pa2v2 amp

[ehlim 0]

You cannot expect much from this entry level headphone amp but looking at its size, compactness and portability; I would say this is worth the money.

 

I have been having it for over a month and I am happy with its audio performance from a portable CD player.

 

Regards

 

 

[[J]-ohn 0]

lol....

 

Look at your discman.

 

Headphone output is the hole(layman term) you insert your earphones.

 

Line out is the hole you find in most mid priced discman from Sony or Panasonic, some cheap new range don'y have this anymore.

[acidboy84 0]

Line out is the hole you find in most mid priced discman from Sony or Panasonic, some cheap new range don'y have this anymore.

 

Some says line out is better as there are no equaliser settings enabled and the sound coming out is more 'natural'.

[jmilo 0]

Line out is the hole you find in most mid priced discman from Sony or Panasonic, some cheap new range don'y have this anymore.

 

Some says line out is better as there are no equaliser settings enabled and the sound coming out is more 'natural'.

true...very true...using the lineout instead of the headphone out will give you a cleaner and crisper sound...

[acidboy84 0]

true...very true...using the lineout instead of the headphone out will give you a cleaner and crisper sound...

 

Is it due to the different DAC being used?

[acidboy84 0]

Anybody know how long does this amp needs for burning in? Saw a post in Head-Fi mentioning that the Hornet took about 200hrs.

 

I just cannot imagine the amount of batteries needed to burn in my PA2V2 that long.

[Mackie 0]

First thing first, what one can't see or hear doesn't mean it ain't there. It takes skills and experience in discerning sound, as in all hobbies of appreciation eg. wine, food, car, etc.

 

acidboy84: I'm sure that as time goes by, you will be able to improve your skill-set and able to discern nuances and subtleties of sound. Another issue is the garbage-in, garbage-out factor. From your profile, you are using a MD player which lacks the resolution of a CD player because MD format is relative more compressed, thus, resulting in a relatively lower resolution. The difference is more pronounced between MP3 and CD formats. Last but not least, give the little amp some time to run in along with your cables. It's still too early to pass judgement now. Don't bother with the time needed to run in your ancillaries now, just listen to the music and while you get more familiar with the sound presentation, you will notice the improvement as time passes. You purchased the system to enjoy music, so stick to it and you would have achieved your goal. Spend months with it and then revert to listening direct from your MD player and I'm sure you would understand the PA2V2 is not just a volume booster. Last but not least, please read through my review and learn that the amp could be charged direct from a charger.

 

Fizban: Line-out/Optical-out from a portable source facilitates connection to an amp or dac. U could only tap the optical beam through an optical cable (TOSLINK). Let's consider line-out in this case. It bypasses the headphone-out circuitry, which usually provides equalisation and volume control, and feeds a fixed-line level (non adjustable) signal to the amp connected through this mean. Signal from headphone-out is of lower quality (relatively speaking) because it travels through more circuitry and thus, less "straight-line/short-path" than signal from line-out. However, there are exceptions when a portable professed to have a line-out option but yet subjected to volume adjustment. Hence, the term "true or dedicated line-out" arises to differentiate between these facilities.

Edited December 22, 2005 by Mackie

[acidboy84 0]

acidboy84: I'm sure that as time goes by, you will be able to improve your skill-set and able to discern nuances and subtleties of sound. Another issue is the garbage-in, garbage-out factor. From your profile, you are using a MD player which lacks the resolution of a CD player because MD format is relative more compressed, thus, resulting in a relatively lower resolution.

 

I'm actually using Hi-MD and currrently I'm using 352Kbps for my ripped CDs or 256Kbps (Hi-SP Atrac3Plus). Isn't the PA2V2 meant for portable use? So I'm not thinking of using the PCM mode on my unit. Whatever it is I just hope as you mention that I'll improve my listning skills.

[razer 0]

honestly, I feel the same way. The PA2V2 doesn't do much for me either. Moreover, I've got a faulty/not well soldered potential metre. Everytime I turn the volume knob, there's this static sound. Sometimes its not present and sometimes it comes back. With test tones like 20hz sine wave sweeps, there's also static. Imbalance is an issue unless the volume knob is all the way to the 7 O clock position. Anything at 3 o clock is unlistenable with alot of left channel while the right remains pretty quiet...

 

Ok, that's the fault I have with my PA2V2. Now talking about the performance of the amp.....I guess the increase it gives for me in terms of SQ isn't too great either. A tighter bass, slightly wider soundstage and that's about all ? Maybe the vocals sounded a tad crisper?

[Mackie 0]

I'm actually using Hi-MD and currrently I'm using 352Kbps for my ripped CDs or 256Kbps (Hi-SP Atrac3Plus). Isn't the PA2V2 meant for portable use? So I'm not thinking of using the PCM mode on my unit. Whatever it is I just hope as you mention that I'll improve my listning skills. 

 

No I don't mean to say that PA2V2 is not suited for portable use and in fact, it should be. What I mean to say U might not find the difference between amped and unamped obvious now because of the source and/or ability to discern. Ripping from CD to whatever rps is still a sort of compression, thus, leading to a certain degree of deterioration in sound quality.

 

The PA2V2 has an Archilles Heel and that is the potentiometer (volume knob). If one uses high impedance cans, this weakness is less prominent as it would be turned up to 11-12 o'clock. But with low impedance cans, imbalance usually happens unless U pull the knob towards U when adjusting volume.

 

The first aspect which struck me is in the transparency department (most may refer it to wider soundstaging here but it's actually quite different). I seem to be able to "see" deeper into the music with this amp when compared to my previous portable amp ie Porta Coda II. YMMV as always.

Edited December 22, 2005 by Mackie

[kross 0]

i have a feeling that the line-out skips the in-build amplification of the cd-player in the sense that the signals comes out un-amplified by the cd player so that when u hear it sounds very raw. but sounds much better after going through the amp, pa2v2 in this case. am i right in saying so??

[Mackie 0]

Technically speaking, you may be right. However, one thing is for sure, the line-out signal is tapped prior to the headphone-out circuitry. Shorter-path and lesser components on signal path contribute to purer sound reproduction.

[monkuboy 0]

Well to add my two cents I have had my PA2V2 for a couple of weeks and have used it through the line outs on an Onkyo C390 cd changer and on my Sony discman, with Grado SR325i's. For $60 US, I think it is a great deal and Gary is a fantastic person to deal with. My question, though, is shouldn't an increase in volume be the ultimate expectation for an amp? How exactly would an amp make the original source sound "better?" By this I mean, how would it know what parts of the original source are "not good" versus "good" and therefore it makes the "not good" sound better but leaves the "good" part alone? If the original source is flawed such as defects in the frequency response, flabby bass, harsh treble, etc., then it would seem like a good amp would simply amplify these things. If it changes these characteristics then it is guilty of distorting the source. Now I can see using certain amp/headphone/source combos because the amp alters the sound to make it more likable to the listener, but when you pair it with another set of headphones or source it could then make the sound unpleasant. I realize that's why people keep experimenting but to me, then we are saying the real purpose of an amp should NOT be a "straight wire with gain" but should instead be to pleasantly color the sound of the original source.

 

By the way, when I first used the PA2V2 there was a lot of static on the volume knob but it went away after turning it up and down a few times. Now there is no static at all.

[Fizban 0]

Hey guys...er....WHERE's the line-out on the IPOD?

 

THAT's my question...

[Absolute0 0]

The iPod has no line-out. You need a pocket dock, or a universal dock to tap its line-out.