guystp
Well-Known Member
I've been given a very enjoyable opportunity to try out and give a "user" review on the Yulong A18 headphone amp, the D18 Dac, the U18 USB interface, and the new P18 power supply, along with Yulong's new power cords, the A230/D230's.
As I'm relatively new to the headphone end of audio, I've been involved in home audio gear for way more years than I care to mention. That would be giving away my age! My situation for listening is as follows: dedicated music room right next to our living room, with glass panelled french doors separating the two rooms. Normally this setup works quite well, but I tend to enjoy listening at higher levels than my wife appreciates sitting in the next room trying to watch her television programs. The obvious solution was to get a pair of headphones.
I started with a pair of Bose on ear, folding headphones. the model number escapes me at the moment, but anyway, the idea was that I could use them at work as well. That didn't work out so well as the were a little too cumbersome for work. I gave the Bose to my wife for use with her computer, and got some AKG Q701's, which sound very nice but in my opinion are a tad weak in the bottom end. Seeing as I'm a tube guy, naturally I got a tube headphone amp, the ASL MG-Head OTL MK111DT. This is a nice match, but I wanted to upgrade the headphone and ended up with a pair of Audeze LCD2 Rev.2's. These cans suit my listening preferences very well. Deep tight bass, lush mids, and the top end is very easy to take, although some people feel they roll off too quickly. With the ASL amp, the LCD2's seem to have a slightly muddy bass. I put this off to the amp being a tube amp. I easily could have lived with this setup, but after spending way too much time on the internet reading on amps, I decided to try a new amp.
The Yulong comes in to the picture at this point. After all my reading, I was left with the Violectric V200 or the Yulong U18. Being a tube guy, I wanted an amp that would deliver a smooth, warm sound. From my understanding, both of my final picks deliver pretty well what I was looking for, but the Yulong had a big advantage. I could buy it from GF. From the great service I've always received, this was very important to me. So when I went to see Rachel to pick up a phono stage I purchased, we discussed the A18 amp, and Dac and she supplied me with the rest of the pieces to try out and give a review.
Pricing on the Violectric and the U18 is very close. The V200 at $999. and the U18 at $899. so the price was not an issue in the decision. In the esthetic department, I'd give the edge to the U18, either in black or silver. The very large writing on the V200 doesn't suit my taste but thats just me. As far as sound quality, I cannot comment on the V200 as I haven't heard one, unfortunately. It simply made most sense to try the Yulong first, and if I really didn't like it, I would go on the hunt the V200. As it turns out, the A18 sounds very good. It has a blk background, the bass is tight and deep, the mids, especially on vocals is smooth and accurate. the highs are sweet and easy to take. What I mean is no harshness, to my ears anyway. The soundastage is well placed and wide enough to present a realistic image. Please keep in mind that I''m using the Dac, power supply, interface and power cords from Yulong, so the synergy is expected to be good, and it is.
The music used is as follows: Jennifer Warnes- Bird on a wire(Famous Blue Raincoat Gold Edition CD) and -Way down deep( the Hunter 24K Gold Sp. Ed. CD)
Keb Mo - the Itch- ( the Suitcase CD), Gary Kerr - Harmonlewis cd Adagio in G Minor.
Jackie Evancho- When you wish upon a star, and Angel. (This young lady's operatic voice came shining through in all it's beauty.)
For jazz, I used Charlie Mingus - Mingus Ah um cd. the cut I used is Boogie Stop Shuffle. A good pace of different instruments, along with a drum solo.
All of the cd's I used were downloaded to my Mac Mini into Itunes lossless files.
This is my only source for headphone listening at the moment.
As a complete system, the Yulong set up is extremely easy to get used to. In order to be a little more exact in my assessment of each piece, I'll have to do do more listening with each piece individually. That will be for another day. For now though, I'm very glad I gave this SS system a try, because it opened my ears to a warm, accurate, fast system that will no doubt become my headphone setup for a long time.
The price on each piece is as follows: A18(amp)- $899., D18(Dac) - $699., P18(power conditioner) - $329., A230/D230(cables) - $100./ea. and the U18(USB interface) - $179., external power supply add $75..
Although, all the pieces are not absolutely necessary for a headphone system, I found the power cables convenient because they are a little thinner and more pliable than most high end cables. To me, the power conditioner is a perfect addition as it stacks with the rest of the pieces and is very convenient, oh yes, and it does its job at cleaning the power supply. I tried the system with out it and I felt like the sound was not as clear. Just my imagination?, maybe, maybe not, but a system as nice as this, why take a chance.
I'll do the individual reviews as time permits.
As I'm relatively new to the headphone end of audio, I've been involved in home audio gear for way more years than I care to mention. That would be giving away my age! My situation for listening is as follows: dedicated music room right next to our living room, with glass panelled french doors separating the two rooms. Normally this setup works quite well, but I tend to enjoy listening at higher levels than my wife appreciates sitting in the next room trying to watch her television programs. The obvious solution was to get a pair of headphones.
I started with a pair of Bose on ear, folding headphones. the model number escapes me at the moment, but anyway, the idea was that I could use them at work as well. That didn't work out so well as the were a little too cumbersome for work. I gave the Bose to my wife for use with her computer, and got some AKG Q701's, which sound very nice but in my opinion are a tad weak in the bottom end. Seeing as I'm a tube guy, naturally I got a tube headphone amp, the ASL MG-Head OTL MK111DT. This is a nice match, but I wanted to upgrade the headphone and ended up with a pair of Audeze LCD2 Rev.2's. These cans suit my listening preferences very well. Deep tight bass, lush mids, and the top end is very easy to take, although some people feel they roll off too quickly. With the ASL amp, the LCD2's seem to have a slightly muddy bass. I put this off to the amp being a tube amp. I easily could have lived with this setup, but after spending way too much time on the internet reading on amps, I decided to try a new amp.
The Yulong comes in to the picture at this point. After all my reading, I was left with the Violectric V200 or the Yulong U18. Being a tube guy, I wanted an amp that would deliver a smooth, warm sound. From my understanding, both of my final picks deliver pretty well what I was looking for, but the Yulong had a big advantage. I could buy it from GF. From the great service I've always received, this was very important to me. So when I went to see Rachel to pick up a phono stage I purchased, we discussed the A18 amp, and Dac and she supplied me with the rest of the pieces to try out and give a review.
Pricing on the Violectric and the U18 is very close. The V200 at $999. and the U18 at $899. so the price was not an issue in the decision. In the esthetic department, I'd give the edge to the U18, either in black or silver. The very large writing on the V200 doesn't suit my taste but thats just me. As far as sound quality, I cannot comment on the V200 as I haven't heard one, unfortunately. It simply made most sense to try the Yulong first, and if I really didn't like it, I would go on the hunt the V200. As it turns out, the A18 sounds very good. It has a blk background, the bass is tight and deep, the mids, especially on vocals is smooth and accurate. the highs are sweet and easy to take. What I mean is no harshness, to my ears anyway. The soundastage is well placed and wide enough to present a realistic image. Please keep in mind that I''m using the Dac, power supply, interface and power cords from Yulong, so the synergy is expected to be good, and it is.
The music used is as follows: Jennifer Warnes- Bird on a wire(Famous Blue Raincoat Gold Edition CD) and -Way down deep( the Hunter 24K Gold Sp. Ed. CD)
Keb Mo - the Itch- ( the Suitcase CD), Gary Kerr - Harmonlewis cd Adagio in G Minor.
Jackie Evancho- When you wish upon a star, and Angel. (This young lady's operatic voice came shining through in all it's beauty.)
For jazz, I used Charlie Mingus - Mingus Ah um cd. the cut I used is Boogie Stop Shuffle. A good pace of different instruments, along with a drum solo.
All of the cd's I used were downloaded to my Mac Mini into Itunes lossless files.
This is my only source for headphone listening at the moment.
As a complete system, the Yulong set up is extremely easy to get used to. In order to be a little more exact in my assessment of each piece, I'll have to do do more listening with each piece individually. That will be for another day. For now though, I'm very glad I gave this SS system a try, because it opened my ears to a warm, accurate, fast system that will no doubt become my headphone setup for a long time.
The price on each piece is as follows: A18(amp)- $899., D18(Dac) - $699., P18(power conditioner) - $329., A230/D230(cables) - $100./ea. and the U18(USB interface) - $179., external power supply add $75..
Although, all the pieces are not absolutely necessary for a headphone system, I found the power cables convenient because they are a little thinner and more pliable than most high end cables. To me, the power conditioner is a perfect addition as it stacks with the rest of the pieces and is very convenient, oh yes, and it does its job at cleaning the power supply. I tried the system with out it and I felt like the sound was not as clear. Just my imagination?, maybe, maybe not, but a system as nice as this, why take a chance.
I'll do the individual reviews as time permits.
