By Juan C. Ayllon I have been both excited and dreading this time. Our village permit was approved, and our carpenter has began setup for framing and drywall installation for our basement refinishing project. That's where my listening room resides, and once it's finished, it should be sounding and looking better than ever, but for now, my system sits cloistered in storage -- and will remain so for the better part of two months. And that's a challenge for me. Anticipating this transitional period, I elected to review the Questyle M12 Mobile Headphone Amplifier with DAC, the Soncoz SGA1 fully balanced Headphone Amplifier, and a higher end set of headphones to go with the latter; my Fostex T50 RP phones, though good for the money, retail for a mere $160 and are usually relegated for late TV viewing when either Belle or I turn in early for the night, but have now been cast up front and center for audiophile duties. Now those who know me well understand that I'm first and foremost a two channel stereo guy and that I don't like things clinging to head or body tightly; whether it's snug socks, a tight shirt, or a set of headphones, over time, I become uncomfortable and find myself tugging on the offending item, sometimes removing it, to soothe the irritation. So far, the T50RP headphones work surprisingly well with the Questyle M12 feeding them signal from a USB port of my work HP laptop. It sounds surprisingly good, even Hi-Fi. And when I tire of wearing the phones, I can plug in an inexpensive powered Roland Stereo Monitor MA-Bs from my mobile DJ days (used to monitor the mix while my loudspeakers faced the crowd) and listen on my desktop while working on my computer. Streaming music via the Qobuz Web Player through them, it's surprisingly pleasant, rich and listenable. Of course, it's not as good sounding as the headphones, but really not bad at all! So, even though I really miss the sublime and visceral presentation from my system, I have some compelling diversions to pass the time. The M12 with headphones is pretty awesome, and my curiosity is piqued as I wait for the Soncoz SGA-1 headphone amp to arrive from overseas -- not to mention a new set of headphones that will be matched with it for the review. That sounds like fun to me!
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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