A90D vs The Rest..?

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
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So I have A90D now, and can’t say I have any issues with it(definitely not as bright and fatiguing as 3XP was). What changes in sound would I experience from the competition(excluding Schiit and Burson)? Balanced, please!

Not sure what all is out there… These have been on my list:

  • MLP
  • Singxer SA-1
  • GSX-Mini

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Also wondering about changes in DAC sounds, from my Border Patrol DAC(excluding Schiit & SMSL, not keen on Audio-GD). Balanced, please!

  • Pontus 2 12th (true NOS?)
  • SP400 (tried it, and it was quite dull, even dark sounding. Yuck)
  • Qutest (a balanced exception)
2

Sa1 should be a bit more relaxed/smooth than the A90D (SA1 from memory A90D current main amp)

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I was attracted to the A90D because it has plenty of power, does very little to change the sound, it amplifies cleanly, and I tend to run headphones that benefit greatly from plenty of power. (and also, i just like the way it looks)

When it comes to coloring the sound the way I want to, I do the coloring and sound shaping digitally in my DAC, and then output to the A90D for amplification. It works for me, and i’ve had great success with that method. (Of course, make sure you have headphones you are happy with first, that’s the most important part of the setup imo.)

I use the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and then run that into the A90D. There are a lot of reviews out for it, rather than re-posting them here, I suggest poking about a little on the youtubes, or here on our forums. i’ve waffled on about that DAC in many threads. I personally like it quite a bit, and it works well for me. Maybe it will work well for you also.

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