I bought this amp for a few reasons:
- I run a studio and don't care for portability, I want inputs versatility
- I need volume for medium-high impedance headphones (150-300 Ohms)
- I want hardware switches for mono/stereo modes
This amp was a no brainer, given the price.
At first I looked at its virtual speaker controls a bit sarcastically, I never like this kind of gimmicks and I mostly use headphones for flat reference, but as soon as I tried it I was genuinely surprised.
First, the overall quality feels high, the unit is solid and relatively heavy, all controls are hardware and they latch (I'm so grateful there are no touch controls or soft/electronic switches).
The 3 different inputs are always helpful and no, I don't need a minijack input.
No power on/off noise or volume pot scratches (for now) makes the unit incredible silent.
And now to the virtual speaker controls, my favourite part:
as I understood, their main task is to remove the headphone "in your head" feeling by adding some crosstalk between L/R channels (with 3 variable intensities), choose an angle at which speakers are located (not so clear what it means and I cannot notice any different playing with it) and ultimately unbalance the M/S ratio by lowering the mid signal by a fraction.
All this sounds like a lot of operations but in the end the effect is both subtle and extremely clear, it's as if the sound is taken out from the middle of your head (can't be helped with headphones, that's how they work) and put slightly in front of you.
It doesn't change frequency response, nor introduces any audible artifacts or phase issues, it all feels extremely natural and makes for a super handy device, in which you can either listen flat and reference your mix or have a nice listening experience for pure entertainment purposes.
Of course Thomann gave me the best service and quickest shipping, as always.
Highly reccomended!
