Geshelli Archel2 Headphone AMP Review: another champ?

[solderdude]

You can run the Geshelli of a 12V car battery/battery pack.
Use your phone as player and DAC and you are set for portable usage.
Days of listening pleasure.
You could even use the car battery for some camping LED lights and charging your phone.

 

[bigjacko]

new balanced amp from geshelli coming soon. more powerful ...

How did you get this information? Does it have single ended output as well? When is it coming out?

 

[Celty]

How did you get this information? Does it have single ended output as well? When is it coming out?

From their Facebook page:

"Another amp coming soon. Balanced inputs, 1 watt per channel, larger case design... it will be at a higher price point. Many of our customers have been waiting for this release for quite awhile. Why two? Well some people want an amp that uses XLRs, some don't. We would rather have two price points then have folks have to pay a higher price for something they don't need... We're trying to make Black Friday release day."

Here is a pic:

https://scontent.fmci1-2.fna.fbcdn....=e2a8142cb72c89088717214b3ac2b8e6&oe=5E1B9EDF

 

[amirm]

Amirm I am surprised that you did not use the highest performance mode of your analyzer.

The dashboard uses that mode. It is the power versus distortion that does not. It only makes a tiny difference.

 

[Veri]

From their Facebook page:

"Another amp coming soon. Balanced inputs, 1 watt per channel, larger case design... it will be at a higher price point. Many of our customers have been waiting for this release for quite awhile. Why two? Well some people want an amp that uses XLRs, some don't. We would rather have two price points then have folks have to pay a higher price for something they don't need... We're trying to make Black Friday release day."

It makes sense that they made an amp that accepts the XLR output from their DAC..

 

[solderdude]

Wonder if the output is also balanced. Looking at the front I don't see an XLR-4 out.
Could well be they use a 2.5 TRRS at the front though.

All balanced inside or 'semi balanced' (the 2-gang volpot suggests not truly balanced)?

Given the 1W output rating I suspect they still use a single 2W DCDC converter for both channels.

All conjecture...only @Geshelli could spill some beans.

 

[Geshelli]

Wonder if the output is also balanced. Looking at the front I don't see an XLR-4 out.
Could well be they use a 2.5 TRRS at the front though.

All balanced inside or 'semi balanced' (the 2-gang volpot suggests not truly balanced)?

Given the 1W output rating I suspect they still use a single 2W DCDC converter for both channels.

All conjecture...only @Geshelli could spill some beans.

It is not fully balanced. The op-amps are upgraded, XLR inputs, a full one watt per channel and a larger chassis. As with the Archel2, it has also passed FCC and CE certs. It's meant for people who want to use XLRs. We do not have a firm release date or price yet.

 

[ozz]

Few questions, can you turn off all the LEDs inside ?
What's the difference between their first Archel and this second one?

 

[Geshelli]

Few questions, can you turn off all the LEDs inside ?
What's the difference between their first Archel and this second one?

You can turn off all but the power LED light. The lights including the power LED can be lowered by request.
The original Archel does not have a gain switch and has a higher gain setting at 6X. The Archel2 has a gain switch, and a lower gain setting at 4X. The original Archel was built for 300-600ohm headphones. The Archel2 will give a wider variety of headphones to pair with it.

 

[ozz]

You can turn off all but the power LED light. The lights including the power LED can be lowered by request.
The original Archel does not have a gain switch and has a higher gain setting at 6X. The Archel2 has a gain switch, and a lower gain setting at 4X. The original Archel was built for 300-600ohm headphones. The Archel2 will give a wider variety of headphones to pair with it.

Doesn't the low output impedance (1.2ohm) mean that it can drive well any headphones ? Even low 16-32ohm ones?

 

[Yviena]

It is not fully balanced. The op-amps are upgraded, XLR inputs, a full one watt per channel and a larger chassis. As with the Archel2, it has also passed FCC and CE certs. It's meant for people who want to use XLRs. We do not have a firm release date or price yet.

Will the XLR inputs still prevent ground loops, and add CMRR rejection though, or are the XLR ins just for convenience?

 

[Zerviscos]

Some slight regrets. Someone was selling me this stack with the Enog2Pro for flat 180$.
How's the volume on this btw? IIRC Zeos say that a slight turn is already so loud enough and might force you to adjust the digital volume.

Edit: I remember now why I didn't get this stack. In order to fit the balanced inputs at the back the spdif, and dc was moved to front. It would've looked aesthetically pleasing as the acrylic stack if not for those extra connections in front routing it back.

 

[solderdude]

The newer amps seem to have the A-taper pots (log-type) where the first Archel had the B-taper (linear pot) which indeed describes that behavior.

 

[Veri]

Will the XLR inputs still prevent ground loops, and add CMRR rejection though, or are the XLR ins just for convenience?

It still would.

 

[solderdude]

I would indeed expect Geshelli to have added a differential opamp at its XLR input.
Of course there would always be a possibilty that it is more of a convenience thing and only the + signal is used.
In the latter case there is no higher CMRR.
Because they also sell a DAC with balanced out one would kind of expect to make use of full XLR capabilities.

I assume the HP out is single ended only as @Geshelli did not say anything about it.

 

[KSTR]

It is not fully balanced. The op-amps are upgraded, XLR inputs, a full one watt per channel and a larger chassis. As with the Archel2, it has also passed FCC and CE certs. It's meant for people who want to use XLRs. We do not have a firm release date or price yet.

You'll be using Neutrik Combo (XLR + TRS) jacks, won't you? So that unbalanced interconnects still can be used with a simple RCA-->TS adapter. TRS input always is a bonus.

 

[ozz]

The Archel2 is removed from the geshelli shop, anyone knows why?

 

[bequietjk]

@ozz My guess is they received a gazillion orders and need to cut off purchasing for now.

 

[Zerviscos]

Probably, IIRC before literally this review, Geshelli stack was barely recommended outside people who watched Zeos. People were recommending me the Atom 90% of the time when I mentioned I was choosing the Geshelli or Atom+D50s.

 

[LuckyLuke575]

Probably, IIRC before literally this review, Geshelli stack was barely recommended outside people who watched Zeos. People were recommending me the Atom 90% of the time when I mentioned I was choosing the Geshelli or Atom+D50s.

Zeos is good at creating awareness, that's true