Review and Measurements of Monoprice Liquid Spark Headphone Amp

[Gamemaker]

Sorry to hear about that. Did you try contacting the company (Massdrop I think)? Maybe they can replace it for you.

I contacted Monoprice.com to see if there would be a replacement warranty. I bought it directly from their website.

 

[Cahudson42]

Then smoke started coming out from the rear of the

At this point, I'd probably open it up, take some photos and post them here.

Almost certainly, one of ASR hardware gurus will advise what likely happened, and if it's worth repairing.

 

[Gamemaker]

At this point, I'd probably open it up, take some photos and post them here.

Almost certainly, one of ASR hardware gurus will advise what likely happened, and if it's worth repairing.

Yes, I could do that, but first I will wait for a response from Monoprice.com to see if they would just replace it. I believe I bought it about a year ago from their website.

 

[DarrylG]

I contacted Monoprice.com to see if there would be a replacement warranty. I bought it directly from their website.

There's supposed to be a 3-year replacement warranty.

 

[Cahudson42]

On a positive note, if you have one of these and are wondering how it drives 18ohm Deva/HE5XX HFM planars, it does great IMO.

I have mine in low gain, driven by an LG V20 'tricked' into 'high impedance' 2V into LS. LS controlling volume. No apparent clipping or distortion up to ear shattering levels. Volume knob still has a ways to go at the 'shattering' point (more than with HE400i) - plenty of headroom even in low gain. Well matched for these HFM IMO.

Do watch your listening volume. Without distortion to make you reach for the volume knob, it is very easy to be listening at potentially damaging levels and be unaware of it.

 

[Mrcrunch08]

On a positive note, if you have one of these and are wondering how it drives 18ohm Deva/HE5XX HFM planars, it does great IMO.

I have mine in low gain, driven by an LG V20 'tricked' into 'high impedance' 2V into LS. LS controlling volume. No apparent clipping or distortion up to ear shattering levels. Volume knob still has a ways to go at the 'shattering' point (more than with HE400i) - plenty of headroom even in low gain. Well matched for these HFM IMO.

Do watch your listening volume. Without distortion to make you reach for the volume knob, it is very easy to be listening at potentially damaging levels and be unaware of it.

I'm glad you shared that because it reminded me to comment about the change in apparent volume on my unit. I have had mine for about 2 years now and it has always had plenty of power but things like the HE560 used to require high gain and the dial to at least be at noon. Starting a few months ago nothing I own can use high gain anymore. I tried troubleshooting to see if driver or os updates changed the system output levels but regardless of what I hook the LS up to it is louder than it used to be. There doesn't seem to be any degradation in sound quality or an increased noise floor so I am stumped. It's just odd.

 

[LegionOfHell]

what's the maximum power output at the following impedances:?

16 ohms
32 ohms
50 ohms
300 ohms
600 ohms

Many Thanks

 

[LegionOfHell]

Is Monoprice Liquid Spark a discrete amp ? are there any opamps ?

 

[lashto]

This is not "warm":
View attachment 30214

No it's not. But you are looking at the wrong graph, the H2 is also one definition for warm/musical

 

[staticV3]

No it's not. But you are looking at the wrong graph, the H2 is also one definition for warm/musical

Not at that amplitude it isn't.

 

[lashto]

Not at that amplitude it isn't.

It does follow "the letter" of the definition so IMO it's ok to call it warm/musical. Audible or not is a different discussion and you might be right.

Speaking more generally, many seem to be very convinced that not-audible = it does not matter. I am not 100% convinced. It's not like I have any hard proof, just a 'wondering' if you wish. To use an analogy with the smell/taste senses: there are many odorless/tasteless ingredients that can still give you a stomach ache or worse...
I usually prefer to stay on the "safe side" and only buy devices with a so called musical HD spectrum. Regardless of level/amplitude

 

[brydon10]

Is Monoprice Liquid Spark a discrete amp ? are there any opamps ?

I know your question is from 2021, but the amp is a fully discrete design by Alex Cavalli.
The Liquid Spark can be bought for even lower prices these days, it's still a great amp with a nice volume knob and good build quality.
From the website:

 

[gino1961]

i cannot believe that no one has tried a better power supply
The noise must come from it for sure

 

[brydon10]

i cannot believe that no one has tried a better power supply
The noise must come from it for sure

I'm pretty sure someone did, it's in one of the replies in the thread and it did indeed remove the hum. It's not really an issue though because it's far from audible.

 

[gino1961]

I'm pretty sure someone did, it's in one of the replies in the thread and it did indeed remove the hum. It's not really an issue though because it's far from audible.

hi thank you very much for your kind reply This amp is really nice indeed Unfortunately not easy to find in EU
i understand the gain is low It could be just perfect as line preamp as well

 

[brydon10]

hi thank you very much for your kind reply This amp is really nice indeed Unfortunately not easy to find in EU
i understand the gain is low It could be just perfect as line preamp as well

The gain is actually quite high. You'll notice in the measurements that there isn't much power difference between low (3db) and high (6db) gain. I feel like the amp maybe should have been 0db gain for the low gain to give some more volume pot range with sensitive headphones.

 

[staticV3]

The gain is actually quite high.

Just for reference, here's how much gain competing Headphone Amps offer:

• JDS Atom Amp 2:   13.5dB
• Topping L30 II:     16.5dB
• Schiit Magni Unity: 15.0dB
• iFi ZEN Air CAN:   18.0dB

So compared to that, the Liquid Spark's 6dB is really quite low.

 

[brydon10]

Just for reference, here's how much gain competing Headphone Amps offer:

• JDS Atom Amp 2:   13.5dB
• Topping L30 II:     16.5dB
• Schiit Magni Unity: 15.0dB
• iFi ZEN Air CAN:   18.0dB

So compared to that, the Liquid Spark's 6dB is really quite low.

Oh, understood.

 

[gino1961]

The gain is actually quite high. You'll notice in the measurements that there isn't much power difference between low (3db) and high (6db) gain. I feel like the amp maybe should have been 0db gain for the low gain to give some more volume pot range with sensitive headphones.

a +6dB corresponds to a voltage gain of 2 times Quite ideal for a line stage
i have been always fighting with too high gain that does not allow to use the pot at 12 or more where the balance between channels is better
often i had to put a resistor just before the pot to make a voltage divider and lower the overall gain

 

[gino1961]

Just for reference, here's how much gain competing Headphone Amps offer:

• JDS Atom Amp 2:   13.5dB
• Topping L30 II:     16.5dB
• Schiit Magni Unity: 15.0dB
• iFi ZEN Air CAN:   18.0dB

So compared to that, the Liquid Spark's 6dB is really quite low.

hi thank you very much for this very valuable information
the JDS Atom is another design that could rival many so called high end line preamps
Unfortunately not so easy to find in EU Great unit indeed