izo's 24/192 PC headphone amp

If you're not all about recording 24/192 audio but just want a decent method for playing it back, izo's got a headphone amp that you might want to take a gander at: the iHA-1 (we'll spare you the Smashing Pumpkins gags). It's not much more than an analog RCA, S/PDIF, and coax DAC for listening to your tunes, but it does have a 118dB - 123dB SNR, which sounds pretty good to us. So what doesn't sound good about this thing? Well, that ¥99,750 (~$900 US) tag is inducing some fair amount of sticker shock in us all right about now.

[Via Impress]

[Dave @ May 26th 2006 11:28AM]

It's very odd that you're covering a headphone amp here. This actually isn't all that pricey as far as DAC / Amp combos go... the Grace m902 has a few more features, but retails for $1,500. Some amps with even fewer features (no DAC) retail for more than $4k. You need to understand, it's much less about the facts on paper and much more about how the amp / DAC sounds. As well, the people who invest in these have high quality reference headphones... it isn't going to make your apple earbuds sound any better.

Here's a few references for people curious about Headphones:

www.headphone.com

www.head-fi.org

www.gradolabs.com

There are other makers of great headphones, but I'm personally a big fan of Grado's work. You can't beat the SR60 at $70... it sounds like it costs much more.

[JK @ May 26th 2006 11:30AM]

Holy crap. The first post about a moderately expensive headphone amp was intelligent! Is this the twilight zone?!!?

Please! Some Engadget nerd in mom's basement talk about how his $75 sound card and $20 headphones sound just fine for his FLAC files!!!

[cmonkey @ May 26th 2006 11:53AM]

I second the SR60 recommendation. It's the easiest way to enter the world of (relatively) high-end audio. Paired with a DIY headphone amp made out of about $20 of parts, you can get some pretty decent sound for under $100.

Plans for a cheap headphone amp are at http://tangentsoft.net/audio/

[Dave @ May 26th 2006 12:32PM]

Woo yeah, SR60 love! Mine is my trusty companion. I'm using it with one of Headroom's new Bitheads. That's a nice little DAC / amp combo from Headroom, and sounds great from the lineout of my iPod. Quite a few shades above the lousy soundcard in my Powerbook!

[Cap'n @ May 26th 2006 1:04PM]

For $299 you can get Presonus' Firebox: http://presonus.com/firebox.html. Offers XLR inputs and more.

[Dave @ May 26th 2006 1:20PM]

Cap'n, that Firebox isn't aimed at the same market as the one above. It looks like it was set for the home recording market; and as such I wouldn't expect them to have put as much time into the Headphone output. I think most audiophiles would snub that unit as a method of playback.

[Ryan @ May 26th 2006 1:41PM]

I've been extremely happy with my TotalBithead from HeadRoom with a pair of Sennheiser 580s. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something to listen to their CD rips on their PC. The 580s are open-air headphones so if you work in a noisy office, you might want to check out some of Sennheiser's sealed headphones.

http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-mobile-line/headroom-total-bithead.php

[Matthew Lenz @ May 26th 2006 1:57PM]

I've got a Creek Audio OBH-11 + Sennheiser HD580's on my work computer. Works like a charm and sounds wonderful. No where near 900 bucks though. You gotta be crazy.

[Barrett @ May 26th 2006 2:18PM]

http://reddogg.com/?p=21 has a good review of Grado's SR80, I have the same ones and I could not be happier. Headphones are the cheapest way to enter the high fidelity audio arena, same sound out of towers would cost an arm and a leg.

[JP @ May 26th 2006 2:27PM]

Man, for that price you could get a MOTU Traveler HTTP://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/traveler/ with 24/192 and all the I/O. Then be on your way to a small home studio with support for 7.1, or put it in with your home theater and have multiple stereo out options, and be ready for that impromptu karaoke party with 4 mic pre's.

As nice as that is, it is WAY overpriced, especially considering how cheep pro-grade digital I/O is now. Now if it was a tube amp for the out put that would be different, but that thing is a rip-off as it stands.

[Adam @ May 26th 2006 4:00PM]

With over US$50 in components (retail) I imagine they're a little optimistic with the $1000 price tag. Give or take quality construction (and a smaller enclosure with more versatile inputs and some user controls) I'd have to imagine it would be well worth $200-300 ... funny how good engineering and R&D (give them the benefit of the doubt) turns into a useless non-event product when management (marketing, product, executive) all fugg it up and think they have an instantaneous boutique brand ... even if B&O made this, they'd be at $500, not $1000 ... idiots.

[Dave @ May 26th 2006 4:52PM]

Pretty ignorant, JP. Most people who want high quality Audio gear know better than to get an "all in one" device. You don't have any idea what's in there, and I really doubt you've ever heard a world class system with a remark like that. "Pro grade?" I'm sorry, but what to your ears is pro grade? Heck, the last time I checked, most "pros" in the recording industry were using Sony V6's as headphones.

Here's a quick note for you: Some people prefer Solid State designs to Tube designs. A good solid state amp is usually quicker (though not always) and often provides less coloration and no need to replace burned out tubes.

[Perrey Z. @ May 26th 2006 5:48PM]

Fo' shitzo my Izo? i think "Zo".

[Brian @ May 26th 2006 6:20PM]

Haha, this is freaking hilarious. Half the guys here are from head-fi like myself and understand the value of this // realize it's not really overpriced, and then the other half of the guys are guys who don't own a good pair of high end headphones, listen to 128 kbps mp3's and think they understand the whole DAC and amp part, LOL. Too funny :). I think I'll check back later for a few more chuckles.

[sl @ May 26th 2006 6:55PM]

This product will have to beat the Benchmark Media DAC1:
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/

The DAC1 has a built-in headphone amplifier with two headphone jacks.

It's a Stereophile 2004 Editor's Choice:
http://stereophile.com/features/1204poty/index7.html

Price is around US$ 975 at the manufacturer's web site.

[EatingPie @ May 26th 2006 7:18PM]

I haven't checked the specs, but this strikes me as rather expensive. There are several outboard DACs in the $300 range -- though the 24/192 is questionable -- and the aforementioned Creek OBH-11 (solid state) could easily (in the past) be had for under $300 as well.

Only one tube headphone amp competed at the Creek's price point: Musical Fidelity XCANs. The v3s are out and are much "tubier" sounding than the v2s (I have both and love them).

Anyway, it's certainly possible to produce a very high fidelity solution that beats this $1K combo unit -- whether you go for solid state or tube. I'm left to wonder if that price point is a mistake, or will be heavily sliced after release.

Or maybe this will light a fire under the Headroom gang to crank out their own outboard DAC.

-Pie

[daniel422 @ May 27th 2006 12:30AM]

All the pro gear recs are great, but aimed at a TOTALLY different market and end product. The headphone outs on ANY of the pro gear above are not what you're paying your money for. This is a dedicated DAC/headphone amp, with presumably the money put in all the right places (power supply and analog section). The pro gear is for monitoring and reference -- NOT high-end listening with high end headphones. I won't quibble the superb signal performance of the pro gear, but it's the amplification that we're talking about here.
Oh, and $900 -- welcome to the entry point in high-end audio. As they say -- sorry about your wallet.

[JP @ May 27th 2006 1:58AM]

Dave-
I am well aware of the points you mention. I used "Pro grade" to differentiate from the entry level crap that is out there that have similar functions to the MOTU devices, which was merely an example. As for tubes, I never said that they were better, only that they were more expensive. As one involved in the audio industry and having good ears, I understand the importance of good sound. As a techie, I understand the general cost of a device like this, and see that it is WAY over priced for anything mass produceable like this.

If you truly loved music enough to consider this at that price, you would be better off sinking the cash into a true listening environment, because after all, headphones do not give the true stereo image anyway.

And, I don't know how it is in other places, but where I am in the states, there is no way for a consumer to acquire digital media that is significantly better than the 16/44.1 of a CD anyway, other than the rare DVD-A disc I have hear about but never seen. To me this makes such a device useless to anyone other than an audio engineer, at this time, who normally wouldn't because they have much better ways to monitor high quality sound.

This time look at what I am actually saying, THEN figure out what I mean.

[Dave @ May 27th 2006 4:37PM]

JP, I respectfully disagree. I know exactly what you're saying here, but I don't think you have any experience in actual high-end headphone audio. I have plugged expensive headphones into the Pro gear such as what you describe... and to be perfectly honest the sound quality is lacking.

Now as for the price on this unit: I don't know if it's worth it. My Amp / DAC combo is worth about $500, and I'm quite happy with the quality of it. However, I've heard better gear, and I know it exists.

As for a "listening environment," my Grado GS1000 headphones offer a quality of listening that dwarfs any speaker I have heard under $6k. As well, I don't have to take into acount room acoustics and placement. My headphones are portable, and I can set up shop and enjoy high-end audio anywhere I go.

[JP @ May 28th 2006 12:41AM]

Dave-
I see your point and must concede the discussion.

My final quibble though is that something of this caliber ought to have an analog input that is balanced and not just the RCA connectors, if for no other reason than principle. It may not matter, but for that one time it does it would be infuriating.

[Sylvia @ Aug 26th 2006 5:27PM]

Is it true that portable amps are useless or of less importance when you are using in-ear earphones? I read this on headfi forum. I've been to this site which only sells in-ear earphones and they don't list one single amp: www.earphonesolutions.com