New amp from RSA...

[bhd812]

designed for IEMs - that's not even a reason to buy the thing.

thats almost saying why buy an ES-1 when it can not power anything else, people who have money in custom iem's or higher end iem's might just want something like this. after all the custom iems are completely past the point of return. It a good idea to build an amp marketed only towards these as shure and UE are coming out with "higher end" iem's and the market for IEM's are just a tad bigger then regular over ear headphones (iem's are used not only in house but major portable,and pro app also).for people that have money in iem's its the main reason to buy this amp.

wait till the impressions later from the new york meet..see what the people say about the tomahawk with some iem's..

[TheSloth]

thats almost saying why buy an ES-1 when it can not power anything else, people who have money in custom iem's or higher end iem's might just want something like this. after all the custom iems are completely past the point of return. It a good idea to build an amp marketed only towards these as shure and UE are coming out with "higher end" iem's and the market for IEM's are just a tad bigger then regular over ear headphones (iem's are used not only in house but major portable,and pro app also).for people that have money in iem's its the main reason to buy this amp.

wait till the impressions later from the new york meet..see what the people say about the tomahawk with some iem's..

Not in the slightest. The Tomahawk is not 'designed for IEM's'. It is 'only suitable for IEM's' because the circuit design is not sufficiently advanced to drive anything else. The implication of 'designed for IEM's' is that there is something in the circuitry that makes it better at driving IEM's than competing amplifiers. Anyone who has even the slightest grasp of physics will know that is complete bullshit.

[Grand Enigma]

in response to suggests otherwise, to a certain extent, but you're probably right. hopefully, however, threats of violence have been nipped in the bud. we'll see.

Reks, I am going to make you... what they call... "no more" or so they say.

[Dusty Chalk]

Ummm... I'm going to kill you all tomorrow night in your sleep.

Don't roll your eyes at me, young man!

i've never had "no more." kind of pie?

It's like the opposite of s'mores.

[DieInAFire]

thats almost saying why buy an ES-1 when it can not power anything else, people who have money in custom iem's or higher end iem's might just want something like this. after all the custom iems are completely past the point of return. It a good idea to build an amp marketed only towards these as shure and UE are coming out with "higher end" iem's and the market for IEM's are just a tad bigger then regular over ear headphones (iem's are used not only in house but major portable,and pro app also).for people that have money in iem's its the main reason to buy this amp.

wait till the impressions later from the new york meet..see what the people say about the tomahawk with some iem's..

wtf are you talking about? If it were designed for IEMs, then it would sound better with IEMs than other comparable amplifiers. Ray designed it for IEMs by default, using that line as a facade to cover up the complete lack of amplification it delivers

[909]

I didn't hear a substantial difference between the headphone jack on my Karma and the Hornet with my E4s. At least for me not worth the cost of that amp and the mini cable at a $350 package. I suppose that people will love the Tomahawk without even comparing it against the headphone jack on their MP3 players. But a lot of players don't have the same SQ as the karma.

The Tomahawk is all about marketing, looks, and little competition.

[909]

Already a positive Tomahawk impression from the NY meet.

[bhd812]

wtf are you talking about? If it were designed for IEMs, then it would sound better with IEMs than other comparable amplifiers. Ray designed it for IEMs by default, using that line as a facade to cover up the complete lack of amplification it delivers

you must really know Ray huh?

I never heard him say anything like that..I heard him say "coming out with an amp for iem users only" before..

you people have not heard it, if you do with your high end iem's or customs then talk until then...

shut the fuck up! the amp has been designed with a sound in mind and a purpose, all amps are done this way..

[Dusty Chalk]

shut the fuck up!

No, you shut the fuck up. So many of your posts contain this expression, and yet you are probably the single person most needing to shut your pie hole.

[immtbiker]

That's why I said 'veiled' and not just 'threat'. Perhaps if I had said 'implied' things would be clearer to you? If the implication was just to meet, there were more diplomatic phrasings that could have been chosen. But instead, it was just lobbed there. Like a bomb. The fact that it wasn't refuted right away (until threats of ban were levied), just reinforces my opinion that it was indeed, intended as a threat. The later post just strikes me as backpedaling.

It wasn't refuted right away because I don't live on the internet and it was my first time back to the thread. "Diplomatic phrasings" are not commonplace here so why should I have chosen that path? I was clarifying, not backpedaling. I can't backpedal...I'm a mt. biker....I would just roll back down the hill and fall down

[MexicanDragon]

I can't backpedal...I'm a mt. biker....I would just roll back down the hill and fall down

HeHe... He made a funny.

**BRENT**

P.S. Grawk, go ride my bike!

[Dusty Chalk]

"Diplomatic phrasings" are not commonplace here so why should I have chosen that path?

Yeah, well, you have a point there.

[DieInAFire]

It wasn't refuted right away because I don't live on the internet and it was my first time back to the thread. "Diplomatic phrasings" are not commonplace here so why should I have chosen that path? I was clarifying, not backpedaling. I can't backpedal...I'm a mt. biker....I would just roll back down the hill and fall down

[immtbiker]

fuck you, asshole.

I feel initiated

y tu tambien.

[n_maher]

Uh oh, the Tomahawk is not getting universal praise from the NYC crowd...

Clearly they did not drink enough of the official meet beverage before listening.

[bhd812]

Uh oh, the Tomahawk is not getting universal praise from the NYC crowd...

Clearly they did not drink enough of the official meet beverage before listening.

yelp...

so where are you boys saying now? i mean people in new york are saying it drove 600's,701's,and grados...

what happened to the "it can not even power iem's"??

oh btw: when I listened to the tomahawk at the chi meet we where using 600's and 701's...opps small part i seemed to leave out huh?

how does it feel to shoot yourself in the foot? oh well no need to answer like Ray said it best.."get a life" cause you really suck at this one now.

[DieInAFire]

Uh oh, the Tomahawk is not getting universal praise from the NYC crowd...

Clearly they did not drink enough of the official meet beverage before listening.

and from some of the few people at that meet whose ears I slightly trust. On the other hand, props to Ray for not making an amp that clips when driving 650s. Apparently the prototype did, which was why I thought that it couldn't.

[909]

Okay.

Did anyone else spend a lot of time with the black Tomahawk in a portable rig? I know there was one other gentlemen listening to it with his MicroDAC and super.fi 5 Pro before I got to it.

I spent quite a bit of time with the black one with my iPod for direct comparisons with the iPod's headphone out with my Shure E4c. I dunno, I'll be honest - I've heard the E4c sound mighty good out of many things, and mightly okay out of others, and with this Tomahawk, it didn't sound good at all.

I wrote a lengthy post with the direct side-by-side comparisons - with the E4c sounding tremendously veiled (a big step towards the super.fi, at least for me (and not a good thing)) and less transparent, thick, with one-note bass out of the Tomahawk, relative to directly out of the iPod. There was a loss of resolution, definition and audio information, that kind of reminded me of switching to a pair of earbuds rather than fairly decently resolving IEM. The E4c is capable of sounding quite airy and spacious out of some rigs, but the E4c/Tomahawk sounded marginally more filled out in the middle than the iPod itself, which is pretty mediocre, imho.

The honest truth was I was surprised at how much it impacted the sound of the IEM. I know I've gone on record as not liking the Hornet - but that was largely because I far preferred the SR-71 and I thought certain aspects of its sound weren't where I wanted it. But the Tomahawk made my E4c sound quite different than I've heard them out of many things. I suppose the only other portable amp that affected the sound as much is my HeadRoom Coda with Desktop module. I'm really disappointed with that one...

Anyway, I love my E4c, even just straight out of the rather lackluster iPod Video. I love it even more out of my notebook computer (which is surprisingly airy and punchy with the E4c). But the Tomahawk really just didn't cut it yesterday with the E4c.

All the strengths of the E4c were just really muted (decapitated perhaps). The Tomahawk did deal with some of the weaknesses of the E4c, specifically a sometimes glass-like, less than refined treble emphasis right before the roll-off, but it dealt with it by recessing the treble altogether, which is not a good thing.

I dunno, I found it really surprising. It was not what I was expecting out of the Tomahawk. The thick/slow sound I got with the Tomahawk/E4c, isn't what Ray's portable amps sound to me, whether the Hornet or the SR-71.

Who knows. Maybe it was the dock I was using, maybe it was a lack of burn-in. Though for me, burn-in and wire affect sound, but usually not to the extent necessary for me to recommend the E4c with the Tomahawk. As it was yesterday, this item really wasn't ready for gametime for me.

Best,

-Jason

[n_maher]

what happened to the "it can not even power iem's"??

I don't think I ever said that Billy, but I will continue to doubt its ability to drive voltage hungry cans despite a few people say. The simple physics of what the Tomahawk does pretty much eliminate it from being able to properly amplify, or better put, do anything other than pass the signal from source to headphone. So what I would guess is that just like any other meet it was too loud to make any real critical listening judgement. If memory serves me correctly the last time Ray busted on the miracle switch box it showed that the Hornet is just as good as the Raptor, you want to argue that point as well?

[TheSloth]

how does it feel to shoot yourself in the foot? oh well no need to answer like Ray said it best.."get a life" cause you really suck at this one now.

What the hell is this guy's problem?

Collective Head-Case apology. Now that some people have heard the Tomahawk, and they thought that it was the best evaaaaar, we take back everything we have ever said about not only the Tomahawk but all of Ray Samuels' design ability and overall personality. It is clear that if some people heard it, and then they liked it, that makes it a Good Thing?. Any criticism of the design that we may have been stupid enough to make on technical grounds has been completely annihilated by the impressions of these Godly figures. We will become believers, and if someone's ears say that you can drive a pair of 300ohm headphones with a 3V supply, we will throw down science, intelligence, education and good judgement, for we have a new reason to live: RAY SAMUELS, and your wisdom.

Billy, do us all a favour and apply for a job at Bose.

[Dusty Chalk]

And they say sarcasm doesn't convey across the internet well. That was like, SOIP.