Stage is not viable competitor to Schitt amps.
July 13, 201015 yr ok, so from the reaction, I am going to assume that the M-Stage is not viable competitor to Schitt amps. I think what you should do is ignore that review you pasted and try to find other information about the amp or another review.
July 13, 201015 yr How to make good headphones sound great | The Audiophiliac - CNET News Congrats to the Schiit boys!
July 13, 201015 yr Why do I suspect that S.G.'s review on CNET is just slightly hyperbolic. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not getting the measure of my HE-5LE headphones with any of my amplifiers and S.G.'s review of the Asgard has me reaching for the CC hoping that the Asgard might be a magic match for a very low price. As Heinlein used to say TANSTAAFL, now $249 isn't free but it's certainly dirt cheap by high End standards. Is 15 days enough time? and I hate returning anything. I'm going to wait. It's summer and I use my Headphones even less during the Summer so I think I'll let the dust settle a little before I bite on the Asgard hook; besides I've been selected as a Beta tester for the new PS Audio Network Bridge so that should keep me busy for a while.
July 13, 201015 yr 15 days is enough, just make sure to turn it on and let it burn in for a while in a ventilated area, as the initial smell of electronics it gives off is a bit strong imho.
July 13, 201015 yr I've liked some of SG's writing in the past. He also worked at Chesky as a producer IIRC.....some decent resume material IMO. So I'm happy for Schiit (or is that "as" Schiit?) to hear he likes this and that a mainstremer like CNET gives them some good marketing. But there is probably a bit of hyperbole involved. Part of it is likely finding a nice amp like this at such a low price; it causes the "wow" factor to go haywire.... I'm still enjoying mine, but still also using my other amps more. The glare I heard at about 30-40 hours HAS seemed to lessen somewhat (I don't think it's my ears adjusting to it, as I am using my Stax and Millett during this time as well). Still there, but a slight bit less.....
July 13, 201015 yr Homeboy lists Phiaton among his favorite headphones. I just found that amusing. Maybe I should check em out?
July 14, 201015 yr Hey, they might be awesome for all I know. Seriously, I haven't read much of anything about them.
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