# Aune B1 Impressions thread



## avitron142

I've decided to create an official impressions and appreciation thread for everyone, since there wasn't any yet to my knowledge. As OP (original poster), I will take on the responsibility of providing links of impressions & reviews of the B1 in the original post, for easy navigation. So for anyone who posts impressions and reviews in the thread, please take 60 seconds to PM me a link to your post, to make my life easier!
  
 Thank you so much for the cooperation, an hope you guys enjoy! Will start providing links to the reviews already posted soon, as well as future ones.
  
 It would be much appreciated if the thread stays on topic, so please try to keep that in mind. Let the posting begin!
  
*Money4me247's review (great read):*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13281 + 
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/768150/aune-b1-impressions-thread/30#post_11657785
  
*Aharitt's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/751749/the-new-portable-amp-aune-b1/45#post_11407251
  
*My review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13231
  
*Cleg's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/12574
  
*Cotnijoe's review:*
http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13241
  
*Loquah's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13262
  
*DrKC's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/768150/aune-b1-impressions-thread/15#post_11653684
  
*hakushondaimao**'s review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13308
  
*ESL-1's impressions:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/768150/aune-b1-impressions-thread/30#post_11666364
  
*tretneo's impressions:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/768150/aune-b1-impressions-thread/45#post_11668289
  
*Creatip's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13315
  
*hakushondaimao's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13308
  
*miceblue's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13367
  
*RedJohn456's impressions:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/t/770721/aune-b1-portable-amplifier-canada-tour-application-thread/15#post_11712977
  
*Peter West's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13469
  
*Jjacq's review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13543
  
*derGabe's German review:*
 http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13548


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## hakushondaimao

Subbed.


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## xkonfuzed

Looking forward to some impressions. I would really like to see how this pairs with an Aune T1..


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## wega03

I like to know how this compared with fiio e12 and oppo ha2


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## avitron142

wega03 said:


> I like to know how this compared with fiio e12 and oppo ha2


 
 The E12 I will do, @money4me247 will most probably compare it to the Oppo Ha-2


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## miceblue

I have both the original HA-2 (by OPPO, not by that Chinese company and now will make everything sound confusing with the HA-2, just like the original JDS Labs C5 and now that Chinese company's C5) and the E12. My guess is that the B1 will destroy the E12 in terms of sound quality; for the HA-2, I'm not too sure since I think the HA-2's amp section is actually pretty good. Since the B1 is fully discrete though, it might pull ahead in terms of sound quality.


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## Cotnijoe

Review of B1:
  
http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13241


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## miceblue

Here are some photos after I unboxed the B1 today. I specifically chose the silver/red model because I figured it would be easier to handle in terms of photos for getting things to focus. I'll likely post a few impressions tomorrow.

















^ those are MELF resistors by the way:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MELF_electronic_components


And just from the specifications of the B1, also just for your information:

ImpedancePower (mW)Voltage (Vrms)Current (mA)16250.63239.52832501.26539.5283001005.47718.257

Based on the maximum current and voltage_rms values, the maximum possible output of the B1 would be 216.506 mW. The B1 claims to use a ±9 V power supply system (or 18 Vpeak-peak). Based on their specifications, the maximum output would be 15.491 Vp-p, which is pretty close.


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## Loquah

I picked up my review unit B1 today and early impressions are excellent. The fit and finish is much improved from the early sample I previewed a while back and the B1 has my LCD-2s purring nicely in A-Class mode. Looking forward to putting it through its paces and hopefully reviewing it this weekend


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## Loquah

Like a phantom in the darkness...


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## DrKC

*B1 Review, E12 comparison and
 General ramblings  *Part 1.
  
  
 Some preliminaries - Aune has been soliciting reviewers for the B1 amp.  At some point (or it's already happened), Aune will announce/inform the "winners" who I guess will receive a free B1 amp for review.  I am NOT one of those "winner/reviewers".  I purchased a silver model of the B1 through Amazon for $189.99US plus shipping.  I own it, it's mine and it now represents a sunken cost as does my Fiio E12 amp.  I have no affiliation with either Fiio or Aune.  So, as my grandpappy used to say - I ain't got a dog in this fight.  I've read a few heavily biased comments concerning the B1, so for the sake of neutrality, let's all hope that those comments didn't come from one of the "winner/reviewers".  As to the silver model, I think royal blue would have been a better choice for the color of the faux leather inserts instead of red.  Nobody ask me though.
 Most everyone has seen pictures of the B1, so I'll comment on the little windows.  I suppose this is so you can see the discrete circuitry of the B1.  Although from the Aune site, it appears that the word discrete doesn't translate.  What I primarily see are two Japanese NEC 2SB772 transistors per channel.  Per the datasheet, these are medium power PNP bipolar transistors.  A cursory check of aliexpress shows these at 11 cents each in 100s.  Aune uses the term triode in their product description of the B1.  This is also in the description of the 2SB772s at aliexpress.  Maybe that's where they picked up this erroneous term.  It may be a three terminal device, but it's not a voltage-controlled glass-enveloped device with a heater.  The general product pages at the Aune site for the B1 are a general CF.  And yes, the first word is cluster.  I think it does a disservice to the B1 and to  Aune.  Information is scattered throughout the pages, in different fonts, font sizes and over backgrounds that make some of the text almost unreadable.  It's shown with a pro-series Sony portable digital recorder.  I don't know - is this their target market?  I think it might be better for Aune to contract their site management to someone in Hong Kong - say someone in their mid to late thirties with a proper British accent and some knowledge of western audio marketing jargon.  If you're going to market your products to us brash, loud-mouthed, arrogant Americans, you best get your ducks in a row.
  
 Specifications - they are sparse.  I was particularly interested in the output impedance.  It was nowhere to be found.  In fact, specs in general, are a little light.  One can make some inferences from this, but I won't.  I did find it was spec'd at a 100mW at 300 Ohms.  This showed promise.  The lower power at the lower impedances wasn't too awe inspiring though.  I managed to extract that the B1 uses +/- 9 volt rails from the product pages.  This also showed promise as I was looking to use this amp with a pair of Sennheiser HD650s.  What?  That's right, 650s.  Those of you who read my iBasso DX90 review know that my wife has co-opted my Fiio X5.  Now after using it with my E12, she's slowly absorbing it.  I found myself with a need for another portable amp.  I like to sit on the deck and not have to run extension cords to plug up a desk top amp.  My wife doesn't want "clutter" on her desk.  The Fiio X5 is about it.  The amp stack suits her fine.  So, why not just another E12?  That's too easy and where is the fun and adventure in that?  Try something new and different when you get the opportunity.  If I had any bias at all, it was hoping the B1 was at least as good as the E12 with the 650s.  I wanted my E12 back.  My wife is a pretty astute listener in her own right.  She wasn't going to be fooled by something that she found lacking.
  
 And what about that 20mA/40mA switch?  Well, I still don't know.  You can find, if you're patient, that the amp operates in Class A regardless of the switch position.  It alludes to offering a higher source current for... I'm not sure.  So, I emailed Aune asking 1. What is the output impedance and did it change with the gain setting and 2. Can you explain the purpose of the 20mA/40mA switch.  I waited 7 business days with no reply.  I re-sent the email.  That was 2 weeks ago.  Still, no reply.  Hmm... I thought of 3 reasons for the silent treatment.  1. No one there could translate English.  2. No one there actually knew the answer to my questions.  3. They knew the answer and decided not to share that with me as I indicated that I was doing a review for Headfi.  One can speculate about the current switch - are they moving the bias point along the load line because it seems like a cool thing to do?  It certainly affects battery life and later, as we'll see, it did have some effect on the sound.
  
 Since we're talking about battery life, I'll note that I got no more than 9.5 hours of use in the 20mA position.  In the 40mA position, it was 5 hours and a few minutes.  This was tested and timed over 18 cycles.  The general battery life for the E12 is 13.5 hours.  Recharge time for the B1 is 6 hours.  I tested that with my Ipad charger, my Nexus 7 charger and a Belkin charger.  These are 2 Amp, 10 Watt chargers.  The E12 required around 3 hours for a recharge.  Something to consider depending on how you plan to use your amp.

 Much has been made about the heat signature of the B1.  Yes, it does get warm, even warmer in the 40mA position.  Hot, uncomfortable to the touch -NO.  Generally warmer than the E12 - YES.  My IR thermometer is out on loan.  When it returns, I'll make some thermal measurements.  And since Aune won't tell, I'll measure the output impedance too and report back at a later date.
  
 Size/weight -  The B1 and E12 are about the same length and width, 118.1mm X 64.8mm vs 119.3mm X 65.5mm.  The thickness difference is noticeable.  B1 at 17.6mm and the E12 at 14.8mm.  (All measured with calipers)  The B1 seems to have gotten into a stash of Big Macs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts,  It's a little chunky.  The B1 weighs around 8.1 oounces (230g) and the E12 at 5.6 ounces (158g).

 I don't know whether a burn/break-in period is a factor with the B1 and I wasn't interested in establishing one.  After a few hours of general listening to assure functionality and no gross sound issues, I pre-conditioned it for 90 hours.  This consisted of nine (9) five hour periods and five (5) nine hour periods.  The Fiio X3 was used as a source and the load varied between the Sony MDR-7520s and the Senn HD650s.  I should note that the load had no effect on battery life.  I even ran a 5 hour cycle with no drive and no load.  The battery still lasted only 5 hours.  In general, this is normal for Class A operation as there will be little change to collector current in idle state vs operational.
  
 One picky issue - Aune makes a point of noting the input and output labels are laser cut.  This might be fine on the black version, but it's almost indescernible on the silver model.

 A few E12 comments - the E12 offers a bass boost switch.  This may be attractive to some users.  It also offers a switchable crossfeed circuit.  It's not terribly aggressive, but it does help.

 Both amps offer a gain switch.  I did not use it for this review.  It was unnecessary for the headphones I used.

 If it seems like I've been pooping on Aune, I have - a little.  Aune, like Fiio, is another small Chinese company trying to get established with some interesting and useful niche products.  I wish more of this was going on in the US.  Well, we do have our Schiit.  They remind me of the early days of Musical Fidelity and the now-defunct (but resurrected?) Audio Alchemy.  I want Aune, like Fiio, to succeed.  If I seem a little rough, well, good.  The company is still listening to its customers, now is the time to heap it on and push them to do things that will assist in their success.
 OK, I suppose it's time I should begin waxing poetically about the sound - but wait.  Soapbox Alert!  What follows is an opinionated rant.  You can skip to the next section for the review.
  
 May I just say a few things about the overworked and sometimes misused term of soundstage.  Oh, and imaging.  Of course, this is just my opinion - my truth.  If you hold my truths to be non-evident and irrelevant, that's fine.  I applaud your independent thinking as long as your truths come from your own evaluations and judgment - not because you were told something is a certain way and you just accepted it as an unshakeable fact.  I'll probably unleash a scatological tempest, but here it is.  The first time I heard the term soundstage was around 1970/71.  It was in High Fidelity magazine and related to a particular LP of a classical music concert.  The concept was intriguing, but really didn't have a lot of relevance to me and my little system with the speakers placed in opposite corners of my bedroom.  I saw more and more references to soundstage in the months ahead in other audio magazines.  It was generally in reference to an LP - not equipment.  This seems to have coincided with the advent (no pun intended) and proliferation of acoustic suspension speakers.  This may, in fact, have nothing to do with that.  It's just one of those correlations you make in your mind from a jumble of unrelated facts.  It was much later before I read about it in the context of an equipment review.  That doesn't mean it hadn't happened already - just not in the magazines I was reading at the time.  There were some explanations of the concept and I felt like I was beginning to understand it more thoroughly.  With my meager system and speakers and my mostly pop/rock records, it wasn't likely to be actually experienced any time soon.  As I came to understand it, perceiving a soundstage when listening to music was a psycho-acoustic effect.  It required that the source recording was mixed with the soundstage in mind and that your speakers were properly placed and of the type that had excellent dispersion characteristics.  Sitting in the "sweet" spot was an absolute.  Given that your room didn't have a lot of negative aspects to it, the stage would sonically appear between and often outside of your two stereo speakers.  There would be a blend that filled the area between your speakers.  This effect would attempt to recreate elements of the venue in which the performance was created.  But most important was the source material.  As time progressed, I saw the term often used with speaker reviews.  A known recording was played and the speaker's ability to create the effect was judged.  I'm not sure of when it drifted in as an equipment metric. Imaging was described as a delineation of orchestral groups such as the string section or woodwinds within this stage.  It was seldom applied to a single instrument.  It was rarely, if ever, used with pop/rock recordings.  Electric instruments were normally recorded in the studio as a line input to the console.  Drums or any other non-electric instrument was mic'd.  Those were the exception, not the rule.  Any sense of stage was formed only in the mix engineer's mind as a real one didn't exist.  Even live concerts were handled much the same.  The point source would have been the amp stack anyway - not the instrument.  I don't think many recordings were made with a microphone set in front of an amplifier.  Imaging was often seen as an earlier indication of resolution.  The ability to not muddy-up the mix.  One aspect of the soundstage effect was that it involved both ears hearing the output of both speakers.  The left ear would hear a predominance of the left speaker along with L+R and a L-R phase and timing oriented component.  The same for the right ear.  Anyway, that's my understanding and now to muck it up a bit.  I believe it was a Len Feldman article/column (Popular Electronics maybe) on tape recording.  Len warned that using the headphone monitor on your deck would not give an accurate picture of the soundstage.  With headphones, you had a clump of sound on the left, a clump of sound on the right and a clump of sound somewhere in your head and never the three will meet.  It was impossible to hear a proper soundstage with headphones.  That wasn't too big a deal then - I rarely listened with headphones.  Fast-forward to the mid-1990s and headphone listening was becoming somewhat popular.  I became interested as it was an excellent way to discover nuances in the music that you might miss because of room-effect aberrations.  I've never had an ideal room, so compromises have always been a part of my listening to music.  I have had numerous opportunities to hear outstanding systems in excellent rooms over the years and the effect of a proper soundstage can be mesmerizing. I've yet to ever hear any thing close to it through headphones.  Attempts were made in the 90s and early 2000s to address this shortcoming with headphones.  Several amps had variations of a passive crossfeed circuit and there were some outboard active spatial processors.  These helped but it seems now, this whole idea has been left on the trashpile of audio history.  So, basically, if you haven't experienced a proper soundstage recreated from a recording utilizing a system with speakers, you haven't heard a proper soundstage.  This is not to say one doesn't experience a sense of "spread" using headphones, but an actual soundstage, no.  So, yeah it does bug me a little when someone is recounting the soundstaging of various headphones in the most adamant way with sprinkles of imaging references.  I don't know if the reason for this is to try to convey some sense of reviewing prowess or knowledge, but it just comes across as a little sad to me.
  
 And since I'm on the topic of reviewers, something else that bugs me are the omissions I find in most online reviews.  I read the prolific descriptions of what the reviewer heard, often excruciating levels of detail and minutae.  I think to myself sometimes what a sensitive  and discerning ear they must have.  They could probably hear two fleas in a pillow fight and go so far as to note one of the pillow cases was made of Egyptian cotton and even declare the thread count.  What's missing is any list of the source material they listened to or even a hint as to what they used to hear all these obvious differences.  Also missing is any mention of their associated equipment.  What was used in conjunction with the device under review.  From some of these reviews, I can only surmise it must be some megabuck equipment involved.  Resolution out the doopty and noise floors approaching 150db.  But who knows, nothing is ever listed.  I have, on occasion, attempted to ask these questions of some of the reviewers.  It's often met with a defensive or combative response.  What's worse is that his buddies on the forum jump in and start piling on.  I know that I can come across as a cynical fargin' icehole sometimes (I'm still working on that).  But I've had my wife screen my query before I posted it to make sure it did not sound in any way as a challenge or hostile - just a simple question.  I started asking via PMs instead to avoid any public incursions.  Sometimes I would get an answer or again a combative response or no response.  Some of the reviews have had at least a song list.  Looking over it, I realize I've heard of no one there or the songs, but that's OK.  There's lot of music/artists I haven't heard of.  So I do a search on these songs.  Most show up as a YouTube video or as a low data rate MP3 download from a bands website.  I'll PM the reviewer to see if that was his source for the music also.  In most all cases it is.  That at least allows me to place the review in some relateable context.  Often when I receive a reply concerning associated equipment it goes something like "I'm streaming from Pandora through my Macbook Pro and listening directly using the computer's soundcard".  That's fine, we all started somewhere.  And if he believes he heard all that stuff in his review of those headphones, that's just fine too.  Now I know how to treat the review as it pertains to my interests.  I may think he's bonkers, but if he shares those details, there may 20,000 other folks out there who have the same setup.  If they choose to believe he actually heard those things, it's something they can identify with despite what I or anyone else may think.  I just want a chance to assign my level of relevance to a review by knowing the full story.  I still cling to the antiquated notion that if you're going to claim you hear certain things in a review, the source (LP, CD, file) should be of sufficient pedigree and content as to provide those elements.  The intermediary equipment used should be of sufficient quality and resolution to allow the elements of the source recording to be transferred to the device under review.  It seems I'm becoming a minority in this regard because these reviews are posted with no source material list and no mention of the other equipment used.  Beware if you decide to ask.  Maybe we should demand a picture of the reviewers equipment - making a list of expensive equipment is easy.  I've posted pictures of some of my gear in the DX90 review and have no reservation about doing so with this one.
  
*Review continues*-

 OK, enough already.  How does it sound, Doc?  Is it head and shoulders above the E12?  In a word - No.  Don't tell me they sound the same.  They don't and I'll cover that in some detail.

 Well, that's part 1.  I'll finish compiling my listening notes tonight and if I can still log in, I'll post part 2 tomorrow.  Please, no hate mail, yet.


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## avitron142

@DrKC I think it's important to note that most of the things you've listed so far has been relatively unimportant as to what the amplifier is there to do. The measurements, to my general understanding of the B1's audience, are not there just for the sake of measurements. They're there for people to decide whether it will fit the specific purpose they have in mind, i.e. whether it will be a good match for the rest of the chain of equipment they already have.
  
 You want to go NwAvGuy on the B1 like the udac-2? Great, but realize that the primary purpose is for it to sound good to the audiences ears. The purpose of the current switch is almost irrelevant because why does it matter? The way the specs are written as well would fall into this category. Who. Cares?
  
 Frankly, I'd probably agree with you on the soundstage part, but I'm reminded of the fact that the sole purpose of my understanding of the word "soundstage" is for the people reading the review. If we all hold the same mistaken meaning of soundstage in mind, to me I achieved my goal. You're going for the truth of things, which holds some merit, but seriously ignores the value (or lack thereof) of the points you're trying to argue.
  
 As for listening tracks, the only reason I can see you would be bothered with that is because you don't have trust in the tracks/equipment we used. Be honest, if you trusted that we'd take this as seriously as you wanted it you would probably be happy to do just that. As for tracks, I'm quite serious about the tracks I use for different parts of the frequencey, but I'm free to discuss them. I'm a bit protective in that regard, because they're almost like *my* tracks, but if it's bothering you so I'm happy to share them with you. I actually think most decently mastered tracks do just fine in judging most of the spectrum (drums, acoustics, trombone, etc.) for a review. As for equipment, I say what source player/headphones I use, as do most reviewers I've seen, so I really don't know what to say.
  
 Keep in mind that although they may be wrong in doing so, people have a specific purpose in mind when buying the B1, and it is definitely not "absolute truth" and getting to the bottom of what it is. People care about sound, as well as functions of the equipment they use - to help them enjoy their music. Why should you care about that if you are right to debate the truth of things? Because although I hate to say it, being right isn't what matters, especially in our wonderful America. Practically speaking, it's easier on your own life to be "politically correct" than actually correct. I'm struggling with the same issue as well, but do make a note of that, in case you change your mind.
  
 Anyway, onwards. I could nitpick more but there's probably nothing that's going to come out of that. Sound's what we're looking for, and don't forget to see if it sounds "good to the ear," not only "correct" 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 
  
 Edit: I'm very sure the B1 does *not* sound the same as the E12, to me, and I have both on hand for a/b comparisons (although I couldn't tell from your post whether you have it on hand or not), the B1 is quite ahead in terms of sound, and I'm sticking with that.


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## Cotnijoe

I have no issues with your opnions or what nots DrKC. My only concern is your mention of bias reviews that are around. The only review I know of are the three that are posted here and one on headfonia i believe. Considering I only know of 4 reviews currently out there... I certainly hope you dont see my take on the amp as holding biases in any way.


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## avitron142

cotnijoe said:


> I have no issues with your opnions or what nots DrKC. My only concern is your mention of bias reviews that are around. The only review I know of are the three that are posted here and one on headfonia i believe. Considering I only know of 4 reviews currently out there... I certainly hope you dont see my take on the amp as holding biases in any way.


 
 He was probably talking about mine; what he might not know is the other 3 reviews I've done have been very optimistic-geared as well without review samples - that's just the way I do my reviews. I emphasize the good for the audience it's meant for, but I definitely to make mention of the not so good as well. I just don't get very hung up about it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 
  
 Edit: He has the right to raise a question about the integrity of reviews if there's an inevitable bias, at least slightly, towards the company who provides the review sample. I would say though that's the reason why most of us mention it in the beginning of each review, and that @DrKC doesn't have that much faith in our drive to stay objective 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 My take on it though, not definitive.


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## Loquah

My review on Head-Fi is done, blog review to follow shortly (with some minor variations and extra pics). Here's the local version: http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13262


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## Cotnijoe

loquah said:


> My review on Head-Fi is done, blog review to follow shortly (with some minor variations and extra pics). Here's the local version: http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13262


 
  
 Nice review. Could I ask what you were running with the B1?


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## Loquah

Sure thing. I was feeding it from a Matrix X-Sabre to maximise sound quality. Obviously it will be used quite often with DAPs and the like, but I wanted to hear the amp at its very best, not limited by the source feeding it.


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## Cotnijoe

loquah said:


> Sure thing. I was feeding it from a Matrix X-Sabre to maximise sound quality. Obviously it will be used quite often with DAPs and the like, but I wanted to hear the amp at its very best, not limited by the source feeding it.


 
  
 Thanks. I was just interested in knowing because of your comment regarding how it distorts the sound of your K10U.


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## Loquah

Yeah, I think that's potentially an output impedance issue. I heard no issues anywhere else so can only assume that the OI is just high enough to interact with the highly variable resistances in a multi-BA IEM, especially when there are 4-5 groups of BAs each with different (but in this case unknown) impedances.


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## DrKC

avitron142 said:


> @DrKC I think it's important to note that most of the things you've listed so far has been relatively unimportant as to what the amplifier is there to do. The measurements, to my general understanding of the B1's audience, are not there just for the sake of measurements. They're there for people to decide whether it will fit the specific purpose they have in mind, i.e. whether it will be a good match for the rest of the chain of equipment they already have.
> 
> You want to go NwAvGuy on the B1 like the udac-2? Great, but realize that the primary purpose is for it to sound good to the audiences ears. The purpose of the current switch is almost irrelevant because why does it matter? The way the specs are written as well would fall into this category. Who. Cares?
> 
> ...


 
 Well, I didn't expect such swift responses.  But if I can be honest, without intending any offense, I'm not sure I fully understand everything said in your post.  Blame it on my age, the mad cow, etc.  I think you were saying specifications don't matter.  That's OK, I agree it's not the final word on how something will sound.  For someone with an engineering background though, they often communicate other bits of information such as the performance of the overall design, construction and layout quality, even parts selection.  It's just not the absolute numbers.  I think you were saying that the music you used for the review was irrelevant.  I don't think I'm in a total minority here when I say, it IS important to me.  If you did your evaluation and formed your opinions listening to EDM and techno, I would find the relevance of the review negligible to me.  I don't listen that kind of music and probably won't in the future.  This is not a critique of your musical taste, but what matters to you when listening to that music is probably different than what matters to me and my chosen music.  The quality of a particular recording IS important to me.  Those of us who have spent years or decades improving the sound and resolution of our systems have a different point of view than those who haven't traveled that road.  It is all a matter of personal preference and taste.  The same things are not important to everyone.  That was my pitch for including this information.  The desire to know the equipment used is not a snobbery or elitist thing.  How will something fit in or compliment my existing system.  You yourself pointed this out.
 And my concern over the 20/40 switch I think is valid.  If I spend my money for something and it has a feature or option, why shouldn't I care what it does or its function?  I paid for it, it was advertised as a key feature - I should just not care what it does?  This is really not the place or part of the forum for this exchange.   I'll be happy to continue any further discussion via PM, if you would like.  Oh, my B1 is sitting on my desk next to the E12, X5 and X3.
  
 For those who thought I was targeting them or their reviews, I wasn't.  It was a general complaint.  Look around Headfi at any number of reviews - go to some other audio sites and you'll see the same thing.  So, no, I wasn't trying to point a finger at anybody.  My apologies if it seemed that way.
 Those who said where is the sound review.  As I noted this was a Part 1 of 2 and I needed to finish compiling my listening notes.  Those who declared their opinion of the B1 vs the E12, OK.  It's fine.  It represents your evaluation and your thoughts.  You should be proud of that.  I decided to listen to a couple of more albums today, so I might not get everything posted till tomorrow.
 Have a good Sunday (for those in North America)


----------



## miceblue

drkc said:


> And what about that 20mA/40mA switch?  Well, I still don't know.  You can find, if you're patient, that the amp operates in Class A regardless of the switch position.  It alludes to offering a higher source current for... I'm not sure.  So, I emailed Aune asking 1. What is the output impedance and did it change with the gain setting and 2. Can you explain the purpose of the 20mA/40mA switch.  I waited 7 business days with no reply.  I re-sent the email.  That was 2 weeks ago.  Still, no reply.  Hmm... I thought of 3 reasons for the silent treatment.  1. No one there could translate English.  2. No one there actually knew the answer to my questions.  3. They knew the answer and decided not to share that with me as I indicated that I was doing a review for Headfi.  One can speculate about the current switch - are they moving the bias point along the load line because it seems like a cool thing to do?  It certainly affects battery life and later, as we'll see, it did have some effect on the sound.



Sneak peak for my impressions, but I agree with this too.

The power output specifications obviously have a current limit of 40 mA, which happens to be the same number on the 20/40 switch. However, I tried running the B1 at maximum volume, high-gain, switching between the 20 and 40 switches using a current-demanding headphone (in this case just a cheap-o JLab J5 in-ear earphone), and I couldn't hear any volume difference. I'll probably do the same test with my OPPO PM-3, but I'm expecting the same results.

Sonically, I can't hear a reliable difference between the two current modes. MAAAAAAAAAAAYBE the 40 mA one sounds a bit more refined in the treble, but I could be fooling myself there since they sound so similar otherwise and the ~3-second switching time (turn off B1, switch current mode, turn on B1) is unreliable for humans.


In terms of how Class A amps work, I guess it's theoretically possible to move the bias around within a transistor's linear region, but from what I've heard, I don't hear a difference.


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## Cotnijoe

miceblue said:


> Sneak peak for my impressions, but I agree with this too.
> 
> The power output specifications obviously have a current limit of 40 mA, which happens to be the same number on the 20/40 switch. However, I tried running the B1 at maximum volume, high-gain, switching between the 20 and 40 switches using a current-demanding headphone (in this case just a cheap-o JLab J5 in-ear earphone), and I couldn't hear any volume difference. I'll probably do the same test with my OPPO PM-3, but I'm expecting the same results.
> 
> ...


 
  
 I also agree with that and mentioned the same thing in my review. I also dont find any difference between going 40mA and 20mA


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## avitron142

@DrKC I'll make this short, as this isn't really meant for the forum, like you said.
  
 Like I said, most will say what equipment they've used with the item under review, so please understand that I'm a bit confused, as I agree it should be said, but disagree in the sense that I think it is said.
  
 But if you really think people would form a review by only listening to EDM (or any one particular genre, for that matter), I'm happy to say that 99% of us try to listen across the spectrum when writing a review. Jazz, classical, orchestral, acoustic, vocal, rock, hip hop, psychedelic, and yes edm. I personally say the majority of genres I used, as well as the ones I haven't listened to much, in my other reviews - for the B1 I listened to my favorites across the board though.
  
 If you think anyone is going to formulate a review based solely on listening to one genre take a good look at yourself mate. We're not that bloody one-sided.
  
 Feel free to go on, as the OP I would be happy to have this conversation here as long as the posts stay somewhat reasonable-sized.


----------



## Loquah

I listen to pure pink noise for all my reviews! 

In relation to the 20/40 question, I have no doubt after extensive listening that it is having an impact on the sound, but it's very load dependent. The in position was clearly better with LCD 2 and HD800 (fuller sound with better bass and more focussed mids), made limited difference with Fischer FA-011 LEs, and was actually less enjoyable with Thinksound On1s. In each case, except the Fischers I would confidently say that the differences could be picked in a blind test. The fact that I can't say the same for the Fischers makes me think that it's more to do with the combination of electrical and mechanical resistance.
I don't understand the physics of the circuit so I cant say if it's mis-labelled or incorrectly described, but it *does* have an impact on the amplifier's interaction with different loads, and therefore the sound. That's enough for me to know, but I'm not trying to shut down the conversation from those who want the technical explanation. Just sharing a different perspective.


----------



## miceblue

Which LCD-2 are you using? I'm currently listening to a non-Fazor model with a similar serial number as this one that's been measured on Innerfidelity:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2SN5312123.pdf

I didn't really hear that much of a difference between the two modes. Again, MAAAAAAAYBE the 40 mA mode sounds a bit more spacious with the treble, but I don't think I would say it makes a large difference if any.


----------



## toxicdrift

Sorry to jump out of the 20/40 mA discussion.. I got to hear it on a Fazor LCD 2.2 model (on Demo, Locally at a headphone meet) and i think it drives them quite well. I prefer the 40 mA on both the k7xx and the lcd's. I think its a great product by aune, esp at this price point. I wanted to ask u guys about what you think of it compared to your current favorite amps for the LCDs.??


----------



## Loquah

I think it's really excellent with LCDs and it comes so close in sound to my Bottlehead S.E.X. that it's scary. The S.E.X. still wins in terms of subtleties, but it's much closer than it should be.

miceblue the difference to my ears isn't dramatic, but it's enough that I'd say I could pick it blind. I think the innate warmth of LCDs might mask the impact slightly whereas the HD800s showed a more obvious impact to my ears.


----------



## DrKC

*B1 review, E12 comparison and
 general ramblings Part 2*
  
  
 Well, I only read only 1 or 2 defensive/combative posts (not unexpected) after my rant in Part 1.  I think those who did well on their "reading for comprehension" tests in school got the general gist of what I was trying to convey.  So, onward with the review.  Oh, one other thing, going forward, if you just want to yell at me or engage in some sort of "well, let's all pull 'em out and drop 'em on the table" exercise, maybe we do that via PM.  Any questions or comments that might be of interest to the group in general, that would be fine as we don't want to muck up the intent of this thread.
  
 My reviewing style differs from most of the online reviews I've read in that I'm not really into the Stereophile/TAS use of all the buzzwords.  Do you younger guys talk like that to each other when you get together in person?  I participate in a small group (there's 8 of us) who get together periodically for listening sessions and discussions.  We tend to use a more scientific description of things like bass being tight, having oomph or slam when it's good and being flabby, tubby or loose when it's not.  For upper midrange and treble, we use such precise terms as bright, brittle or the very masculine "tinkly".  Bright can be good or bad depending on a
 preceding adjective, brittle is not good and tinkly is good.  We take this stuff seriously.
  
 Associated Equipment-
  
 Digital frontend -  An older Theta Digital Pearl CD transport, a Counterpoint DA10A 16 bit DAC, a NuForce Dac-100 24 bit DAC and a Lenovo Win 8 laptop for file
 playback.  The laptop runs JRMC v20 using the WASAPI mode.  The FLAC files reside on a 256BG, Class 10 SD memory card.  And the Fiio X5 via its line out.
  
 Analog - An older VPI HW-19, Mark3 turntable with an SME 309 tone arm, a Benz Micro Glider 1.0mV output cartridge and a Gold Aero db45 Signature preamp.
  
 The music I used comes from my LPs, CDs and the files were generated from CD rips using EAC.  The FLACs were generated from those WAV files.  I also have a few digitized LPs and a few HDTracks downloads.
  
 The rest of my primary system is a McIntosh C712 preamp, a pair of Classe CA-101 stereo amplifiers biamping a pair of PSB Stratus Goldi loudspeakers.  I use this as my main reference for my evaluations.
  
 The B1 was connected directly to the line out of the phono preamp and the DACs.
  
 Headphones - Sony MDR-7520, Shure SRH-1840, Beyer DT-880 premiums, 250 Ohms and Sennheiser HD650.  The 650s and 1840s use aftermarket balanced cables with a 4 pin XLR.  For those who are interested, I used an ALO Ref16 adapter to connect these to the B1.
  
 The B1 was fully charged and allowed 20 minutes of warm-up before I began my evaluations.
  
 Any time I review or evaluate something new, I like to start with that small group of tunes I've listened to for years.  I have expectations when I listen to these - waiting for a guitar riff, a drum crash, a sax solo, a vocal, etc.  These songs affect me - maybe you have a few like that.  I judge my reaction to hearing these songs as my inital baseline for evaluation.  Did they have the impact I expected?  What seemed to be lacking if they didn't.  If it all just falls flat and there's no life to the sound, I usually don't proceed further.  The B1 did OK here, especially with Amanda Mcbroom's "Amanda" (Scheffield Lab).  Her voice, the dynamics in the music -
 these give me chiily bumps every time I hear it.  Listening to the live version of "Free Bird" off the One More From the Road LP (MCA) was excellent.  RVZ's vocals were big and out front.  "What song is it you wanna hear?" - this booms out of my primary system and can give me the chills. On headphones, it's not quite the same, but can still have a pronounced impact.  And for a battery-powered amp, as with the E12, the B1 surprised me.
  
 The next step is listening for bass extension and the tightness that I prefer and overall treble response.  I'll go to my Patrcica Barber, Cafe Blue CD or LP (Premonition).  This is one well-recorded and mixed album.  There are so many things to experience with this record.  Bass, upper registers, nuances and delicate cymbal work - it's all here. Ms. Barbers vocals can soar at times and depending on the equipment or headphones, it can get somewhat nasty.  Again, it sounds excellent on my primary system.  It's one of those rare records that I can sit in the sweet spot, lights out and feel like I'm there.  The bass drums (timpanis, maybe) on the
 Clear and Present Danger soundtrack (single CD version, Milan) are fantastic.  The crescendos will make you jump and the general dynamics of the recording are great.  On to my Boston CD, Third Stage (MoFi,UDCD 582).  The chorus' and arrangement can be rather dense in the upper registers in places such as the opening track "Amanda" (Am I hooked on songs with this title?) and on "Can't You Say (You Believe in Me)".  I've heard the brittle nature that can result from these tracks on certain headphones and a couple of amplfiers, not to mention a certain DAC. In all cases, the B1, like the E12, came through quite well. The CD, Henry Mancini: Music for Peter Gunn from Harmonie Ensemble is another well-recorded piece.  The sizzling horns can be a challenge.  The tracks here all sounded smooth and cool.  This is a fun record that conveys the sense of a smaller ensemble with a big sound.  I was starting to feel pretty good about the amplifier at this point.
  
 Next, I put Vivaldi's Four Seasons on the turntable.  This a D2D recording on heavy vinyl.  It's by Interpreti Veneziani and a soloist named Giacobbe Stevanato for those who may know this stuff.  This is primarily a violin piece (6 of them), a Cello, a Double Bass and a harpsichord.  First let me state that as far as classical goes, I'm not in the club.  I have around 8 or 9 albums of classical stuff.  One of the guys in my listening group suggests recordings to me he thinks I might like.  I don't always, but this one is fun.  The recording is superb - maybe that's what I really like - there's enough "air" on this record to fill everybody's beach ball this summer.  The music is vibrant and has an immediacy to it that's hard to describe.  This sounded quite good on the B1.  Another tick in the plus column.
  
 I spent a fair amount of time just listening to the amp.  Led Zepplin, the Who, Carly Simon, Deep Purple (made in Japan is a hoot), Eric Clapton (Just One Night is superb), a little Carol King and as a nod to the EDM crowd, The Donna Summer Anthology (2 CD, Chronicles).  It's got a driving drum machine, some programmed synth and of course, Ms. Summer's dynamic vocals.  Let's call it EDM light with excessive vocals.  It proved to be an enjoyable experience.  I usually don't listen in a hyper-critical mode - that wears me out.  Just listening is what I normally do.
  
  
 And the final test - my wife.  She's been listening to the E12 for about 6 weeks with the X5 and her beloved HD650s.  I ask her to substitute the B1 and listen for a couple of days.  As I noted, she's a pretty astute listener and she knows what she likes.  The B1's final destination was with her, so I might as well find out.  After a couple days she came back and said "It'll do".  I'm like "Whoa!  That's it?"  She smiled and said that she really liked it.  I then probed for her opinion versus the E12.  She said there really wasn't that much difference - certainly not anything that jumped out.  She listened in the 20mA position with just the HD650s.
  
 Well, OK.  I had my E12 back.  Mission accomplished.  I was fat, dumb and happy again.  End of story.  Not quite.
  
 I started out listening through the Sony's.  They have IEM-like specs - a nominal impedance of 24 Ohms and a sensitivty of 108db/mW.  I usually use these to check for noise on anything new.  They are very efficient and present an easy drive for amps.  I noticed almost immediately that the bass was a little bloomy, not quite tubby but not what I expected.  The only other time I've heard them sound like this was with my Schiit Valhalla. The Valhalla has a spec'd output impedance of 3.5 Ohms in the low gain position.  It has a measured impedance (on mine anyway) of 4 Ohms.  I could only speculate that this was causing some interaction with the low impedance of the headphones.  The behavior of the 7520s with the B1 seemed like-wise related.  So, it's something to consider if you have low impedance phones.
  
 I moved on to the 650s since these were my target.  I listened to the B1 in the 20mA position and in the 40mA position.  There were no real differences between the B1 and the E12.  I felt relieved when my wife echoed those observations.  But things were about to change.
  
 Next came the Shure SRH-1840s.  I knew these would be somewhat different.  I don't think anyone has ever accused 650s of being overly bright.  The 1840s are a different story. I've always liked the 1840s ability to render high frequency detail.  My wife isn't crazy about them, but then again, her hearing still extends beyond 18kHz.  I immediately noticed some differences in the upper registers on the Vivaldi LP.  It wasn't dramatic, but I believed it was there.  I wasn't expecting it after what I had heard so far and I wasn't looking for it either.  Now, what was this?  Back to my Cafe Blue CD and LP.  Time to put on the Nardis track.  I was working hard at this point, because I wanted to know what I was hearing or sensing.  I began to realize that it was a slight increase in detail - a bit more refinement.  I checked some of my more mudane recordings.  It just wasn't "there" to any significant degree.  I went to some of my better recordings - Cat Steven's Teaser and the Firecat (MoFi UDCD 649) and my best LP of it, a Japanese import.  Yes, it was there.  So, there was some difference between the amps.  Next, I wanted to see if the 40mA switch would have an effect. It had not changed anything before with the 650s or the Sonys.  I powered down and slid the switch.  Power up and here we go.  Again, I sensed a little difference - maybe just a bit more pronounced in the 40mA position, again only in the upper registers on excellent recordings.
  
 As luck would have it, last weekend was one of our little audio gatherings.  One of the guys had laid his hands on one of the new Schiit Yggy DACS and wanted us all to come over to his place.  I'm thinking Mike's wife must have been relieved because we were planning on having it at his house.  Not that any of us smell bad or have excessive flatulence, but we do act like kids sometimes and play the music too loud.  When I walked in, opened my case and pulled out the E12, everyone was watching and then the B1 followed.  There was a collective groan.  We've all learned that our little group is a much more effective wallet-lightener than any magazine or online forum.  It seems somebody always has some little goody we all can't do without.  Steve has a very nice system and a dedicated room with treatments for his system.  (There must be good money in that neurosurgery business)  The Yggy would have to wait.  I wanted these guys to listen to the B1 and see if anybody was hearing anything different between it and the E12 and if so, what.  I offered no hints or tried to steer anyone in any direction.  I brought the 1840s and my recordings.  I felt like Steve's Avid turntable and his PS Audio DAC (we did use the Yggy a little) were up to the task.  I asked everyone to say nothing but write down their thoughts or impressions.  There was a lot E12/B1 swapping, so no it wasn't perfect, but I've learned to trust what these guys hear - some after listening together for almost 45 years.
  
  
 The results are as follows - 3 didn't hear any real difference, 1 mentioned differences in the high frequencies, but not anything specific, more of a sense than anything and 2 noted that it seemed to generally be nuances in the upper frequencies, but not on every recording.  OK, I wasn't totally crazy, someone else heard it too.
  
  
 So, in a nutshell, the E12 and B1 sound generally the same - that is, quite good overall and very good for a portable amp.  If you feed your amp with a steady diet of well-recorded classical and close-miked jazz tracks and you tend to listen with a somewhat critical ear, then the B1 has something above the E12 to offer.
  
 As to which one offers the best value proposition, it's up to you.  The B1 costs more, runs warmer and has less battery life than the E12, but can offer some enhancement over the E12 depending on the recording and your headphones.  It's going to come down to what you value in the selection of your amp.  Depending on your intended use, I don't think you can go wrong with either amp.
  
 As always, the review represents what I heard with a little help from my friends and my opinions.  My taste in music, what I listen for, my equipment, etc may or may not coincide with your habits or situation.  I hope some can take away something useful from the review.  These things can be exhausting at times, but also a nice challenge.  If you're shopping for an amp, do try to audition it for yourself if you can.  How something sounds to you is far more important and relevant than any of these reviews.
  
  
 Thanks for reading
 DrKC


----------



## DrKC

loquah said:


> I listen to pure pink noise for all my reviews!
> 
> In relation to the 20/40 question, I have no doubt after extensive listening that it is having an impact on the sound, but it's very load dependent. The in position was clearly better with LCD 2 and HD800 (fuller sound with better bass and more focussed mids), made limited difference with Fischer FA-011 LEs, and was actually less enjoyable with Thinksound On1s. In each case, except the Fischers I would confidently say that the differences could be picked in a blind test. The fact that I can't say the same for the Fischers makes me think that it's more to do with the combination of electrical and mechanical resistance.
> I don't understand the physics of the circuit so I cant say if it's mis-labelled or incorrectly described, but it *does* have an impact on the amplifier's interaction with different loads, and therefore the sound. That's enough for me to know, but I'm not trying to shut down the conversation from those who want the technical explanation. Just sharing a different perspective.


 

 From what I have seen, the load has little or no effect on it.  I was preconditioning the B1 for 90 hours and the power consumption did not change when different headphones were used.  When the amp was set in the 40mA position, the battery lasted 5 hours regards of whether a pair of Sony MDR-7520s, HE-560s or nothing was connected to the output.  The power is being consumed internally in the B1.  There's lots of speculation about the switch and its seems most of it is wrong.  Until Aune decides to reveal what's going on, we're not going to know with any certainty.  I emailed them twice asking that question.  I've yet to get an answer.  You try it - maybe they'll tell you.  I'd really hate to see someone's incorrect speculation become the accepted answer to this question.  Damn, I want to know what's really going on.  From an engineering background, this sort of thing bugs me.  It is an advertised feature with an implied benefit.  So... what the hell does it really do?


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## avitron142

.


----------



## Henke

Could the current, perhaps, not influence volume but _control? _So if you have, say, IEMs that probably are pretty easy to drive, you do not need that much current but if you have a headphone then you might need the current to better control membrane/coil whatever...?


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## Loquah

That's more my understanding (with zero engineering background).

Also, Class A is more about sacrificing power efficiency in return for better performance (SQ) so I think the 20/40mA could be about how much power it uses rather than how much it produces. Just an idea...


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## miceblue

henke said:


> Could the current, perhaps, not influence volume but _control? _So if you have, say, IEMs that probably are pretty easy to drive, you do not need that much current but if you have a headphone then you might need the current to better control membrane/coil whatever...?


That may be possible.

I haven't heard a difference though. :/


----------



## DrKC

avitron142 said:


> @DrKC Either our E12's sound different or our B1's sound different - to my ears the E12 is a much warmer and colored amp, adding a "watery" presentation to the sound. My audiophile friend as well was able to pick this difference up (as well as a few others, for example coherency) after about 15 seconds, after a/b-ing it with the B1. I would assume that you and your friends would pick that up too, especially after listening to music for so many years. I really don't know what's happening here


 
 Hmmm... 15 seconds?
 Did you guys use a stopwatch?  I'm sure you did as one can tell from this and your 2 previous posts that your goals are objectivity, logic and accuracy.  Your buddy, as an audiophile, certainly already knows the value of auditioning a component to really know how it will sound to you.  Please pass along my kudos for listening himself and making his own assessment instead of relying on someone else to tell him what he should believe.  Those pesky differences in what we heard - as I alluded to earlier, it could be the mad cow or that different people hear and perceive things differently (someone should look into that).  My money is on the mad cow though.


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## avitron142

drkc said:


> Hmmm... 15 seconds?
> Did you guys use a stopwatch?  I'm sure you did as one can tell from this and your 2 previous posts that your goals are objectivity, logic and accuracy.  Your buddy, as an audiophile, certainly already knows the value of auditioning a component to really know how it will sound to you.  Please pass along my kudos for listening himself and making his own assessment instead of relying on someone else to tell him what he should believe.  Those pesky differences in what we heard - as I alluded to earlier, it could be the mad cow or that different people hear and perceive things differently (someone should look into that).  My money is on the mad cow though.


 
 He tried the B1 for 20-30 seconds or so to get a feel, and then immediately after I switched to the E12 he took his 'phones off and said they're nothing alike. "15 seconds" was just to say right away, as it took me much longer myself to differentiate the 2. My friend did listen to the 2 amps for a few minutes longer to be sure though, and to make sure it wasn't just an initial impression. That is why I am thinking it's probably a difference in either source equipment, music tracks, or headphones to explain why our opinions are on the opposite sides of the spectrum.


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## DrKC

As I noted earlier, this is not the place for this exchange.  I don't know what I said in my review, but it apparently lit you up.  I haven't been pursued and attacked like this since I was holding the last bag of Cool Ranch Doritos at a Superbowl party a few years ago.  I'm starting to feel like Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.  You aren't affiliated with law enforcement are you?
  
 And I wasn't arguing about 15 seconds either.  And I'm not trying to make ANY points.  My review stands as what it is.  I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't care what you think about it.  I have tried to be patient, despite the general incoherency of your posts.  You really are starting to look silly with all this.  I suggest for the sake of your mental health that you just let it go.
  
 You can certainly continue to discuss this amongst yourselves, but I will no longer participate as it does nothing to enhance this thread.  Be well, my friend.


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## avitron142

I'm not sure what incoherence my posts are conveying, but I'll look into it so I can improve later on if need be. I thought we could have a logical debate here, but it seems that it's not meant to be. Good luck!


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## money4me247

I finished writing my review here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13281.
  
 However, I was not able to fit all the content I wanted into it. I will post my headphone pairing analysis below and link to that post in my review.


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## money4me247

Addendum to My B1 Review (link here)
 
*Headphone Pairings with the B1:*
*******Important Notes*******
Tested with my source volume maxed, only controlling volume via the B1's pot
Tested each headphone listed on the B1 against the same headphone with:

 no amplification
 the Oppo HA-2 lineout to amplifier only
 the Schiit Lyr 2 desktop tube hybrid amplifier (best amplifier in my collection imo)
 *********************************
  
*With the Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones:* _consumer-orientated in-ear headphones_
 Settings preferred: low gain, low current. Does not require amplification. Does not scale significantly with external components. I primarily used the lower 20mA current setting simply to conserve battery life on the B1.
   There was no noise that I could hear in background at all comfortable listening volumes that I tested with SoundTrue (source volume maxed, volume pot up to 25 degrees from 0 volume, low gain). I could detect a high pitched whine when there is no music playing at volume pot settings above 30 degrees. Volume levels above 30 degrees for these headphones on my settings is too loud for listening to my ears.
   Only slight concern is that there is not as much play room with the volume pot when maxing out the source volume even at low gain for the B1. However, more detailed volume adjustment is possible using a combination of the source volume and the B1 volume pot.
   The SoundTrue in-ear headphones are a consumer-geared pair of in-ears with a pleasantly colored sound signature that features a subtly recessed treble to prevent sharpness/brightness and a significant bass boost. More warm and fun sound rather than detailed and analytical. Not the most resolving pair of IEMs out there, the SoundTrue does not really scale much with additional power. Used this headphones to test whether the B1 plays nice with general consumer-orientated pair of IEMs lacking published specifications. I do think that it is unnecessary to use the B1 for consumer-grade in-ear headphones.
   *With the Oppo PM-3:* _portable closed over-ear planar magnetic_
 Settings preferred: low gain, high current. Does not require amplification. Does noticeable scale with different external components. I primarily used the higher 40mA current setting as planar magnetic headphones can benefit from additional current.
   While I am perfectly comfortable running the PM-3 unamplified, I do think the B1 shows the scaling ability of the PM-3 quite well. Improved overall sound quality, most noticeably tighter bass notes and improved sound stage. Maintains the PM-3’s neutral-orientated well-balanced sound signature. Good pairing.
   *With the Audeze EL-8 closed:* _portable closed over-ear planar magnetic_
 Settings preferred: low gain, high current. Does not require amplification. Does slightly scale with different external components. I primarily used the higher 40mA current setting as planar magnetic headphones can benefit from additional current.
   The EL-8 does not require additional amplification. To my ears, I do not think that the EL-8 scales very significantly with additional power. If I was to use the EL-8 on-the-go, I personally would not bring the B1 as the EL-8 is already quite hefty and bulky. For home usage, I would pair the B1 with the EL-8. I do personally have some concerns with the EL-8’s overall sound signature and tuning, so I prefer a warmer, more colored amplifier such as the WA7 to pair with the EL-8 to better emphasize its strengths.
   *With the AKG K553 Pro:* _full-sized closed over-ear dynamic headphones_
 Settings preferred: low gain, low current. Does not require amplification. Does scale with different external components.
   I found the K553 to have a very clean, well-balanced sound signature with a subtle touch of warm and a slight sharpness to its treble. Extremely competitive sound quality for its price point, the K553 is highly resolving and has stellar soundstage for a closed headphone. The B1 really emphasizes the K553’s strengths without causing the treble to become too bright. Recommended pairing.
   *With the AKG K7xx Pro:* _full-sized open over-ear dynamic headphones_
 Settings preferred: low gain, high current. Benefits from amplification. Does significantly scale with different external components.
   To my ears, the K7xx represents one of the strongest contenders in the mid-tier open headphone category with an extremely revealing and unforgiving sound. Performance and sound quality will not be embarrassed when directly compared against flagship headphones. The K7xx does easily pick up the characteristics of external components used in the chain and requires high quality source files. Amplifiers that add too much additional warmth and coloration really does a disservice to the K7xx’s strengths. Most notable improvements with the B1 pairing was improvements to the K7xx’s speed, bass quality, and the addition of a coherent smoothness to the midrange texture while maintaining the K7xx’s articulate micro-detail retrieval. Notes appear more realistic with subtle tonal variations more easily identifiable. Did not lose the nice crispy airy treble characteristics of the K7xx. Highly recommended pairing.
   *With the Hifiman HE-560:* _full-sized open over-ear planar dynamic headphones_
 Settings preferred: high gain, high current. Definitely require amplification. Does very significantly scale with different external components. I primarily used the higher 40mA current setting as planar magnetic headphones can benefit from additional current.
   I personally really like the HE-560’s sound signature and view it as a very well-balanced neutral presentation of music with solid bass quality. The HE-560 serves as my main pair of headphones that gets the most headtime. The B1 does appear sufficient to drive the HE-560 to my ears as I did not notice any clipping effects. There was no decrease in dynamic range, muddiness to notes, or artificial brightness to its sound. I do enjoy the HE-560 paired with a warmer tube amplifier, but I have found Class A amplifiers such as the Oppo HA-1 or Gustard H10 to also be an extremely good pairing with the HE-560. The B1 does not alter the HE-560’s sound signature, but does make it sound a bit fuller with more presence to notes. The Lyr 2 exaggerates this effect more than the B1 with its hint of tube warmth. While I do personally prefer the Lyr 2 pairing with my HE-560, I do find the B1 to be an acceptable and competent amplifier for the HE-560.
   *With the Audeze LCD-X:* _full-sized open over-ear planar dynamic headphones_
 Settings preferred: low gain, high current. Does not require amplification. Does noticeable scale with different external components. I primarily used the higher 40mA current setting as planar magnetic headphones can benefit from additional current.
   I greatly enjoy the bass quality and subtle Audeze darkness of the Audeze LCD-X. I primarily use it as my genre-specific headphones, especially with I want to get really engaged into the music. The B1 definitely highlights the LCD-X’s strengths (and weaknesses) with its clean but full sound. The unique coloration of the LCD-X is not hidden, but clearly highlighted. The LCD-X maintains its fast transient response and good imaging abilities on the B1. The attack is extremely hard-hitting and clean. Decay has a little bit of bleed. The LCD-X treble sparkle and organic midrange is preserved. There is further improvements to the viscerality of its bass and a more vivid sense of energy that makes the B1 an extremely enjoyable and engaging pairing for the LCD-X (if you enjoy the LCD-X’s sound signature). I do personally give the B1 the edge over the HA-2 for pairing with the LCD-X as the B1 strongly emphasizes the LCD-X’s sonic characteristics that I find enjoyable.
   *With the Hifiman HE-1000 beta unit:* _full-sized open over-ear planar dynamic headphones_
 Settings preferred: high gain, high current. Require amplification and scales very well. I primarily used the higher 40mA current setting as planar magnetic headphones can benefit from additional current.
   I consider the HE-1000 to be my most technically capable headphones with the most scaling potential that will allow for the easiest identification of differences in components. Despite that, I found that the B1 did not appear to be lacking in any way with paired with the HE-1000. Beyond the more obvious differences in presentation between my amplifiers, it was extremely difficult to consistently isolate specific sound quality attribute differences between my amplifiers. I was still able to identify the subtle textural and tonal shifts as well as the low-level micro-detail on with this pairing. The bass quality of the HE-1k remained very competitive, though perhaps a subtle decrease in decay speed. The midrange still had its subtle liquid texture combined with articulate clean details. There may have been a bit of decrease to the “shininess” treble and some loosing of the reverberation of the cymbal crashes. The B1 still really picks up that richness to the underlying body of the notes and highlights the realistic presence of every note. Soundstage and imaging may be subtly better on my Lyr 2. I do feel like the soundstage of the HE-1000 scales significantly depending on the amplifier. Treble and midrange quality is another aspect where scaling differences are more noticeable. I do feel like the Lyr 2 provides a significant technical improvement in performance, but the difference was startling smaller than I expected. Overall, I would be perfectly comfortable using the B1 with the HE-1000, and I do think the B1 is a subtly better pairing than the HA-2 for the HE-1000 specifically.
  


Spoiler: Repeated from my actual review: Some thoughts on other amp pairings with the HE-1000



***Update 6/5/15: I have done direct sighted comparisons of the B1 against a few other desktop amplifiers using the HE-1000. Not a fair comparison I know, but I have found that I could hear a subtle differences in sound quality against the Hifiman EF100. It was more difficult to hear the difference against the Audeze Deckard. There was a significant upgrade in sound quality in a sighted test (specifically with the Auralic Taurus MKII, Beyerdynamic A2, and McIntosh MHA1000). Differences were most pronounced in the MHA1000 which I found to be the best sounding amplifier out of all the ones I tried. Extremely life-like and gorgeous sound! The direct comparision with the MHA1000 is the first time I noticed extremely significant scaling with external components. A direct comparison against Chord Hugo did not yield that much of a sonic improvement to my ears. The sonic upgrade was significantly more easily noticeable on the MHA1000 over the Chord Hugo in my opinion. The Chord Hugo alone definitely does not drive the HE-1000 to its full potential. Using these amplifiers and dacs, I could definitely see how the HE-1000 scales up greatly with different components and would recommend investing in a more high-end amplifier for the HE-1000 to maximize its potential.***


   ***More pairing analysis on the Mr. Speakers Alpha Prime and Ether coming soon***
   *Overall thoughts on headphone pairings:* I do want to note that some of my comparative findings were quite extremely subtle changes that required very extensive direct comparisons and even then, I am still a bit hesitant about certain aspects of my findings. Please note that you may have different experiences due to differences in our headphone and amplifier background.
   The B1 had minimal coloration to each headphones unique sound signature. Improves different aspects of sound quality on each headphone while maintaining the headphones’ original tuning and frequency response. Suitable pairing for headphones that you are already satisfied with its sound signature. Not suitable as a method for trying to ‘tune’ or adjust to the headphones’ sound signature, and will not ‘fix’ frequency response flaws of your headphones. Can cause a dramatic improvement for headphones that benefit or require additional power. More subtle improvements for headphones that can be driven without an amplifier. I was really surprised by the relative closeness in performance of the B1 to the Lyr 2. The Lyr 2 performs extremely well as one of the most competitive options in the sub-$1000 category. The relative differences between the B1 and the Lyr 2 were much smaller than I would have imagined and required extensive direct comparisons to isolate. This gives me the impression that the B1 is extremely competitive for its price point and a very solid performer.


----------



## Cotnijoe

Hey money4me. What did u find between high and low voltage? i saw that u menyioned there is a noticable difference. I kay have missed it but i didnt see where you specified what was different.


----------



## money4me247

cotnijoe said:


> Hey money4me. What did u find between high and low voltage? i saw that u menyioned there is a noticable difference. I kay have missed it but i didnt see where you specified what was different.


 
 It was a really subtle difference and really headphone specific. Amount of difference is variable depending on the headphones. I found that my orthodynamic headphones benefited the most from higher current settings. Things such as improved dynamic range, better bass control, subtly tighter decay transients, and sound stage were the most easily noticeable for me. I found the attack transients to be already quite good on the low current settings, so difficult for me to notice a difference there. The PM-3 displayed the most noticeable improvement in the sound stage aspect. I found the LCD-X and HE-560 had better bass control on the higher current setting. I thought the HE-1k showed the most 'scaling' with different settings, but even then, it took a lot of testing before I was comfortable posting those impressions. There may have been some other aspects, but it was really hard to call to my ears. I think I would be fine using low current settings for my portable headphones. Really only use high current settings when I am plugged in and using the B1 as a 'desktop' amplifier.


----------



## Loquah

money4me247 said:


> It was a really subtle difference and really headphone specific. Amount of difference is variable depending on the headphones. I found that my orthodynamic headphones benefited the most from higher current settings. Things such as improved dynamic range, better bass control, subtly tighter decay transients, and sound stage were the most easily noticeable for me. I found the attack transients to be already quite good on the low current settings, so difficult for me to notice a difference there. The PM-3 displayed the most noticeable improvement in the sound stage aspect. I found the LCD-X and HE-560 had better bass control on the higher current setting. I thought the HE-1k showed the most 'scaling' with different settings, but even then, it took a lot of testing before I was comfortable posting those impressions. There may have been some other aspects, but it was really hard to call to my ears. I think I would be fine using low current settings for my portable headphones. Really only use high current settings when I am plugged in and using the B1 as a 'desktop' amplifier.


 
  
 Nice to know I'm not crazy. You're findings match mine almost exactly


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## miceblue

My HE1000 beta unit just came in, so I'll let that burn in and finish up my review of the B1 afterwords to see how the two pair up.


----------



## avitron142

money4me247 said:


> I finished writing my review here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13281.
> 
> However, I was not able to fit all the content I wanted into it. I will post my headphone pairing analysis below and link to that post in my review.


 
 Wow... just wow. I have a lot to learn from reviews like yours; that's the way a good review should be written imo. Well done!


----------



## ESL-1

On a whim I decided to acquire a B1, class A always held a certain attraction and the general opinion of the initial B1 reviews seemed nicely positive. The unit arrived yesterday and I decided to try my stock Beyer DT-880 600 ohm as a first exposure. Right now I am listening to a set of Grado PS1000e's. Way too early to go into detailed thoughts but I did find one thing last night with the DT-880's that I want to mention since it has been an often repeated aspect of the B1 design with not a lot definite impressions as to whether it makes a difference in sound or not. On the 600 ohm Beyers I felt that the higher current setting sounded better as it seemed to better control them. On the high setting the sound had a bit more focus and refinement throughout the frequency range. On switching to the lower current setting the highs seemed less defined, somewhat loose and the bass lost a small amount of detail. As I said it is way early for me with a mere few hours of head time with the B1 and I will be looking to begin trying more of my other phones and to eventually do some direct comparisons with some my other amps which cover a range of different design approaches and sonic characteristics. For now though I just want get more time in on my new toy. The B1 has surprised me in how well it handled the 880's, not the easiest of loads and just how good it sounds for an amp with such a reasonable price tag, got mine for $185 shipped. Next up will probably be my T1 and HE-500, something to look forward to next week. I do intend to make sure I keep it from becoming work, I do not want to lose track of the music anywhere along the line. Great hobby isn't it?


----------



## miceblue

The 600-ohm DT880 shouldn't be a problem for the B1 at all considering the B1 is current-limited rather than voltage.


----------



## ESL-1

No problem and plenty of gain to boot, more than I anticipated. I look forward to trying my AKG K340 hybrid which only really shows it's musical abilities (albeit an acquired taste) on a few amps I have heard it on.


----------



## tretneo

I just received my B1 today, just want to report a few quick impressions.

Headphones: HE-560
DAP: iPhone 5s
Other Amps: Marantz HD-DAC1, Fiio e12

First, I'm extremely impressed with the build quality and overall look/feel of the B1. It's just a good looking piece of tech. I feel it outclasses the e12 in this department and is on par with my Marantz HD-DAC1 which is also just a beautiful piece of equipment.

I'm not a fan of the sound signature of the e12, perhaps it's the HE-560 pairing but it just sounds harsh and shrill at louder volume. The B1 on the other hand sounds smooth and controlled, very similar in fact to the Marantz. In fact, I'm hard pressed to decide which of the two sounds better which is impressive considering the size/price difference between the two.

Needless to say so far I'm incredibly positive about this little (but heavy) portable amp. I recently tried the HiFi-M8 Amp/DAC but had to return it due to a hardware fault. At this point I think that might have been a good thing as the B1 is much more affordable and sounds great!


----------



## avitron142

esl-1 said:


> On a whim I decided to acquire a B1, class A always held a certain attraction and the general opinion of the initial B1 reviews seemed nicely positive. The unit arrived yesterday and I decided to try my stock Beyer DT-880 600 ohm as a first exposure. Right now I am listening to a set of Grado PS1000e's. Way too early to go into detailed thoughts but I did find one thing last night with the DT-880's that I want to mention since it has been an often repeated aspect of the B1 design with not a lot definite impressions as to whether it makes a difference in sound or not. On the 600 ohm Beyers I felt that the higher current setting sounded better as it seemed to better control them. On the high setting the sound had a bit more focus and refinement throughout the frequency range. On switching to the lower current setting the highs seemed less defined, somewhat loose and the bass lost a small amount of detail. As I said it is way early for me with a mere few hours of head time with the B1 and I will be looking to begin trying more of my other phones and to eventually do some direct comparisons with some my other amps which cover a range of different design approaches and sonic characteristics. For now though I just want get more time in on my new toy. The B1 has surprised me in how well it handled the 880's, not the easiest of loads and just how good it sounds for an amp with such a reasonable price tag, got mine for $185 shipped. Next up will probably be my T1 and HE-500, something to look forward to next week. I do intend to make sure I keep it from becoming work, I do not want to lose track of the music anywhere along the line. Great hobby isn't it?


 
 Thanks for the impressions! added to the original post.


----------



## hakushondaimao

Just posted my review. *LINK*.
  
 Conclusions?
  
"There’s a lot to like about the Aune B1. It drives powerful headphones with authority, and has a lovely mid-forward sound that is easy on the ears and suitable for long, fatigue-free listening sessions. Design is phenomenal, with great looks and a quality build and feel. If I had the power to improve anything about the B1, it would be 1) greater range on the pot for fine volume control, and 2) slightly more extension of bass and treble.
  
In comparisons with other popular portable amplifiers, I’d equate the B1 to the Sennheiser HD650 (contolled bass, mid-forward, clean, easy on the ears) and the Fiio E12A and Cayin C5 to the Audio Technica ATH-R70x (more natural extension of bass and treble). If you’re an HD650 type, you will really like the sound signature of the B1. If you’re more into the R70x, you’ll still enjoy it, especially for longer listening sessions."


----------



## hakushondaimao

*Canadian tour application thread* is posted.


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## derGabe

One of the Photos i took of the Aune B1. Currently working on my german review for my own site, which i will also post here on headfi.
 Is it possible to post a german review here on headfi? I guess there are quiet a few native speaking germans on here. I will also work
 on an shorter english review.


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## tretneo

Quick Question, my Aune B1 came bundled with a 5V, 2.1A USB charging adapter. The Aune site says the "charging current is above 1A" whatever that means. Does anyone know if using a 2.1A USB charging adapter is safe for the B1?


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## Loquah

You'll be fine with higher current. It might charge faster too, but either wat it won't hurt.


----------



## Loquah

hakushondaimao said:


> Just posted my review. *LINK*.
> 
> Conclusions?
> 
> ...




I've just heard from Aune that they're updating future B1s to have lower low gain ouptut to pair better with a wider range of headphones / earphones so the pot range is already addressed (nice to see such responsive companies)


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## hakushondaimao

loquah said:


> I've just heard from Aune that they're updating future B1s to have lower low gain ouptut to pair better with a wider range of headphones / earphones so the pot range is already addressed (nice to see such responsive companies)


 

 Yes, I heard from them too. Now I'd love to try the B1 Rev-2


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## Cotnijoe

Very glad to see that they're willing to listen to what the community thinks of their product. Now i just wonder what they plan to do about the units they have already sold.


----------



## avitron142

loquah said:


> I've just heard from Aune that they're updating future B1s to have lower low gain ouptut to pair better with a wider range of headphones / earphones so the pot range is already addressed (nice to see such responsive companies)


 
 I'm a bit worried that the jump between low/high gain output if switched by accident could be R.I.P. iem's. THe way it is now it isn't too much of a jump, but if they make the difference bigger...


----------



## Cotnijoe

avitron142 said:


> I'm a bit worried that the jump between low/high gain output if switched by accident could be R.I.P. iem's. THe way it is now it isn't too much of a jump, but if they make the difference bigger...


 
  
 Maybe implementing a better way for the gains to be switched or adding a medium gain could help. Unfortunately I feel like that'll be quite a bit of change and might change up the external design of the amp too which would b a huge pain for them to deal with


----------



## money4me247

cotnijoe said:


> Maybe implementing a better way for the gains to be switched or adding a medium gain could help. Unfortunately I feel like that'll be quite a bit of change and might change up the external design of the amp too which would b a huge pain for them to deal with


 
 the best design change IMO is changing the toggle switches (for gain, class A, and power) to a different type of switch that is harder to accidentally trigger. however, I can understand that may be difficult to accomplish without raising costs. the low cost alternative I think is using some sort of tape to hold the gain & current switches in a place if you are primarily/exclusively using this device with IEMs & concerned about moving switches.
  
 if there is a revision version coming out, I would also love to see an volume indicator marking on the volume knob. A single white line would be sufficient. Those would be the two biggest design improvement that I think would be most helpful in further improving the design of this solid device.


----------



## hakushondaimao

money4me247 said:


> the best design change IMO is changing the toggle switches (for gain, class A, and power) to a different type of switch that is harder to accidentally trigger. however, I can understand that may be difficult to accomplish without raising costs. the low cost alternative I think is using some sort of tape to hold the gain & current switches in a place if you are primarily/exclusively using this device with IEMs & concerned about moving switches.
> 
> if there is a revision version coming out, I would also love to see an volume indicator marking on the volume knob. A single white line would be sufficient. Those would be the two biggest design improvement that I think would be most helpful in further improving the design of this solid device.


 

 Good call on the volume indicator. During my review, I stuck a tiny sliver of tape on the volume pot so I could see what percentage I was at (hence the volume values in my review). A line or deeper notch/higher protrusion in the ridges around the outer edge of the pot would be all that's needed.


----------



## Loquah

One other thing I learned from Aune was a further explanation of the A Class switch.
  
 In their words, the A Class switch affects the static current output (20mA vs 40mA) so essentially it sounds like the switch varies the balance of current vs voltage used by the amp to drive the load. I try not to get too much into the engineering of it all (because I'm not qualified and not really interested) so hopefully that makes sense. All I know is that it made a subtle, but noticeable difference depending on the load at the time and that's enough for me.


----------



## tretneo

loquah said:


> You'll be fine with higher current. It might charge faster too, but either wat it won't hurt.


 
  
 Perfect, thanks for the confirmation!


----------



## miceblue

For what it's worth, I don't hear a big difference between the B1 and E12 myself.


Volume-matched by ear with pink noise and 1 kHz sine wave.


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## xkonfuzed

miceblue said:


> For what it's worth, I don't hear a big difference between the B1 and E12 myself.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 How would you say the B1 compares to the Objective 2?


----------



## avitron142

miceblue said:


> For what it's worth, I don't hear a big difference between the B1 and E12 myself.
> 
> Volume-matched by ear with pink noise and 1 kHz sine wave.


 
 How about having a half an hour listening session with each one, rather than a/b'ing them? I found that the B1's musicality is something that's hard to pinpoint out right away, but makes a large difference (in enjoyment) for the long run... Give it a shot! Let me know if you change your mind afterwards.
  
 Edit: What's your source player?


----------



## miceblue

xkonfuzed said:


> How would you say the B1 compares to the Objective 2?






avitron142 said:


> How about having a half an hour listening session with each one, rather than a/b'ing them? I found that the B1's musicality is something that's hard to pinpoint out right away, but makes a large difference (in enjoyment) for the long run... Give it a shot! Let me know if you change your mind afterwards.
> 
> Edit: What's your source player?



I didn't say there wasn't a difference, I just said not a big one. : p

Stay tuned for my B1 review for the details of the differences, but I do agree that the B1 does have a nice sound to it.

I'm not sure if it's only my unit, but there seems to be some sort of crossfeed-like effect, but not, for my B1. I think someone mentioned a channel imbalance somewhere.
It's hard to put into words, but when A/B-ed against my other amps, it is blatantly obvious to tell which one is the B1 and which one isn't because it places the left channel more on the left than the others. Even with just pink noise playing for volume-matching, I can hear that difference.

DAC is the Objective DAC in all of these tests. It's the only dedicated DAC I have. I could use the OPPO HA-2's line-out feature though if I wanted to.


Note to self: HE1000 unit is measured to be 31-ohms with the 3.5 mm cable (32 mW, 0.990 Vrms, 31.939 mA to reach 105 dB SPL).


----------



## derGabe

I have noticed something strange with the B1. I was listening to some Electronic Music (John Tejada's "Parabolas") and there was some noticable clipping/distortion that never occured when listening to my Cayin C5 or Oppo HA2. But when i switched to 40mA on the B1, the clipping was gone and everything was fine. That was with my Shure SRH440 aswell as with my Beyerdynamic T1 Headphones.


----------



## avitron142

dergabe said:


> I have noticed something strange with the B1. I was listening to some Electronic Music (John Tejada's "Parabolas") and there was some noticable clipping/distortion that never occured when listening to my Cayin C5 or Oppo HA2. But when i switched to 40mA on the B1, the clipping was gone and everything was fine. That was with my Shure SRH440 aswell as with my Beyerdynamic T1 Headphones.


 
 Mine too, But I'm pretty sure it was just revealing the tracks in my case... could you double check to make sure your source files are not the cause? The B1 is one heck of a revealing amp.


----------



## derGabe

avitron142 said:


> Mine too, But I'm pretty sure it was just revealing the tracks in my case... could you double check to make sure your source files are not the cause? The B1 is one heck of a revealing amp.


 

 I did, and its not the cause of the source material. Its fine with the same Tracks on my Cayin C5 or the Oppo-HA2. So it must be the B1 that is having problems on the 20mA setting with the bass or density of the sound.


----------



## avitron142

dergabe said:


> I did, and its not the cause of the source material. Its fine with the same Tracks on my Cayin C5 or the Oppo-HA2. So it must be the B1 that is having problems on the 20mA setting with the bass or density of the sound.


 
 Have you gone to the other two amps again and tried to hear specifically for the distortion that you had on the B1? Try to listen again to your other amps with the distortions in mind, and if you can't hear any hint of any of them, I guess I'm wrong.
  
 Edit: I'm asking you to do this because I was under the same impression that you were when I first listened to the B1, but after going to the parts of the song that had distortion with my other amps I realized they had it too, albeit to an extent that I didn't notice until I tried to find it.


----------



## derGabe

avitron142 said:


> I was hearing things on the B1 that I didn't hear on the E12 either, but I realized that it was the way the material was mastered. It is possible that the other amps are not revealing enough, and therefore you aren't noticing it on the others... although to be sure we really have to test it against a higher-end amp and see whether it finds the "flaws" too. Have you gone to the other two amps again and tried to hear specifically for the distortion that you had on the B1? Try to listen again to your other amps with the distortions in mind, and if you can't hear any hint of any of them, I guess I'm wrong.
> 
> Edit: I'm asking you to do this because I was under the same impression that you were when I first listened to the B1, but after going to the parts of the song that had distortion with my other amps I realized they had it too, albeit to an extent that I didn't notice until I tried to find it.


 

 Dude, seriously. I know that you like the B1 (and don't get me wrong, its a fairly good amp as far as i can tell at the moment) but just please stop questioning my hearing. I know these tracks as good as anybody and i have listened to them on my C5, my Oppo-Ha2, my Yamaha AS1000 and my Sony HAP-S1. And there never was clipping. Trust me, i have mixed numerous Albums and i know what clipping/distortion is. And if its in the source, its everywhere and the Amp does not matter. You will always here a clipped signal.


----------



## avitron142

dergabe said:


> Dude, seriously. I know that you like the B1 (and don't get me wrong, its a fairly good amp as far as i can tell at the moment) but just please stop questioning my hearing. I know these tracks as good as anybody and i have listened to them on my C5, my Oppo-Ha2, my Yamaha AS1000 and my Sony HAP-S1. And there never was clipping. Trust me, i have mixed numerous Albums and i know what clipping/distortion is. And if its in the source, its everywhere and the Amp does not matter. You will always here a clipped signal.


 
 Alright! I didn't mean to question your hearing, it's just that I thought I had the same experiences as you did and therefore had the same cause


----------



## derGabe

avitron142 said:


> Alright! I didn't mean to question your hearing, it's just that I thought I had the same experiences as you did and therefore had the same cause


 
 So the Question should be, why is the B1 sometimes clipping at 20mA and not on 40mA. Anyone got an idea?


----------



## avitron142

dergabe said:


> So the Question should be, why is the B1 sometimes clipping at 20mA and not on 40mA. Anyone got an idea?


 
 Another question would be, why has nobody else noticed it either? It could either be a faulty B1, like Miceblue's oddity with the B1, or it could be track specific - something to do with the density of the bass, like you said, that causes it to clip. Either way, I'd be very interested in finding out what's causing it.


----------



## avitron142

miceblue said:


> I didn't say there wasn't a difference, I just said not a big one. : p
> 
> Stay tuned for my B1 review for the details of the differences, but I do agree that the B1 does have a nice sound to it.
> 
> ...


 
 Idk, I didn't get that effect at all. Musical, yes, but no channel imbalance on mine. I'm fairly sure of this because I've sent back units in the past that had channel imbalance and it turned out to be that they did, so I'm pretty cofident mine didn't have any. Another thing to note is Dergabe's clipping, it concerns me a bit that people with the B1 are having different problems. Same problems I can wrap my head around, but different ones... I'm confused


----------



## money4me247

"Clipping" is caused by not having enough power. It affects the entire song throughout and every song. Commonly described initially as hearing 'roughness' or 'raspiness' at the edges of the sound. Or the music sounds more closed-in/congested. Spacing between notes not as clearly defined and individual notes do not sound as sharp and clear. Will not be isolated instances of distortion/noise. Isolated sections of a specific song where you hear distortion every single time at the same time segment of the track usually indicates another problem (usually source issue). Intermittent randomly occurring noise/crackling/static is a different issue as well (not related to clipping or source). It 'should' be relatively easy to distinguish what sort of issue you are running into through a few quick tests.
  
 You will use this resource to calculate your headphone's power requirements: http://www.apexhifi.com/specs.html

For the Beyer T1, the maximum power you need is 200mW, 10.94V, and 18.2 mA to reach 125dB (loudness that begins to cause pain). That will cover more than enough headroom to cover any peaks. When using this headphone, you need to be in high gain mode as it has a 600ohm impedance. 
For the Shure SRH440 , you need 100mW of power, 2.1V, and 47.7mA to reach 125dB to reach 125dB.
  
 **Note the amount of power needed to reach 125dB is a lot more power than you actually need for normal volume listening levels (60-98dB).
  
 Ask Aune for the power ratings on their amplifier and you can see if the amplifier is not sufficient for your headphones. (you should really use 110-120 dB for real-world power requirements, 125dB is a lot more than required - I was just illustrating the extremes)
  
 Hope this information is helpful!


----------



## beeman

Hi - very interestiing reading the thoughts and reviews on the b1. I was thinking about using the b1 with an iphone 4s (LOD) - does anyone use this combination and what are your impressions?


----------



## miceblue

beeman said:


> Hi - very interestiing reading the thoughts and reviews on the b1. I was thinking about using the b1 with an iphone 4s (LOD) - does anyone use this combination and what are your impressions?





miceblue said:


>




I'll have to do more listening today when I get back from work, but it sounded good to me!


----------



## tretneo

Really enjoying this amp, what a classy piece of equipment!


----------



## zazex

dergabe said:


> So the Question should be, why is the B1 sometimes clipping at 20mA and not on 40mA. Anyone got an idea?


 
  
 I'm hazarding a guess here based on high quality low power (speaker) amps
 I've dealt with.  Sometimes they could play very loud without clipping due
 to greater dynamic headroom (as it was explained to me).
  
 So I'm thinking that similarly, the B1 may have greater headroom at 20
 than at 40, and thus clips more readily at 40 than at 20.


----------



## derGabe

zazex said:


> I'm hazarding a guess here based on high quality low power (speaker) amps
> I've dealt with.  Sometimes they could play very loud without clipping due
> to greater dynamic headroom (as it was explained to me).
> 
> ...


 
 You mean a greater headroom at 40mA, right? Because it's clipping at 20mA.


----------



## miceblue

zazex said:


> I'm hazarding a guess here based on high quality low power (speaker) amps
> I've dealt with.  Sometimes they could play very loud without clipping due
> to greater dynamic headroom (as it was explained to me).
> 
> ...



You have your numbers backwards, but that's a possibility. I don't hear any clipping with the HE1000 on any current mode and it requires much greater current than the T1 does.

Based on what Class A amplifiers do and the numbers from the official specifications, the Class A switch is just a current gain. Gain for amplifiers is usually mostly voltage gain and I've confirmed with Aune that the voltage output at the two gains is different. I don't think it's by coincidence that the 40 mA mode is also the maximum current output for the B1 at 16 and 32 ohm loads. Since Class A amps are biased 100% of the time, having two current gain modes is probably a smart design given the fact that the B1 is battery powered and battery consumption is determined by current draw.


----------



## ESL-1

dergabe said:


> You mean a greater headroom at 40mA, right? Because it's clipping at 20mA.




I agree with derGabe, at the higher current setting (40) you would have more headroom and be less likely to clip if playing loud with a less sensitive headphone. I found no problem at all driving my 600 ohm Beyer DT880 to a satisfyingly loud level with no issues. It will probably do even better with my T1 when I get to try it since the one Tesla rating makes it more efficient than the 880 even though they are both 600 ohms. 

I have no issues with any sort of channel Imbalance, in fact no problems of any sort have shown themselves. I hope and expect to remain that way as I get to log more hours on the amp.


----------



## zazex

dergabe said:


> You mean a greater headroom at 40mA, right? Because it's clipping at 20mA.


 

 Yes, I erroneously reversed the numbers, sorry.


----------



## miceblue

avitron142 said:


> Idk, I didn't get that effect at all. Musical, yes, but no channel imbalance on mine. I'm fairly sure of this because I've sent back units in the past that had channel imbalance and it turned out to be that they did, so I'm pretty cofident mine didn't have any. Another thing to note is Dergabe's clipping, it concerns me a bit that people with the B1 are having different problems. Same problems I can wrap my head around, but different ones... I'm confused



I figured it out. I had the day off today so I basically did A/B tests all day between the B1 and the Objective 2, E12, OPPO HA-2, and JDS Labs C5/C5D; and with the OPPO PM-3, AKG K240 Monitor, AKG K701, and HIFIMAN HE1000 headphones.

I only really get that strange effect in the 40 mA mode. I actually prefer the 20 mA mode after listening really carefully between the A/B tests. It helped me at least for doing the volume-matched A/B tests because without a switch, you would have to turn the B1 off/on to listen for differences between the two current modes, and you could very easily forget how the music sounds in the few seconds you spend doing that. With the switch, you can do A/B switching for as long as you want to get a good idea of how the music sounds between the two amps, then go to the other amp while you switch the current mode on the B1, then switch back to the B1 to hear the differences if any.

From my listening sessions:
20 mA mode:

 Slight warmth in the bass/lower-midrange area
 Wide soundstage, little depth
 Decent center imaging

40 mA mode:

 More warmth, and a slight sub-bass boost
 Wider soundstage, more depth
 Lack of center imaging

These were just A/B tests mind you, not blind ones. If the B1 was in 40 mA mode on the other hand, I could probably easily pass an ABX test because the effect is so obvious for me. Just like how the AKG K701 is infamously known for having a wide soundstage with a lack of center imaging, the 40 mA mode sounds weird like that to me. It's really not a good pairing with the K701 nor HE1000 and I find the 20 mA mode to sound better in that regard.


All with low gain. I personally see no reason for the high-gain. Even with the AKG K240 Monitor at 688 ohms and 0.447 Vrms required to reach 90 dB SPL I never had to use the high gain mode.


----------



## avitron142

miceblue said:


> I figured it out. I had the day off today so I basically did A/B tests all day between the B1 and the Objective 2, E12, OPPO HA-2, and JDS Labs C5/C5D; and with the OPPO PM-3, AKG K240 Monitor, AKG K701, and HIFIMAN HE1000 headphones.
> 
> I only really get that strange effect in the 40 mA mode. I actually prefer the 20 mA mode after listening really carefully between the A/B tests. It helped me at least for doing the volume-matched A/B tests because without a switch, you would have to turn the B1 off/on to listen for differences between the two current modes, and you could very easily forget how the music sounds in the few seconds you spend doing that. With the switch, you can do A/B switching for as long as you want to get a good idea of how the music sounds between the two amps, then go to the other amp while you switch the current mode on the B1, then switch back to the B1 to hear the differences if any.
> 
> ...


 
 ! I hope that you turned the B1 off before you switched the current; Aune specifically said that it could damage the amp if you don't. Regardless, great impressions! I'll see if my B1 has it from the reviews that the participants of the tour will publish. It could be your sample is faulty... bummer.


----------



## miceblue

Yup, of course I turned off the B1 when switching the current mode. That's why I mentioned why the A/B switch was important to me. I would just switch to the other amp while keeping the music playing in my ears, turn off the B1, switch the current mode after the relay click, switch the B1 back on, and turn the A/B switch back to the B1 to hear any differences between it and the other amp.


----------



## avitron142

miceblue said:


> Yup, of course I turned off the B1 when switching the current mode. That's why I mentioned why the A/B switch was important to me. I would just switch to the other amp while keeping the music playing in my ears, turn off the B1, switch the current mode after the relay click, switch the B1 back on, and turn the A/B switch back to the B1 to hear any differences between it and the other amp.


 
 Ah, sorry, didn't realize. I would test my B1 for the same things you've found but it's on tour right now


----------



## Buhagim

drkc said:


> *B1 Review, E12 comparison and
> 
> General ramblings * Part 1.
> 
> ...


----------



## miceblue

And I just published my review of the B1 as well.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13367

Thank you AuneAudio for letting me be a part of this worldwide tour!


----------



## hakushondaimao

Canadian tour of the B1 is underway. If anyone else wants to join in, head over to the application thread *HERE*.


----------



## DrKC

buhagim said:


>


 
 Thanks for reading it.  I'm not real good at fabricating things I don't really hear and am really bad at parroting what others have said.  In the end, all I come up with is what I actually heard with the source material I used.  If it's not there, I don't hear it.
  
 Cheers


----------



## miceblue

I created a video review for the B1 on my YouTube channel if anyone is interested in it. 

[video]https://youtu.be/84b0R8Ofxrg[/video]


Video Table of Contents:
0:16 - Thank you to Aune Audio
0:41 - Sound quality A/B test methodology
1:39 - B1 vs OPPO HA-2
2:20 - B1 vs FiiO E12
3:35 - B1 vs JDS Labs C5/C5D
5:54 - B1 vs JDS Labs Objective 2
7:53 - Sound quality overview
8:36 - Price-sound quality value
8:51 - Gain switch voltage output
10:02 - Class A switch current output
11:05 - Class A amplifier design overview
11:41 - Battery life
12:23 - Class A switch's sound
14:05 - Aesthetics overview
15:03 - Mute relay
15:27 - Input/output overview
15:42 - Volume knob
16:43 - Front panel window and component overview
18:52 - Size and portability
20:24 - Stackability
21:39 - Aluminum chassis overview


----------



## swannie007

Received my B1 today and have been listening to it for a few hours with different sources and am quite pleased with the sound. An early observation is that it does not pair well with my HD650's. Bass is overwhelming and tends to veil the midrange too much for my liking. It appears that brighter headphones such as Beyerdynamic T90's and AKG Q701's tend to pair better with this amp,to my ear, YMMV.
 Early days yet but liking it so far. Oh yea, I replaced that awful volume knob with a more conventional cylindrical one that I had in my spares box, much better.
 Need to try more headphones with it and then some in-ears. Cheers.


----------



## hakushondaimao

@RedJohn456 posted his impressions from the Canadian tour *HERE*.


----------



## hakushondaimao

@Peter West's review from the Canadian Tour is *HERE*. Very good review, IMHO.


----------



## Peter West

Thanks Hakushondaimao for the kind words....great amp  ...ordered my own this morning!


----------



## jjacq

http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13543

 Here is my review. Thanks for letting me take part of this tour.


----------



## derGabe

http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13548
  
 My review for german speaking people. The english version is coming by the end of the week.


----------



## ozrayyau

I have one, for me, it's not good as the Fiio E12a.


----------



## Peter West

I bought the AUNE B1 after pairing it with my LCD-X and Fostex T-50RP headphones. It's not bad with the Titan 1 in-ears but way too much amp for most of my other headphones and in-ears. The plenary magnetic headphones just sing with the Class A amplification. For my other in-ears or headphones like the Momentum on-ears or Grado 60s it's either the Astell and Kern AK-100 II direct or through Cypher Labs Picollo. It's amazing how much the music can change depending on the amp - headphone combination and specific musical tastes also play a part. There are songs that sound pretty good out of my IPhone into the Cozoy Astrapi and $39 T-Peos in-ears. It's all relative and money (sometimes not a lot) factors in as well.


----------



## RedJohn456

I have a quick question about the B1 amp. I was reading online about the two main issues, the high output impedence and low output power. Does anyone know if that has been addressed with Revision B? 
  
@hakushondaimao  Any info on this bud?


----------



## ESL-1

Output power is fine for me, it drives my 600 ohm Beyer DT880's (both stock and recabled) with no issues including adequate level. I do have it set in high gain and high current. It also does well wth my 600 ohm T1 but that is actually more efficient due to the stronger magnet.


----------



## RedJohn456

esl-1 said:


> Output power is fine for me, it drives my 600 ohm Beyer DT880's (both stock and recabled) with no issues including adequate level. I do have it set in high gain and high current. It also does well wth my 600 ohm T1 but that is actually more efficient due to the stronger magnet.


 

 saw a review on the Aune site that highlighted the two issues. The 10 ohm output impedence is the one I am concerned about mainly. Not good for multi ba iems


----------



## hakushondaimao

redjohn456 said:


> I have a quick question about the B1 amp. I was reading online about the two main issues, the high output impedence and low output power. Does anyone know if that has been addressed with Revision B?
> 
> @hakushondaimao  Any info on this bud?


 

 The message I got from Aune after I posted my review was:
  
 "We had already upgrade our B1 :
 1) All our B1 support  section 4 *headphone output now *
 2）For next stock  , we will reduce the output level of low gain gear , reduce from 2.5VRMS to 1.8RMS , it will adaprt to more wide range of headphone , High gain does not change , the output is 6.5VRMS"


----------



## cheznous

redjohn456 said:


> saw a review on the Aune site that highlighted the two issues. The 10 ohm output impedence is the one I am concerned about mainly. Not good for multi ba iems


 

 Well i use with the Layla iem and have no issues at all.


----------



## cheznous

I have to say even after a short period of ownership I am mightily impressed with the B1. 
 I am putting it up there with the:
 Fostex HP V1,
 Fanmusic BL 2 ( a well kept secret but wonderful),
 Vorzuge Pure II +
  
 I love the "body" it gives to my ZX2 and Cowon P1 through to my Laylas.
 Absolutely no hiss and bags of power. A little warm for sure but I like that in an amp.
 What value for 144 pounds.


----------



## RedJohn456

cheznous said:


> I have to say even after a short period of ownership I am mightily impressed with the B1.
> I am putting it up there with the:
> Fostex HP V1,
> Fanmusic BL 2 ( a well kept secret but wonderful),
> ...


 

 how does it compare to the Pure 2+?


----------



## cheznous

redjohn456 said:


> how does it compare to the Pure 2+?



The B1 definitely warmer which I do like. Both are excellent amps and recommended but the B1 does have a warmth whilst the Pure is more clinical. So Mazzy Star with the B1 and Steely Dan with the Pure if that makes sense.


----------



## DrKC

ozrayyau said:


> I have one, for me, it's not good as the Fiio E12a.


 

 The B1 is a bit awkwardly positioned.  You can see my review here in the forum.  As I noted, as have others, the high output impedance should be a concern for most users that aren't using Beyer or Senn Hi-Z phones.  The output power, compared to the E12 is lacking and takes a number of phones off the list that you would want to use with it.
 Sound quality is very good though for a portable amp - if you have the right phones.  At a third more in cost vs the E12, it really doesn't hold up to scrutiny.  If my budget was around US$200, I wouldn't have the B1 on my short list.  For me the B1 is an interesting gadget - not my only amp.  But value-wise, I'll agree that the E12 is the winner.


----------



## cheznous

drkc said:


> The B1 is a bit awkwardly positioned.  You can see my review here in the forum.  As I noted, as have others, the high output impedance should be a concern for most users that aren't using Beyer or Senn Hi-Z phones.  The output power, compared to the E12 is lacking and takes a number of phones off the list that you would want to use with it.
> Sound quality is very good though for a portable amp - if you have the right phones.  At a third more in cost vs the E12, it really doesn't hold up to scrutiny.  If my budget was around US$200, I wouldn't have the B1 on my short list.  For me the B1 is an interesting gadget - not my only amp.  But value-wise, I'll agree that the E12 is the winner.




I use the B1 with my Layla's and I think it trounces the Fiio. 
I place it up there with amps costing 400 pounds plus. Whereas the Fiio has limited soundstage though much better battery life.


----------



## hakushondaimao

drkc said:


> The B1 is a bit awkwardly positioned.  You can see my review here in the forum.  As I noted, as have others, the high output impedance should be a concern for most users that aren't using Beyer or Senn Hi-Z phones.  The output power, compared to the E12 is lacking and takes a number of phones off the list that you would want to use with it.
> Sound quality is very good though for a portable amp - if you have the right phones.  At a third more in cost vs the E12, it really doesn't hold up to scrutiny.  If my budget was around US$200, I wouldn't have the B1 on my short list.  For me the B1 is an interesting gadget - not my only amp.  But value-wise, I'll agree that the E12 is the winner.


 
  
 My understanding from Aune is that the Rev-B version has reduced low-end output for better IEM matching. Do you know which version you reviewed? I know I had a Rev-A for my review, and would be very interested in hearing a later model for comparison.


----------



## Peter West

As I said it makes planar magnetics just sing. I bought one immediately for my LCD-Xs. Way too much for my 535 in-ears.


----------



## cheznous

hakushondaimao said:


> My understanding from Aune is that the Rev-B version has reduced low-end output for better IEM matching. Do you know which version you reviewed? I know I had a Rev-A for my review, and would be very interested in hearing a later model for comparison.



That's interesting and possible why I rate mine so highly with my Layla's. Serial number is 3356.


----------



## Sorefoot19

For members interested in purchasing in the US, Amazon is selling this item at a very low price.  I just received mine.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

loquah said:


> My review on Head-Fi is done, blog review to follow shortly (with some minor variations and extra pics). Here's the local version: http://www.head-fi.org/products/aune-b1/reviews/13262


 
  
 Your review may confuse some people, the switch labeled 'Class A' isn't actually for turning Class A on or off. B1 is always operating in Class A, the switch only changes the static current consumption of B1. In the "-" position B1 is using 20mW of current, in the "+" position B1 is using 40mW of current, so essentially you can double or half battery life with that switch, but for best sound quality the 40mW mode is recommended.


----------



## cheznous

t.r.a.n.c.e. said:


> Your review may confuse some people, the switch labeled 'Class A' isn't actually for turning Class A on or off. B1 is always operating in Class A, the switch only changes the static current consumption of B1. In the "-" position B1 is using 20mW of current, in the "+" position B1 is using 40mW of current, so essentially you can double or half battery life with that switch, but for best sound quality the 40mW mode is recommended.



I find with the Layla's that the 20mw and also low gain sound best.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

hakushondaimao said:


> My understanding from Aune is that the Rev-B version has reduced low-end output for better IEM matching. Do you know which version you reviewed? I know I had a Rev-A for my review, and would be very interested in hearing a later model for comparison.


 
  
 If you had rev A and your serial number is 5246, then we all have rev A, my serial is 2212.  The way to know what rev you have is to look at pcb rev number, under the middle of the window divider it says your pcb rev, if you tilt your B1 you can read it, mine says 'B1 V1.0 2014.9' so pretty much guaranteed to be rev A as it is dated September 2014 with a pcb rev of 1.0. And to add to that, my local shop only just received stock of B1 a few days ago, which is the one I bought, so Aune didn't send out rev B's, they probably still have rev A's to clear out. But nonetheless B1 sounds great, so I can't complain to much.


----------



## bhazard

Better late than never:
  
*Aune B1*
 If you’ve ever wondered how a Class A, discrete amp would sound with your portable music rig, Aune has given you the chance with the B1.
 While I’m not going to go into the details of Class A nor comparisons to other amp types (Class AB, Class D), Class A is considered the best by many. I’ve found amps in all topologies that are so good that you’d never consider or care what type they are, so I don’t necessarily prefer one type over another. The design and components are what matters most.
  
*Specifications*:

Frequency range: 10 Hz – 20 KHz ± 0,15 dB
THD+N: <0,0008% @ 1 KHz, 600Ω
Signal/noise ratio: >124 dB @ 600Ω
Channel separation: > 110 дБ @ 1 КГц, 600Ω
Output power: 25 mW @ 16Ω, 50 mW @ 32Ω, 100 mW @ 300Ω
Headphone impedance: 16Ω — 300Ω
Battery: 4000 mA/h
Life time: 10 hours for 20 mA, 5 hours for 40 mA
Size: 65 mm × 110 mm × 18 mm
Weight: 230 g
  
*Build Quality: *

*Quality Aluminum Chassis*
*Unique window design showcasing internals*
*Stylish Faux Leather*
*Confusing switch placement*
  
 The B1 is a somewhat hefty amp to carry around, about the size of a smartphone lengthwise, and about 3-4 phones wide in girth. While it may be a bit wieldy to carry around, the actual quality of the device is high. The aluminum chassis and clear window casing showing the internals of the device provides a sleek look with a sturdy feel. The faux leather along the chassis also fits the design quite well without taking away from the overall appeal.
 The switches and volume knobs did take away from the build though. I found the gain switch and volume knob placement to feel unnatural when I went to adjust them. It was nothing too distracting, but I’ve also used many amps that felt much better (Fiio and Cayin come to mind).
 Battery life is not the greatest. The Class A design really eats up the battery, with 5-10 hours being the norm depending on your gain setting.
  
*Sound Quality:*

Good but not great power overall.
Slight bass tilt, 40mA mode better
Neutral sound
  
 The B1 has plenty of power for most applications, and it excels at powering high impedance headphones. I ended up finding out that low impedance multi driver earphones do not do well with the B1 however (Havi B3). My smartphone drove the B3 at the same power level (even in high gain), which is not something I want in a $200+ amp. Every other IEM and headphone sounded stellar however. The O2 amplifier comes to mind with the overall neutral aspect of the sound.
 Compared to my Geek Out 1000 V1, I found the GO1000 to be slightly more engaging and more powerful, with a slight edge in soundstage. Treble was enhanced over the B1, but I found the B1 more pleasing.
  
*Conclusion*:
 There is a lot to like about the B1. I would very much recommend it as a portable amp for a high impedance headphone. For a portable IEM solution, I find that there are better dac/amp combo options available at similar pricing.
 As a fan of Aune and their past products, I applaud their effort in making a unique amp that can satisfy a lot of people.


----------



## swannie007

Just looked at my B1 and realized that crap! I've got serial # 0001. How about that. So it's my unit in the official Aune photos of the B1.
 At least my headphone amp is a star. Cheers.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

swannie007 said:


> Just looked at my B1 and realized that crap! I've got serial # 0001. How about that.


 
  
 That's awesome, I'm jealous ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)


----------



## swannie007

Ahh, nothing to be jealous about, it's just another piece of gear. Really doesn't make a difference to me it's just that I never noticed before. Cheers.


----------



## wega03

swannie007 said:


> Just looked at my B1 and realized that crap! I've got serial # 0001. How about that. So it's my unit in the official Aune photos of the B1.
> At least my headphone amp is a star. Cheers.




That's cool, so u have a b1 collectors edition.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

swannie007 said:


> Ahh, nothing to be jealous about, it's just another piece of gear. Really doesn't make a difference to me it's just that I never noticed before. Cheers.


 
  
 ^ No, I'm seriously jealous. Your in Aus like me I see, how bout we trade B1's, mine is serial 2212, got it last week and used it once so it's brand new. Name your price for the trade!


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

Wait a sec, there might be more than one with serial 0001, this Russian guy also got one: http://hi-news.ru/audio/obzor-portativnogo-usilitelya-dlya-naushnikov-aune-b1-neobychnyj-vo-vsem.html


----------



## cheznous

t.r.a.n.c.e. said:


> Wait a sec, there might be more than one with serial 0001, this Russian guy also got one: http://hi-news.ru/audio/obzor-portativnogo-usilitelya-dlya-naushnikov-aune-b1-neobychnyj-vo-vsem.html




I am not convinced of the logic of the Aune serial numbers. 
I got 3000 plus and bought recently direct yet have seen a friends older model which is 5000 plus.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

^ Yeah, browsing google pics shows that there is at least a handful of B1's with serial 0001, so it seems a bit weird. I also bought mine just last week from a new shipment and got serial 2212, It's as pretty cool number, but I still want a 0001


----------



## hakushondaimao

t.r.a.n.c.e. said:


> ^ Yeah, browsing google pics shows that there is at least a handful of B1's with serial 0001, so it seems a bit weird. I also bought mine just last week from a new shipment and got serial 2212, It's as pretty cool number, but I still want a 0001


 
  
 I'd want 2112. That is all.


----------



## nmatheis

Hi all.  I just posted my review of the B1.  Many thanks to @money4me247 for giving me the opportunity to give it a listen!
  
*LINK*
  


Spoiler: Warning: Full Review Ahead!!!



*Pros:* Unique aesthetics. Powerful. Good soundstage and separation. *Cons:* Mid-centric. Plastic volume knob and switches don't inspire confidence. Too powerful for IEM.
  
  


  
  
DISCLAIMER
 I was provided the Aune B1 as part of a mini-tour *@money4me247put* together after he reviewed the B1.  I am in no way affiliated with Aune, and this is my honest opinion of the B1.  I would like to thank *@money4me247* for giving me the chance to test drive the B1, and I hope my thoughts prove useful for fellow Head-Fi members as well as for Aune.

  

*INTRODUCTION*
 Ok, so why review the Aune B1?  When I saw it announced, I wondered how the B1 wold to my Fiio gear (E12A, E12 DIY & X5).  I was also intrigued by the discrete circuitry and Class A feature.  
  
  
ABOUT ME I'm a 43 year old father who loves music.  From electronic (Autechre, Boards of Canada) to modern/minimalist composition (John Cage, Philip Glass) to alternative rock (Flaming Lips, Radiohead) to jazz (John Coltrane and Miles Davis) to metal (Behemoth, King Diamond) to classic rock (Eagles, Rush), I listen to a wide variety of genres and artists. 
 
My portable music journey started with the venerable Sony Cassette Walkman and then progressed to portable CD players, minidisc recorders (still have my Sharp DR7), and finally on to DAPs like the Rio Karma, iRiver IHP-1xx, iPod 5.5, iPhones, and the newer crop of DAPs from Fiio and iBasso. 
 
I typically listen with IEMs from my ever-growing collection from budget to mid-fi. Less often, I grab a pair of full-size cans.  Recently, I've been listening a lot with various earbuds and IEM I have in for testing.  I do have a lot of other gear, though.  You can always check my profile for a reasonably up to date gear list. 
 
As with a lot of people my age, I've got some hearing issues.  I've got mild tinnitus and suffer from allergies, which can affect hearing in my right ear.  I'll admit it, I'm not blessed with a pair of golden ears.  That said, I've been listening to portable gear for a long time and feel confident in assessing audio gear - just wanted to be transparent up front. 
  
  
*SPECS*
 Please refer to this *LINK* for official specs.
  
  
*PACKAGING & ACCESSORIES*
  
 External packaging is a simple black & white.  I hate gaudy packaging and highly approve of the approach Aune took here!


  
  
 Open the box and you see the B1 and accessories.

  
  
 Here's what you get: A micro USB cable, and 3.5mm IC, and the owner's manual.  No bands and *no carrying case.  Hmm...*

  
  
  
*BUILD & ERGONOMICS*
 The B1 comes in either black aluminum with black leather pads or or silver aluminum with red pads.  The tour B1 was the black model.  I'll go over the various features in pictorial fashion below.
  
 The front 3.5mm input and output jacks and the volume knob.  Plugs slip in smoothly without clicking in place, but I had no problems with them coming loose.  The volume knob was disappointing, quite frankly.  It feels like cheap plastic and has no marking to let you know how far you've turned the knob.  I hope Aune rethinks this with future models and replaces it with a nice matching metal knob with an indicator line.  Despite not being up to the overall quality and aesthetics of the B1, the volume knob has very smooth movement and allowed for easy fine-grained volume adjustment.

  
  
 On the back, we see the micro USB receptacle.

  
  
 On the left side, we find the battery indicator LED.  You push the small, flush button, and the number of times the LED flashes indicates the charge level.  I would've preferred three or four LEDs instead of just one that flashes, but it gets the job done.  Maybe next time...

  
 On the right side, we find the Power, Class A, and Gain slider switches.  As with the volume knob, these cheap, wobbly plastic sliders feel out of place on the B1.  Replacing them with metal switches would fit much better with the overall aesthetics, in my opinion.  It would also make them feel more solid as they're operated.  In particular, the Class A switch should be designed as a recessed switch, since it's not supposed to be operated when the B1 is powered on.  Very odd design choice to make this a raised slider switch.

  
  
 On the top, you get two windows showing off the internals.  There are also two green LEDs that light up during operation.  I think a lot of people geek out on seeing the internals.  I know I'm going against the tide, but I personally feel like these windows, and especially the green LEDs, are yet another disjointed design feature that Aune should've left out.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

  
 On the bottom are the two black leather (pleather?) pads.  I quite like the look on the back with the white lettering on the black metal and black leather pads.  Very nice, and functional, too as the pads serve to protect any surface you lay the B1 on.  No need for those little silicone feet with the B1!

  
  
 How big is the B1?  Just about the same footprint as my E12A but about half again thicker.

  
  
 Here's another view with the Shanling H3 thrown in for comparison.

  
  
*SOUND*
 I’m the first to admit that describing sound isn’t an easy thing to do, so I’ll try to describe this as clearly and concisely as possible without waxing eloquent about subtle nuances that only the highly-trained ear will hear.  If you’re looking for that, there are other reviews that meet your needs.  I mainly used my HiFiMan HE400 and the relatively new VE Zen earbuds with the B1.  Volume matching with the HE400 was performed with a 1kHz test tone and the Decibel 10th iPhone app.  With all that disclaimer type stuff out of the way, here are my thoughts on the B1: 
  
*VOLUME MATCHING*
 HE400 with 1kHz test tone @ 80dB
 X5: HG 65/120
 B1: HG slightly over 9 o’clock
 E12A: HG 10 o’clock

*B1 vs. Fiio Gear (E12A, X5) with HE400*
 * B1 has less bass extension and impact.
 * B1 has a more mid-forward, energetic sound.
 * Upper register instruments and vocals can sound a bit aggressive / piercing.
 * B1 has splashier highs and isn't as crisp
 * B1 has a more holographic soundstage with better instrument separation and placement
 * B1 has a richer, more engaging sound that can become fatiguing more quickly
 * _NOTE: The Fiio gear has a distinctive "house sound" sound, so I grouped them together for comparative purposes._
  
*B1 with VE Zen*
 The B1 drove the VE Zen marvelously on HG, striking a great balance between lushness and technicality.  I did a lot of listening with this pairing and was quite happy with the sound!
  
*B1 with AKG K553 *
 * It's ok at lower listening levels, but going over 12 o’clock with my AKG553 gets too loud and far too splashy.  I found the K553 was a much better pairing with my Fiio gear!

*Class A*
 * I didn’t notice a difference with either the HE400 or Zen.
 
*Driving Power*
 * The B1's volume knob goes from 8 o’clock to just past 6 o’clock.
 * I found Low Gain too powerful for sensitive IEM - barely audible at 9 o’clock, loud at 10 o’clock, and _*really*_ loud at 11 o’clock.
 * I got great use out of the volume knob on LG with HE400.  On HG, I wouldn’t want to go over 12 o’clock.
_* NOTE: I've ben informed that the B1 has been updated with a lower Low Gain setting to better accommodate IEMs but haven't experienced this myself._
  
*Channel Imbalance*
 * There’s a slight bit of channel imbalance at very, very low listening levels - probably won’t be an issue for anyone.
 
  
*BATTERY LIFE*
 I found the battery life estimates Aune provides are very good.  It could go about 8-10 hours in A/B mode and 4-5 hours in A mode.
  
  
*SUMMARY*
 The Aune B1 is an interesting amp.  It's design is a mixed bag of industrial aesthetics, durable metal, and cheap, wobbly plastic.  The volume knob and slider switches were a real let down.  While I didn't care for the windowed design, I can see where many would find this quite pleasing.  For me, the sound was a bit of a mixed bag, as well.  With the VE Zen, the synergy was just outstanding!  With HE400, it was ok but nothing special.  With K553, it was only ok at low listening levels - higher listening levels made the K553's upper end far too aggressive for my taste.
  
 I'd be happy to see an updated B1 with metal slider switches and metal volume knob with a volume indicator line.  I think it'd be much easier to estimate battery life with multiple LEDs instead of one blinking LED.  And at this price point, there's really no excuse not to provide a case or pouch of some sort to protect the B1 in your bag.  I mean, really!
  
 I wouldn't expect Aune to alter the sound, but I can't see the B1 or other Aune products with this mid-centric sound signature becoming a go-to device for me.
  
 Thanks again to *@money4me247* for giving me the opportunity to give the B1 a listen!


----------



## cheznous

Interesting review. 
I cannot think of a better pairing than the B1 with my ZX2 and Layla's. 
I have plenty of much more expensive amps but keep getting drawn back to the B1. 
I am middle aged so maybe just maybe it suits my hearing. 
I don't listen loud and I love mid range detail. 
Just listening to some remastered Fairport from the Sandy Denny era and it sounds wonderful.


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

hakushondaimao said:


> I'd want 2112. That is all.


 
  
_ _I'd want 1234.


----------



## nmatheis

cheznous said:


> Interesting review.
> I cannot think of a better pairing than the B1 with my ZX2 and Layla's.
> I have plenty of much more expensive amps but keep getting drawn back to the B1.
> I am middle aged so maybe just maybe it suits my hearing.
> ...




Hi. We all hear things a bit differently and prefer different sound signatures. I think I enjoyed the B1 more with u or v shaped HP, where the B1 compensates for the HP's mod scoop. On more neutral HP, I got too much mids for my taste with the music I listen to. So for me, the B1 was rather hit or miss. 

I like to read a few other reviews from people I trust, and there were a lot of similarities in what we were hearing and nitpicks with the actual design / hardware. Perhaps I tend to take those more into account than others do, as I'm a sucker for great, durable design.


----------



## Loquah

t.r.a.n.c.e. said:


> ^ Yeah, browsing google pics shows that there is at least a handful of B1's with serial 0001, so it seems a bit weird. I also bought mine just last week from a new shipment and got serial 2212, It's as pretty cool number, but I still want a 0001




0001 serial numbers are often used for pre-production samples given to suppliers, stakeholders and reviewers for evaluation before release. That may be the case here, too.




nmatheis said:


> Hi. We all hear things a bit differently and prefer different sound signatures. I think I enjoyed the B1 more with u or v shaped HP, where the B1 compensates for the HP's mod scoop. On more neutral HP, I got too much mids for my taste with the music I listen to. So for me, the B1 was rather hit or miss.
> 
> I like to read a few other reviews from people I trust, and there were a lot of similarities in what we were hearing and nitpicks with the actual design / hardware. Perhaps I tend to take those more into account than others do, as I'm a sucker for great, durable design.




What headphones were too mid focussed with B1? This could be a sign of damping variations caused by the B1's output impedance. There are some differences in opinions about B1 being warm and not-so-warm so I think this is worth taking into account with all pairings - synergy between the amp and 'phones is important with higher OI.


----------



## nmatheis

Hi Loquah. I loved the B1 with VE Zen but not so much with HE400 and K553.


----------



## Loquah

nmatheis said:


> Hi @Loquah. I loved the B1 with VE Zen but not so much with HE400 and K553.


 
  
 OK, so the VE Zen are 320 ohm earphones which negates any output impedance issues. The K553 and HE-400 are both lower impedance although the planars (HE-400) often fair better with slight output impedance issues (hence why some of us love the B1 + LCD combo).
  
 Can you tell us what you noticed switching between the power (Class A switch) modes when using the HE-400s. Were there any improvements to the sound or were both not to your liking?
  
 By the way, I'm not asking any of this in defense of the B1 - I have no affiliation or allegiance with Aune and am merely trying to help potential buyers to better understand which 'phones will pair well with this amp


----------



## nmatheis

Loquah: I was hopeful and tried Class A mode. Didn't make any significant positive difference to my ears. Seems to me the HE400's spiky upper end was accentuated with B1, resulting in some bad juju :eek:

With the Zen, it was like magic. Great synergy!


----------



## Loquah

Makes sense. The B1 (to my ears) is naturally quite crisp (not bright or exaggerated, but crisp) in the top end so it makes sense that the HE-400 may not pair well with it


----------



## nmatheis

loquah said:


> Makes sense. The B1 (to my ears) is naturally quite crisp (not bright or exaggerated, but crisp) in the top end so it makes sense that the HE-400 may not pair well with it




Same with K553. Some think it's neutral up top, I think it's a bit bright. And I wouldn't call B1 bright, either. I do think it's got a strong mid section, though, that continues into the upper mids. So B1 accentuated K553's bright (again, to me) upper end, and I found it piercing. 

I listen to a lot of music with bright sounds anyway (experimental, noisy electronic and metal), so I need a good balance between source and HP/IEM to keep it from tipping over the edge into overly bright / piercing territory.


----------



## Whitigir

I am getting confused. Class A amp means to stay purest/truest to the source. Unless the source is bright, neutral, or bass light....how come B1 get that crisp, bass light, bright sound signatures ? I wonder because I will be using it with SA3000 which is quiet bright already, so I do need something warmer.


----------



## ClieOS

whitigir said:


> I am getting confused. Class A amp means to stay purest/truest to the source. Unless the source is bright, neutral, or bass light....how come B1 get that crisp, bass light, bright sound signatures ? I wonder because I will be using it with SA3000 which is quiet bright already, so I do need something warmer.


 
  
 Music signal is in form of alternative current (AC), going from positive to negative and back. Since there are an positive component and a negative component, you need two internal circuits to handle each part. A Class A amp stage means the two stages are operating at all time, regardless of whether there is input signal or not. It is not particularly power efficient, but has good linearity and low distortion. A Class B amp stage means only one stage is working, while the other isn't. So only half the signal gets amplified. It isn't that useful for music purpose, but useful mainly for other purpose. Most opamp and amp are however runs on Class AB, where the amp stage turns on only when there is a signal. It is much more efficient than Class A, but switching on and off, as fast as it is, still creates a slight delay that we call crossover distortion. In a Class A amp, because two parts of the circuits are active all the time, there is no delay when signal going from one side to the other and therefore it doesn't introduce any crossover distortion.
  
 Now that being explained, there is nothing to say Class A amp is 'meant to stay purest/truest to the source' and can't have a sound signature of its own. Most Class AB opamp are so well designed that their crossover distortion is actually very low, so whether it is Class A or Class AB doesn't actually play that big of a part in determining its sound signature.


----------



## esteboune

love it!


----------



## nmatheis

esteboune said:


> love it!




*SEXAY!!!*


----------



## swannie007

Beautiful photograph!


----------



## RedJohn456

esteboune said:


> love it!


 
  
 Voilà une très belle image mes ami
  
 May I ask what camera gear you used to take this pic? Simply marvellous


----------



## esteboune

redjohn456 said:


> Voilà une très belle image mes ami
> 
> May I ask what camera gear you used to take this pic? Simply marvellous


 

 Merci beaucoup mon Ami Canadien!
  
 I used my Samsung Note 5 (cell phone), the camera is pretty good.
  
 But the most important is not necessary the camera itself, but more the light composition. For this picture, i used a portable photo studio similar to this one.
  

  
 cheers!


----------



## esteboune

swannie007 said:


> Beautiful photograph!


 
  


nmatheis said:


> *SEXAY!!!*


 

 This amp deserves a nice photo!


----------



## RedJohn456

esteboune said:


> Merci beaucoup mon Ami Canadien!
> 
> I used my Samsung Note 5 (cell phone), the camera is pretty good.
> 
> ...


 
  
 Droit de retour à Ya copain 
  
 Wait, a cellphone took that picture?
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Man the camera on my BlackBerry stinks in that case! I had no idea cell phone cameras are so good these days. That light box looks really great, and its true, no matter how good the camera is, without lighting, it is useless 
  
 Your light box looks like a laundry basket on its side hehe. Which gives me a great idea, will try it with a white laundry basket and couple of table lamps and see how it turns out


----------



## esteboune

*5000K* will give you a nice white light. (bulb)


----------



## hakushondaimao

Not sure if anyone remembers, but there were reports at the time of the original B1 tour of a "Rev-B" with lower power output and better suitability for sensitive IEMs (while still maintaining enough output at the top end for planars and other hard-to-drive cans). There were questions though around whether the update was already in circulation, and if so, who had it and who still had the original version.
  
 Turns out the "Mk.II" (not sure if that's official, but what I'm calling it for now) is on its way, and there'll be another mini tour starting soon. Don't have spec's yet, or pictures, or anything, but @nmatheis and I are each being sent a unit next week, and following a little listening and playing about, two tours (one of Canada, and one the US) will begin.
  
 Am hoping to get updated information soon, at which point a new thread will be created and a tour officially announced. Stay tuned...


----------



## T.R.A.N.C.E.

I don't have a problem with the power for iems, the only issue for me is output impedance, has this been improved?

And will owners of Rev-A be able to do some kind of swap or major discount for a Rev-B?


----------



## nmatheis

Hey T.R.A.N.C.E.: As hakushondaimao mentioned, specifics are forthcoming. I'm sure you'll have some answers soon


----------



## hakushondaimao

t.r.a.n.c.e. said:


> I don't have a problem with the power for iems, the only issue for me is output impedance, has this been improved?
> 
> And will owners of Rev-A be able to do some kind of swap or major discount for a Rev-B?


 

 What @nmatheis said... I really don't know anything other than the fact that this is an update. No spec, no pics... have been told it'll come this week. Am going to guess there's no exchange program... but there's no harm in asking...


----------



## Uncle E1

something for the weekend


----------



## ichor

I just ordered on from Amazon because of this "If you’re an HD650 type, you will really like the sound signature of the B1."
The price is really great now, only $140 with prime shipping.


----------



## swannie007

Just listening to the B1 connected to my Shandling M3 with Beyer T90 headphones and this combo is very musical, revealing without being clinical. Most enjoyable and highly recommended if anyone has access to a similar combo. Cheers.


----------



## all999

Aby other news about MK.2?


----------



## hakushondaimao

all999 said:


> Aby other news about MK.2?


 
  
 Out for delivery today. Should have it by evening. Not even sure yet whether it's the same form factor with minor internal tweaks, or if more extensive changes have been made. More later.


----------



## emrelights1973

Is it called b2?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hakushondaimao

all999 said:


> Aby other news about MK.2?


 


emrelights1973 said:


> Is it called b2?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 
  
 Arrived a few minutes ago. Looks identical, and still called the B1. Will try it out at home later to see how differently it operates with IEM, but it seems the same otherwise (perhaps buttons are sturdier... will check that too). Am guessing they've just reduced output on low gain.


----------



## hakushondaimao

So, got the B1 home and compared. Units are identical to each other (including buttons), with the exception that on the new model, the volume pot is thankfully MARKED with a little white dot, though there's no scale. Almost impossible to tell these apart... thank goodness for the dot!
  
 Minimum on the pot is at 8 o'clock and maximum at 6 o'clock. Marked the older model with a marker (barely visible). Tested briefly (and non scientifically) via the FLC 8S (Impedance = 11 Ohm, Sensitivity = 93 dB/mW). On the older model B1, volume was more than adequate at 9 o'clock (so not a lot of play from minimum). On the new model, I got similar volume at 10 o'clock. So that's an improvement. Will do a more thorough comparison in a few days, once I'm done with some reviews of other gear. More to come.


----------



## money4me247

hakushondaimao said:


> So, got the B1 home and compared. Units are identical to each other (including buttons), with the exception that on the new model, the volume pot is thankfully MARKED with a little white dot, though there's no scale. Almost impossible to tell these apart... thank goodness for the dot!
> 
> Minimum on the pot is at 8 o'clock and maximum at 6 o'clock. Marked the older model with a marker (barely visible). Tested briefly (and non scientifically) via the FLC 8S (Impedance = 11 Ohm, Sensitivity = 93 dB/mW). On the older model B1, volume was more than adequate at 9 o'clock (so not a lot of play from minimum). On the new model, I got similar volume at 10 o'clock. So that's an improvement. Will do a more thorough comparison in a few days, once I'm done with some reviews of other gear. More to come.


 
 that is a good improvement. for some of my really sensitive IEMs, really playing at really low side of the volume pot. sounds like well-thought of improvements. a marking dot is very welcome change as well!
  
 look forward to see if you can hear any differences when blinded & volume matched. =P


----------



## all999

hakushondaimao said:


> So, got the B1 home and compared. Units are identical to each other (including buttons), with the exception that on the new model, the volume pot is thankfully MARKED with a little white dot, though there's no scale. Almost impossible to tell these apart... thank goodness for the dot!
> 
> Minimum on the pot is at 8 o'clock and maximum at 6 o'clock. Marked the older model with a marker (barely visible). Tested briefly (and non scientifically) via the FLC 8S (Impedance = 11 Ohm, Sensitivity = 93 dB/mW). On the older model B1, volume was more than adequate at 9 o'clock (so not a lot of play from minimum). On the new model, I got similar volume at 10 o'clock. So that's an improvement. Will do a more thorough comparison in a few days, once I'm done with some reviews of other gear. More to come.




To be honest I didn't read whole thread but since I own FLC8 by myself my question is - are there any problems with matching B1 mk1 with FLC8?


----------



## emrelights1973

If i am Planning to use it with nw-zx2 in order to drive everything but shure 535, no point to wait for THE new version then


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## hakushondaimao

all999 said:


> To be honest I didn't read whole thread but since I own FLC8 by myself my question is - are there any problems with matching B1 mk1 with FLC8?




Sound was fine, but you have very little play on the volume pot for fine adjustments.


----------



## all999

hakushondaimao said:


> Sound was fine, but you have very little play on the volume pot for fine adjustments.




Thanks, will check this combination with Colorfly C10 this weekend.


----------



## ichor

Got mine yesterday. Incredible pairing with HD600. Also marked improvement with my Dunu DN2000. I never thought DN2000 could be that impressive.


----------



## 1TrickPony

ichor said:


> Got mine yesterday. Incredible pairing with HD600. Also marked improvement with my Dunu DN2000. I never thought DN2000 could be that impressive.




I was lucky and happy enough to snag the Alo rx amp with 75$ off during the ten year anniversary - and yeah the dn2k can totally sound different with that amp. Curious to hear your impressions with your experience.


----------



## nmatheis

Okay Aune troops, here are some measurements with the new Aune B1 2016 Version!

But first, a beauty pic because we all love to look at this gorgeous little amp, am I right?!?


Oh hey, what's that? An indicator dot on the volume pot? Yup, one of my pet peeves fixed. Nice!

Now, as hakushondaimao mentioned earlier, Aune's lowered the gain on Low Gain a bit, allowing better fine-tuning with your sensitive IEM. Here's an example...

FiiO X5 playing 1kHz test tone -> Aune B1 -> Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear -> Dayton IMM-6 Calibrated Mic -> iPhone 5s running SPL Meter in AudioTools app

Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear
18 Ohms
118 dB/mW

80dB (comfortable volume)
B1 v1: 9 o'clock
B1 v2: 10 o'clock

90dB (quite loud)
B1 v1: 10 o'clock
B1 v2: 12 o'clock

These are notable improvements in my opinion. In practice, the indicator dot lets me quickly and easily set the volume, while the lower gain on Low Gain lets me really dial-in the volume with my IEM. I'm happy that Aune listened to its fans and made these changes so quickly. *Great job AuneAudio!*


----------



## Uberclocked

nmatheis said:


> [snip]


 
 1st question I'm gonna ask.
 What's the output impedance?


----------



## nmatheis

Checking...


----------



## nmatheis

uberclocked said:


> 1st question I'm gonna ask.
> What's the output impedance?




3 Ohms


----------



## Uberclocked

nmatheis said:


> 3 Ohms


 
 That's low enough for non-super sensitive iems and headphones, but not iems like the XBA-40.


----------



## nmatheis

Yes, it could have some impact on low impedance BA IEM.

Not sure what the original B1's impedance was, actually. I'll check in with Aune. I'm betting it was higher, though...


----------



## Uberclocked

nmatheis said:


> Yes, it could have some impact on low impedance BA IEM.
> 
> Not sure what the original B1's impedance was, actually. I'll check in with Aune. I'm betting it was higher, though...


 
 For some reason I think it was 10 ohms?


----------



## nmatheis

Still waiting to hear back regarding original B1 output impedance. If it is ~3x vs. B1 2016 Version, then Aune deserves a major pat on the back! Still not >1 Ohm, but certainly much better!!!

Here're all the changes I've gathered so far from Aune:

Volume indicator dot
Less powerful low gain
Lower output impedance @ 3 Ohms
Decreased channel imbalance
Reduced THD+N
 
So you get all those improvements while retaining the same great sound and ability to drive power-hungry cans! Nice going Aune!!!

You'll have to confirm that this is the 2016 version, but here's the B1 for only $140!?!

*LINK*

This is an authorized US dealer, so you're safe buying from them. Enjoy!


----------



## nmatheis

Yup, the original is confirmed at 10 Ohms @Uberclocked.


----------



## nmatheis

My review of the Aune B1 *2016 Version* is up: *LINK*.
  
 Enjoy!


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

hakushondaimao said:


> So, got the B1 home and compared. Units are identical to each other (including buttons), with the exception that on the new model, the volume pot is thankfully MARKED with a little white dot, though there's no scale. Almost impossible to tell these apart... thank goodness for the dot!
> 
> Minimum on the pot is at 8 o'clock and maximum at 6 o'clock. Marked the older model with a marker (barely visible). Tested briefly (and non scientifically) via the FLC 8S (Impedance = 11 Ohm, Sensitivity = 93 dB/mW). On the older model B1, volume was more than adequate at 9 o'clock (so not a lot of play from minimum). On the new model, I got similar volume at 10 o'clock. So that's an improvement. Will do a more thorough comparison in a few days, once I'm done with some reviews of other gear. More to come.


 
 Where did you order the B2 or the 2016 version as apparently no one has it out yet I was told?


----------



## nmatheis

Hi-Fi'er: Straight from Aune :wink_face:

BTW, my contact at Aune told me the B1 2016 Version should be in retail channels now.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

nmatheis said:


> Hi-Fi'er: Straight from Aune
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 Thank you for replying. Ok they are in China, I prefer not to provide my card info to overseas, and pay MSRP also. Is there a dealer in the US?


----------



## nmatheis

Check with these guys: *LINK*. 

Hopefully it's the 2016 Version. If so, it's a steal at $140! :blink:


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

nmatheis said:


> Check with these guys: *LINK*.
> 
> Hopefully it's the 2016 Version. If so, it's a steal at $140!


 
 Hahahaa. That is who I spoke to. the 139.00 is the 2015 version that is why it's on sale to clear them out for the 2016 version.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

hi-fi'er said:


> Hahahaa. That is who I spoke to. the 139.00 is the 2015 version that is why it's on sale to clear them out for the 2016 version.


 
 All the ones at 139.00 are the old version not the new one.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

hi-fi'er said:


> All the ones at 139.00 are the old version not the new one.


 
 They even claimed the new version will not be 139.00 but likely 199.00 with a possible -20.00 off.


----------



## nmatheis

Hi-Fi'er:

That's good to know. Makes sense that they're selling the old ones off cheap to make room for the new ones. Must've been a miscommunication with the Aune rep I was chatting with.

So now you've got a choice... Buy the old one, put a dot on the volume knob yourself and put up with the higher output impedance, higher Low Gain, and slightly worse channel imbalance OR wait for the new one. 

If you're using a DAP with variable LO, that basically solves the high Low Gain and channel imbalance issues. However, you're still stuck with 10 Ohm output impedance. Depending on your gear, none of these may even be issues. 

So whatcha gonna do???


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

nmatheis said:


> Hi-Fi'er:
> 
> That's good to know. Makes sense that they're selling the old ones off cheap to make room for the new ones. Must've been a miscommunication with the Aune rep I was chatting with.
> 
> ...


 
 I understand the new one is better for IEM's. I do use both but lately IEM's are just more easier for on the go for me. The 2016 version is more flexible as I don't use a DAP often just my LG Optimus G Pro phone using JetAudio plus, which is an amazing player. Just the EQ on this app is amazing, 24 levels and plus other audio adjustments.
  
 With the EQ I can easily adjust any type of music to all my headphones when it's either a bad harsh recording or it's a great recording but the headphones retrieve with high simbilance. So with that said, I will wait for the 2016 version even though it may cost more, will wait and see if that is actually going to be true, and if not I will wait a bit till the price gets close to 139.00 then take the plunge.


----------



## nmatheis

Cool beans Hi-Fi'er! 

hakushondaimao should be unleashing his review soon, too.


----------



## nmatheis

Alright, guys. Here's the deal. I've seen quite bit of interest in the B1 2016 Version since my review came out, so I chatted-up their US distributor (Ingenious Ingenuity) and got them to list the 2016 Version for pre-order. It should be in stock on December 21st. There's even a *10% off coupon* for the holidays to make the price even better (*HoHoHo*)*!*
  
 Head on over here: *LINK*.
  
 Original is on a close-out special for $140 ($126 with coupon)
  
 2016 Version is $200 ($180 with coupon)
  
 Good deal for either, IMHO!
  
_*Merry Christmas!!!*_


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

Awesome. Order placed. Thank you!


----------



## Uberclocked

hi-fi'er said:


> Awesome. Order placed. Thank you!


 
 There are two versions on the page, one is the 2015 version and the other is the newer 2016 version.  Make sure you selected the 2016 version if you plan on ever using this with lower impedance headphones or iems.  If you purchased the $140 one, that's the old version.  Just making sure you didn't buy the wrong version.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

uberclocked said:


> There are two versions on the page, one is the 2015 version and the other is the newer 2016 version.  Make sure you selected the 2016 version if you plan on ever using this with lower impedance headphones or iems.  If you purchased the $140 one, that's the old version.  Just making sure you didn't buy the wrong version.


 
 I knew the difference, thank you. I was waiting for the 2016 version for a while and wanted is specifically for IEM's. Thank you.


----------



## emrelights1973

nmatheis said:


> Hi-Fi'er:
> 
> That's good to know. Makes sense that they're selling the old ones off cheap to make room for the new ones. Must've been a miscommunication with the Aune rep I was chatting with.
> 
> ...


 

 What about using it with zx2 EU / z7? will the old one do the job?


----------



## nmatheis

Looks like Z7 is 70 Ohms, ~100-ish mw/db. Old one should be just fine.


----------



## nmatheis

Merry Christmas AuneAudio and Aune B1 fans!!!





Just jamming the Aune M2 + B1 2016 Version with HiFiMan HE400 yesterday. Very nice combo!


----------



## Whitigir

Lol, nice looking Santa


----------



## shuanggao

Has anyone tried it with Yuin OK1?


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

nmatheis said:


> Merry Christmas @AuneAudio and Aune B1 fans!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 Wish I can as they are not shipping them for some reason. Placed a pre-order and still nothing.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

hi-fi'er said:


> Wish I can as they are not shipping them for some reason. Placed a pre-order and still nothing.


 
 Finally shipped!


----------



## nmatheis

hi-fi'er said:


> Finally shipped!




I hope you really enjoy it after the long wait!


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

Me too! I hope it's better than the Cypherlabs or Ray's P-51 I have.


----------



## nmatheis

I look forward to your impressions then!


----------



## screwdriver

I bought an aune B1 and I am pairing it with a ibasso dx90 and dunu titan 1 - the sound is excellent !!!!


----------



## nmatheis

screwdriver said:


> I bought an aune B1 and I am pairing it with a ibasso dx90 and dunu titan 1 - the sound is excellent !!!!




Love that sexy color combo but wish the text was contrasting. The light color makes it hard to read unless lighting is good.


----------



## Anwer

screwdriver said:


> I bought an aune B1 and I am pairing it with a ibasso dx90 and dunu titan 1 - the sound is excellent !!!!


 
  
 Can you please describe (even briefly) the difference of sound between the DX90/B1 stack and the DX90 by itself?


----------



## screwdriver

nmatheis said:


> Love that sexy color combo but wish the text was contrasting. The light color makes it hard to read unless lighting is good.


 

 I know I have friends with guns and when they wanna let the lettering stand out they buy nail polish to the color u want and  put it in the lettering grooves- and then u acetone the flat part - so the grooves will be colored


----------



## screwdriver

anwer said:


> Can you please describe (even briefly) the difference of sound between the DX90/B1 stack and the DX90 by itself?


 
 the combo makes everything sound better from top to bottom


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

screwdriver said:


> I know I have friends with guns and when they wanna let the lettering stand out they buy nail polish to the color u want and  put it in the lettering grooves- and then u acetone the flat part - so the grooves will be colored


 
 You could use a black sharp tip Sharpie but you have to have perfect hands to trace the lettering. Maybe a stencil and sharpie that?


----------



## nmatheis

Or Aune could make the lettering more high contrast


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

nmatheis said:


> Or Aune could make the lettering more high contrast


 
 Of course!


----------



## turen009

anwer said:


> Can you please describe (even briefly) the difference of sound between the DX90/B1 stack and the DX90 by itself?^ want to


 
 ^want to know that too.


----------



## nmatheis

^^^ Maybe I'll do this sometime in the near future for y'all :wink_face:


----------



## turen009

nmatheis said:


> ^^^ Maybe I'll do this sometime in the near future for y'all


 
 Thanks...will wait for that


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

I have put in a good 5 hours of straight listening with the B1 with all types of music just using my Creative Aurvana 3. I used these on purpose on the high gain to see if it would make a difference as they are not the best but not the worst earphones I have. 
  
 I used the high gain, and I have to say the B1 is quick, clean, powerful, and adds no coloration to the source and transfers over the source cleanly at all levels of listening, meaning it's clean and clear at low volume to full volume with 0% distortion. Some have said there is no background hiss. Well there is on high gain but it's extremely tiny and only detectable at more than 80% volume. Very very acceptable. Some have said it has a dark background, I agree 100%.  
  
 What impressed me the *most *is how it keeps it's clarity at full volume with authority. I love that! I like to listen to some favorite songs louder than others. This is how I determine what a portable amp can or can not do. Other amps I that I have seem to struggle out or distort at higher levels. I even tested some very high end recordings from Techmaster P.E.B and they sound clean, and clear at all levels. The bass is super heavy on from this artist and the B1 controlled the bass again with authority and no distortion. I even tried to throw in some EQ to see if I can cause any distortion and that idea failed miserably. It handled the added 40 and 80hz cleanly and accurately! I am impressed again.  
  
 The B1 makes me feel like I'm listening to my Asgard 2 which says a lot! I love the clarity and level of detail that it can produce. I have yet to really burn it in fully and I am already seeing this as my favorite next to my Cypherlabs and that was just out of my LG Optimus G Pro with ALAC and a line out! I can say this amp has made me end my search for a portable clean powerful amp.  
  
 I am kinda scared what it can do with my other earphones and other sources!


----------



## nmatheis

Glad you're enjoying it Hi-Fi'er!


----------



## Whitigir

Where to buy the newer version


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

Ingenious Ingenuity Inc


----------



## stefanolandesca

How do these compare to the mojo?


----------



## Uberclocked

stefanolandesca said:


> How do these compare to the mojo?


 
 The mojo is a DAC/amp, the B1 is an amp.


----------



## stefanolandesca

uberclocked said:


> The mojo is a DAC/amp, the B1 is an amp.




I mean the sound differences .


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

After some more time with the B1, I have to say that it's so very much similar sounding to my Ray Samuels P-51. The B1 having a larger current ability than the P-51 is evident in the oomp of the sound, but all else it matches the P-51 on all other aspects. That is pretty amazing considering the P-51 is/was $375.00!


----------



## nmatheis

Where's the B1 love, people? This amp is a fantastic piece of kit. Check out @Barra's thoughts on the Aune M2 + B1 stack. I'd say he was impressed!
  
*LINK*


----------



## Johnnystuff

This one looks kicking rad and I don't mean aesthetically only. I never had a portable amp though and from what I gathered reading around they're mostly (merely?) used as a smartphone combo or to drive "difficult" cans. But the 400mW output is not that different from any DAPs around. For instance my iBasso DX80 has a 360mW output @32ohms so I reckon it would drive cans pretty much the same way with or without the external amp. So, first questions first: does it add anything like a proper sound signature to the playback if your source is a "good one" (DAP not smartphone)?
  
 I like a lot the fact this is a discreet piece of kit but how warm can it get? Can I leave it in my pockets during the summer or it gets just unconfortable?
  
 Another very noob one: I've read about the "9 o'clock" issue where basically below that mark the knob isn't quite working at all or something I can't remember. Is that true? Can I still use the volume control on my DAP/phone if I connect it via the headphone outlet and not the proper line-out?
  
 Last one I swear: I haven't seen many portable amps _and amps only_ around. So which are the actual competitors?
  
 Thanks


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

johnnystuff said:


> This one looks kicking rad and I don't mean aesthetically only. I never had a portable amp though and from what I gathered reading around they're mostly (merely?) used as a smartphone combo or to drive "difficult" cans. But the 400mW output is not that different from any DAPs around. For instance my iBasso DX80 has a 360mW output @32ohms so I reckon it would drive cans pretty much the same way with or without the external amp. So, first questions first: does it add anything like a proper sound signature to the playback if your source is a "good one" (DAP not smartphone)?
> 
> I like a lot the fact this is a discreet piece of kit but how warm can it get? Can I leave it in my pockets during the summer or it gets just unconfortable?
> 
> ...


 
 You will be happy with this amp for the price. I don't think there is anything out there in this price range that is Class A with the same build and sound quality? I know of one that is dirt cheap called SainSonic and is on Amazon, but I highly doubt it even comes close to what the Aune is capable of. Most amps are not Class A and portable for different reasons so it's a hard act to follow making one but Aune got it right.
  
 The volume issue is resolved on the new models as they lowered the gains to work with IEM's which I have and it's perfect.
  
 Not sure if there is a competitor even in this price range that will cost the same and have a better sound and would be that is Class A and this portable. I think Aune is the first. Someone correct me if I am wrong.


----------



## PanatSoe

Can anyone tell me since what serial was the B1 improved as '2016' model for general retail?
  
 The thing is; I'm trying to get one, but my guy--the salesman--doesn't know whether the upcoming shipping lot would be the 2016 edition or not.
  
 I would like the improved version, of course. But apart from a dot added to the volume knob and tighter 3.5 ports, there's no way telling from the package, I believe. And it wouldn't be possible to unbox a merchandise (to check) without actually buying it--I wouldn't if it's not the new model.
  
 Please help me.
 Thanks!


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

panatsoe said:


> Can anyone tell me since what serial was the B1 improved as '2016' model for general retail?
> 
> The thing is; I'm trying to get one, but my guy--the salesman--doesn't know whether the upcoming shipping lot would be the 2016 edition or not.
> 
> ...


 
 The 2016 version has a lower gain setting, check the specs. It also has a white dot on the knob. If the "sales" guy does not know they he likely is selling you the older version. They would know if it was the newer version. Purchase from someone that knows what they are selling is always best.


----------



## Johnnystuff

panatsoe said:


> Can anyone tell me since what serial was the B1 improved as '2016' model for general retail?
> 
> The thing is; I'm trying to get one, but my guy--the salesman--doesn't know whether the upcoming shipping lot would be the 2016 edition or not.
> 
> ...



Adding to what the guy above me said, if it's not clearly marked as 2016 version you shell assume it's not. Also, 2016 version costs 199$ instead of 139/149 of the 2015 and this is enough to tell which one it is. As far as I've seen it's sold in 2 places only, the aunestore (ships from Hong Kong) and here (ships from the US I guess).

In any case mine, 2016 version bough from the aunestore, landed 10 mins ago and I still have to switch it on but the serial is 5678 and the order number (for what it's worth) was 102 so if you believe that's a valid way to identify them, then I would assume from 5500-ish onwards.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

johnnystuff said:


> Adding to what the guy above me said, if it's not clearly marked as 2016 version you shell assume it's not. Also, 2016 version costs 199$ instead of 139/149 of the 2015 and this is enough to tell which one it is. As far as I've seen it's sold in 2 places only, the aunestore (ships from Hong Kong) and here (ships from the US I guess).
> 
> In any case mine, 2016 version bough from the aunestore, landed 10 mins ago and I still have to switch it on but the serial is 5678 and the order number (for what it's worth) was 102 so if you believe that's a valid way to identify them, then I would assume from 5500-ish onwards.


 
 Right, the price will also tell you as the older version is cheaper. That is the 3rd way to know.


----------



## droido256

Welp just plopped down for a 2016 silver/red B1 cant wait to get it


----------



## nmatheis

Nice. Don't think you'll be disappointed.


----------



## droido256

Sweeeeeet


----------



## droido256

Question, a review by Peter West recommended adding a external battery to the B1 for additional runtime. Does this mean the B1 can run while plugged in? Say like while im at home, plug it in and run it via the charger? Or is it the type where it has to run on the battery, and be off while charging? Im also looking at this for down the road future, as no battery lasts forever, and im sure the battery in this unit isnt easily replaceable.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> Question, a review by Peter West recommended adding a external battery to the B1 for additional runtime. Does this mean the B1 can run while plugged in? Say like while im at home, plug it in and run it via the charger? Or is it the type where it has to run on the battery, and be off while charging? Im also looking at this for down the road future, as no battery lasts forever, and im sure the battery in this unit isnt easily replaceable.


 
 It can run while charging. Yes the battery is replaceable as it's not mounted or part of the board. It's not hard to open the unit and replace the battery. The screws are hidden under the leather and it's easy to open. I'm not sure what Lipo size it had in there but the trick with any Lipo to make it last long is to not let it discharge too far down and I'm sure the B1 has some circuit to protect it from that.


----------



## droido256

Sweeet!  thanks for letting me know


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> Sweeet!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 Welcome. It's a really bad ass little amp. Once of my all time favorites at this time. It competes with my Cypherlabs which was 10x's more expensive and goes toe to toe with it but it's much smaller but the battery life is not as long as the Cypherlabs but that's ok as I have it plugged in and or I don't listen to music long enough to drain it that far. 
  
 I have to say this company knows how to make audio products!


----------



## droido256

Hopefully this one can bring out the K701, and the HE-400c where the e11 or the little bear couldnt. My vintages would problably benefit the most.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> Hopefully this one can bring out the K701, and the HE-400c where the e11 or the little bear couldnt. My vintages would problably benefit the most.


 
 This amp just pushes power with ease and clarity and maybe of 1-10 rating scale, maybe a 1 or 2 on the warmth which is perfect to not sound too processed which I have heard before from other portable amps and desktop amps. I even thought with the current switch there was no effect but there is! You need a careful good ear and have the volume up to a good amount and if switch the setting you can hear the bass get tighter and more accurate. It's very subtle but I detected it with some IEMs. I can only imagine what it can do with full sized headphones.
  
 I can't fault this amp for anything soundwise and feature wise and it's really hard to beat for what it does for the size and price. Only thing I can fault is the battery life but for me it's not critical as an outlet is always around.


----------



## droido256

Def cant wait until this baby comes in. Currently also awaiting a AD900x


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> Def cant wait until this baby comes in. Currently also awaiting a AD900x


 
 You can't and won't be unhappy with it almost guranteed. Good you ordered one! I'm surprised they are not moving faster. Eventually it will catch on.


----------



## droido256

Im really surprised they were able cram a Class A in. I was looking at the e18, and the e17, and this thing looks like it blows them away


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> Im really surprised they were able cram a Class A in. I was looking at the e18, and the e17, and this thing looks like it blows them away


 
 Yes Aune knows what they are doing. I think they have set a new bar in what Class A means and can do as a portable amp. It's a super hard act to follow.


----------



## 1TrickPony

I can probably throw in a comparison here with other amps I have at my disposal (Alo Rx and the Shanling H3).

I only have iems with me, as I don't consider the Monster DNA pro as a true audiophile headpiece...lol (it's not that bad and I got as consolation "gift")

Update edit: yeah, these are powerful...


----------



## droido256

Now i need to save up for a bit for a high end planar. Now i have a amp on way that can handle them


----------



## droido256

Itll be a long while, any recommendations (1500 or under)


----------



## nmatheis

droido256 said:


> Now i need to save up for a bit for a high end planar. Now i have a amp on way that can handle them




I really like HiFiMan planars. Maybe HE560 would fit your needs.


----------



## droido256

I was thinking them, the he-6, or the audeze lcd2


----------



## nmatheis

I'll hear some HE6 soon. Pretty sure B1 won't do those current hungry cans justice, though. Maybe something like iFi iDSD...


----------



## ph0n6

Wondering if Aune has any plan of releasing a new B1 with output impedance of 0.1ohm, that would be great for my Pandora


----------



## osman59

I also read your very detailed review and I must admit that I was really amazed and impressed, congratulations.
I would ask a favour and request for your advice for the selection of a portable amp.
My current combo is Sony NW ZX2 + OPPO PM2
After reading your review I do believe Aune B1 could be a good choice.
I mostly listen to Jazz, Vocal Jazz and mainly female singers.
My other alternative was Vorzuge Pure II+ (more than the double cost of B1).
I want to keep my fullbodied and musical sound of Sony ZX2 and do not want to loose fine mids of Oppo PM2 Phones and want an amp which can help with the rolled off highs of treble section.
Your kind comment and advice will be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and best regards


----------



## Skyfall

Deleted.


----------



## droido256

So far really liking this amp, it really makes the HE400 sing, even takes good control of the AD900x. now need to find my adaptor for my vintages.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

droido256 said:


> So far really liking this amp, it really makes the HE400 sing, even takes good control of the AD900x. now need to find my adaptor for my vintages.


 
 Yes it's hard not to like it. I say it's 98% there.


----------



## osman59

hello everyone,​
  
 Can we use Aune B1 while caharging  ( Wall caharger or from a computer) ?
  
 Best Regards


----------



## havagr8da

droido256 said:


> So far really liking this amp, it really makes the HE400 sing, even takes good control of the AD900x. now need to find my adaptor for my vintages.


 
 HD 600 and ATH R70x this amp does the job. Great piece of gear.


----------



## droido256

Whelp my paycheck is gone, will see how the B1 handles the El-8


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

osman59 said:


> hello everyone,​
> 
> Can we use Aune B1 while caharging  ( Wall caharger or from a computer) ?
> 
> Best Regards


 
 Yes.


----------



## osman59

Thanks for the prompt reply.
Regards


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

osman59 said:


> Thanks for the prompt reply.
> Regards


 
 Welcome.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

Great review as I expected: 
  
 http://www.golden-ear.net/#!Aune-B1-2016-Thanks-for-listening-Aune/cmbz/565fe54d0cf212bd6be3e5d5


----------



## avitron142

I'm looking for a B1, if anyone has one they'd like to sell. I'm the one who started this thread, but joke's on me since mine got stolen on tour.


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

avitron142 said:


> I'm looking for a B1, if anyone has one they'd like to sell. I'm the one who started this thread, but joke's on me since mine got stolen on tour.


 
 Sorry for your loss. They are a keeper, good luck finding one.


----------



## Kryl0071

Hi
How can I be sure to buy B1 2016 MY?


----------



## Hi-Fi'er

kryl0071 said:


> Hi
> How can I be sure to buy B1 2016 MY?


 
 Read this thread, it's been stated what the differences are between the old and new version.


----------



## Seler

Hello,
  
 Quick question from less experienced user. I have just bought Audeze Sine which I absolutely love. I am pairing it with Colorfly C200 + Aune B1 combo. Sines are very current hungry (like all planar magnetic headphones) and even Audeze recommends out power of 500 - 1000 mW. Does it mean my amp is not good for it? Aune B1 delivers just 50mW@32ohm and accrording to Audeze I would need 10 times more. o_O It's strange cause B1 is a really strong amp, driving tricky AKG K612s with no issues at all and my Sine doesn't sound like being not driven properly. Am I missing something here? Thx for help.


----------



## leo5111

how does this amp compare to the Cayin C5?


----------



## bharat2580

kryl0071 said:


> Hi
> How can I be sure to buy B1 2016 MY?


 

 volume knob has a dot.


----------



## bharat2580




----------



## bharat2580

anyone knows what is that 3.5mm interconnect that comes with the amp , i like how it controls the highs.


----------



## bharat2580

This thing drives the Fostex TH-X00 wonderfully, but can't drive my HD650s at all


----------



## bharat2580

Guys need help.
  
 I have the dot on the vol knob, but the pub says 2014.9 V1.0 and serial number is 48xx , demo unit so got it cheap. is it 2016 ? thats what the guy said can that be true


----------



## WoodyLuvr

If I am not mistaken I believe somewhere back in this thread they determined that models after number 55XX were the new improved 2016 models.  Also, besides the white dot the improved version has the lower gain switch.


----------



## thelonious58

seler said:


> Hello,
> 
> Quick question from less experienced user. I have just bought Audeze Sine which I absolutely love. I am pairing it with Colorfly C200 + Aune B1 combo. Sines are very current hungry (like all planar magnetic headphones) and even Audeze recommends out power of 500 - 1000 mW. Does it mean my amp is not good for it? Aune B1 delivers just 50mW@32ohm and accrording to Audeze I would need 10 times more. o_O It's strange cause B1 is a really strong amp, driving tricky AKG K612s with no issues at all and my Sine doesn't sound like being not driven properly. Am I missing something here? Thx for help.



I notice that you have mentioned that the B1 will drive the K612 well. The K612 is my favourite headphone. I currently listen with them from my iPod classic 6th gen via a little Topping Nx-1 via LOD L9 and the sound is incredibly clear and balanced. I never listen at anything above medium volume. Do you have the B1 on high gain setting or low gain setting when using the K612. Do you think that I would benefit from the B1 for low to medium volume levels? For me, the K612 is probably the best possible headphone for the money, punching well above its weight


----------



## thelonious58

thelonious58 said:


> I notice that you have mentioned that the B1 will drive the K612 well. The K612 is my favourite headphone. I currently listen with them from my iPod classic 6th gen via a little Topping Nx-1 via LOD L9 and the sound is incredibly clear and balanced. I never listen at anything above medium volume. Do you have the B1 on high gain setting or low gain setting when using the K612. Do you think that I would benefit from the B1 for low to medium volume levels? For me, the K612 is probably the best possible headphone for the money, punching well above its weight



Bump .....


----------



## rzvnz

Is there a 2017 version, as some sites claim to sell, or it is the 2016 version? 
And about B1s witch seems to be selling from October 2017, does anybody knows something?


----------



## noknok23 (Sep 23, 2017)

Just saw B1s on peninsula as you said. Looks like a pretty nice upgrade...
Aluminium potentiometer.
Seems to be roughly 25% more powerful output and less distortion. 
Has been engineered with HD800 but also iems like Lyra. Don't know if that means anything but it's promising


----------



## silverfishla

I just ordered an Aune B1s.  Does anyone know what the difference between the B1s and the B1 are?  The B1s is supposed to be an upgrade to the B1 (2017), but by looking at the specs, I'm not really sure what that upgrade is.  @Aune


----------



## g4ndr1k

silverfishla said:


> I just ordered an Aune B1s.  Does anyone know what the difference between the B1s and the B1 are?  The B1s is supposed to be an upgrade to the B1 (2017), but by looking at the specs, I'm not really sure what that upgrade is.  @Aune



Does it sound good?


----------



## silverfishla (Oct 23, 2017)

g4ndr1k said:


> Does it sound good?


I think it sounds very very good.  I have only had it for a week, and have only gone through about 4 charging cycles.  Initial impressions are very positive, but I'm going to wait a week or so to comment definitively about it...
I will say without hesitation that it is the most beautiful piece of portable kit out there and very well made.  Not one flaw.


----------



## g4ndr1k

silverfishla said:


> I think it sounds very very good.  I have only had it for a week, and have only gone through about 4 charging cycles.  Initial impressions are very positive, but I'm going to wait a week or so to comment definitively about it...
> I will say without hesitation that it is the most beautiful piece of portable kit out there and very well made.  Not one flaw.



Thanks. Keep us posted. I'm torn between this and Sony PHA 2A.


----------



## Dragon138

I am deciding between the B1 and the B1s to drive the Hifiman HE400i and Sennheiser HD600.  Which one?


----------



## vishal2410

Would the b1s be capable of driving the hifiman he500??


----------



## Bluess

Hello, is this thread still alive? I'm thinking of getting a B1S to drive my denon AH-D7200. I wonder if it's any better than the original and worth the upgrade. I can get an old B1 for just 100$ include shipping though


----------



## Dragon138

Bluess said:


> Hello, is this thread still alive? I'm thinking of getting a B1S to drive my denon AH-D7200. I wonder if it's any better than the original and worth the upgrade. I can get an old B1 for just 100$ include shipping though


I have one on the way.  According to some Japanese website, it is similar to the B1 LTD.


----------



## Bluess

Dragon138 said:


> I have one on the way.  According to some Japanese website, it is similar to the B1 LTD.


Nice, please give us the impression if possible. Thanks in advance


----------



## Hawaiibadboy

Sexy as hell.

Gonna start to have listens tomorrow.
Build quality is top notch. Really nice.


----------



## Dragon138

Bluess said:


> Nice, please give us the impression if possible. Thanks in advance


Here is a review in Japanese if you are interested.  Use Bing translate, for some reason Google does not work.
http://head-bank.com/aune-b1s-review/


----------



## Hawaiibadboy




----------



## Bluess

Dragon138 said:


> Here is a review in Japanese if you are interested.  Use Bing translate, for some reason Google does not work.
> http://head-bank.com/aune-b1s-review/


Thanks. But i don't understand anything beside it sounds good


----------



## Hawaiibadboy

Bluess said:


> Thanks. But i don't understand anything beside it sounds good



I will have some impressions soon


----------



## drbluenewmexico

Hawaiibadboy said:


> I will have some impressions soon


That will be most welcome, HBB.  i have the original B1 amp, and it has a lovely sound and lots of power.
the class A setting really gives it an analogue tonality which is jives most excellently with their M2s DAP, quite a pair.
curious how much of an upgrade this new edition of the B1s is!  looking forward to your impressions!!


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## Hawaiibadboy

Yeah i got it with the m2 and it sounds like a nice pairing!


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## Bluess

Hawaiibadboy said:


> Yeah i got it with the m2 and it sounds like a nice pairing!


I remembered you have a Fiio X7II as well, can you give a comparison to X7II with AM5 and is the new b1s a worthy upgrade compare to AM5. Thanks in advance


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## Hawaiibadboy

I can do that


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## Bluess

Hawaiibadboy said:


> I can do that


Great, hope to hear good review from you again


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## Hawaiibadboy

Bluess said:


> Great, hope to hear good review from you again



Sorry for the delay. I have been deep in the Hiby R6. I will be using this Aune with the ARm2 mostly and doing a review during winter vacation.


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## Bluess

Hawaiibadboy said:


> Sorry for the delay. I have been deep in the Hiby R6. I will be using this Aune with the ARm2 mostly and doing a review during winter vacation.


Nice, thank you. I'm waiting for the comparison of R6 and X7ii too, though I'm doubtful it would be better than X7ii as it is their first attempt. Still, very eager to hear your thought


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## Hawaiibadboy




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## Hawaiibadboy

The B1s is now on deck. Reviews written and video coming. Love this amp. SOOOOOO clean and potent!


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## Hawaiibadboy




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## drbluenewmexico

Hawaiibadboy said:


> The B1s is now on deck. Reviews written and video coming. Love this amp. SOOOOOO clean and potent!



Im reviewing the B1s right now also, on tour.  i ve had the original B1 for several years and it was the bomb when paired with the Aune
M2s, both were designed with class A circuitry and synergies together.  will do some comparisons today.  Initial test of the B1s from
HTC 10 phone streaming Tidal with Denon MM400 woodies was spectacular with wonderful dynamics, great detail and
musicality.


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## tenedosian

At the moment, I am organizing a European tour for B1S with Aune's approval. 
There are still (many) vacancies in the tour, so if you reside in EU and want to give B1S a try, I suggest taking a look at the tour thread. 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/eu-tour-aune-b1s-headphone-amplifier.870430/ 

Cheers!


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## Hawaiibadboy




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## screwdriver

does it get very hot  after a while in use?


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## drbluenewmexico

No .Just warm .


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## Hawaiibadboy




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## scott1

@HBB

I see some of your pics with the UM ME.1’s. I was wondering what you thought of that pairing. I just won a pair from a Musicteck giveaway and am loving them. I’m running them with my Cayin N3 currently. I have a C5 amp that I usually love but it’s seems to not really add anything with the ME.1’s and I prefer them with just the N3. Just sounds more clean that way. Do you think the B1 is a worthy upgrade to the Cayin C5?


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## Bluess

Waiting for review


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## Hawaiibadboy

scott1 said:


> @HBB
> 
> I see some of your pics with the UM ME.1’s. I was wondering what you thought of that pairing. I just won a pair from a Musicteck giveaway and am loving them. I’m running them with my Cayin N3 currently. I have a C5 amp that I usually love but it’s seems to not really add anything with the ME.1’s and I prefer them with just the N3. Just sounds more clean that way. Do you think the B1 is a worthy upgrade to the Cayin C5?



Yes. I am making a review right now. Only downside is if you use the bass boost on the C5 because the B1s does not have a bass boost


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## scott1

Thanks, looking forward to your review! 

I was wondering about the bass boost (or lack thereof) on the B1. I love the Cayin's boost with all of my other IEM's, not so much with the ME.1 for some reason, planar maybe.


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## Sotiris

FYI when you change to class A , it gets toooo hot....at levels of been annoying enough.


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## TidalWave

Any difference between B1 and B1s in battery life?


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## kukkurovaca (Oct 14, 2019)

Just saw this on Penon: https://penonaudio.com/aune-bu1.html

Not sure if it's just a B1s with a dac added, or if there are other improvements.


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## Sotiris

Read better. It says dac with amp


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## kukkurovaca

Sotiris said:


> Read better. It says dac with amp



lol, typo on my part, obviously


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## RONJA MESCO

Hawaiibadboy said:


>


ahhh, I didnt know you liked the Aune B1s....good choice!!


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