Rockhopper Audio's PIMETA headphone amp brings headphones to life
Written: Mar 26 '05
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Pros: Brings out the music clouded by your cheap headphone jack
Cons: Bass a bit lean on some material
The Bottom Line: You should make a stop at Rockhopperaudio.com during your search for a headphone amp.
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| sslabs's Full Review: Rockhopper Audio PIMETA 'home' headphone amplifier |
Who needs a headphone amplifier? What is a headphone amplifier? Do I want a headphone amplifier? Yes these are the questions posed by audiophiles at various stages of their hobby/obsession. So I’ll cut right to the chase and skip the humorous and interesting story for another time. The truth is, the amp that drives the headphone jack in just about anything you own is garbage. Why? Well it all comes down to that almighty dollar. Regardless of the price of a piece of gear (with some hyper-expensive stuff being the exception) not every part is the best that money can buy, and guess what usually gets the shaft? Usually the remote and the headphone amp/jack.
It’s usually an afterthought, but it’s something that can be remedied. A headphone amplifier is the remedy, and they’ve been around longer than I’ve been alive. By their very nature like most audiophile products, they are a niche item. But I’ll bet everything I’ve got in my pocket that if more budding audiophiles had the chance to take one for a spin, they’d put money aside for one.
When I reviewed my Sony C555ES SACD player, I covered the headphone section, and mentioned another headphone amp that I barely had three days to play with (on short loan from a friend). And while I understand the beauty of owning a sweet headphone amp and headphone combo, I also happen to be supporting two other expensive hobbies, and don’t have the privilege of a movie star bank account, so some things it seems must wait.
While searching for a headphone amp, I came across a new start-up, Rockhopper Audio (a name taken from rockhopper penguins). So I contacted Stephen Katsaounis of Rockhopper Audio and requested a headphone amp, and a STEPS regulated power supply to go with it for the purpose of reviewing it. Not only did I receive a quick response from Stephen, but about 10 days later, both the PIMETA amp and STEPS regulated power supply arrived in the mail. Side note to the other companies big or small, when you fail to answer my queries you get no coverage from me, even if I end up buying your product.
The specs/features of Rockhopper Audio’s “PIMETA” headphone amplifier
I’ll list the basics as the audio nerds can visit rockhopperaudio.com for the full (and latest) specs. It’s safe to say that for the time being, the Cardas RCA jacks, Neutrik headphone jack, and other goodies aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Primarily based on off-the-shelf audio parts to keep costs down, the PIMETA headphone amp is no slouch when compared to the big dollar amps and their custom and proprietary parts and cases. I liken this practice to big-name PC companies, Vs. a knowledgeable person building their own (and usually better) PC.
The front of the PIMETA headphone amp is clean and simple. Only three items populate the front, an Alps blue velvet 50k volume potentiometer, an LED to indicate that power is on or off, and the headphone jack of course. At the back is the DC power jack, one set of Cardas RCA jacks, and a toggle on/off power switch. Unfortunately, without two sets of RCAs, there is no way to “pass through” so depending on your gear, you might have to plug, and unplug your interconnects when switching between your transport/amp or receiver (whatever that might be) and headphone listening. In my case (luckily) my Sony ES SACD player has one set of stereo RCA jacks (used for the headphone amp) and a 5.1 analog RCA outs that go directly to my receiver.
Associated equipment
While listening to Rockhopper’s PIMETA amp, most of the time it was done through my Sony C555ES SACD player. For the connection I used Home Grown Audio’s “silver lace” pure silver interconnects with the optional and upgraded “LOK” connectors (solid silver center pin with rhodium over silver body). But to determine if certain qualities of sound were related to my gear or the PIMETA amp, I also switched out some items. I changed from Silver Lace to Monster Cable 300 MK II interconnects, and connected the PIMETA to a stand alone Philips CDR, along with a Philips Q50 DVD player for a brief period for comparison. The power supply used was the superior (to a standard wall wart) STEPS regulated power supply also available from Rockhopper Audio. And since I had no cheapo wall-wart power supply on hand to power the PIMETA, I can’t honestly comment on any differences. But I’ll go with the upgraded power supply given the choice every single time. Headphones used are the only two I have on hand, my lively, and trusted Philips HP910s and my Sennheiser HD600s. The STEPS regulated power supply was powered by my PureAV PF40 power console.
Get to the sound already!
Given the fact that this loaner gear has no doubt been warmed over by others, I still couldn’t resist doing a mini break-in myself. So after connecting the PIMETA, I started up a disc, plugged in my HP910s, turned on the power, set the volume to a level just above what I would normally listen at, and let things warm up. About an hour later, I put on the headphones and started to listen critically.
The first thing I noticed in the sound is that the midrange/vocals were just a bit forward. Bass was taut and accurate if a bit laid back. The highs were crisp and clear but there was a bit of glare and etch at times, but this was only evident with certain material. The first 5 discs in the changer were all SACDs. Those five titles were Norah Jones Come Away With Me, Diana Krall The Girl In The Other Room, Kelly Rowland’s Simply Deep (clean vocals and killer bass) Sting’s Sacred Love and Beck’s Sea Change.
I also stopped early in my evaluation to test the noise floor. Raising the volume to a level that would probably blow my headphones to bits, I could hear, just barely an ultra-faint hiss in the distance if you will. At only 10% volume (give or take) the sound level is loud, and just about all my ears can handle, so it goes without saying that this amp is super clean at normal listening levels. No human could detect hiss during silent passages at normal listening levels period end of story.
Back to the music, I immediately enjoyed lots of detail on Come Away With Me. There are lots of brushes on cymbals, and sweet guitar licks to enjoy. The same wispy sounds can be found on Krall’s Girl in the other room as well. Vocals on both albums through the PIMETA were clean, bold, and natural. The bass never disrupted the rest of the music no matter how low or sustained. Kudos to the PIMETA and my headphones as well I guess. For some super bass testing, I tend to use Kelly Rowland’s Simply Deep for so many reasons. Even though I’m sure all of the bass is PCM based, canned, and synthetic (meaning its resolution could be anything) the bass is varied, deep, and even complex.
Most speakers and headphones tend to ignore some of the “funkyness” of the bass found on some tracks on Simply Deep by simply not resolving the detail. But the PIMETA had no problem handling, and resolving all the nooks and crannies of the bottom end with both the Philips HP910 and the Sennheiser. While the bass was always articulate and taut, I had one tiny issue with the PIMETA when it came to bass, there never seemed to be enough of it at times. The PIMETA had no problem reaching to the lowest lows, the level just seemed to be a bit lower than the rest of the material.
So, happy with the highs, and vocals, I switched to CDs and loaded up on rap music to really push the PIMETA and deal with the bass issue. Again, with Ice Cube, Eminem, Public Enemy and KRS-ONE pushing the diaphragms, the bass was sweet, and tight when it needed to be, and pillow-y and guttural when needed (like with 808 drums). But the actual level was always just a hair lower than what I personally prefer. Raising the level to boost the bass a bit ended up pushing vocals and highs just a bit closer to my ear-drum than I wanted. I should point out two things, one, this could be more about personal taste than any deficiency of the PIMETA, and two, I’m anal and analytical.
One last vocal test was Fiona Apple’s Tidal. That Apple effort has of course her sweet vocals, but it also contains bass that's difficult to reproduce at times (Criminal comes to mind). The PIMETA never really sweated a bit, and of course Fiona’s vocals were always clear and silky smooth. One moment when the PIMETA showed a bit of glare would be Slow Like Honey when Fiona’s mouth noises sounded a bit grainy here. Part of that is the CD format, but the PIMETA seemed to add a hint of etch to it. It’s the evil and vicious circle, sometimes resolution and detail come with price tags.
This is the point where I realized that after days of listening, I had yet to plug my headphones back into the headphone jack of my C555ES to compare. So I plugged it in after having the character of the PIMETA burned into my ears. The first thing I noticed was that the bass was much more plentiful here. It either confirms that the PIMETA is lean on the bottom, or that my 555 is boosted on the bottom. After testing on my other players, it seems to be more an issue of the PIMETA being just a tad reserved on the bottom. Secondly, I noticed how sloppy the bass sounded from the jack of the C555. The mids and highs were how shall I say it? Vaseline smeared on glass comes to mind. It was mud city. When I reviewed my 555ES I only had that other headphone amp on loan for a very short period.
I gave the stock headphone amp a bit too much credit now that I look back at it. The headphone amp/jack in my Philips CDR-870 was worse, the bass was at a normal volume, but sloppy, the mids and highs were more like a facsimile of music. Words like dry, thin, and craptastic come to mind. And plugged into my Philips Q50 (RCAs on the back) the sound was closer to my 555, just not as sweet overall. The only purpose of doing that was to confirm that certain qualities were that of the PIMETA and not just the Sony C555. Changing the subject just a bit, if you listen to music on your PC, a headphone amp can really clean things up as well. The new portable amp from Rockhopper might fill that need. I wonder if Rockhopper would ever come out with a PC specific little amp to connect to my sound card?
Bottom line
Time to put this baby to bed, because when it comes to sound, I can talk and talk like a woman on a first date. Depending on how you have your amp configured, your out of pocket change can run near the $250 range. This particular amp runs about two bills, and another bill and a quarter for the sweet regulated power supply. Well I think it goes without saying that I was a little bummed sending both units back. Is it worth the dough? That’s what everyone wants to know right? Well, let’s put it this way, most people (including myself) can easily think that what they have is just fine. That’s until the veil is removed from your gear, and you feel like spitting on what you became so accustomed to. Trust me when I say that chances are 99% that whatever is powering your headphones is complete and total garbage. If you have anything from $75 to $150 (and well beyond) invested in headphones, RockhopperAudio.com is a site you should at least browse.
© Tony Flores 2005
StrangerSoundLabs.com
Recommended:
Yes
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