Audioengine D1 -vs- HRT HeadStreamer
Jun 27, 2012 5:53:43 GMT
Post by dalethorn on Jun 27, 2012 5:53:43 GMT
I thought I'd do an overview of my experience with these two pocket sized DACs-plus-headphone-amps instead of the usual Amazon puff piece. Both are quite small and can be stuffed into a walkaround bag, but since the D1 has a big volume knob on the front and non-recessed RCA jacks on the back, the Headstreamer is much more pocket-friendly. In use of course, the D1's volume knob is very handy, not to mention the extra flexibility of RCA line-level outputs and an optical input for 192 khz data rates. On the other hand, the Headstreamer has data rate LED's and the D1 has none. The D1's power light doesn't vary to reflect data rate either.
Used with headphones there are no cable issues, so that's a plus. I can't say how good the headphone amps are compared to the DAC's, although I suppose you could with the D1 if you're driving a power amp off the RCA outputs. Assuming none of the headphone amp's electronics are in that signal path, but I don't know that.
The two devices connected to two laptops side by side running the same player (Foobar2000 v1.1.12) sound very similar. Using my best tracks I'd give the edge to the D1, but it's not clear cut like it was with the iStreamer -vs- the Headstreamer, where the Headstreamer easily won in spite of being half the price of the iStreamer-plus-headphone-amp.
You might expect a $140 to $170 USD combo of headphone amp and USB DAC to sound like crap, but they sound much better than any PC headphone output I've heard, so I think that's reasonable for the price. Plus the fact that with either of these, but especially the very small Headstreamer, you can tuck it into any small space, hang a headphone around your neck, and plug into anything anywhere that has a standard USB port. That's a level of convenience that's totally new for me.
Of all the reviews I've read, I think all were overly optimistic about the power/volume capability driving headphones, since the total package of DAC and headphone amp gets all its power from the USB bus. Driving the new, efficient 32 ohm Harman/Kardon CL headphone, both amps could clip pretty easily with dynamic FLAC tracks at moderately loud volumes. I can't imagine driving the likes of a Sennheiser HD800 with either of these unless you're in a very quiet place and keep the volume "just" loud enough for minimal enjoyment. That's not very optimistic, "minimal enjoyment" - but it's the best I can do.
I haven't detected even the faintest amount of warmth from either of these metal boxes when in heavy use, but with USB power maybe that's to be expected. I don't have any USB-3 ports handy to see if that provides more power for dynamics, but I'll keep my eye out.
Used with headphones there are no cable issues, so that's a plus. I can't say how good the headphone amps are compared to the DAC's, although I suppose you could with the D1 if you're driving a power amp off the RCA outputs. Assuming none of the headphone amp's electronics are in that signal path, but I don't know that.
The two devices connected to two laptops side by side running the same player (Foobar2000 v1.1.12) sound very similar. Using my best tracks I'd give the edge to the D1, but it's not clear cut like it was with the iStreamer -vs- the Headstreamer, where the Headstreamer easily won in spite of being half the price of the iStreamer-plus-headphone-amp.
You might expect a $140 to $170 USD combo of headphone amp and USB DAC to sound like crap, but they sound much better than any PC headphone output I've heard, so I think that's reasonable for the price. Plus the fact that with either of these, but especially the very small Headstreamer, you can tuck it into any small space, hang a headphone around your neck, and plug into anything anywhere that has a standard USB port. That's a level of convenience that's totally new for me.
Of all the reviews I've read, I think all were overly optimistic about the power/volume capability driving headphones, since the total package of DAC and headphone amp gets all its power from the USB bus. Driving the new, efficient 32 ohm Harman/Kardon CL headphone, both amps could clip pretty easily with dynamic FLAC tracks at moderately loud volumes. I can't imagine driving the likes of a Sennheiser HD800 with either of these unless you're in a very quiet place and keep the volume "just" loud enough for minimal enjoyment. That's not very optimistic, "minimal enjoyment" - but it's the best I can do.
I haven't detected even the faintest amount of warmth from either of these metal boxes when in heavy use, but with USB power maybe that's to be expected. I don't have any USB-3 ports handy to see if that provides more power for dynamics, but I'll keep my eye out.