# M-Audio bass traveller



## BWAS1000

Is this amp any good? Taking a look at it for the splitting function, and for a nice portable amp

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## soulflowness

I have one, it's actually my first portable amp.....I just ordered the smsl sap-5 from ebay. And il compare the 2 when the time comes....but I'm going to make an prediction that the m-audio bass traveler is weaker


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## 4GibMe

Good day
  
 Sorry for the delay.
  
 I have this unit, and it will not do much for you as a stand alone headphone amp.  
  
 Unit only shows it's true colours when you put it between a good headphone amp like the Fiio's / Cayin 5 and your IEMs / headphones.
  
 The Bass Traveler is more like a EQ for Baseheads like me, with 3 hard points of bass EQ to pick from.
  
 From my phone, I run my music through my Cayin 5 with bass boast on, then I run it through the M-Audio Bass Traveler, then from there to my Sony XB90's.
  
 With the two base settings on the Cayin 5, and 3 on the Bass Traveler, I have 6 setting to play with to find the right sound.
  
 WARNING!!
  
 This is very heavy on the bass, and recommended for bass lovers only.
  
  
 Quality of Sound
  
 For portable sound, I'm very impressed with what I'm hearing. It's not a Beats buzzy bass.  It sounds very clean and natural, just lots of it.   As a basshead, I have always had to make do with what I could find, and afford, living with sub-par bass levels.   I now have more bass then I can handle, and that says allot for me.  
  
 Is there better, ya, it's in my bedroom, sitting on my desk, almost coming in at $1000.00.   
  
 With the Bass Traveler coming in at +- $30.00 it's a steel for anyone who is bass hungry, and on a budget.
  
 It really does leave you with a Wow feeling the first time you use it.


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## BWAS1000

4gibme said:


> Good day
> 
> Sorry for the delay.
> 
> ...




Nice to know its a pretty decent unit. I ended up going with the Topping NX1 instead, but if what you're telling me is true, I can combine the 2 and use the Bass Traveller with my speakers to fine tune my bass, and the NX1 with my headphone. So Thanks much


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## svmusa

4GibMe - As a bass lover myself, it is interesting to see how you have utilized this between your amp and phones and more so ever the ability of this amp to handle Cayin 5 output power and then adding more bass to it. 
  
 Any thoughts if your setup can drive full size headphones with 25 - 50 Ohms impedance range and also any observations of increase in background noise?
  
  
 This could fit my needs as a decent bass head solution for portable use between a decent dac+amp with bass boost options such as JDS Labs C5D or a Fiio E17K.


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## 4GibMe

Svmusa
  
 Sadly, it was the loss of my 15year old Sennheiser 500s that got me into IEMs.   Don't get me wrong, I LOVE IEMs.  But, I no longer have any full size Cans to test.  But, put it this way, if the Cayin 5 can drive your cans, then adding the M-Audio unit isn't going to reduce the over all output. 
  
 Regarding the M-Audio unit handling the output of the Cayin 5.
  To be frank, the M-Audio performs more efficiently, via the more power you put through it.   I set my Cayin 5 to halfway (No5), with gain ON, and then control my volume via the M-Audio unit, which hovers around halfway as well.  Sound quality is outstanding = cost factor.
  
 Regarding back ground noise.
 There is no background noise ADDED via the M-Audio unit, that I can sense.  The unit is all plastic, so it is not shielded, so you do hear  the odd anomaly, and I mean odd.  like once every few days for a fraction of a second.  Well worth it in my mind for your returns in sound performance.
  
 Regarding you using different Dacs, Amps, ear gear.
 I have run tests using different file providers,2 Amps, 1 DAC, 3 PCs,  and 3 different pairs of quality IEMS.
 In every setup I tried the M-Audio MASSIVELY improved the bass levels in a most positive, and enjoyable way.
 During testing, I kept telling myself that this was too good to be true for this price point, and there had to a gimmick involved.   But here I am almost a year later still loving it.   I'm so addicted to it's bass levels that I now have a second M-Audio for another setup I use.
  
 M-Audio says the on board battery is good for up to 8 hours.   Wrong.... I have run this thing passed 10 hours, and I only stopped  because the Cayin 5's battery died.  It also charges in no time.
  
 Hope this helps.


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## svmusa

Thx, I sure will order one to try it out.


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## 4GibMe

svmusa said:


> Thx, I sure will order one to try it out.


 
  
 Please let me know what you think once your setup and running for a bit.  
  
 I am most interested know what other think.   
  
 Cheers
  
 http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bass+traveler&sprefix=bass+trave%2Caps%2C207


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## svmusa

I sure will, this should help other bass lovers as well. I currently have Fiio E07k which actually does a great job with its bass drive (+10) setting on my JVC DX1000. This will be my intial setup with M-Audio bass traveler.
  
 I am looking to get a portable amp that is worthy to drive my TH900 in to bass head level, I dont EQ so stock hard wired bass boot is the way to go, seems like numerous options (Fiio E17 Alpen, JDS Lab C5D, Cayin C5, Fiio E12, Ifi Micro-Ican SE, Vorzuge VorzAMP Duo and Headstage Arrow 6TX) I have to figure out one to pick that will last for a while....
  
 More to come..


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## GaNi

svmusa said:


> I sure will, this should help other bass lovers as well. I currently have Fiio E07k which actually does a great job with its bass drive (+10) setting on my JVC DX1000. This will be my intial setup with M-Audio bass traveler.
> 
> I am looking to get a portable amp that is worthy to drive my TH900 in to bass head level, I dont EQ so stock hard wired bass boot is the way to go, seems like numerous options (Fiio E17 Alpen, JDS Lab C5D, Cayin C5, Fiio E12, Ifi Micro-Ican SE, Vorzuge VorzAMP Duo and Headstage Arrow 6TX) I have to figure out one to pick that will last for a while....
> 
> More to come..


 
  
 Don't forget the E18. It does drive SZ2K to the basshead level.


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## GrindedDown

I got one of these a few days ago so I could drive my sony xb90exs adequately. It turns out to be a pretty good match in terms of power. The max input of the xb90 is 200mw and the max output of the m-audio is 250mw @16ohm. 

I got this to use with my sony A25 (member of the A10 family) along with my AS Fortes and more importantly the xb90s. The sound is very clean out of the A25. I bought this mostly for bass boost and it does not disappoint. To my ears, I am hearing around an 8db boost in the 60hz region. It does seem to slope into the 300hz range and introduce a touch of mud. A simple EQ cut on the A25 of about -2db at 400hz solves this problem for me. The middle setting is rather nice sounding too, which is good for songs or genre changes that don't benefit from excessive bass. But boy oh boy, let me tell you that it drives the xb90s rather well and the bass slam, quantity, and depth is freaking awesome. 

Using this from my iphone 6 plus, there is a hefty amount EMI and clicking. It's fine for listening to the occasional track, but I definitely won't be doing any long term listening on it. Sorta disappointed in that, but it was only $25 and I bought it for my A25 mostly. 

It is a little awkward for the size and pocketability. Its hard to explain because it isn't any thicker than a lot of other amps, but the small size while being thick makes it feel like a pebble in your pocket. I use some rather sensitive IEMs and while there is a hiss, it is almost inaudible. Im happy about that one. 

I have been looking at other amps for my needs and am considering the SMSL for its small size and long battery life. I may get something like the cayin c5 or the jds labs c5d, but i am unsure.


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## svmusa

I just got one and echo every ones feedback here, excellent bass booster! 
  
 The amp does not work with line out voltage from my SMSL M8 dac, this is designed to be between some sort of amp like a smartphone, laptop or a media player with headphones out.
  
 The bass boost is damn good for the $30 bucks, surely for bass heads.


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## 7un4

Anyone here know how much the M Audio increases the bass in decibels? I read that my Fiio A3 increases bass by 3.5 decibels and I'm not that knowledgeable in decibel measurements but the bass increase of the A3 feels like it sits between bass level 1 and 2 on my old Fiio E11. Thanks


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