I haven’t tested all with it yet. So far my aeon 2 open and senn 650 has favored the g111. With my eikon, I didn’t notice the difference as much but I prefer running them off of my tuba and echo. I plan to test my elex and elegia on the g111 as well. I should also test my denon 5200 and teaks as well. I’m also curious to test my Aeolus on it. I haven’t had as much time to test all headphones as I would like lol.
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Invent more time then get back to us. With both the time invention and the sound impressions. Thanks in advance
Haha I’ll work on both.
nailed it!
wow! best description I have seen!
Yep, I feel the same.
Im totally keeping both! I think they are different enough to justify it.
The RNHP is like the straight laced maths teacher while the G111 is the kooky chemistry teacher with the bow tie (who did too much acid in his 20’s)
Man, I can’t go beyond 10 really & have already adjusted to -6dB!
1990’s & Elegia’s mostly. Running a JNOG to both, which is amazing for the price.
1990’s sounded equally great on both but best on the RNHP for me, bit more neutral, mid-range comes up a bit, more focus overall. G111 sounds a bit more fun.
Elegia’s benefit alot on the G111, really helps giving them width. Low end is fuller and the extra width spreads out the highs nicely, takes the edge off that Focal metallic sound people talk about.
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Yes I’m keeping both as well. I’m working on trying more of my headphones and I’m finding more and more really interesting things and pairings between the two.
I’m recording observations as I go and I’ll post it up once I finish. Maybe tomorrow. I’m trying to get through as many of my headphones as I can with both.
For reference. I have the bf2 connected to both. I plan on getting a soekris in the future to get the magic I hear about.
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So here’s a bit of a breakdown after testing different headphones off of the g111 vs rnhp. Again this is them both being driven off of the bf2 and mainly tidal, the hifi option, not master.
He 650: 650 was hands down better on the g111. I think this was primarily due to the extra width that was added. It gave off a more natural presentation as the rnhp with 650 was more “in your face.
Aeon 2 open: the aeon 2 was also better on the g111. The rnhp sounded good also but again the extra width and more separation you sense off of the g111 made thiese sound fuller. The aeon also gets a stronger bass impact off of the g111. This is like due to the added power.
Eikon: honestly I didn’t notice as much of a change between the two with the eikon. I’m sure the same difference applies but something about the eikon just doesn’t seem to care or notice. I’ve definitely tended to like my Eikon more off of my Hagerman Tuba and Feliks Echo so I’ll stick with both of those for the most part.
Elex and Elegia: I was able to pick up the added width of the g111 with these overall but again it wasn’t as dramatic. So it kinda depends a bit with these. The g111 makes them a bit more relaxed sounding which is nice and the rnhp keeps a bit more energy so they are a nice complement to each other with these two headphones.
Aeolus: now this was the really weird one. The Aeolus is a very high energy headphone in that it has that warmer tone, nice mid bass bump. And overall the stage is a bit closer so it’s very intimate and fun, albeit not as detailed in the higher frequencies, with the lamb skin pads that is. So I was really under the impression that the added width of the g111 would make it shine. I went under the impression that i would like it more with the g111. Boy was I wrong. I didn’t like the Aeolus on the g111 at all. The extra width really made you feel like you were losing detail, much moreso than the others. I plugged it back into the rnhp and they sounded so much more fun. My guess is that the more focused nature of the Aeolus and rnhp makes them just a great pairing. More energy and I could sense the better imaging a bit better here. It was weird.
So I was wrong, but wait. I thought I’d try the Aeolus one more time, this time with the suede pads. The suede pads change the nature of the Aeolus pretty dramatically so I thought maybe. And then it totally flipped. The Aeolus with suedes sounded better in the g111 more. That slightly more open sound and airy-ness that the suede pads added was just what the Aeolus needed for the g111 to make them shine. It was pretty mind boggling that the pads made the amp pairing so different. I guess it makes sense as I enjoy the Aeolus in my echo more with suedes but I swap back and forth on pads with the tuba since it’s a more dry tube amp.
Denon 5200 and emu teak: these both shared a similar feeling as the elex and elegia in that the change wasn’t as dramatic. It was certainly there but neither of them was a bad pairing. In fact they pair with both equally well. It again came down to the mood or maybe genre. If you wanted a slightly more intense involving, focused listen, then the rnhp is the choice. But If you wanted it very slightly more laid back, then the g111. Again that isn’t to say you lose detail. Not at all. The detail is just pulled slightly further out. With the teak I found myself liking the g111 slightly more since the treble is more peaky, it pulls it out a bit more to make it slightly more mellow.
Conclusion/summary/ preference
650: g111 all the way
Eikon: either. But I lean toward my tube amps anyway.
Elex elegia: either depending on preference. Both great.
Aeolus: rnhp with leather pads. G111 with suedes
D5200 and teak. Again either with slightly different flavors. More g111 with teak though.
I’m kinda thinking of my g111 as my tube amp without the tubes to and extent. Like it doesn’t do as much as my tube amps but it leans in the direction with the added width, more spacious feeling and when it’s the right headphone, I feel like I get better separation. With the rnhp is equally detailed but more focused so you get a more involved intense listen between the two. But not overly so.
I still have more cans to test so I’ll continue to update probably as I test more on them both but those are the cans I listen to most these days. The nighthawks were a great listen on the g111 but I didn’t ab them but I don’t anticipate a major major change, although I could be wrong. Maybe test my 58x and 4xx but I don’t listen to them much anymore admittedly. Oh I maybe test the dt990… I’m kinda guessing the may go with g111 more. Hmmmmmm.
Anyway, that’s it for now 
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Hi, new here.
I am in a position of getting the Volectric v181 fairly cheap, would that be better paired with my HD 800?
Welcome!
Better than what? Vio amps do tend to pair well with higher impedance headphones, but I haven’t heard the pairing to say for sure.
Yeah sorry, compared to RNHP or G111. I would probably go on the tube road someday.
Ah, that would make sense in this thread, haha. I haven’t heard the G111 or V181, but have owned the V200, V280, and V281, as well as the RNHP. I’d pretty easily take the Vio over the RNHP for my preferences, and I think it’d likely have better synergy with a high impedance can like the HD800. My V280 and V281 gave my LTA MZ2 tube amp a run for it’s money with Eikons, though I think the HD800 benefits more from tubes. V181 is an older amp, so that’s something to consider. If it’d be roughly similar price as a G111 or RNHP in the $400-$500 range, I’d say go for it.
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Hehe, that’s what I thought too. Anyways thanks for your impressions I am highly considering it now. What I can read from head-fi guides is the v181 is more detailed, better depth and texture compared to v200 but still smooth highs. The only con is the narrower soundstage compared to v200.
If V181 is more like V281, then yes those characterizations are pretty accurate. I’d add that the V200 is also a bit more colored to the warm end with a bit ‘thicker’ sound. Separation is a significant step up from V200 as well.
Does anyone have experience running IEMs out of the G111? Very keen on the idea of swapping my Asgard 3 (sitting atop a Bifrost 2) for the G111 - I listen to a lot of ambient/electronic particularly while I work, and have that much more height/width in soundstage while also (probably?) taking a small set up in detail retrieval and naturalness sounds incredibly enticing.
My main listening devices are Thieaudio Monarch, 6xx, and (a lot less often) 1990 Pros and Blessing 2’s.
Alright, after extensive research - I have placed an order for a RNHP to replace my Asgard 3. I have a Bifrost 2 to pair it with and my HD600.
Looking forward to it and I am done, for now … LOL!
Thanks everyone for the great information as always.
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Lovely summary. I’m currently looking to get the RNHP, but I’m not sure what DAC to pair it with, and as you pointed out the amp is quite picky. Any suggestions under 500$? I want something that works well with my HD650s.
RNHP is nice but personally I wouldn’t pair it with 650
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Its not bad with an hd650 but its not where it shines
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Does anybody know how the G111 pairs with planars? I’m searching for an amp to drive my Aryas…
My G103 can drive Fostex T50RP, so I would guess it can handle them (750mW @ 16Ω load).