Flux FA-12 Review (headphone amplifier)

[PeteL]

It’s a lot of paperwork, I agree but manufacturing involves paperwork, lots of it. It has been like that for decades. If you decide to manufacture and decide to sell globally, you should accept the burden. OR, risk the consequences and self certify. As you know, there’s no registry for CE marks.

I don't think it's either/OR. You do self certify, but it means something, CE is about safety and nothing else, it means you make a self declaration that you did your due diligence and verified what they ask you to verify and that your product is safe according to their standards. Now if you put the marking, it means you did that, if not it's fraud. Are there products out there that have the logo, but are unsafe, or safe but not to the proper level of verification, sure there are, but the mark should mean more than "It's my product and I certify that it's safe".

 

[sarumbear]

CE is about safety and nothing else, it means you make a self declaration that you did your due diligence and verified what they ask you to verify ... but the mark should mean more than "It's my product and I certify that it's safe".

Maybe it should mean that but it does not. The CE mark process simply guides you to have a safe product on the EU market. Nothing else. There is no registration process, nothing.

As you said its about due-diligence. If you are not a diligent manufacturer there is no come back other than being sued and/or the product to be recalled from the EU market. Tell me how realistic that is to happen for a headphone amp?

 

[PeteL]

Maybe it should mean that but it does not. The CE mark process simply guides you to have a safe product on the EU market. Nothing else. There is no registration process, nothing.

As you said its about due-diligence. If you are not a diligent manufacturer there is no come back other than being sued and/or the product to be recalled from the EU market. Tell me how realistic that is to happen for a headphone amp?

Unlikely, sure, but the chance of getting caught is not where this debate should go, but my point is the legal meaning. Let's CE says that it's illegal to sell a product with more than x% lead contain, well it's illegal to sell it in europe if it doesn't respect that treshold, it's not a vague guide, it's law, if you put the CE marking, it means you guarantee that your product don't have more than this ratio. It don't mean, if a child eats it and gets poisoned I'll take responsibility. And there are no registry, but the import autorithies CAN ask for the reports, or you can't export.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

In the mean time, all the touring sound technicians I know have a few of these in their gig bags, and they are being used more often than we'd think.

Sound reinforcement is a whole different game. I have much sympathy for anyone trying to cope with the problems that can occur there. Just the presence of the lighting rig is going to make life miserable, let alone the vagaries of power supply. Of course cheater plugs breaking safety ground is never a good look at public events. OH&S guys will regard their use as a hanging offence.

But domestic audio should never see such ills. There is no excuse for not creating a safe electrical environment in the home.

 

[FluxTeam]

Hello. We would like to thank the author of the resource for such a high assessment of our product and clarify some points related to our products' safety.

We make great efforts not only to ensure high performance but also pay great attention to the safe operation of devices, even in countries where there is no protective grounding. All our devices are implemented:

- additional heat-resistant insulation around the primary winding wires of the transformers

- all printed circuit boards are located at a considerable distance from the chassis

- all chassis are additionally painted inside with a thick layer of powder enamel

- no mains voltage is applied to the power switch. The role of the switch is performed by an electromagnetic relay, which is installed next to the inlet, while this relay provides disconnection of both phase and neutral wires (two groups relay).

- all our devices use an overvoltage protection circuit, which will protect the device from damage

Best regards, Flux Lab Team

 

[sarumbear]

We make great efforts not only to ensure high performance but also pay great attention to the safe operation of devices, even in countries where there is no protective grounding.

Thank you for the explanations. However, as you can imagine, as a purchaser of your equipment we are not expected to understand if your actions are enough or not. This is why the CE mark is created. It is a declaration that you have gone through all the relevant EU directives and satisfied them all. Without such a mark your words are hallow.

Besides, how do you expect to sell in the EEA and in the UK where a CE mark is required by law to exist on ANY manufactured product? Or, are you eliminating Europe as a market?

PS. I also noticed that even though you are implying your device is double insulated, i.e. it is a class II device, there’s no symbol on the device (two concentric squares) to say that.

 

[manishex]

I wonder how measurements change with warm up.

 

[FluxTeam]

Thank you for the explanations. However, as you can imagine, as a purchaser of your equipment we are not expected to understand if your actions are enough or not. This is why the CE mark is created. It is a declaration that you have gone through all the relevant EU directives and satisfied them all. Without such a mark your words are hallow.

Besides, how do you expect to sell in the EEA and in the UK where a CE mark is required by law to exist on ANY manufactured product? Or, are you eliminating Europe as a market?

PS. I also noticed that even though you are implying your device is double insulated, i.e. it is a class II device, there’s no symbol on the device (two concentric squares) to say that.

Hello. When the devices get into the dealer network, they will definitely be with all the necessary certification marks. Thanks

 

[JensH]

- no mains voltage is applied to the power switch. The role of the switch is performed by an electromagnetic relay, which is installed next to the inlet, while this relay provides disconnection of both phase and neutral wires (two groups relay).

Best regards, Flux Lab Team

And how is the switch + relay powered???
Could you show schematic of the power supply? Or at least a principle?

 

[FluxTeam]

The relay is powered from a low-voltage DC source, in so doing, the source has a current limitation.

 

[JensH]

But is this DC source completely isolated from the mains or is it capacitively coupled? Does it fulfill the safety requirements?

 

[sarumbear]

Hello. When the devices get into the dealer network, they will definitely be with all the necessary certification marks. Thanks

Thank you for confirming. I guess all images of your devices I saw on the Internet were also of test units as they all lacked labelling.

 

[FluxTeam]

But is this DC source completely isolated from the mains or is it capacitively coupled? Does it fulfill the safety requirements?

The power supply system of our equipment is designed and manufactured in such a way that, when used as intended and properly maintained, it will protect people and(or) pets.

 

[TheTalbotHound]

@FluxTeam Will you be sending an FA10 or FA10 pro in for measurement/review too? I would be very interested to see how those measure.

 

[Iggnasty]

The performance is in every way quite similar to Gustard H16
Very good I must say.

Are you saying that I should save money and go with the Gustard instead

 

[JohnYang1997]

Are you saying that I should save money and go with the Gustard instead

There are many that are better for cheaper. The comparison was made because they are said to use discrete circuits.

 

[Iggnasty]

There are many that are better for cheaper. The comparison was made because they are said to use discrete circuits.

im in the market for a new Class A amp. Would you be so kind and list the better and cheaper amps.

 

[Iggnasty]

im in the market for a new Class A amp. Would you be so kind and list the better and cheaper amps.

Crickets

 

[infinitesymphony]

im in the market for a new Class A amp. Would you be so kind and list the better and cheaper amps.

Crickets

Why does it have to be class A? You like the luxurious feeling of losing at least 50% of your power to heat the room?

 

[Iggnasty]

Why does it have to be class A? You like the luxurious feeling of losing at least 50% of your power to heat the room?

After reading countless amp forums, it seems that the majority of planar magnetic headphone owners prefer class a amp to power them. I was able to test this at e-earphones Akihabara Tokyo Japan, and I have to say that I do agree with what I found on the majority of the forums. I will be connecting my ADI-2 FS to the amp this way I will have two different flavors. Yes, I like planars more than I do DD.