pretty cool Apogee product. Same crappy rack deep footprint. Bazillions of digital input optins (all selectable on the front left dial). All outputs controlled by a master "level" knob. Balanced outputs in the rear. unbalanced stereo MINI as well. Headphone (single) in the front.
both the balanced and unbalanced output sound awesome. Wicked tight..., a little more holographic than the grace perhaps...but not nearly the bottom end "Ooomph" that the 901 has.
I like it though. Pretty lights. pretty damn'd bright too. a bit of a downfall. Makes my Logans burp when I turn it off. I dont care for that much, but that is a ML thing. I never turn my stereo off.
So far, it sounds really great at lower volumes. Tons of detail in the rear of the soundstage. I'm enjoying it....for this week.
for the inquiring geek....
chaintek 7100 optical output >
Oppo HD971 coax output >
Apogee mini-DAC >
Odyssey Stratos Monoblocks >
Martin Logan Sequal 2's.
Hydra cable throughout, including power
Monster HTS-3500 power conditioner handles the lighting and poor wiring of my house.
Nick, do you have any feelings about how the headphone amp stacks up?
-Noah
actually, I like it. Its not as good as the Grace though.
this isn't marketed as a headphone amp per say. the Grace is a straight up amp that just happens to work in other regards.
I'm happy w/it.