Comments on Profile Post by k1arg

Maybe you just like colored gear? JK I haven't heard Phonitor X but someone else I trust said it was pretty transparent and smooth but and sometimes that can be boring and leave you unengaged with the music.

I bought one a year ago. Returned it. It is too transparent in the sound. It's not clinical, definitely not warm. It's like looking at a perfect hologram of something vs the real thing. The brain knows.

@elnrikthe X-Ray of headamps?

Interesting. So if you want accuracy it seems like Phonitor X is a good option.

I feel like the Phonitor X was a perfectly matched transplant organ that my body rejected anyway. It is super revealing of your DAC and source material. As close to "wire with gain" as I've ever heard - which many people think is the ideal concept... until they hear it.

I think the X can be a fantastic amp, but you better have everything else in your chain dialed in perfectly. The X will make you hear everything you don't like about your setup. Extremely revealing of DAC characteristics. Points out every lossy file as being lossy.

So it ruins music, gotcha lol

I prefer to be optimistic. It makes fantastic test tones.

You can still be optimistic.. that it ruins music.

No guarantees that I'm not a closet lover of colored gear, but (from memory) the Phonitor was basically the anti-GSX Mk 2 of accurate SS amps, with the DSHA-3F having more than the best of both. Anyone who thinks the Phonitor does dynamics well, macro or especially micro, has me confused.

@Elnrik yeah but I want to know how precise those sine waves sound

I use it as a modding reference. Needs a colorful source to sound fun and enjoyable, definitely doesn't pair well with schiit but with an R2R in front of it, killer.

It's accurate, but flat and boring and sterile. It's why I kept NOT recommending it in the best amps for HD800 thread. The HD800 responds much better to stuff that doesn't sound flat and boring, that is more immediate, more real. A little color for HD800 helps too. No love from me for Phonitor. Honestly think Magni 3+ or even Heresy at high gain for $99 is as much was I would spend .

It got popular, and the company was happy to play (sell) to a much larger audience. Originally it was sold as a professional monitoring tool, and, as such, it was probably meant to be flat.

I always fancied it for it knobs. Yes, I've heard it, and probably with a HD800. I think I liked it. I don't recall how long ago it was or what my audiogram looked like. I don't have a way to know flat any longer.