Geshelli Archel2 Headphone AMP Review: another champ?

[Degru]

WOW this is an insane combo. Archel2 Pro and Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 2. The treble peak all but disappears with this amp.. idk how but it just does and is sibilant no longer. And the cleanliness and resolution of the Geshelli really shines through, with bass that's super tight and slappy. I have an LCD2C coming in soon, very good chance I will sell that for one of these instead.

 

[ayane]

@JohnYang1997 My boyfriend bought one last week and I was testing it with my Aeon Flow closed-back cans, and I too noticed the clipping and distortion.

It happens at less than halfway of the volume knob on high gain and happens at 75% volume knob on low gain. MrSpeakers (Dan Clark Audio) headphones have low impedances and the Archel2 Pro is rated for 16 ohms, but I've had cheap and poorly measuring stuff like the Micca OriGen G2 drive my headphones without problems, so this is surprising.

Edit - reworded my comment because it was kinda harsh.

 

[JohnYang1997]

@JohnYang1997 My boyfriend bought one last week and I was testing it with my Aeon Flow closed-back cans, and I too noticed the clipping and cutting out.

It happens at less than halfway of the volume knob on high gain and happens at 75% volume knob on low gain. MrSpeakers (TCA) headphones have low impedances and the Archel2 Pro is rated for 16 ohms, but I've had cheap and poorly measuring stuff like the Micca OriGen G2 drive my headphones without problems, so this current limiting distortion is a really big design flaw.

It's said that the 2.5 version solved it. Essentially quadrupled the power. I think that one should be more usable.

 

[ayane]

It's said that the 2.5 version solved it. Essentially quadrupled the power. I think that one should be more usable.

I still don't understand why the amp can't simply current limit properly (edit: as in clip or cut out) instead of distorting like that. Even my cell phone is able to drive my Aeons, which have a 13-ohm impedance, albeit to not so loud levels, and I measured its output impedance at 1.1 ohms, so output impedance is not the issue.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I still don't understand why the amp can't simply current limit properly instead of distorting like that. Even my cell phone is able to drive my Aeons, which have a 13-ohm impedance, albeit to not so loud levels, and I measured its output impedance at 1.1 ohms, so output impedance is not the issue.

Properly limiting current is to just cut off. Or you get constant clipping which may damage both amplifier and the headphones.

 

[ayane]

Properly limiting current is to just cut off. Or you get constant clipping which may damage both amplifier and the headphones.

The amp was constantly distorting though - like it would make this weird high pitched sound for a split second in the headphones every few seconds. It wasn't a little bit of clipping or cutting out.

 

[JohnYang1997]

The amp was constantly clipping though Like it would make this weird high pitched sound for a split second in the headphones.

oh....

 

[ayane]

oh....

I contacted Geshelli through their website to get to the bottom of it. I hope it's just a faulty unit and not by design.

 

[Jimbob54]

It's said that the 2.5 version solved it. Essentially quadrupled the power. I think that one should be more usable.

I have the 2.5 but never tested with ultra low impedance / current hungry cans. It drives my Ether CX though (which is Amirs torture test), no problems (through balanced inputs, so higher input V , maybe helps)

 

[ayane]

I used a microphone to record the output of my Aeons Flow headphones driven with the both the Archel2 Pro and with the Micca OriGen G2. The music is the first forty seconds of audio of "Motherboard" by Daft Punk.

Control Group: OriGen 2 Distortion (normal clipping)
Test Group: Archel2 Pro Distortion (strange distortion with high frequency noise)

The strange distortion is happening with the volume knob at about 75% on high gain on the Archel2 Pro, a reasonable listening level for these headphones. I was only able to produce the problem with these headphones and not with other headphones, so the amp performs well with all other headphones.

This also happens suddenly after a certain volume position, and making the volume higher doesn't make the distortion better or worse. The volume level also depends on the frequency content of the music; normalizing the volume in software with ReplayGain doesn't change the fact that some songs will cut to this noise at lower volume positions than others. It's a current issue because using a "high impedance" cable (basically a headphone cable with 20 ohms of inline resistance per channel) negates the issue.

 

[Svperstar]

Maybe I am going blind but I don't see the power ratings? I wonder if this would be enough power for the Hifiman Arya?

 

[Jimbob54]

Maybe I am going blind but I don't see the power ratings? I wonder if this would be enough power for the Hifiman Arya?

THD+N graphs

165mw @300 ohm
612mw @33 ohm

What impedance are the Arya?

 

[JohnYang1997]

THD+N graphs

165mw @300 ohm
612mw @33 ohm

What impedance are the Arya?

Idk how but this is single channel driven. One single 2W converter is no power like at all.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Maybe I am going blind but I don't see the power ratings? I wonder if this would be enough power for the Hifiman Arya?

No. Get 2.5 pro version if you want to get one.

 

[Jimbob54]

Idk how but this is single channel driven. One single 2W converter is no power like at all.

Ah yes, this is the one you questioned a while ago, isnt it? Boss man never replied

 

[JohnYang1997]

Ah yes, this is the one you questioned a while ago, isnt it? Boss man never replied

yep