Apogee Groove - ESS Sabre portable Headphone Amp & DAC

Coming soon, Spring 2015 apparently; looks interesting and a nice design:-

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/groove

 

No interest in this?! Would've thought an ESS Sabre DAC and headphone amp in a smart little unit like this would be right in the target zone for some folks in here!

Very neat design too!

 

Sounds very interesting, I would like to see how well their "constant current drive" technology works.
The photo does show it paired up with Senn HD650 so the marketing people are pushing the technology in use with high impedance cans it seems.
Looks like a nice product depending on price.
Great that it is made in the USA.

 

Interesting. Looks like they are upping the ante in the high resolution portable DAC dept. Might give Audioquest's Dragonfly some competition. I'm sure Audioquest will see them and probably raise them.

 

I think Audioquest kicked off that market, and I'm glad there's a lot of competition. I'm listening to a 1.0 Dragonfly now as my ferry pulls into San Francisco where the mailman will be bringing me my new Schiit Fulla. I like how the Fulla and this new Apogee have a volume control, even with the shift + option half steps I don't find my MacBook's volume control precise enough.

 

From the specs:

I don't think this would be sufficient to properly drive a pair of HD650s, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

 

I can't speak to this one, but I just bought an Apogee Duet and it drives the HD700's really well. MUCH better than my Oppo 105. I bought it to record some LPs with Pure Vinyl and discovered that it's the best headphone amp I've used. I've use it on both my MacPro and iPad and great results with each, though the Mac doesn't require the wall wart. I'm now gonna try it without a USB connection and see if it will work as a standalone amp.

Edit: looks like its a no go as a standalone amp.

 

bumping this thread, very interested if any Hoffmanites have this Apogee Groove DAC. It was mentioned in today's NY Times personal Tech section;
At under $300, I'm curious how it sounds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/t...stening-for-the-headphones-you-want.html?_r=0

 

This is $249 with amazon prime !! ....hmmm...getting harder and harder to resist...

http://www.amazon.com/Apogee-GROOVE-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00XR5HRBU

 

I just got it because I did not like the Pono. So far, it seems like a major upgrade. It got a good review from Stereophile.

 

Still like the sound of the Groove much better than the Pono. I have one complaint, though, the volume control. It is hard to fine tune. You have to press a button and hold it. I tend to overshoot. If I return it, that will be why.

 

Just ordered this, can anyone comment on the synergy with IEMs (BA)?

 

Resurrecting this as I think Apogee and Sennheiser are doing a promotion just now for the HD650 headphones with the Groove. Not sure how the price works out against the regular cost but some may be interested.

Sennheiser HD 650 Apogee Groove - Audiophile Headphones HiFi-Stereo »