Nuforce’s Icon Mobile is a headphone amp with a difference. Like most of its ilk, it starts with offering headphone amplification – in this case twin 80mW at 16-Ohm, with a signal to noise ratio of 0.054-percent at 25 mW, 1 kHz – for your PMP, though here to the Icon Mobile offers dual outputs rather than the traditional one. However it then includes USB DAC functionality, connecting to your laptop via USB and bypassing its audio outputs.
Believe it or not, our friendly neighbor to the North is a proud country of many well known high end audio markers such as Paradigm speaker, Anthem – high end audio video component of Sonic Frontiers International and last but not least, my favorite amp manufacturer, Bryston.
Well recognized from its transferable 20-year, no question ask warranty with state of the art audio design and sound quality mono blocks; Bryston is no stranger to the most-demanding audiophiles, especially the built like a tank ST and SST series amplifiers. Coming this CES 2009, the Canadian will update its best seller with the availability of SST² “Squared” series based on the design and research from its fully balanced powerhouse 28B-SST Pro.
The thrust for higher power and better sound quality in small digital packages, especially on flat panel displays, has pushed engineers in developing Class D amplifier technology onto a small chip-sized IC. Folks at Sanyo has announced the development of a high performance and efficiency hybrid IC promises to deliver 600 watts of low distortion’s Class D digital amplifying.
It may look like a Shuffle, but the Fiio E5 isn’t even a PMP. In actual fact it’s a clip-on headphone amplifier, intended to boost volume from your favorite media player and drive higher impedance cans than might normally work. With an Apple-style clip, the E5 measures just 44 x 38 x 12.2mm but boasts 150mW (at 16Ω; or 12MW to 300Ω) power output with under 0.009-percent distortion at 10mW.
SlashGear Japan
