I’m thinking about pairing this with my GSX1000 and X2HR / SHP9500 to get a bit more oomph out of both of them volume-wise. I also noticed they have a bass boost which I’d highly appreciate and the best part is that they natively support TRRS which means I can use my Vmoda boom pro with this and my dac, without having to split the ground.
On paper these things are exactly what I need and for 50 bucks AUD are easily the cheapest things that do this job.
But im struggling to find any quality reviews on them.
Have any of you guys used them?
What do you think?
I have one and it’s serviceable. Bass boost works reasonably well if you have easier to drive headphones. It does work but it does feel cheap and sound alright, it’s not my first pick for sure but it’s cheap and gets the job done.
Thanks for the quick response M0N!
Do they feel cheap in terms of build quality or sound quality?
Im more concerned with the sound, since, even though they’re marketed as a portable product, they’ll be permanently attached to my GSX1000 at my desk, and rarely touched.
Would you have any other recommendations that do the same job in a similar price range?
It feels pretty cheap but does sound decent. If you have it plugged into the wall or PC you do risk having a ground loop, just something to note. I think something like the fiio a3 at that price is a bit better but even then it’s not that great imo (but I think the build is for sure).
Something more big bucks would just be a liquid spark amp but that’s more money and doesn’t suit your use case as well
You can get around it, but it might involve either getting a phone charger to plug it into instead of the PC, or getting a 3.5mm ground loop isolated. Not saying it’s going to happen, it just has a chance to
I’ve just come across a secondhand Massdrop Objective 2 amp, (technically secondhand but still unopened in original packaging) for $50AUD which is $35USD
this one specifically^
Since this would cost me the same as what the Bass Traveller is new, and in terms of sound reproduction and power I’d assume the O2 is easily the superior amp, yet for my specific use case, is it still worth getting?
The pros to buying the O2 instead would be an obviously better higher quality product as stated.
The cons would be that, I most likely will run into ground loop issues if I use it with my Vmoda boom pro, and I’ll have to purchase an RCA to TRS cable, (probably only cost a few bucks but I’d still be going out of my way so I thought it would be worth mentioning.
Also another potential con is that im not sure if the GSX1000 and O2 will play nice together or if pairing them will arise issues of their own.
So i’ve got a bit of weighing up to do,
It’s probably worth starting a new thread specifically regarding the comparison between the two in my specific use case, so I might do that but I thought i’d get this out on the table first