What headphones would pair well with the RebelAmp? Iāve been A/B testing the RebelAmp and the Topping A90 and out of 30-40 tracks I could hear differences in 2.
I use the Neumann NDH-20s. The Rebel Amp, to me, is basically a super warm THX amp. It feels like it fills in all the gaps THX is missingā¦ if that makes sense. Thick and juicy, but not sloppy. The NDH-20s really bring it out. Iāve also used the Fidelio X3s, but I ended up returning those.
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I use zmf eikons and focal clear as main drivers. Not saying better amps wont give better sound out of them but this sounds good enough to me.
Just got the RebelAmp in the mail today. I read through this thread last week and decided to purchase the amp as an alternative to my 789 seeing how so many of you had followed that path and enjoyed what you heard. I was considering saving for the HeadAmp GSX-Mini but at almost 2k I decided somewhat impulsively to pick up the RebelAmp and maybe pursue a fancier amp at a later date.
I bought this mainly to use with my LCD-4zās but also have a Focal Elegia and HD 6XXās which I may try out as well. Iāve literally only listened for 10 minutes but my immediate impressions were that these filled out the bottom end compared to the 789 and is just warmer overall. I will post more impressions as I put some time into this amp but just wanted to add a post after receiving the amp today.
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Iām really curious on your thoughts regard the 4zās. Iām really curious about these, but I donāt seem to find many reviews.
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Hope itās alright to share impressions of the 4z here in this thread but here you go:
I picked these up during Audezeās black friday sale last year for $2500. Itās my most expensive headphone purchase by far but was looking for a TOTL pair of headphones that would stop me from purchasing a bunch of mid-fi pairs and not really upgrading. The headphones that I was used to prior to these were the HE-6SE, HE-560, and Campfire Audio Andromeda. So these impressions are in some ways a comparison to those other headphones.
My chain for the majority of listening to these headphones has been PC -> Audioquest green usb -> RME ADI-2 -> Balanced monoprice xlr -> THX 789. I use Jriver, Tidal, and Roon for listening.
These headphones have great bass. I was expecting a rumbling low end but itās more controlled but just very well extended. It definitely exceeded the bass performance of the headphones that I was coming from. The mids are enjoyable, maybe not pronounced as much as the 6XX or as forward as I would like but they are still good. The treble is well extended but not overly harsh. Listening to these headphones for the first time I heard a lot more details in the music that I was used to. I also got a better sense of the room that recordings were made in by how sounds reflected off surfaces. Maybe a better term for this is reverb but thatās just how it makes sense to me. The soundstage on these headphones is also much wider than any of my other headphones. I find them to be comfortable. They are heavy but it doesnāt bother my neck at all. I do however get a hotspot on my head where the strap rests after a few hours of listening. Compared to the two other Hifiman planars that I own the treble on these can sound less airy or present but I enjoy the presentation of the Audeze too as itās more relaxed sounding.
Iāve messed around with EQ on these and the headphones respond well but I havenāt found a curve that works for me. The one thing I wished for was a bass bump but the RebelAmp is taking care of that for now.
You mentioned not finding many reviews. While not exactly a review the head-fi thread titled LCD-4z - Impressions thread is a good place to look at otherās impressions of these headphones.
Iām listening to these with the RebelAmp now and am finding that music is more enjoyable than it was on the 789. These headphones have always been critical of poor recordings but that is less of an issue it seems with the RebelAmp and the warmth that it provides is nice regardless of the song
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Thatās awesome. I really appreciate the thorough response.
Iām assuming itās the smoothness of the class a amplifier. It probably also has plenty of current to drive planars (they tend to require more current than typical dynamic headphones).
Glad youāre enjoying the pairing.
Cheers!
Yeah I was initially really intrigued by the 789 but the constant talk of it being so called āstale sounding, lack of impact, almost like a digital sheen over the musicā kinda has been turning me off, instead turning me towards the rebel amp and asgard which is basically the opposite in that regard. Iām still heavily torn between those two. Salguson may have a very good point there whether not it would truly be worth the 300$ price jump over the Asgard to jump in on the Rebel. But what he mentions in terms of more control, for example the impact of a kick drum sounding nice and tight. Is exactly what iām looking for in an upgrade as my old schiit magni has always been fairly weak in that regard and tends to sound muddy and fall flat on my ears. Iām sure the asgard 3 would still be a major step up to my v1 magni in that regard but HMMMMM decisions decisions my indecisiveness will never end!
What headphones are you using?
Well, call me absolutely crazy for considering such expensive amp upgrades when Iām using such old budget headphones such as these āAKG Q701ā but over the years Iāve realized these headphones are incredibly amp dependent and picky with the sources you use. They tend to have a stale analytical sound already which is why they will mix well with warmer sounding amps along with a more impactful sound to them. Iāve been through many budget amps over the years with these and while my magni has melded well with these and I like the overall sound better than past amps, they have a marked lack of control over the base frequencies that cause them to sound fluttery and fall flat when theres a heavy impactful base punch, which these use to sound a decent bit tighter. Iām really in the market for a new higher tier pair of headphones which is in part why Iām looking into a new amp. Aiming for the headphones past the 1k mark at this point. Iāve already replaced my V1 modi which turned out to be a massive bottle neck on my soundstage and over all sound. I always wondered why my turntable had the edge on that for quite a while. Iām now incredibly curious just how much a better amp will get me before I go diving into some new pairs of headphones to go with my DT990s and Q701s. I want an amp thats good at powering a variety of headphones. Maybe Iām going about this horribly wrong, but Iām a psychopath ready to waste money I donāt have.
FWIW, my current amps are Monolith Liquid Platinum and Schiit Asgard 3. The Asgard does a pretty respectable job with >$1K headphones, or at least the ones Iāve had a chance to listen to on it (currently LCD-2 PreFazor, HiFiMan Edition X V2, and a Lawton modded TH-X00). The Liquid Plat is better all around than the A3 but was also original 4x its price (now more like 2.5x). The RebelAmp likely will push most >$1K headphones slightly better than A3 with more noticeable differences the further above $1K you get. Truthfully with $1K+ headphones youāll need to think more about amp synergy to get the most out of them.
Thanks a ton for your input, and youāre right! I should probably look more closely into what goes best with the kind of headphones I may consider before I jump the gun on anything.
E30 with Rebel Amp is ridiculous I can confirm. It is cooler with a D50s, but the E30, I think makes it sing a tad more.
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Any reason to get the rebel amp over the FA-12S?
It has a real potentiometer instead of the weird relay based one. And itās green.
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That sells it.
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I was fighting over the Rebelamp and the FA12S for literally months. After lots of reading and thinking, I picked the FA12S, not because of component quality or sound quality which are comparable in these two, but the relay system and the remote control option was just more suited for the devices/gear I had. The Rebelamp wouldāve been my choice if I was aiming for a desk use setup though. Also thereās more green on the Rebelamp than whatever color is on the FA12S, which only has a colored faceplate.
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The volume controls on the relay provide more transparent sound and better dynamics than the classic ALPS potentiometer. Additionally relay regulator has no channel unbalance at low volume.
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The ALPS pot is completely silent and doesnāt do weird stuff like jumping up and down. I could see someone preferring it over that particular relay implementation.
Stepped Attenuators have the huge downside of discrete steps.
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