See above. Sooo musical!

Well, if you compared to solid state, rather than to real live music, you might take a while to get used to the sound. Tubes do sound more laid back. But as I said, they also sound more real. So, decide for yourself.

Earmax Pro

If my review is to tell you anything at all, you need to know my set up. So here goes: Shunyata Taipan and Hydra 6 power line gear. Densen 400 XS CD-player (if you are not familiar with the company, read up on it at www.densen.dk. I’d say the sound is somewhere between Meridian and Rega. Highly analogue.) Then Goertz silver cabling to head phone amp. Finally, Sennheiser 650s with Moon Audio Silver Dragon (version 2) cable. By the way, that’s another thing I felt grateful for – the new Silver Dragon. Nothing (and I mean nothing) like it to lift the Sennheiser veil and make for a highly detailed yet truly natural sound.

I sent out for an Earmax, after reading the review by Ken Kessler which I mentioned above. It had all the key words in it: “feeling of being there”, “musical” and etc. I bought mine (with a money back guarantee) at the Tube Amp Doctor in Germany. It came within days.

First of all, since looks are important, this thing is sooooo beautiful! I read some comments by people who liked an earlier finish better, and I cannot comment on that. But this thing looks exquisite as it is. No pictures on the internet convey this. The finish is very high grade, the craftsmanship is great. There is only one button on this thing, which is the volume control with an Alps pot inside. Both X-Cans and Lehmann use that, too, but it doesn’t feel nearly as exquisite, as – well – expensive, as with the EMP. I won’t go into features, there are none. No in-and-out loop, no gain switch, no nothing. But I don’t need that either, since my CD-player features two sets of outputs. For me, as I said (and repeated, I know), it’s all about the music. So what about that?

In technical terms: The bass is abysmal. It might be even deeper than the Lehmann’s and is a world away from anything the X-Can can do. The midrange is beautifully structured, full and rich, leaving both competitors far behind (the Lehmann farther than the X-Can), the upper end is full of beautiful detail and airy, without sounding as analytic as the Lehmann does or as (slightly) unfocused, as the X-Can. The soundstage is big and well structured. I have never heard a head phone amp create such a feeling of space.

In musical terms: Music through the EMP sounds like music through hardly anything at all. Meaning you just don’t notice you are listening to an amp. You are too involved with the music! The music is authentic and immediate - the two most important adjectives to describe high end gear, in my book. And the first two to come to mind when listening to the Earmax Pro.

A few examples:

Bill Evans Trio live at the Village Vanguard. With the X-Can, the conversational structure of three equally important instruments never really came out, mostly because of the weak bass. The Lehmann brought that out, beautifully – only none of the three instruments sounded the way they really do. This is the music I know best from live gigs, and the Lehmann doesn’t put me there at all. The EMP combines the completeness of the Lehmanns musical picture, presents all three instruments equally and clearly separate from each other, and on top of that makes each one of them – percussion, stand up bass and piano – sound (just about) the way they really do. Lovely!

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, When I go; Tracys EP. These are two of my favourite voices in popular music. Well, as popular as folk is, today… But that’s another matter. Both use a lot of fine tuning in their phrasing, sometimes more or less telling the stories, then singing beautifully together. Carter at times being ironic, sometimes a little silly, always very human. Tracy in the background, sometimes leaving that, adding a wistful note to Dave’s lyrics. On these two CDs you get 6 or 7 different guitar-like instruments. With the X-Can, the music is quite beautiful, but the bottom drops out at small volumes and the differences between instruments used are not very clear. Also, there could be more snap to single guitar notes. The Lehmann gets that right, but … well, see above.
With the EMP all those instruments have a very different character. The voices are so human, it makes me weep to think of Dave Carter’s death. The Earmax pro also does something more: It reproduces the feel of the setting. “When I go” was recorded in Tracy Grammers kitchen, for budget reasons. The recording is far from bad, it’s, well, homely. And I never got that feeling the way I did with the EMP. Quite astonishing!

Whitesnake live in the heart if the city. (What? Yes, yes… a few drinks and my past caught up with me….) This should have been a home run for the Lehmann. It wasn’t. Yes, the guitars do have more attack through the Lehmann. But the EMP a) creates a feeling of space, of being right there inside that BIG Hammersmith Odeon, that got me hooked. The audience sounds more like an audience than anything I heard in my life. Yes, in my life. And as Coverdale gets carried away on “Ain’t no love” or bursts into the opening lines of “Mistreated”, the emotional impact is so intense! Also, Moody’s guitar might not be just as snappy, but it’s got a blues feel to it, that – yet again – sounds just right. This is part of the sound that distinguished Whitesnake from say Rainbow or Deep Purple in the first place and I love it. The X-Can might be the most effective compromise for this kind of music. Then again, the feeling of being there (though not as non-existing as with the Lehmann), is not quite as intense as through the Earmax Pro. Nevertheless, if this is your preferred kind of music, check out the X-Can, too.

(Sober again…) Beethovens 5th piano concert. Same picture. The EMP takes the completeness and dynamics of the Lehmann, adds spaciousness and clearly distinguishable and authentic sounding instruments and makes for a musical experience that I was unprepared for. I never thought the actual feeling of a symphonic concert hall, the swelling up and down of the orchestra, the beautiful intimacy of the solo instrument could be reproduced like this. With this kind of music, the EMP even blows my Pathos – Dynaudio combo away and that is saying plenty!

Bachs “Well tempered piano”. Don’t even ask. The cembalo is so hard to get to sound right, and the EMP does it. Usually this instrument just makes you wish you were listening to a recording using an actual piano, instead. But not this time. There is so much finesse to every note played, such an airiness to the instrument’s sound. This is beauty manifest. This is also home turf for the Earmax Pro, neither of the others even plays in the same league.

So is this the perfect head phone amp? Of course not. But, man, does it ever come close! If it came at twice the price - I am still sober – I’d still say it’s worth every cent. At its price, it’s a steal! Get two, put one in the bank, enjoy the other – music never sounded so real before.

Similar Products Used:

X-Can V3, Lehmann BLC

Great dynamics, very deep bass, extended treble. Good soundstage. But that's just technical terms. Above all, the EMP has an unbelievably immediate, authentic sound. As close to being there, as I have been.

Nothing comes to mind. Well, if youhave used solid state so far, it might take some getting used to. Compare to live music, not to other gear.

Earmax Pro

I sent out for an Earmax, after reading the review by Ken Kessler which I mentioned above. It had all the key words in it: “feeling of being there”, “musical” and etc. I bought mine (with a money back guarantee) at the Tube Amp Doctor in Germany. It came within days.

First of all, since looks are important, this thing is sooooo beautiful! I read some comments by people who liked an earlier finish better, and I cannot comment on that. But this thing looks exquisite as it is. No pictures on the internet convey this. The finish is very high grade, the craftsmanship is great. There is only one button on this thing, which is the volume control with an Alps pot inside.

I gave the EMP 20 hours of break-in time. It’s supposed to need 100 or so, but I couldn’t wait. Nor did I have to! After 20 hours this little unit produced such musical beauty, such face splitting smiles! (Well, “demented” is the word my wife used, but let’s not get into that…) The sound is tube-like, in so far that each and every single voice or instrument sounds just like it really does. I can truly say that within moments I found myself sitting in that jazz club, that chamber, that symphony hall, listening in to the real thing. The Earmax Pro – Silver Dragon V2 – Sennheiser 650 combo comes so close to the actual sound, it’s unbelievable. IIt actually matches my Pathos – Dynaudio combo in this respect which is 9 times (!) the price. Let’s see, if I can explain this in detail.

In technical terms: The bass is abysmal. It might be even deeper than the Lehmann’s and is a world away from anything the X-Can can do. The midrange is beautifully structured, full and rich, leaving both competitors far behind (the Lehmann farther than the X-Can), the upper end is full of beautiful detail and airy, without sounding as analytic as the Lehmann does or as (slightly) unfocused, as the X-Can. The soundstage is big and well structured. I have never heard a head phone amp create such a feeling of space.

In musical terms: Music through the EMP sounds like music through hardly anything at all. Meaning you just don’t notice you are listening to an amp. You are too involved with the music! The music is authentic and immediate - the two most important adjectives to describe high end gear, in my book. And the first two to come to mind when listening to the Earmax Pro.

A few examples:

Bill Evans Trio live at the Village Vanguard. With the X-Can, the conversational structure of three equally important instruments never really came out, mostly because of the weak bass. The Lehmann brought that out, beautifully – only none of the three instruments sounded the way they really do. This is the music I know best from live gigs, and the Lehmann doesn’t put me there at all. The EMP combines the completeness of the Lehmanns musical picture, presents all three instruments equally and clearly separate from each other, and on top of that makes each one of them – percussion, stand up bass and piano – sound (just about) the way they really do. Lovely!

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, When I go; Tracys EP. These are two of my favourite voices in popular music. Well, as popular as folk is, today… But that’s another matter. Both use a lot of fine tuning in their phrasing, sometimes more or less telling the stories, then singing beautifully together. Carter at times being ironic, sometimes a little silly, always very human. Tracy in the background, sometimes leaving that, adding a wistful note to Dave’s lyrics. On these two CDs you get 6 or 7 different guitar-like instruments. With the X-Can, the music is quite beautiful, but the bottom drops out at small volumes and the differences between instruments used are not very clear. Also, there could be more snap to single guitar notes. The Lehmann gets that right, but … well, see above.
With the EMP all those instruments have a very different character. The voices are so human, it makes me weep to think of Dave Carter’s death. The Earmax pro also does something more: It reproduces the feel of the setting. “When I go” was recorded in Tracy Grammers kitchen, for budget reasons. The recording is far from bad, it’s, well, homely. And I never got that feeling the way I did with the EMP. Quite astonishing!

Whitesnake live in the heart if the city. (What? Yes, yes… a few drinks and my past caught up with me….) This should have been a home run for the Lehmann. It wasn’t. Yes, the guitars do have more attack through the Lehmann. But the EMP a) creates a feeling of space, of being right there inside that BIG Hammersmith Odeon, that got me hooked. The audience sounds more like an audience than anything I heard in my life. Yes, in my life. And as Coverdale gets carried away on “Ain’t no love” or bursts into the opening lines of “Mistreated”, the emotional impact is so intense! Also, Moody’s guitar might not be just as snappy, but it’s got a blues feel to it, that – yet again – sounds just right. This is part of the sound that distinguished Whitesnake from say Rainbow or Deep Purple in the first place and I love it. The X-Can might be the most effective compromise for this kind of music. Then again, the feeling of being there (though not as non-existing as with the Lehmann), is not quite as intense as through the Earmax Pro. Nevertheless, if this is your preferred kind of music, check out the X-Can, too.

(Sober again…) Beethovens 5th piano concert. Same picture. The EMP takes the completeness and dynamics of the Lehmann, adds spaciousness and clearly distinguishable and authentic sounding instruments and makes for a musical experience that I was unprepared for. I never thought the actual feeling of a symphonic concert hall, the swelling up and down of the orchestra, the beautiful intimacy of the solo instrument could be reproduced like this. With this kind of music, the EMP even blows my Pathos – Dynaudio combo away and that is saying plenty!

Bachs “Well tempered piano”. Don’t even ask. The cembalo is so hard to get to sound right, and the EMP does it. Usually this instrument just makes you wish you were listening to a recording using an actual piano, instead. But not this time. There is so much finesse to every note played, such an airiness to the instrument’s sound. This is beauty manifest. This is also home turf for the Earmax Pro, neither of the others even plays in the same league.

So is this the perfect head phone amp? Of course not. But man, does it ever get close!

Similar Products Used:

Some headphone amps by Head and Pro Jet, Musical FIdelity X-Can V3, Lehmann BLC.

Very clear, built in e.q. and crossover, subwoofer adjustable, good looking, lots of power=8 volts, great product and very nice deatils added with it, built in shock alarm, and 3 rca outlets

not a detatchable face, very pricy, hard to get, can only use if you have amps

This is the best head unit that i have ever purchased, but it is hard to come by and very expensive.

Similar Products Used:

premier, jvc, and regular pioneer head unit.

After auditioning the EARMAX headphone amp and comparing it to Musical Fidelity X-Cans, X-PSU power supply and X-10D CD player buffer, I was truly impressed with the EARMAX. The cost of the 3 Musical Fidelity products equals the price of EARMAX so this is a fair comparison. First of all the product is the coolest looking piece of equipment I have seen, especially if you are into tubes. The resin box sports 3 tubes sticking out of its top with a gold wire forming a protective barrier for the tubes. Listening in the dark gives the "tube glow" and gives you a cozy feeling. After about an hour of warm up (the unit I auditioned was a demo so there was no break-in time involved) I plugged in my Sennheiser HD-600 headphones and sat down to listen. Right away I was blown away by the bloom the instruments had! I right away assumed this will come at the expense of transient and resolution capabilities. That never happened. On a close mike accoustical guitar solo recording, the leading and trailing edge transients were there in all their glory. The strings had tremendous speed and attack but also a sense of fullness and bloom, something I have not heard with solid state headphone amps yet. On some solo vocal CD's, the voices had alot more body to them, you could hear the singers take in a breath during pauses and somehow the musical message was alot more clear and I felt a sense of singers presense much more clearly and alot less veiled. While listening to some high enery jazz recordings, I was truly impressed with how deep, tight and controlled the base was! This was not something I expected from this tube product.
The base was much deeper and more controlled than with the Musical Fidelity product. The EARMAX had tons more detail, resolution, base and was overall much more musical than the Musical Fidelity product. As I sat there in total exstacy listening to Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" recording the trumpet and the sax stirring my soul, I suddenly had a sense that the cymbals were lacking the sparkle and a sense of "air" I was used to hearing. This was confirmed on multiple other CD's I listened to afterwards. Yes the EARMAX is rolled off on top. Not severly but enough to notice. The Musical Fidelity product had a greater sense of sparkle and "air" in the highs. This is not a major drawback as it will depend on your choice of interconnects and CD playback equipment. Brighter sounding interconnects and CD players will probably put things back in balance. (Theta products come to mind.) Overall, I was truly impressed with EARMAX and would strongly reccomend it to anyone looking for a highly musical, refined product that will drive any headphones with at least 200 ohm impeadance and its listener to exstacy. 5 stars!!!!
T

I'm not going to profess to being something more than I'm not, but I know good-sounding music when I hear it. The Earmax coupled with the Sennheiser HD-600 is a winner. Rich soundstage and clarity, a tighter and deeper base than constipation, the Earmax can improve upon any source. I tested it with a crappy CD player and the sound improved so much that I couldn't think of using the CD player without the Earmax unless, of course, you couple it with a a high-priced reference system. For the price, you could not get the same sound without a system ten times its price, but then again comparing a headphone system to a speaker system is like comparing apples and oranges. There are limitations to a headphone system, but the Earmax and HD-600 will not disappoint and will in fact surprise. I tested it with the Proceed CDP and Mark Levinson No. 39, and was sold on those players. The Earmax is that good and it could only be made better by better components. For those who are wondering what audiophiles are talking about, the Earmax can explain it to you for a small fraction of the price.

Lush wonderful tube sound in spades. Very good inner detailing that sounds natural, not etched. Excellent build quality. Drop dead cuteness. Drop dead quiet-there is no tube hiss, rush, roar, or hum.

It can only drive headphones of 300 ohms or higher, unless you get the EarMax Pro version, which costs $150.00 more. The expense of tube replacement, while reasonable, may be a factor to consider.

Rob Damm's right about this one...this is a great little headphone amp. It makes my HeadRoom Supreme and Bryston sound like they have fur on them, by comparison.
This piece's strong points are a SMOOOOTH, lush tube midrange, sweet treble, and deep, full bass-rounder than solid state, still very satisfying. Excellent inner detail without sounding etched or hyped in anyway. Pair this little amp with a pair of Sennheiser HD 580's or 600's, you've got a little reference quality system you can take with you to the stereo job to hear how that $3000.00 CDP or preamp REALLY sounds. Or, you can just stay home and enjoy it, forgot about all this audiophool business.
Scuttlebut over at HeadWize is this little unit doesn't cut it in the bass, even with 300 ohm Sennheisers (the EarMax regular, which I'm reviewing, is recommended only with 300 ohm and higher headphones). Don't believe it. Sure, if I REALLY cranked it with bass heavy tunes, I could make the bass crap out. After all, this is an OTL amp-the whole onus of driving your cans is on the tubes alone. Trust me...this is God's way of telling you're damaging your hearing. I should know, as I've got a little tinnitus now from being an idiot with the HeadRoom Supreme and groove heavy tunes when I 1st got it. This unit's bass will sound great at sane but still plenty loud listening levels. If the bass starts muddying, PLEASE TURN IT DOWN, because you are listening too f#@$% loud.
While this piece sounds great with any kind of music, its raison de etre is classical...what it does with the sound of massed strings, string quartets, grand pianos, and female vocals is what it's all about. I'm sure there are better headphone amps out there, but at major caliber prices. This one's more than good enough for me, and I'm pretty demanding.

Similar Products Used:

HeadRoom Supreme, Bryston B60 headphone jack.

Sweet tube sound in spades. Explosive bass. Dead silent noise floor. Fits in the palm of your hand.

Build quality - they no longer come in the classy looking metal chassis, but plain plastic.

This is a review of the upgraded Earmax Pro. Currently I'm using it to drive my Grado RS-1's with a NOS Sylvania 12AT7 and a pair of Russian military 6922's replacing the stock tubes. The sound of this diminutive unit is awesome. Smooth, full bodied, and adsolutely unfatiguing. The bass is very uncharacteristic of most tube designs - it's rich, weighty, deep, rippling, fat bass! I love it! The midrange is so pure, and the highs are extended but have that tube sweetness. Sense of space and spatial elements are excellent but a tad behind the Sugden. If you love the sound of tubes but not the lean bass I can highly recommend this amp. It just doesn't get any better than this... Alright it does, but it'll cost you 5k. Start saving your pennies!

Similar Products Used:

Headroom Airhead, ASL MG-Head DT, MF X-Cans V2, Sugden Headmaster.

Exquisite sweet detail without harshness

Fuggedaboudit

Listening to a Patty Larkin CD (Good Thing) last night, I was stunned by the delicate detail and magical midrange. It was a revelation to me how much treble detail you can get with no harshness. It was also a revelation how musical and exciting Larkin's stuff is - it sounded a little flat on my speakers (Maggie 1.6s driven by NAD 514 CDP; Emotive Erato preamp, GTA SE-40 amp, standard). The Earmax gives me something to shoot for in my preamp/amp/speaker system. Compared to the headphone jack of my NAD C340, the Earmax has a fuller, more liquid midrange and no harshness in the treble. Other headphone amps I may try someday: Wheatfield HA-2; David Berning MicroZOTL. But I'm in no hurry.

Associated equipment: Sennheiser HD600 headphones, XLO PRO 150 interconnects between CDP and preamp, cheapo no-name interconnects between fixed output of preamp to Earmax (new interconnects on order!)

This will let you know what audiophiles are talking about without putting you in the poor house. Bloom, inner detail, crystalline highs, stygian bass... It's all here, just smaller.

So "cute" your wife might want it for herself!

With this little jewel, and a pair of Sennheiser 580's (total cost: under 800.00) you'll be able to hear all your sources have to offer. Honestly, I've spent about 2000.00 (Nautilus 805)on speakers, another 2500.00 (C-J CAV50) on an amp, and I can say that the Earmax/580 combo is the closest I can get to the music. I'd imagine I'd have to spend a lot more... maybe by a factor of ten... to get this kind of detail and effortless presentation with a speaker/amp combo. Of course, headphone are inherintly limited (they are stuck on you head!!) as far as soundstage and spacial resolution go, and I'm not letting my speakers gather dust or anything, but this is the real deal: a mainline into the music.

Similar Products Used:

Headroom Supreme and Basestation one, Musical Fidelity X-Cans, Headroom Airhead, Headphone jacks on portable CD players.