March 05, 2008

Headroom Micro Amp & DAC: First impressions

Yesterday I received quite a treat. A big box from Headroom containing a brand-spanking new Micro Amp, Micro DAC and Sennheiser HD650 headphones. That is a lot of audio bliss in one box.

I get home and promptly set it all up. I now have nothing left of my old home theater set-up. I disconnected my receiver (which I was holding onto simply to plug my headphones into it) and I will add it to the stash of speakers and the subwoofer which I am keeping in my dad's house. The Headroom Micro Stack looks tiny compared to the receiver which used to take its place.

The source I am going to be using for listening to music is my PS3. I have that connected to the Micro DAC through toslink. I have a toslink switch that I will use to have both the PS3 and 360 connected to the DAC without having to switch the optical cable in the back, but the PS3 will be my main source for music (the 360 will only be used for gaming).

I was pressed for time and I won't be able to give this set-up a thorough workout until the weekend, but the first thing I wanted to do (more so than finally checking out the HD650's) was to confirm that I could hear a noticible difference using the Micro Stack combo as opposed to my old Sony a/v receiver. To do that I had to use some headphones which I would already be familiar with (my Ultrasone HFI 700's) and a CD that I've heard many times, in this case, Dark Side of the Moon.

I turn the lights down and the volume up . . . and the difference is immediately apparent.

First thing I notice was that the bass was super sharp and a lot stronger than through the receiver. Once the music kicked in, everything sounded distinctively sharper and more detailed. I could easily pick apart the individual instruments and musical elements. It sounded absolutely fantastic. The soundstage was also a lot larger. Oh man, it is going to be fun testing out different cd's!

After that I basically had to stop to make dinner and then Jeanette and I watch Wonderboys (it was pretty good!). I will give furthr impressions as well as my thoughts of the HD650's as I spend time with them. I hear they take quite a bit of burn-in to sound their best.

Anyway, I am picking up The Show today after work. Can't wait.


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