Hi, not sure if I'm being silly with settings... But the performance of the A10h is nothing close to what I thought it would be. Yeah it it's pretty silent at high volumes, but pairing with the he400se at H2 gain, I thought I'd deafen myself at full volume, but even though it's not at a level I'd listen to continuously, I'm surprised I can. Certain songs I'm pushing to within -10db.
Bass is pretty weak too. Tho it's got a nice neutral/bright sound.
I use an SMSL Sanskrit 10th ii DAC with it, placed at full volume. In the A10h I'm using the front HO.
In comparison, the ancient Music Fidelity V-CAN amp I swapped over to to compare, I can't get even close to 50% volume without abusing my ear drums and the headphones. I sit at 30% volume using that AMP. Bass is also much improved in weight.
The A10h is pretty bright in comparison too. Again, it's far far cleaner which is lovely and has a nice clean sound. The V CAN when pushed produces a lot of noise and is a bit coloured, thus the desicion to look for a cleaner amp for the he400se.
For my IEMs the A10h is a lovely pairing. Again tho, I'm surprised (maybe mistakenly) that I can go to H2 gain with them too.
Here's the V-CAN specs
Power 0.25W /channel into 32 Ohms
Output devices 2 per channel
Output impedance 5
Total harmonic distortion <0.005% typical 20Hz-20 kHz
Signal/noise ratio >109dB ‘A’ weighted
Input impedance 25 K
Frequency response +0, -1dB 20Hz to 80 kHz
Power requirement: 12V DC 500mA
Connections: Line level inputs: 1 pair line level RCA connectors,
Line level outputs: 1 pair RCA [connected to inputs as loop through
Headphone outputs 1 Stereo Jack socket 6.35mm, ¼”
1 Stereo Jack socket 3.5mm, ”
Power input 1.3mm DC power sock