DarkVoice 336SE OTL Headphone Amp Discussions | Drop

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DarkVoice 336SE OTL Headphone Amp

Apr 1, 2018

I’m adding to the ‘Holy Shit! What did I just hear?’ posts.
My DarkVoice arrived this afternoon. I set it up about an hour ago and now understand why the HD6xx/650 are held in such high regard. I have been listening to my 6xx for a few weeks via the Aune X1s and Topping NX4 DAC/Amps and for the most part have been enjoying them. I’m a little umderwhelmed by the X1s. It’s a good DAC, but hurts as an amp.
OK, back to the DarkVoice. It’s my first tube amp. I’m using stock tubes and I’m thoroughly impressed. Everything on my sound test playlist sounds phenomenal. I can’t find any exact power output specs for the DarkVoice. They may be in the documentation that came in the box, but I don’t read Chinese. The DarkVoice has enough power to blow out your eardrums, be careful with it.
Applying this power to the 6xx really makes them shine. The music has depth with crisp mids and highs without being to harsh. I now understand and can completely relate to all the rave reviews of the 6xx. As I said earlier, I was enjoying them but I suspected they might have been underpowered which is one of the reasons I picked up the DarkVoice. My suspicion has been confirmed. If you have the 6xx and are not feeling the hype, get more power.
For my initial setup and test I am sourcing the DarkVoice with a Chromecast Audio. I think this is going to be a winner for me. An understated setup I can leave in the living room and the wife won’t complain. I think she’ll like the look of the tube amp from a decorative perspective. I will test the unit with other DACs, but I have been using Chromecast Audio for quite a while and have been satisfied with the quality of the sound output the unit produces. I primarily use Plex (local FLAC and mp3) and Google Play Music via the Chromecast Audio.
OK, this ended up being longer than I imtended. Back to music listening.
The following is a link to my Sound Test playlist in Google Play Music if anyone is interested. https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynI2dZo69LMFNcPTEremB-jy8sEDZvyffDf60HCgoMQXaxX7rGc3C30Fxc8X0kUfxSjRpEXMVOCYVgYZjN1-gkoppr8Gg==?t=Sound_Test

Apr 1, 2018