Rupert Neve RNHP Precision Headphone Amplifier

@Timiambeing excellent read. Glad it arrived safely. Looks excellent, sorely tempted but will have to wait until the new year. It sounds exactly what I’m after.

The DAC doesn’t sound too bad either.

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So I’m itching to buy an rnhp because of its high praises here and good pairing with the clear mg. however, when I searched on eBay there’s a knock off chifi called “rod rain audio rnhp” have you guys heard of this lol.

Just curious. If I have an rnhp I’d a/b it :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

just spotted it too… wondering how close it is…

I have a jot2 and wondering if rnhp is a sidegrade or compliments each other. I’m sure it’s been ask before need to scroll up. It will be pair with bf2 and using clear mg headphones

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If you don’t need the power and want a narrow and intimate amp that does things that most tube amps can only approach… it’s worth every penny.

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I’ve had a chance to check one of these out. Here’s the scoop. It’s a steal, no pun intended.

Inside, it looks almost identical except for the PCB silkscreening (says Rod Rain) and the output capacitors (slightly smaller). This is actually what it looks like. Not kidding.

What should be DG413DY* switches in the real RNHP may or may not be clones, but the ones in this product have been sanded down. As far as I can tell, everything else looks identical.

Note that the output caps are true Nichicon, but slightly smaller than the spec. 3300uF instead of 4700uF.

You could try to find replacements. Good luck.

It has blue LEDs instead of green. They are not as annoying but they are still pretty bright. Personally, I prefer blue.

How is the sound? I can’t tell the difference. It’s probably a limit of my headphones.

I still recommend supporting RND because they’re fantastic, but this is one of those rare cases of “get it while you can; it’s not too good to be true”.

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Fantastic! Appreciate and thankful for checking it out and comparing the internal components.

Curious what headphone did you used to compare the two?

Sundara, “2020 version”

HI guys,

No sure yet but i’m thinking about purchasing a Hifiman HE6SE V2 … do you think the RNHP will be strong enough to drive those cans ?

thank you !

Nope, it’s a pretty terrible match, I’d definitely look toward a different amp for those cans imo

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The best way to save time and money, thank you !!
:wink:

yeah it was pretty obvious but i needed to be sure …
i have this one at the family house : AUDIOPHONICS HA-B6120 Full Balanced Headphone Amplifier TPA6120 MUSES8920 - Audiophonics
100% sure it would be enough, it’s a beast, never more than 9 o’clock for the volume pot with the DT1990, and in LOW gain, so …
but the HE6 wasn’t supposed to go there and stay at my appartment … guess i’ll go for the ananda instead … just want a good planar beside the DT1990 to taste something different at times …

thank you Mon !!

Yeah it just really doesn’t have the power for the he6 whatsoever, feels very very lackluster on the neve lol. I’ve got no experience with the audiophonics but it looks interesting, in terms of rated spec it should be plenty of juice but no clue on the quality aspect of things

Will be curious on your thoughts of whatever you end up with :+1:

sure i will !

About the Audiophonics, if you are fine with google translation → Ampli Audiophonics HA-B6120 -

apparently it shares the same TI TPA6120 as the RNHP but with different implementation.
i share my time with two places and have two sets :
SMSL SU-8 → XLR → RNHP → DT1990
SMSL SU-8 → XLR → AUDIOPHONICS → DT1990

i haven’t made a real A/B comparison but for the obvious points

  1. Much much much more power with the audiophonics ( for the same final volume in the cans → approx. 15% of the volume in high gain for the Audiophonics, 45% of the volume for the RNHP )
  2. Audiophonics is more dynamic and punchier but a litlle sharper ( treble can be difficult at times) compared to the RNHP. it looses the sweetness the RNHP has despite using the same chip
  3. you can change the OpAmps … apparently it would allow the Audiophonics to upgrade significantly depending of the opamps you choose ( burr brown Vivid, classic …etC… ) …

i haven’t a big experience with amplifiers ( started with an O2 and jumped directly to the RNHP, use to have an Audio GD for a month before the aufiophonics ) but i still have the RNHP as my daily amplifier … i have to EQ the audiophonics to tame the treble a little, despite this point it does the job pretty well and for this price it’s really difficult to find someting wrong about it …

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Just a random thought: I am selling my RNHP for 600 CAD, or 465 USD, shipping in continental US and Canada included.

That’s a random thought? It seems like a post for the WTS category.

Lol

It’s random because no carefully selected thought would result in wanting to sell an RNHP.

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Do you guys actually STILL like this amplifier after all this time, and after all the good amplifiers released in recent years? Or you guys are still saying nice things about it out of respect for the impressions you had (or to another extent, Mr.Neve) and maybe you haven’t got to try better amplifiers?

Still one of my personal faves in the range depending on the headphones, don’t really think it’s been superceded by anything yet (in it’s price bracket), although the recent price increase is a little steep to where it’s a bit less viable of an option for some imo. Probably not much discussion on here because generally there’s just not a lot of more midrange or higher end source gear discussion on this site anymore

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There’s def. some stuff I didn’t like pairing them with, but then, I’m not sure if I would’ve liked those headphones on different amps either. Stuff like the DT 1990, R70X, 660s, Arya V2, LCD-X, HD650, Ollo S4X (high impendance (>250 ohm) and/or studio presentation) I didn’t care much about. For ZMF I think I’d take a hybrid/tube instead. Planars - Verum was fine, LCD-X pre 2018 was meh, Hifimans are pretty lean sounding on it so I’d rather not (maybe the Arya SE but that’s about it).
The Flux FA-10 didn’t sound better to me despite the price difference, haven’t heard much else in direct comparison though.

It’s still in my rotation paired with my Bifrost 2, and works incredibly well with my LCD-X, Focal Clear’s and Elegia, and LCD-2PF’s, (though it doesn’t have much oomph for those, lol, still sounds good). Great little amp!