welcome back to tech yes City this is
dr. ez coming back to you guys today
with a review of a headphone amplifier
otherwise known as the o2 or objective 2
now this headphone amplifier was
designed by a cool guy called NWA AV guy
and he essentially made this amplifier
because he was sick of all that snake
oil and all the going on in the
audiophile world and basically what this
was meant to be was a reference class
headphone amplifier at the best price
possible and in other words this is a
really high-end headphone amplifier and
as touted as being gain on Y which
essentially just amplifies whatever is
coming into it and it amplifies it
crystal-clear but we'll get onto the
sound later let's look at the packaging
and essentially this is a model by JD s
labs there's another manufacturer called
Mayflower electronics that make this and
this is the model by JD s lab so anyway
I'm gonna be reviewing this model I
don't know what the mayflower
electronics models like but I'm sure
it's just as good since it's a reference
based design but first off you'll notice
when you get this product it comes boxed
extremely well JD s labs really pay
attention to detail and they pack it in
anti-static wrapping as well they also
give you a little hint or you know Start
Guide which has some good tips on there
as well to get this thing going now the
build quality this thing build quality
this thing is exceptional it feels
really sturdy really solid it looks like
it could take a fall the the casing is
made of steel and it's a nice matte
black finish that really feels smooth
and good in your hands the honestly
everything is located on the front so
you've got the power button the volume
knob the gain button the in and out and
the power or power in all on the front
of the headphone amplifier now some
people might not like this
I honestly don't care and I actually
find it pretty convenient since it's for
desktop use now this model is also
pretty portable but it weighed in about
370 grams on my scale so honestly I
don't really see myself porting this
thing around too much however with the
laptop and if you need reference grade
you know sound quality it could be of
you so if you need that portable
function now one thing that one sort of
negative about this is it does take I
mean it's a good thing it takes AC
voltage but it's also negative in that
it's
hard to find an adapter I lived in Japan
and there was literally only one adapter
that I could find for this headphone
amplifier it was pretty crazy you know
it was an old secondhand modem PC so you
got to be careful when you look for a
voltage adaptor for this that's gonna be
an AC AC adapter and it has to be from
14 to 20 volts vac so it's pretty hard
to find an adapter for these but once
you find that adapter and you fire this
thing up it is really good
one thing I'll point before we move on
to sound quality too is that the power
button feels really good there's a nice
subtle red light that goes on as well to
let you know that it's on it's really
nice and subtle it looks good the jacks
feel really solid as well the game
buttons nice and firm as well easy to
push and the volume knob is nice and
stiff and I don't see that moving
accidentally by any chance so really
good the build quality is top-notch I'd
give it a 10 out of 10 for build quality
it feels good everything on it works
really well let's look at the sound
quality now though it comes with a 2
first of all it comes with 2.5 decibel
gain which it's recommended to have this
off unless you absolutely need it JD s
labs by request will also put this up to
6.5 decibel gain if you need it honestly
I found though listening to this thing
which literally with the knob like 1
maybe 6 of the way up that was the
highest I could go any louder it would
send any headphone I had here to
deafening levels so this thing
definitely has so much power at your
disposal it's scary it's actually
overkill for pretty much anything I've
got here now this is the sound quality
of this you know people say it's gain on
Y and that's exactly true when I tested
it out with my co 1 s9 my creative Z
direct line out stereo director out and
the realtek 1150 I could start to hear
differences between all these 3 Dax the
realtek 1150 was slightly behind the co
1s 9 and the creative Z the creative Z's
line out direct starid line out was
phenomenal it was one of the best things
I've ever heard this coupled with this
was phenomenal really brought the music
to life I mean just gave it that little
edge however with standard headphones
this is one thing I'm gonna point out
this
phone is intended for high-end
headphones it's intended for people who
have maybe spent made 5 $500 to $1,000
on headphones and want the best I did
use these and mean most the differences
came out pretty much only when I used my
Fidelio ex ones which are a high-end
headphone so any other headphone here
for instance my audio Technica's you
know the sound quality wasn't all that
different it wasn't night and day you
know I wouldn't if you have a low-end or
you know mid-range headphone say hundred
dollar headphones or $50.00 headphones
you're not gonna benefit from going out
and spending 80 dollars on a sound card
and you know 120 dollars on a headphone
amplifier so when this sort of this
thing it's value for money really starts
to appreciate when you're coupling it
with high-end gear and for instance you
know Fidelio ex ones even and you can
start to hear those little soul
differences and you're chasing it
honestly for me I mean I'm not really an
audiophile I think you know an
audiophile is someone who has a passion
for audio they listen with their music
you know their listen to music with
their eyes closed it's their passion
they love audio for me it's not really
my passion I can't really justify
spending a hundred and you know twenty
dollars on an amplifier and you know 80
dollars on a sound card to get you know
that little bit extra that you know that
clock that extra clarity that extra
detail you know I did I need that money
for my own personal use
so anyway am I gonna recommend this unit
yes I'm you know highly recommend this
unit it's a legit product from a legit
company that works and it works really
well when would I recommend this I would
recommend this honestly with high-end
headphones it is a high-end amplifier at
a great price and it'll do exactly what
it says it will do so if you have any
questions about this headphone amplifier
please leave a comment the comment
section below I'll get back to you as
soon as I can
it's a solid-state amplifier it really
doesn't it just really gives you a clean
signal it's it's beautiful it is a
beautiful unit and at the end of the day
it's nice so a really good product from
JD s labs I'd imagine the Mayflower
lectroid one is just as good so it's
legit product at a legit price highly
recommend it it's pretty much endgame I
soon suited this headphone amplifier and
that's what it is really good really
good item anyway guys if you enjoyed
this review please give it a thumbs up I
will be reviewing this Sound Blaster Z
next it does have some flaws but anyway
we'll get onto that in the next review I
hope you guys enjoyed this review and I
am gonna go peace out for now bye
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