DNA Starlett Impressions

Tonight was fun. Thanks to @famish99 for hosting me and @Joshvar and letting us sample his impressive booze collection, of which I was particularly taken with his excellent Rum (the El Dorado being my fav).





The only thing I have to contribute is an update on hearing the Starlett with the HD650 (stock and modded), and f**k... I could just live with this headphone/amp combo and never miss the 800. It's that good. Easy to forget how much the ancient Sennheiser scales and scales and easily competes with the new kids on the block at a fraction of the cost.

Sorry for the crappy pics but I spend more on gear than my phone.

 

I liked the Starlett a lot. This is my first time listening to a DNA amp and I can see why people are fans of the sound. The Starlett had effortless mids and lower treble with no haze and great layering. I hesitate to describe them more technically since the amp got me into the music quickly and I think that's praise on its own. The sentiment I got with it was that it is the SW51's teacher, both sound eerily similar, with the Starlett doing everything a bit better than the SW51.

Nitpicks (only because it's expensive and people should know what they're getting into) I don't know if it's just colt's or all of them or how we had it hooked up, but Josh and I had issues with noise when touching the volume pot and also the XLR port was hard to unplug. Acoustically, I'd say I wish it had a bit more bass and attack. Perhaps that's how it seems effortless but there were some tracks that I wish it rendered drums and bass guitar better to get into the groove.

If I didn't have the Af or have to worry about the hassle of selling it, I would definitely want to pick up the Starlett for myself, especially when factoring how much cheaper this tube set is over my current one.

 

Big thanks to @Donald North, my Starlett arrived a few weeks earlier than I was expecting and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it since last Tuesday!!

The amp looks incredible. I love the bold color, design, details and overall build quality.

Equipment: RPi/DigiOne w/Roon > Gungnir A2 > Freya S > Starlett > HD600/HD6XX/Focal Clear/ZMF Aeolus

The first thing I noticed was the blackness. Listening to London Grammar it was like a movie dream sequence where all you can see is the singer in a spotlight the band off to the sides blackness all around. The music just appears out of nowhere. And I think this helps in the next area. The sense of depth, stage, and placement of the instruments. This is one characteristic I enjoy and if I hear an amp that just sounds closed or congested, I lose interest quickly. But the Starlett just had me smiling and saying “wow.”

With the space and layering you can just sit back, listen and almost tell if the saxophone player jamming is leaning back or forward. That’s the incredible amount of depth you get, way more than just an instrument or sound alone. You can close your eyes and place the band members, vocals up front, guitar just to the right a step back, bass left and back and drums set behind the singer. With the mid-fi amps I have owned you don’t get this huge arrangement or change in space.

In addition there is this coherence in space. I was listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela and there was a moment while they were panning with the guitar and its perfectly seamless as it travels from right to left, no blobs just smooth panning like a movie. It just places you right there in the music.

Moving on to treble, again smooth, Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet in “Open Sesame” is a great test for treble. Some amp/headphone pairings screw this up but the Starlett just nails it. It’s so enjoyable to just listen to him wail. And it’s smooth in a way that still has gobs of detail not in smeared smooth way as used to tame harsh treble.

The mids are where it’s at and for me the Starlett perfectly places the vocals. They are just a bit forward and present but neither overpowering nor lacking, just right.

The bass is liquid smooth with soft attack and decay but still impactful. It doesn’t have the punch or slam of the Mjolnir 2 or Jot but the bass is there and with the Clears it extends deep. And during SRV’s Voodoo Chile when the bass driving, the drums attacking and SRV is in full attack mode it just keeps its composure. So many other amps I’ve heard just fall apart and you lose the individual instruments thus turning into a melee. The Starlett just shines does its thing and waits for the next riff.

Final thoughts, you know it’s pretty good when you listen to a song you know so well and in your head is the same note or tone that you hear a microsecond later. It plays along with you while at times introducing you to new experiences you’ve not yet heard. And even with the volume cranked up to near threshold it continues to stay together. I’m very fond of this amp, it does so much right and it has this tone that reminds me of pre-CBS Fender amps which I’ve admired for decades.

HD6XX
The ECP T4 opened my eyes to what these headphones can do but I think the Starlett improves them a little more. Mids and treble shine. I preferred these out of the balanced output vs IEC SE (High Ohm). I’m slightly bass shy and on the IEC output it was just a bit too much for me, the bass was starting to bleed/overpower the mids. I’m an oddity, most probably won’t have an issue.

HD600s
Very similar to the HD6XX but less of an issue on the IEC output.

Focal Clears
These are my favorite headphones and I loved the way they sound on the Starlett. The smoothness of the amp tames the treble which can be an issue on some other amps. But I have no issues with screaming vocals, horns or cymbals. I preferred the balanced output with these as it added a bit more bass impact.

ZMF Aeolus
This is a tough headphone for me. So many times I love the bass and sound while other times the recessed mids make me toss them to the side. With the Starlett, I notice it has a slightly forward presentation and that plays well with the Aeolus. I still struggle with these but they do work well if you like the ZMF sound.

I’ve cycled through a few mid-fi amps but after the ZDT jr, I started to find what I was looking for, and with the ECP T4 and now the Startlett, I’m pretty content. It’s a good place to be.

Pics or it didn’t happen…. And trying my best @atomicbob amp/beverage pairing..

 

I had had a similar issue with my ecp L-2, but later realized that it was due to poor grounding. The issue was completely gone when I plugged the amp into a properly grounded outlet.

 

The scratchy pot isn't the amp. It is something upstream, DC problem, whatever. When I touch the base of the RCA cables the scratch vanishes.

I haven't been motivated to deal with it as I've been too busy enjoying music. I will at some point, but rest assured there is nothing wrong with Donald's work.

 

It's highly likely it's a grounding issue since we had the amp on an isolation transformer, but a different power outlet due to non-ideal meet conditions. Ultimately, it was listed as a nitpick since for example, the Af has a non-conductive knob which makes it immune to such issues. @ChaChaRealSmooth next time Colt brings it over, I'll have to try it using the IEC output, I just didn't have any good TRS terminated cables for my 800S.

Just because I nitpick something doesn't mean I don't like it, and even if I don't like it you don't need my affirmation to enjoy the things you like. I know plenty of people that hate on my Af, doesn't stop me from loving it. It's just an opinion guys.

 

Been living with the stock HD650/Starlett the past few days. And this is the best I've ever heard the 650, full stop.

And there is no desire for the modded version as Starlett punches quite clearly through the stock "squareness" and the Uber magic mids blossom with plenty of extension on both ends. There is actual hard hitting, deep bass! Soundstage is quite larger than I'm used to with this headphone. Very much a "can't stop listening" factor going on. And very much an endgame option for cheap. I always found the mids take a bit of a hit with the modded 650 in exchange for slightly better technicalities. And the Starlett's mids are to die for, so it's an ideal pairing.

This has been my go to for every genre besides classical, where it is completely destroyed by the HD800. Brilliant having two headphone outs, easy to just grab the 800 when I'm itching for Tchaikovsky or Beethoven without having to plug in.

I also notice quite a difference with the balanced connection with the 800. Obviously better separation/layering/clarity... slightly better microdynamics/microdetail.

The amp that keeps on giving.

 

I’m curious since I heard both Sonnett 2, which had very rounded edges and softer attacks and Stratus which had some roundness to attacks but slammed. Where does Starlett fall on the spectrum between these other DNA amps? The above impressions all point to closer to Sonnett 2.

I think Colt is saying cheap because $2K versus $3K for TOTL sound. Which is true, but only if TOTL sound which previously started with Stratus (in the DNA range).

 

I read this before stated by you, Marv, etc., but the impressions seem to make the Starlett seem much softer than Stratus. That was why I posted my question. I’m not trying to be picky or upset anyone here, just hoping to clarify. However, if Starlett is in the same league as Stellaris, then Colt is absolutely right that the Statlett is a great f-ing deal. I need to get on a loaner tour if it happens.

 

I said the 650 is cheap. I was talking headphones.

650 is an endgame headphone.

And cheap.

 

@ColtMrFire Can I ask what made you pull the trigger for this amp? Due to the nature of the new product, being #2 in the line must be almost as a blind buy as I did for DSHA-3F. CA people might know some info before but that doesn't apply to TX.. I'm wondering your story behind the decision.

 

Like most things in life, timing, instinct, price. Wanted to move on from T3, Starlett was in my price range, and I'd read enough about DNA to know it would likely line up with my preferences. And I happened to contact Donald when I would be the second in line. So I pulled the trigger. Nothing more to it than that.

 

You like the 650s more than the 600s you had?

I want to see Colt with a Stellaris in a few years!!