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Orb Jade to go

JJB70

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Has anyone tried this model? It was linked to me in one of those banner adverts, probably because of my browsing history drooling over audio jewellery and headphones (even though I am not buying it's nice to look) and this one struck me as odd. The thing sells for £400 in the UK and the states power is 20mW per channel at 32ohms. I am not sure whether there's a mistake here or whether Orb are selling a £400 portable headphone amp that doesn't actually do much amplifying. Looking at their website it seems even worse as 20mW is a high gain mode, with 2me per channel in normal mode. Surely this is a mistake? On the other hand the small Japanese boutique manufacturers are often way out in leftfield even by audiophile standards.
 

Ilkless

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I'm very partial to boutique Japanese brands for their offbeat designs. Orb makes DACs with urushi lacquer finish, which I absolutely love.

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JJB70

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I suspect that the quality of construction is very high, but 20mW at 32ohms isn't much power if correct. Especially for the price when there are options for a lot less which perform well and will drive any headphone to ear bleeding levels and still have more power available.
Another interesting aspect is it operates using 2 AA batteries. I am all for user replaceable batteries as often the price to replace sealed batteries is silly but it doesn't look like it has an external power option.
 

Ilkless

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I suspect that the quality of construction is very high, but 20mW at 32ohms isn't much power if correct. Especially for the price when there are options for a lot less which perform well and will drive any headphone to ear bleeding levels and still have more power available.
Another interesting aspect is it operates using 2 AA batteries. I am all for user replaceable batteries as often the price to replace sealed batteries is silly but it doesn't look like it has an external power option.

Yes, offbeat and boutique built well (even if of dubious technical merit) is rather more palatable than the obviously dissappointing construction when one looks inside the likes of Croft or LFD.
 

Nango

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I suspect that the quality of construction is very high, but 20mW at 32ohms isn't much power if correct. Especially for the price when there are options for a lot less which perform well and will drive any headphone to ear bleeding levels and still have more power available.
Another interesting aspect is it operates using 2 AA batteries. I am all for user replaceable batteries as often the price to replace sealed batteries is silly but it doesn't look like it has an external power option.
You simply need a very efficient phone.
 
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JJB70

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You simply need a very efficient phone.

I agree, if you have efficient headphones and do not listen at ear bleeding levels then decent phones with 3.5mm Jack's or dongles are perfectly good in terms of audible performance. I find my Sony Xperia XZ Premium and work issue Galaxy S10 perfectly satisfactory with easy to drive headphones. The only reason for using an external amplifier is to get more power, which makes it a bit odd to make one with such low power.
I have a Shanling M3s DAP which I like a lot. I got it because the battery in my Sony started losing charge quickly. It has a bit more poke than my smartphones but not much and otherwise audio performance is pretty much indistinguishable from either phone. And even with a tired battery the old Xperia still has longer battery life if used only as a DAP. However the Shanling does have a balanced output to boost volume at the cost of shorter battery time.
 
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