Aune T1 MK2?

[dizmo]

Has anyone here used an Aune T1 MK2? I'm looking to upgrade my audio set up, and this caught my eye.

I'll likely be running either a Hifiman HE300 or HE400 set of headphones, and I want a decent DAC as it'll be coming out of a laptop.

 

Before anyone suggests it, I have no interest in Mayflower gear. I want to try out a tube amp, as playing around with different tubes would be rather interesting.

 

Just wondering how it sounds, if it's any good.

 

I'm either looking at the Aune T1, or LittleDot MK III or LittleDot MK IV paired with an ARCAM rDAC.

[TheGrapeEscape]

I have the T1 Mk1 running a pair of HE-500s and it's a nice pairing. There's enough juice to run planar magnetics without problems (a little under a watt into 38ohms). Fang Bian suggests a watt for hifiman's more efficient headphones. Good fun to use and a good entry into tube sounds IMHO. A great price to at around $160 for the Mk2 combo, though tube rolling does get expensive. I expect the Mk2 to behave similarly since the changes from Mk1 to Mk2 aren't major.

 

Should note that it's just a tube dac, with a solid state amp. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

EDIT: Also get the HE-400 over the HE-300. The HE-300 isn't a planar magnetic headphone, and generally doesn't perform as well as others at the same pricepoint.

 

EDIT EDIT: Also the HE-400i is coming out this month (hopefully), so you may want to compare that to the original HE-400

[ShearMe]

Should note that it's just a tube dac, with a solid state amp. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

That's what makes it so highly recommended for the price point. 

[dizmo]

I have the T1 Mk1 running a pair of HE-500s and it's a nice pairing. There's enough juice to run planar magnetics without problems (a little under a watt into 38ohms). Fang Bian suggests a watt for hifiman's more efficient headphones. Good fun to use and a good entry into tube sounds IMHO. A great price to at around $160 for the Mk2 combo, though tube rolling does get expensive. I expect the Mk2 to behave similarly since the changes from Mk1 to Mk2 aren't major.

 

Should note that it's just a tube dac, with a solid state amp. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

EDIT: Also get the HE-400 over the HE-300. The HE-300 isn't a planar magnetic headphone, and generally doesn't perform as well as others at the same pricepoint.

 

EDIT EDIT: Also the HE-400i is coming out this month (hopefully), so you may want to compare that to the original HE-400

I can get a set of the HE-400's for $225, and a set of the HE-300's for $125. Honestly, I'm leaning a little more towards the HE-300's because of their metal build.

I've heard a lot of people say that the plastic in the 400's creaks. Something that would drive me insane. The newer HE-300's are also supposed to be quite a bit better than the old, and have a really solid sound to them.

Not planar's by any stretch, but supposedly quite good.

I saw the HE-400i's, but at $500 that's a bit much. For a future set of cans I think I'll be waiting for the HE-560's to drop in price.

[TheGrapeEscape]

I can get a set of the HE-400's for $225, and a set of the HE-300's for $125. Honestly, I'm leaning a little more towards the HE-300's because of their metal build.

I've heard a lot of people say that the plastic in the 400's creaks. Something that would drive me insane. The newer HE-300's are also supposed to be quite a bit better than the old, and have a really solid sound to them.

Not planar's by any stretch, but supposedly quite good.

I saw the HE-400i's, but at $500 that's a bit much. For a future set of cans I think I'll be waiting for the HE-560's to drop in price.

 

$225 for the HE-400, that's insanely good. You could probably purchase and resell as new at a profit   And to be fair, at $125 the HE-300 are good value.

 

I believe the build is the same on the HE-300 and the HE-400, but with different paint jobs. From the images I've seen it doesn't look like they're machined aluminium or anything similar.

 

I also own the HE-400 and it definitely doesn't creak when you're wearing them. Not sure where you heard that, but my experiences are completely different.

[dizmo]

$225 for the HE-400, that's insanely good. You could probably purchase and resell as new at a profit   And to be fair, at $125 the HE-300 are good value.

 

I believe the build is the same on the HE-300 and the HE-400, but with different paint jobs. From the images I've seen it doesn't look like they're machined aluminium or anything similar.

 

I also own the HE-400 and it definitely doesn't creak when you're wearing them. Not sure where you heard that, but my experiences are completely different.

I think the older version of the 300's were made of plastic, the newer version is made of metal for everything but the adjustment cup.

How do you find the comfort of the headband? I heard that it's the worst part about the older version of the Hifiman headphones.

Good to know you don't have any creaking in yours though. Yet...you've also made my decision harder

[creatip123]

$225 for the HE-400, that's insanely good. You could probably purchase and resell as new at a profit   And to be fair, at $125 the HE-300 are good value.

 

I believe the build is the same on the HE-300 and the HE-400, but with different paint jobs. From the images I've seen it doesn't look like they're machined aluminium or anything similar.

 

I also own the HE-400 and it definitely doesn't creak when you're wearing them. Not sure where you heard that, but my experiences are completely different.

 

I don't know if it's true or not, maybe you can give some insight (as fellow planar user), but here's what I found: my HE 400 got wide sound source that cover the ears. Not talking about depth, but something like 'surface area' of the sound is wide.

 

If talking about depth, my AD700 got more depth than the HE400, but the AD700 still feel like the sound is coming from a single pin-point, while the HE400 feel like the source is wider. Maybe the analogy would be if I hear a speaker directed to me vs directed/bounced from a wall to me. I suspect this is because of the actual physical size of the driver that's quite big compared to dynamic drivers. If it's true, this made me not wanting to go back to dynamic drivers (unless special ones, like the HD800 )

[TheGrapeEscape]

I think the older version of the 300's were made of plastic, the newer version is made of metal for everything but the adjustment cup.

How do you find the comfort of the headband? I heard that it's the worst part about the older version of the Hifiman headphones.

Good to know you don't have any creaking in yours though. Yet...you've also made my decision harder

 

Yes, comfort is by far the biggest detractor of the older Hifimans. I'm using an aftermarket cushion addon to deal with the discomfort.

 

The first person to make comfortable custom Hifiman replacement headbands is going to make a mint from Hifiman users. Scrooge McDuck; swimming in a moneybin money 

 

If it's any help, I think both at the pricepoints you mentioned each of the respective headphones are excellent value. I also back creatip123's assessment. It feels more like you're sitting inside a room with speakers, or in the case of live music, at the venue... i.e. more natural sound.

 

I just really like the HE-400 because they've got such a great price/performance ratio so that's where my bias is coming from. See if you can get a chance to try both out, I think that's where the real deciding factor will be.

 

EDIT: Bah, looking at another thread, I remembered the minor issue with highish output impedance. The output impedance for the T1 is 10ohms, which isn't stellar. Planar magnetics don't mind output impedance (built differently), but as the HE-300 has a dynamic driver it might. From memory the ratio was 1 ohm of output impedance for every 4 ohms of impedance in your headphones is the baseline. So since the output impedance of the T1 is 10, you'll want to use 40 ohm headphones or above. You wont be wanting to use the T1 on sensitive IEMs.

[dizmo]

Yes, comfort is by far the biggest detractor of the older Hifimans. I'm using an aftermarket cushion addon to deal with the discomfort.

 

The first person to make comfortable custom Hifiman replacement headbands is going to make a mint from Hifiman users. Scrooge McDuck; swimming in a moneybin money 

 

If it's any help, I think both at the pricepoints you mentioned each of the respective headphones are excellent value. I also back creatip123's assessment. It feels more like you're sitting inside a room with speakers, or in the case of live music, at the venue... i.e. more natural sound.

 

I just really like the HE-400 because they've got such a great price/performance ratio so that's where my bias is coming from. See if you can get a chance to try both out, I think that's where the real deciding factor will be.

 

EDIT: Bah, looking at another thread, I remembered the minor issue with highish output impedance. The output impedance for the T1 is 10ohms, which isn't stellar. Planar magnetics don't mind output impedance (built differently), but as the HE-300 has a dynamic driver it might. From memory the ratio was 1 ohm of output impedance for every 4 ohms of impedance in your headphones is the baseline. So since the output impedance of the T1 is 10, you'll want to use 40 ohm headphones or above. You wont be wanting to use the T1 on sensitive IEMs.

Yeah I might get someone to custom wrap a thicker memory foam or something into the headband. I think that could fix a lot of the issue.

 

Unfortunately I can't try out either, one of the definite downsides to buying online.

I wish the HE-400's had the sexy metallic finish of the 300's!

Have you ever used the 300's?

 

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I wouldn't use it with IEM's, I don't see the point in using those in the home.

The 300's have an impedance of 50ohm so they'd be golden I think.

[creatip123]

From memory the ratio was 1 ohm of output impedance for every 4 ohms of impedance in your headphones is the baseline. So since the output impedance of the T1 is 10, you'll want to use 40 ohm headphones or above. You wont be wanting to use the T1 on sensitive IEMs.

 

I think the rule of thumb is 1:8, 10 ohms meaning it needs 80 ohms on the safe side.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MWk7jejhxQ

 

(3:07)

[TheGrapeEscape]

I think the rule of thumb is 1:8, 10 ohms meaning it needs 80 ohms on the safe side.

 

(3:07)

 

Ah, good catch! My memory was a little fuzzy on that one. I really should've double checked before posting.

 

 

Yeah I might get someone to custom wrap a thicker memory foam or something into the headband. I think that could fix a lot of the issue.

 

Unfortunately I can't try out either, one of the definite downsides to buying online.

I wish the HE-400's had the sexy metallic finish of the 300's!

Have you ever used the 300's?

 

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I wouldn't use it with IEM's, I don't see the point in using those in the home.

The 300's have an impedance of 50ohm so they'd be golden I think.

 

I haven't had a chance to try them out myself, but from what I've read people like them. And at $125 I wouldn't give a second thought to purchasing a pair.

 

Creatip123 mentioned that the rule is 1:8 to be on the safe side. I've used the AD700, 32ohm headphones with the T1 and haven't noticed any bass issues (impedance mismatch typically presents itself as degraded bass performance http://nwavguy.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html), then again they don't have that much bass so that's something to consider. YMMV, but it's something to be aware of.

 

As mentioned above, planar magnetics don't suffer from impedance mismatch http://www.head-fi.org/t/617902/effects-of-damping-factor-on-planar-magnetics-orthodynamics#post_8520457 The HE-400 may be the better choice if you want a T1.