I've been getting used to the Zune music player of my Windows 7.8 phone.
The HTC Arrive doesn't really have enough guts to drive a decent pair of headphones like Sennheisers, etc.
No problem - they make little headphone amplifiers that go between the phone/MP3 player and headphones.
My FiiO E6 headphone amplifier worked pretty well for the task, but disappeared in my various travels over the last few months.
As I looked for a replacement, I kept seeing references to the CMOY design that runs on an IC op-amp, with great sound quality, good battery life, and small footprint.
"Oh, hell", says I - why not?
There's a dude in Australia named Fred. He has been making and selling these amplifiers, using Altoids and Eclipse tins for the housings.
He also makes other variants, with 12AU7 tubes, etc. I bought one of his CMOY models that is stuffed into an Eclipse tin, plus it's rechargeable via USB jack.
The package from Australia arrived yesterday, and was still charged up, so I plugged it in and gave it a whirl.
Oh. Emm. Gee!Nota Bene: This thing will cause hearing damage, first and foremost. It gets up and boogies!
Then there's the sound quality - a very nice sound stage, zero noise, no clipping at any volume setting, and perfectly transparent with respect to coloration.
The tiny amplifier had no problems driving my Sennheisers or Sony over-the-ear headphones.
It's been an absolute kick in the pants, I've yet to experience any listener fatigue, even though there's no crosstalk between channels. Fred sells an adapter that mixes a bit of both channels if that bugs you.
This amp has very few controls. There's a volume knob, which has a power switch at the lowest counterclockwise setting. There's a 3.5mm stereo input jack. There's a 3.5mm stereo output jack.
Opening the other end, there's a jack and LED for the USB charging cord (which is supplied along with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm jumper) That's it!
The spousal unit thinks I'm nuts, puttering around the house and basement workshop with big headphones and the cord going to smartphone and amplifier in cargo pocket.
The thing is, I'm listening to the library over again, picking up nuances in recorded material that I'd missed earlier. For example, there's some percussion "swishing" of sorts in Elton John's
Madman Across the Water during transitions...
Regardless, this is fun. I mean really fun, for $35.00, even! These are cool enough that I'm getting a couple more for friends and family as stocking stuffers this Christmas.
Not so big, is it?
http://www.fredsamplifiers.com.au
