It’s off to the races again. This time, ALO have suited up their youngest and most exciting audiophile offspring, The International. This amp features at 24/96kHz USB DAC, discrete analogue/digital sections, a powerful battery, extremely low noise floor, and the must-have feature of the decade: balanced input and output. With all that under the bonnet, you can be sure this youngster will turn heads as it swishes by.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, DAC, headphone amp, Headphones, Review

Triad Audio’s L3 is one of the biggest battery-powered carry-around headphone amps that TMA has gone over. The other, MST’s FiQuest, is a champion of customisation and performance. While not nearly as customisable as the FiQuest, the L3 commutes from HiFi component to road warrior with less hassle. It is also one of the handsomest large amps this audio fool has seen.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: headphone amp, Review, Triad Audio

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Read the rest of Tralucent T1 portable headphone amp in review

© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: headphone amp, Review, Tralucent

Two years ago, boutique manufacturer MST rocked headfi by teaming up with iBasso to create what was arguably the highest quality portable amplifier on the market. Getting one required some patience as MST are a small outfit with a few employees. Their FiQuest, which has been upgraded in the year 2012, is better than ever. In this review, TouchMyApps will be looking at two versions, plus a small optical DAC.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: FiQuest, headphone amp, MST

About two months ago, the particulars of the Sony PHA-1 were leaked to the internet. About the same time, I suffered the second of what would become three intense bouts with an active stomach ulcer. In my circles, both made news. I’d would have to set up endless appointments with doctors that would cancel trips, meals, would-be drunken stumbling along busy Japanese streets; more importantly, however, the world of high-end portable audio had hit the mainstream. Sony stepped into the ring.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, DAC, headphone amp, Review

After an evening of Ghostbusters, it’s hard to want anything more than a date with the Sigourney Weaver of 1991. Keymaster? That’s me. Hell yeah! But, returning to my desk, I am met by another comedy great – or the likeness of one. Indeed, Bender lives on in ALO’s Pan Am, a wonderfully competent full-size headphone amplifier/USB DAC that just happens to, like Bender, enjoy galavanting around different spaces.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ALO, audiophile, headphone amplifier

Centrance’ entrance at TouchMyApps is the Mac mini-sized DACmini PX, an all-in-one DAC/headphone amp/power amp that plays with the big guys. Most of you already know Centrance and are familiar with their excellent USB DACs for guitar, microphone, and headphones. You know that their audio devices are free of noise. You know that they put on a steady and graceful show no matter what they are driving. You know that this review will end with a kiss.

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Read the rest of Centrance DACmini PX Audiophile Desktop System in Review

© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CEntrance, headphone amplifier, Review

I have high blood pressure. I get excited easily. For my weight and height, I have a large bum. Fortunately, after applying minus 6 and minus 5 contacts to my eyes, my vision is good – I can tell a masterpiece when I see it. I’m certainly not one. The ALO National is. But for the mistake of ending early, so is its forebear: the Continental V1 nearly is, too. The Continental V2 makes the grade, too. It shares most of The National’s good stuff and brings to the table a sound all its own.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ALO, headphone amp, Review

Last month, Musica Acoustics had me photograph their new MyST 1866, a portable DAC unit from MyCroft that Dimitri was very excited about. The lad is almost always lost for words about cool new things, so I patted him on the shoulder and took the unit to my office. I shot the thing. I turned it on and off. I listened to it. Then I emailed Dimitri and threatened a review.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, DAC, headphone amp, Myst

Okay, apes, it’s time to toss bones to the firmament. It’s time to beat on your mates and rip sinews from the teeth of angry panthers. Evolution’s catching us up again. This time, however, it’s the Germans, not Americans, who are pressing us to the edge of the audiophile solar system. The eponymous VorzAMP has its sights and prices set high, and has been the cause of an infatuated uproar among Japanese audiophiles for quite a turn. I think you will agree with them that you don’t need a Discovery-sized headphone amp to blast off toward Jupiter. The lovely fräulein, VorzAMP, is beautiful to hold, behold, and listen to.

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Read the rest of Vorzüge VorzAMPpure and VorzAMPduo headphone amps in Review – There’s none more black

© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, headphone amp, rating-kiss, Review

There’s nothing wrong with cheap. I eat cheap. I wear cheap. I make cheap jokes. And for the longest time, Jaben shipped mainly cheap amps to my cohort: the masses, God bless ‘em. But Jaben have gotten off that kick. They’ll ring the charity bells in another season. Today is the day of the Porta Tube+ valve headphone amp/DAC for your iPad/Mac, a delightful machine for bourgeois ears, and sound fit for a king.

The name of that kingdom? GoVibe.

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© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, GoVibe, headphone amp, Jaben, rating-grab, Review

Last week I half-arsedly introduced two accessories made specifically for the iDevice audiophile, the Venturecraft Go-DAP Unit 4.0 and the Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo. Both are able and willing to replace larger, more expensive and decidedly untransportable HiFi gear, but only one is worthy of doing so.

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Read the rest of Audiophile Friday #1: Cypher Labs Algorhythm SOLO vs Venturecraft Go-DAP Unit 4.0 – Digital Output

© shigzeo for TouchMyApps, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiophile, Audiophile Friday, Cypher Labs, Go-DAP, Review, SOLO, VentureCraft