It’s probably the nicest one you can get without spending an arm and a leg. I had to pay like 500 bucks for the upgraded pot in my gsx mk2
Vishay and Contelec also make nice (electrically) potentiometers, but the Alps ones feel quality.
What are your thoughts on a DACT 24-step?
No hands on experience. Is in between the imbalance of other quality potentiometers (spec wise).
| Brand | Series | Channel imbalance |
|---|---|---|
| Alps | RK27 | <0.1% |
| Contelec | ML06 | <0.1% |
| Dact | CT2 | <0.1% |
| Contelec | PL300 | <0.25% |
| Bourns | 6657 | <1% |
The nicest potentiometer I ever felt was on an NFB 1 amp which also uses a huge alps pot. But boy oh boy the compression, my lord was it not enjoyable to listen to.
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I agree lol, compression is also why I don’t like older schiit products since that had that too, but not to the degree of audio gd amps. Audio gd is just all power little finesse lol
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You know, the Rupert Neve sells for only $100 more than a Massdrop THX789…
Yup, it’s a great amp and a step up to the next tier for only 100 bucks lol
I’ve been looking at the Field Lice line and completely missing the value of the Precision Amp.
Double Hmmmmmm
Sounds delicious, bone app the teeth
But the amp only fidelice is pretty much a sightly upgraded RNHP, not worth imo
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What would you reckon would be a logical step up from the RNHP if one likes the tonality of it?
Well there is that fidelice dac lol. Since the RNHP is more of a studio amp, the SPL amps might be a logical step up for features and sound
There are other studio amps I would recommend but they typically will be ADC combos or in a mixer or something of the sort that while they would be a step up amp wise they would also have lots of unnecessary things for someone just listening
I don’t know why, but I am more fascinated with amps and dacs, even though I know (and agree completely) with what Polygonhell is saying here.
Something about those little metal boxes…
If you wanted something with little coloration like the rnhp, perhaps something like the Pass Labs HPA-1, Bryston BHA-1, SparkoS Aries, Brooklyn DAC+, and of course the SPL stuff (Phonitor xe, Phonitor 2, Phonitor e)
More stuff I would say but getting into the range of unnecessary features for a consumer would be something like the Antelope Audio Amari or Lynx Hilo-TB have pretty good headphone amps but it’s not something I would recommend because I think you could get better amps for the price without the unnecessary stuff (there are more things but even more not oriented at consumers lol)
A strange pick but something I can highly recommend is the Linear Tube Audio microZOTL MZ3. That thing is super natural sounding even though it uses tubes, pretty dang good. It’s prob the best hybrid tube headphone amp I have listened to so far. All else I have to say is that I have to go pick it up from the post office when I get back from my trip lol because I finally gave in, and already lined up to sell my pro ican (but that’s not really comparable, but I don’t really need it anymore because now the mz3 is going to be my new hybrid)
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Ah I forgot about that one lol, can recommend as well (but I haven’t had a ton of time with it). There’s probably a lot I forgotten about, so mention others if you have any more
It was very clean and uncolored sounding and still sounded pretty natural. I think it’s more resolving than the rnhp, but I think the rnhp has an edge in naturalness and timbre, but just by a bit. The linear pro has a bit more power but because of the gain of some of the inputs on the rnhp they both get fairly loud with some demanding headphones, but you might be wanting more for some harder to drive ones (same with the rnhp)
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Hey I use $600 headphones on a $400 amp with a $1250 (retail) DAC.
So I‘m not one to throw stones, though I do have Eikons and Aeolus on order, and they probably won’t be my last purchase this year.
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I mean I commonly use a close to 9k dac on the rnhp lol
Without getting into cables. Might as well throw in a 1k rack.
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That stuff, even if CNCed from solid blocks, is not worth the asking price.
Looks nice though.
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