Brainwavz M100: An attempt at an amplable IEM

m100_case

SPECS:

http://www.brainwavzaudio.com/blogs/news/brainwavz-m100-hifi-audio-october-2016

Driver Type                         8mm Dynamic
Plug Type                             3.5mm Gold-plated
Cord Length                        1.3m Y
Frequency Response         12 Hz – 22 kHz
Impedance                           32 Ohms
Sensitivity                            110dB / mW @ 1kHz
Remote                                  Android and Apple compatible

WHERE TO BUY / COST:

http://www.brainwavzaudio.com/products/xfit-xf200-noise-isolating-sport-iem-earphones-w-3-button-remote-microphone

$89.50 new

OVERVIEW

The M100 is a new IEM from Brainwavz that has a goal of sounding great amped. Amping any headphone can provide better control of the driver by damping which essentially removes unwanted distortion caused by ringing in the driver. An amp also provides enough power to overcome the needs of low sensitivity headphones where a portable source or on-board soundcard might lack in power. Lastly, amping a headphone can play around with impedance matching conditions between the output of the amp and the headphone impedance which in many cases is not always linear. In this review I will look not only into the sonics of the M100, but compare it amped and unamped and conclude if the M100 is truly designed to sound better amped.

AESTHETICS

m100_cable

Being the most recent iteration the M100 is sleek having metal housings, an angled jack-plug, in-line remote, and a ton of tip selections. The carrying case is hard and acts as quick storage of the IEMs and tips. The much needed shirt clip is also included. Most IEMs these days have noticeable microphonics in the cable and the M100 is no exception. The shirt clip removes the excess noise generated by the microphonic cable.

m100_acc

As you see there are several tips to choose from including a pair of Comply foam tips which I find a must with IEMs. The carrying cause is robust enough to keep your precious IEMs safe, but it is small enough to easily tuck away in a small pocket of a backpack. The jack-plug is angled at 45-degrees making it slip into all of the portables I tested including an Android phone and an Apple iPod both of which were in their cases.

The M100 is well accessories. Well done Brainwavz!

Being so new at the time of this review I contacted Brainwavz inquiring about the specs and any recommendations they had regarding sonics. With a sensitivity of 110dB / mW this IEM is super easy to drive which made me scratch my noodle a bit because when I think about amping a headphone I immediately think low efficiency. Keeping an open mind I started my listening tests using an amp. Both the VA2 from SMSL and the BUDA from HeadRoom have output gain switches which alter the output impedance along with the output voltage. This is handy when testing headphones that have impedance curves that are not flat like the Shure SE315 or any multi-driver IEM for that matter. The M100 has a single dynamic driver so I suspect its impedance is quite flat, but at the time of this review I did not have the impedance measurements.

Amped: Plugging the M100 into the low-gain jack on the VA2 amp, turning up Arye’s Pink Noise track from their Irrational, but Efficacious test album, and listening to the general sound signature revealed ann immediate emphasis on the bass, some unevenness in the treble, and definite to severe treble roll-off. This is a bassy IEM.

So how steep is the treble roll-off? I moved to my treble test tracks and selected Entry Into the Great Hall / The Banquet from the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). At the beginning there are some chimes along with bells that are easily discerned with the HE-400i I use as a reference, but they are faint with the M100. I am not surprised, but I had hopes that the pink noise test was missing something. Sadly, the micro-details found in the treble are hidden away behind the bass. I would really like to see Brainwavz increase the treble extension to at least 7 kHz before the drop and increase the amplitude 4dB to provide a more spacious-sounding and detailed IEM.

Does the M100 have the sweet midrange that Brainwavz is known for? Yes, it sure does. It is not laid back at all, but it also is not so up-front that it causes listening fatigue. The M100 is easy on the ears.

Amped I did notice some distortion develop on busy-sounding tracks like Fallin’ & Flyin’ from the Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The lack of separation and extra bass distorts the driver and muddies up the clarity of tracks like this one.

m100_nozzle

Unamped: I test all headphones amped and unamped and because the M100 is being marketed as amp-friendly I started with amped listening. Let’s look at how it sounds unamped, notice the strengths, and list some of the problems that develop.

I immediately booted up my iPop touch and selected Te Veo Nena by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico from the Arroz Con Habichuela album. I like this track because it instantly tells how well a headphone can separate instrumentation in busy beats. Unfortunately the M100 exhibits distortion on this track from the beginning. The horns in particular sound crunchy like the smooth sinusoidal notes are becoming jagged and square. The distortion reduces using an amp, but persists.

Amped it was easy to find tracks that were fun to listen to with the M100. Unamped it is much more difficult. The bass boom overwhelms the clarity of tracks like Blockhead’s Insomniac Olympics track from their Music By Cavelight album. The overlaying downtempo bass suffocates the nuances of horns and piano.

I figured the M100 would sound good with electronic music with all of its bass emphasis and laid back sound, but even Dub Sessions 1 (Nadja Lind Sickness of the Mind Remix) by Universal Language & Nadja Lind from the Golden Karma – Finest Selection of Relaxing Chill out, Yoga Flow, Deep Electronic Ambient and Binaural Meditation is simply too bassy to be enjoyed. I did like the extras on tracks like Great Big Sea’s Summer on their Something Beautiful album. The lack of treble does make the echoes and instrument separation hard to discern, but the smooth-sounding bass is sublime.

The M100 has an in-line mic which I tested. To all callers it sounded muffled and distant which is a shame because some people will really enjoy the bassy M100. The poor quality mic makes the M100 less utilitarian and more about just being a fun, albeit, boomy IEM.

In hopes that Braiwavz lowers the bass by 3dB and improves the treble by the same amount I suggest waiting on future iterations of the M100. I found this IEM does sound its best amped so Brainwavz has achieved that goal, but it would make more sense to make it sound even better through a portable which is where I suspect most users are going to use it. Many of the design features make the M100 hard to shy away from because you get a wonderful selection of tips, a shirt clip, and a tough carrying case. The built-in cable cinch is a nice touch too. If getting the best sound from an IEM is your goal I suggest going with a different IEM, but if you enjoy extra bass and comfort then the M100 is worth a try.

M8 DAC / VA2 amp / Linear PSU by S.M.S.L.

front

SPECS:

VMV VA2

http://smsl360.com/SMSL%20VMV%20VA2

SMSL H8

http://smsl360.com/SMSL%20M8

Linear Power Supply ( PSU )

No site found

WHERE To BUY / COST:

Amazon, Newegg, SMSL

OVERVIEW

I own the SD-793ii from SMSL and wanted to check out a more pro-grade setup. I stumbled upon the M8/VA2/PSU stack and placed an order. You get a DAC capable of DSD playback which I did not test. You also get a headphone amp that has both low and high gain outputs, and a linear power supply to clean up the power to both. Also provided are all of the cables necessary as well as the individual power supplies for the amp and DAC just in case you want to not use the linear power supply.

AESTHETICS

side

All three pieces are constructed from machined aluminum and feel very well made. The volume knob on the VA2 amp is smooth and not loose or cheap-feeling. Some users complain how bright the blue LED is on the amp, which is bright, but resting on my desk it did not distract. Perhaps in a dark room or by your bedside the LED might be too bright, but nothing a piece of tape couldn’t cover. The buttons on the M8 DAC are low-profile and also made from aluminum. The power cord, jacks, and various inputs/outputs feel well made and are of high-grade materials.

size

ACOUSTICS

I really did not know what to expect. I remember Zeos over at z review that he felt the VA2 would not power the Fostex T50RP MK3 headphones. I find it powers the HE-400i with no problem and even on low gain it gets plenty loud for my taste. I will say that the output does not feel very linear because I get most of the volume in the first half or quarter of the volume range and then as the knob rotates further the volume does go up, but not as drastically as in the first half-turn.

I am glad it can drive every can I own including the Audio Technica ATH-R70x which has a peak impedance of over 1 kOhms and my HJ Audio 10×3 Pro IEM’s.

At first listen the VA2 has some serious brightness. Harshness in amps is one thing I look for in a poorly designed amp. On the other hand some high-end amps sound bright to me like the HeadAmp GS-X MK2. The harmonica and vocals in Angus & Julia Stone’s Hush on the Down the Way album proves to be fatiguing at moderate listening levels. I feel my ear muscles tense to try to protect the bones in my ear and this tensing leads to fatigue. My guess is that the VA2 has poor transient response and is developing peaks in the treble as the output changes amplitude. The brightness of the VA2 is my one major criticism. If it sounded more laid back and was easier on my ears I would highly recommend this little amp, but as it stands I would say look elsewhere unless you want a detail-oriented amp, because the treble very well extended.

One test I did with the VA2 amp was to run Ayre Acoustic’s Pink Noise track into it and listen for any peaks. Tyll Hertsens taught me this trick for finding problem areas of audio equipment in general not just amps, but headphones too. Sure enough there is unevenness to the pink noise sounding like emphasis on the midrange and at least one major peak in the treble. I’ll see if Tyll has time to measure this amp.

CONCLUSION

The 3-piece stack can be found for under $500 which gets you well placed into the hi-fi playback realm. The M8 DAC is superb, the linear power supply excellent, but the VA2 could use a little work to draw down its uneven and bright sound. The VA2 does have enough power to supply more than adequate listening levels to a wide range of headphones and because it has both a low and high gain stage it is suited for IEM’s as well. The build quality is excellent and the DAC is very easy to setup and get playing especially so if you use the optical input.
For power hungry cans the high gain jack sound more even, has better control of the bass, and in just sounds clearer. Some of the harshness is still present, but with the HE-400i the improvement is noteworthy going from the low and then to the high gain output. Be sure to experiment with both headphone outputs to get the best sound from the VA2.

Brainwavz’s M100 IEM Review Coming Soon

Brainwavz is always up for innovation and their new M100 earphone ( IEM ) adds to a long list of products. This IEM is built around amping so it will be very interesting how it performs with the various headphone amps I have at my desk including the beyerdynamic A20, s.m.s.l. SD-793ii, Grace m903, and the HeadRoom BUDA.

Check in soon for updates…

beyerdynamic’s A20 Headphone Amp

 a20-front

SPECS: ( from Beyerdynamic North America )

Dimensions                             164 x 212 x 55 mm
Frequency range                    10 Hz – 100 kHz (-1 dB)
T.H.D.                                         0.01 % at 170 mW / 250 Ω
Maximum output power                          170 mW / 250 Ω
Unweighted signal-to-noise ratio       > 100 dB (unweighted)
Channel separation                                   > 80 dB at 1 kHz / 250 Ω
Headphone outputs                                    2 stereo jack outputs 6.35 mm (1/4″) in parallel
Analog inputs                                               1 pair RCA
Analog outputs                                             1 pair RCA
Net weight without packaging                1640 g

OVERVIEW

I am constantly looking for equipment under $500 that beats out my end-game setup. The A20 headphone amp caught my eye for two reasons. It has great reviews and beyerdynamic is known releasing great audio equipment. They are not afraid to tailor the sound for a particular need. I hope that the A20 can drive the finicky HiFiMAN HE-400i and Audio Technica ATH_R70x that I plan on testing it with and will it keep me into the music and less focused on the flaws of the amp?

AESTHETICS

a20-back

This amp is simple. The front panel has a power button, two ¼ inch headphone jacks, and a volume knob. The back has RCA in/outs and a 3-pin power supply jack. The power button on the front will glow red with the unit is powered down and green when it is ready for use. The brightness level is just right and will not leave your pupils permanently the size of pinholes. The headphone jacks are identical. I would have liked to see one of them used for high-gain and the other low. The volume knob is solid, but I feel it is part of the design that was used to cut costs as it feels cheap compared to the rest of the unit. The A20 weighs more than 1.5 kilograms making it heft amp for its size. It is a beefy unit when you unpack it so why not include a stellar-feeling volume knob. I will say it is made of very fine brushed aluminum or stainless steel and never gets hot to the touch. Well done on that beyerdynamic.

You can rest assured the A20 looks and feels high-end. The weight, brushed chassis, and finishes are all top of the line.

ACOUSTICS

The headphone output on the A20 has an impedance of 100 Ohms. The lower the output impedance on a headphone amp the better the amp can dampen the harmonic resonance of the driver. You can read more about that here. Unwanted resonance will lead to distortion not originally found in the signal path. I was curious how a 100 Ohm output impedance headphone amp would sound compared to the other gear I have with output impedances of < 10 Ohms.

It is recommended that damping ratios be greater than 5 and some engineers prefer 8 or 10. For you more visual people:

For the HE-400i has an impedance of 35 Ohms and the A20 has an output impedance of 100 Ohms. Doing the arithmetic yields:

As you can see the damping ration for the A20 driving the HE-400i is not ideal.

Enough about damping. Back to how it drives headphones. What are some of the strengths of the A20 and how about the weaknesses?

First, the A20 can drive the HE-400i with no volume problems. The 400i has an efficiency of just 93dB which is pretty low for a headphone. A value under 100dB is a sign that a good amp will make the headphone sound its best. This is certainly true for the 400i. The A20 drives this headphone into sonic harmony by providing enough power for the bass, clarity for the midrange, and does not diminish the treble. Even for some of the classical pieces I tested I found the A20 to have enough power.

Artist: Katarzyna Mycka

Album: Marimba Classica (feat. Franz Bach)

Track: Libertango (feat. Franz Bach)

The volume knob, at zero volume rests at 7 o’clock and creeps up above 2 o’clock with this track indicating the A20 could use a little more power/voltage with inefficient headphone like the HE-400i, but no track I own was underpowered. It came down to where I prefer the volume knob. Even though the damping factor was low in the HE-400i / A20 combo I heard no signs of distortion even at high volumes.

How does the A20 sound with high impedance headphones like the Audio Technica ATH-R70x? Because the damping factor increases as the impedance of the headphone increases the distortion caused by improper damping will lower. In the case of the R70x which has a peak impedance over 1000 Ohms the damping factor becomes > 100. In this regard the listening experience will improve. One would expect, because the impedance is so high, that the A20 would have difficulty driving this headphone, but this is the common problem with people trying to use impedance instead of sensitivity when talking about how loud a headphone can get. The sensitivity ( efficiency ) should be looked at first and not the impedance ( Ohms ).The sensitivity tells you how easy the headphone is to get loud. At 99dB the R70x is actually easier to drive than the HE-400i because the HE-400i is rated at just 93dB. These measurements should actually include another value as in 99dB / mW instead of a raw dB number. Companies often supply either a per mW or per mV value which tells how much loudness in dB the headphone will get per that mW or mV rating. The larger the value the easier the headphone is to drive. So if you have a 99dB / mW headphone then at 1 mW the headphone will be 99dB loud which is almost deafening. It is the fact that the sensitivity is more important to the average consumer and not the impedance.

The general sound signature of the R70x leans towards detail rather than bass. It is one of the most open headphones by design and really cannot deliver low bass due to its severe sound leakage. The R70x is also a bright-sounding headphone causing my ears to fatigue after just a few minutes of listening with most amps. The soundstage is also spectacular and will be noted when paired with the A20 amp.

When Hush by Angus and Julia Stone from the Down the Way album started up I was expecting this track to deter me from long listening because it can sound bright and fatiguing with bright headphones. Normally the R70x would have too much treble for me to enjoy this track, but this track sounded smooth and relaxing through the A20. It sounds like the high output impedance of the A20 is really helping the harshness of the R70x. If you are looking for an amp to tame some of the troublesome brightness on headphones like the R70x and HD800 then the A20 is a great place to start.

If you are looking for an amp / headphone combo that delivers some serious detail without becoming fatiguing the A20/R70x is awesome!

What are the A20’s strengths?

  • Ease of use and bass control
  • It is never harsh or bright-sounding
  • Wonderful power for almost any headphone

What are the A20’s faults?

  • The bass is still lacking on some tracks compared the HeadRoom BUDA I have in my main rig. This indicate that the amp is still under powering the drivers, but compared to other amps like the Grace Design m903, the A20 sounds better in the bass and certainly less harsh in the treble.
  • Slight lack of power with headphones that have efficiencies below 90dB. If you own an inefficient headphone you may want to look for an amp with more power.

Favorite Test Tracks

Artist: Global Trancemission

Album: Pier ‘o’ Heaven (The Assorted Divine Chillout Music)

Track: The Secret Path (Variation 2 Mins Ending)

Global Trancemission has really done a spectacular job in recording this track. It has everything from hard-hitting bass to shakers and chimes. Nothing sounds harsh or too-bright and the bass certainly thumps nicely.

Artist: Days of Funk

Album: Berlin – Monday Morning Hours, Vol. 2

Track: Water

Another great track to test your setup. This track should sound engaging, have tons of attack to draw you right in, and the clarity should remain resolving enough to let you enjoy each section of the track. Listing with the A20 reveals no distortion, no shortfalls in clarity or attach, and the track draws me in as is found with my high-end setup.

No major issues with soundstage were heard testing the A20.

CONCLUSION

If you are looking for a standalone amp that can deliver some serious bass, clarity, and attack then the beyerdynamic A20 is a great place to start. It is easy to setup and use, feels like a German tank when you unpack it, and drives my cans well. Perhaps a bit weak it could use a little more gain, but it gets you 99% of the way there for and still sounds great. Due to the high output impedance and noise floor I cannot recommend the A20 for IEM listening as the noise is clearly audible, but in all other aspects of the sound with other headphones the A20 receives high marks. Perhaps most importantly it draws me into my music more than the more expensive Grace Design m903 and I find myself wanting to come home after work and give it another listen.

 

Gear is coming in…

The first to arrive is the beyerdynamic A20 amp and Pro-Ject Box E and Box S. The official review and comprehensive comparison will be posted in a week or two as I get enough time with the various combinations to write something useful.

My initial impression is that the A20 paired with the Box E makes for an excellent listening experience. It may sound better than the Grace m903.