The look of V-Moda gear may be a little Versace for somemild-mannered audiophiles, but make no mistake: Val Kolton knows athing or two about good sound, and beneath the flashy exteriors ofhis gear you'll find thoughtful engineering, well-conceivedergonomics, and impressive sound quality. So when Kolton told us he had a portable source device in theworks, were we excited? You bet. The new V-Moda VAMP ($650) is a portable, battery powered, iPhone 4/4S-specificDAC/headphone amplifier combo, incorporated into a form-fit iPhonecase that roughly resembles a Mophie Juice Pack or other extendedbattery packs of that ilk. In terms of functionality, it's like apocketable version of NuForce's Icon IDo , providing an optical S/PDIF digital output for desktopinterfacing alongside its core digital decoding and headphoneamplifying functions.
It also incorporates a 2200 mAh batterypack, which'll keep your phone charged as you listen, for anadditional 8 hours or so of listening time (or a lot moretalking/texting/socializing). The VAMP is a beautifully finished little device the brushedaluminum case that protects the unit's guts is confidenceinspiring, though such a thing might seem a little crazy to theaverage gadget lover. Consider the alternatives, however, and it becomes clear thatKolton does know the market, and his audience. Headphoneaficionados (who populate online forums like Head-Fi ) are willing to go more than an extra mile for high-qualityportable sound, carrying around stacks of outboard devices DAC,amp, battery pack strapped to their players or phones withindustrial-strength rubber bands. Why? Such a setup lets them use afar wider range of headphones on the move, includingdifficult-to-drive high impedance and low efficiency cans.
But this is a much, much slicker solution. The VAMP provideshigh-end portable Iphone 4 Protective Cases audio without making you look like you're carrying around an IED a pretty bigdeal, which makes, potentially, for much more widespread appeal. On the business end of the device, alongside the analog outputcontrol (something we always like to see on portable headphoneamps), you'll find a small, illuminated, three-position toggleswitch; you can set the device to play, to play while charging adocked iPhone, or you can turn the thing off. On the other end ofthe device, high and low output gain settings are available (theformer will come in handy for hard-to-drive headphones like yourHD-650s); there's also a reset switch should the thing crash,though we never found a reason to use it.
A mini-USB port isprovided as well, though it's for charging the VAMP's battery pack(and acts as a through port to sync your phone when the VAMP itselfis turned off). The main toggle switch also has a little trick up its sleeve. Inconjunction with a side mounted button (which itself doubles as abattery level check), you can use the toggle to select EQ modes. Inaddition to a flat setting (indicated by a red LED), you'll find"VQ" - an EQ setting with a general tilt towards the treble and asubte low-end boost a bit of a twisted smile profile. Switchingbetween the EQ modes is accomplished in a slightly roundabout way hold in that side-mounted button, the toggle begins flashing,you switch that to another position, the LED changes colors, youtoggle back again, and once the LED stops flashing, you're in theother mode.
A bit weird, but it's not something you're likely to bedoing frequently, and the steps involve mean that at the very leastyou'll be unlikely to accidentally switch the thing into or out ofVQ mode in your pocket. Like all audio devices using the iOS accessory protocol, theonboard DAC is limited to 16/48 performance. Realistically, forportable use with an iPhone, which you're probably filling up withapps and photos and whose pesky hardwired memory limits the numberof 32/192 files you'd be able to cram in there anyway, that'll dojust fine. Those set on portable high-rez audio will still have toturn to a second, dedicated device like the HiFiMan HM-801 or the iPad+CCK+DAC combinations we looked at a few months back.
I'm an expert responsible for promoting a good online shopping platform China Iphone 4 Protective Cases, it contains numerous high-quality items such as China Iphone 4 Protective Cases, for more information please visit our website!
I am an expert from pioneer-cases.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Iphone 4 Protective Cases , China IPhone 4 Silicone Cases, IPhone 4 Hard Cover Case,and more.
Related Articles -
China Iphone 4 Protective Cases, China IPhone 4 Silicone Cases,
|
