I’ve seriously haven’t considered hooking up other amps since I got mine. It’s kinda scary.
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The good kind of scary. 
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Is that a Focal Elegia Im seeing in the background? 
I also have one since yesterday <33 How do the THX and RNHP sound with the Elegia in comparison?
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Yes indeed. 
In fact, I own two* of them.
Much to the consternation of many here, I have not heard any definite or repeatable differences between these two amps. I’ve mainly used my two Elegias for testing, because I was able to run the same tracks through both amps / both headphones at the same time. I did this to minimize the opportunity for volume mismatches or listening memory to affect my impressions. I’ve found that what I hear can change significantly from day to day, and even from take-to-take when enough time passes while swapping playback chains.
For fun, I decided to repeat that experiment just now. I’m running Tidal (this album) through an RME ADI-2 to both amps, using 1/4" out for both (since that’s all RNHP has, and I don’t want any potential differences in crosfeed to affect what I hear). After adjusting (by ear) to a “matched” volume, I still struggle to hear any kind of changes to timbre, staging or detail while quick-swapping headphones. I do pick up on things here and there (more bass impact on RNHP, clearer backing vocals on THX), but when I rewind and re-listen I don’t re-hear those same differences. So either they’re not there, they’re so subtle that they fall within the variability of my hearing, or I’m simply acclimating through repeat listening.
In any case, if I just let go of critical listening and enjoy, both of these amps sound transparent to me, and let the Elegias shine to their fullest potential (at least to the extent the rest of the playback chain allows). For example, I do have a “bad” path that runs from my monitor to small mixer (via 1/8" stereo line out), then to the RCA input of the RNHP. Playing the same Tidal tracks through that path sands off the fine details and can add a tiny bit of 60Hz hum. I use this path for meetings for work since it allows me to hear “whatever is on the monitor,” which can be my work laptop, my personal laptop, or an XBox.
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* Thanks to the stupendous $429 sale, technically I own 3 more Elegias (total of 5) for a short time. The new batch should show up on Monday. 2 are earmarked as gifts for my brother and a lifelong friend. The 3rd will go into storage for now, and may ultimately go to one of a couple other friends who wanted them, but couldn’t afford to jump on the sale.
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Hm, others heard a very obvious difference. RNHP apparently has more warmth, full body sound and increased sound stage. The Focal Clear would sound 1-Dimensional on a THX. They also described the THX as having a slight metallic timbre or a hint of boosted treble. I guess the Elegias are just a class under the Clears, so they dont need a good amplifier like the RNHP. Its still weird for me, the whole Focal lineup is pretty efficient with ~104dbSPL/mw and 50-60 ohm, so they shouldnt require a 500$ amp in the first place. EDIT: The Elegias are closed back and therefore overall technically inferior to the open back Focal headphones, thats why we dont see any differences for example in soundstage between THX and RNHP on Focal Elegia. Is my assumption right?
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I wouldn’t call the Elegias “inferior,” but they do have a much narrower stage than the Clears. As such, it’s not so easy to perceive any differences in staging size since the relative location of a given sound might not change enough to notice as staging expands or collapses.
I pulled out my Clear Pros and DT 1990s to check staging between the two amps (best I can do with these is hot-plug the 1/4" since I only own one of each). The 1990s have a bigger stage than the Clears to me (I don’t know if that’s the consensus, but that’s what I’m hearing right now). However, hot-plugging either headphone back and forth (using Yosi Horikawa “Interlude” as a test track), I’m not hearing the size or shape of the stage change.
That’s true just for generally sounding decent and getting loud enough. In fact, I’ve used one of my Elegias for gaming and run it straight out of an XBox controller, which has who-knows-what in its DAC and amp circuitry. That still sounds plenty good for casual gaming, though a good clean chain sounds optimal. Even the Atom has not done anything bad that I’ve picked up on in casual listening.
The Elegias have great imaging and detail and will benefit from a very clean amp (which Atom is). But they are not at all demanding to drive.
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EDIT: Felt like taking a quick snap of the test setup. It’s fun to have so many rockstar headphones on the desk at once.
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I know you liked using the elegia for gaming. I think theyre pretty good for that.
How do you like the dt1990 in comparison?
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They’re actually both perfect for different purposes. In addition to excellent staging, the 1990s have a clean presentation that sounds uncluttered and allowed me to hear action around me while shooting in my test level in COD: Modern Warfare Remastered. They seem like they’d be phenomenal for competitive play. Meanwhile, Elegia has a more cohesive, cinematic sound with punchier gunfire and explosions, crisp environmental detail, and forward dialogue. They play better to the majority of my gaming, which tends to be single-player or cooperative play across a variety of genres.
FWIW, I just got done playing Alien: Isolation (for the 3rd time), and used 1770 Pros for that. They kind of split the difference between Elegias and 1990s, I think, with smaller but very accurate 3D imaging and enough punch and excitement to keep the game world feeling alive and realistic. For my first 2 runs (360 and XBox One versions), I played on full surround sound, which was just incredible.
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Awesome. Yeah I enjoy my elegia when playing fps. Mostly battlefield 3/4, rainbow six, and the new cod, although I don’t play it that much.
If I can land a deal on the dt1990, I might try them again.
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I am interviewing this amp, but I have one glaring problem. Anyone have a permanent fix for the LEDs?
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I mean… you can remove the LED’s and you’ll be fine. Have a soldering iron?
The genius himself
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Before that, you will have to probe arround with a volt meter for a while, possibly on the back of the PCB as these resistors are way to high resistance:
Edit: The resistors marked “1001” (= 1k Ohm) could be it.
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Must get LEGO. What is blue tac?
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Have you asked it whats its like to be such a awesome amp?
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I asked but it only answered “BRIGHT GREEN LIGHT” lol.
It’s nice, much more mid forward and full sounding than the 789.
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Curious on your thoughts on it with more use 
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Btw, if you care, you can snap the remote control to either side of your Bifrost. It’s magnetic.
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yeah, I know but it looks cleaner off the desk entirely. Plus, I don’t really use it. Kinda pointless in my situation. Thanks though.
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