Review and Measurements of Audeze Deckard DAC and Amp

[onslash]

Audeze's expertize is in headphones. There have been rumors this amp is an OEM rebrand but I haven't seen any evidence one way or the other.

I guess now we know why it's been off the market for two years

its not a rebrand. but matrix oemed for them. the design itself and components chosen is slightly different than from the one matrix sells

 

[restorer-john]

There are pictures of the internals of this and the Matrix HPA-3U on Head-Fi which look very similar layout-wise, except for the DAC daughterboard.

The Audeze is essentially all through hole and discrete, the other unit clearly is a newer iteration of the same design with more SMD componentry and what looks like a integrated vs discrete VA stage. (under the small square finned heat sinks vs the 4xTO92s)

 

[Sythrix]

Leloo was pretty cute too.

My early teenage years screen crush. Saw the movie and was smitten with her for a long time .

 

[maxxevv]

since the audeze decard is oemed by matrix from china i wonder how the matrix hpa 3b performs. it has similar design but different power transistor and is fully balanced. no dac too on the hpa 3b

I have the HPA-3B.

Initially had offered to drop ship it to Amir for measuring but Massdrop shipped it out ( 2 weeks) earlier than expected and I couldn't change my shipping address in time.

In any case, its a very well built amp, with tremendous amount of effortless power on balanced output. On my HD6XX, the volume knob doesn't go pass the 12 o'clock mark in Low Gain ( it has 3 settings). Its too loud for me after no more than 2 short minutes at 1 o'clock position. Its similar with the HE4XX. That can go up a notch to about 1:30 position due to its much lower sensitivity.

All in, from its lowest audible levels to what my ears could take, the volume crank up was absolutely effortless and no discernible deterioration in sound. There was absolutely no hiss whatsoever either. (I do wish they used a bigger volume knob though. )

Then again, it needs some measurements to verify that its actually performing well and not some mind induced placebo.

 

[restorer-john]

...Saw the movie and was smitten with her for a long time...

Here you go:

Multi Pass

 

[Wombat]

I'm sorry to hear about your accident. I can only image how loud it would be
Hope it didn't damage your hearing or traumatized you.

When did arrised edges become redundant? I.e. putting a slight round or bevel on a rough/sharp edge?

 

[Deleted member 4708]

Can't help but notice Amir likes the DX3PRO This little 200$ bugger puts some boutique gear to shame - including my uber fantastic Chord Mojo
Speaking of Deckard - it proves people will buy 1KW amp for a pair of headphones just to "have enough power / headroom".
I wish this review appeared on head-fi - some of the guys there would hyperventilate (not joking at all). I remember trying to argue something like Mojo has plenty of power to drive even the Audeze LCD-4 headphones (which I owned at that time)- to no avail!

 

[maxxevv]

Can't help but notice Amir likes the DX3PRO This little 200$ bugger puts some boutique gear to shame - including my uber fantastic Chord Mojo
Speaking of Deckard - it proves people will buy 1KW amp for a pair of headphones just to "have enough power / headroom".
I wish this review appeared on head-fi - some of the guys there would hyperventilate (not joking at all). I remember trying to argue something like Mojo has plenty of power to drive even the Audeze LCD-4 headphones (which I owned at that time)- to no avail!

I wouldn't say that having headroom in the power output makes no difference, but how much is really necessary being the question.

I have put my HD6XX and HE4XX in subjective listening comparisons using balanced output on my HPA-3B connected to my ES9038PRO DAC and my tiny little Sabaj Da3. Both connected to my laptop using Foobar and swapping between between WASAPI.

At volumes that were as loud as I'm comfortable with on both, they do sound a little different, especially in the lower regions of bass and mid-bass. Its highly subjective no doubt, but that's what my ears tell me at least. The treble areas were not that clear cut in difference

Will need to do a more objective, double blind test with the help of a friend to be absolutely sure. The possible areas outside of subjective placebo would include the DAC chip, Opamp implementation. And also the available power supply from the amps powering the headphone.

So its not completely clear yet how much headroom is "enough", but they can sound different even though different ones can supply enough power to volumes that are at the limits of comfort, at least in my own experience and experimentation. (As the Da3 has way, way less power than the HPA-3B. )

 

[gvl]

Put down the soldering iron and slowly walk away from the live gear....

Remember we are on 120V here, getting zapped is hardly worse than a double espresso.

 

[Krunok]

Conclusions
The Audeze Deckard doesn't seem to have benefited from proper engineering measurements and refinement. Its DAC performance is ordinary, likely degraded by the high noise floor of the amplifier. Fortunately it compensates for that with tons and tons of power, proving my point that you always want more power than you need. This is true whether you have a headphone amp or speaker amp. Amplifiers will most definitely distort when pushed to the limit even when you think you are not playing them loud enough.

On the bright side - Pink Panther is really cute.

 

[restorer-john]

On the bright side - Pink Panther is really cute.

I think there's some history with that little ceramic guy- he has a chipped ear. I think he was a gift from someone.

 

[Krunok]

I think there's some history with that little ceramic guy- he has a chipped ear. I think he was a gift from someone.

Is that a love bite?

 

[restorer-john]

Is that a love bite?

Definitely could be, but Amir will never tell us.

He attempted to inject some whimsy into a review, humanize a simple metal box with a trinket and here we are, trying to work out wtf its significance really is.

BTW, I have a small plush walrus on my speaker, he always sits on the speaker being 'auditioned'.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Remember we are on 120V here, getting zapped is hardly worse than a double espresso.

And isn't it 2 60 volt lines out of phase too? That means a shock to earth is only 60V, not the lethal 250V we have here.

 

[gvl]

And isn't it 2 60 volt lines out of phase too? That means a shock to earth is only 60V, not the lethal 250V we have here.

It's 2 x 120V, so technically you can experience full 240V if you know where to look

 

[amirm]

I think there's some history with that little ceramic guy- he has a chipped ear. I think he was a gift from someone.

It is a gift. I have a few of them but though the one with chipped ear was fitting in this case.

 

[graz_lag]

@gvl @Frank Dernie

Someone said :
"The quality of the death you experience with 240V is likely worse than the quality of death you experience with 120V. But since the end result is the same, we may never know for sure."

It's the current that kills ... Voltage can be thought of as the force that pushes electric current through the body.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763825/

The body has resistance to current flow. More than 99% of the body's resistance to electric current flow is at the skin.
The skin acts like an electrical device such as a capacitor in that it allows more current to flow if a voltage is changing rapidly.
At the end of the day if someone has the same resistance, doubling the voltage will double the current and be more likely to kill you.
240V is more dangerous than 120V.

 

[gvl]

If seriously 30V and higher can be lethal, that's what I've been tought in an occupational safety training back in the days.

 

[JJB70]

There is a reason industrial electrical supplies are generally 110V with a centre tap earth.

 

[graz_lag]

There is a reason industrial electrical supplies are generally 110V with a centre tap earth.