EarMen L-Amp Review

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With the just released Meze Audio POET, the first thing you need to do is turn down the L-Amp’s volume. I am only at 6 to 8 here, and that’s plenty loud. If you have read my POET review from a few weeks ago, you might remember that it’s more about musical enjoyment than it is about precision. The L-Amp enforces that and it makes the POET a very musical, dynamic and engaging headphone with a very good vocal presentation. I personally miss the technical performance here, but if you like the POET for its musicality, then you will love the synergy with the POET. The vocals and mids are the best in this combo, and I didn’t feel the need to activate the B+.

Switching to dynamic drivers, the Sennheiser HD 800S is up first. It’s not an easy headphone to drive, and the L-Amp does struggle with the Sennheiser. It doesn’t really manage to give it enough body and weight to my ears, and you get a very light and thinner sound. Bass has little presence and no impact/punch. The precision is there as well as the dynamics and stereo imaging, but it misses out on engagement and sheer presence. And that’s even with the B+ turned on. I would not recommend this pairing, as the DH 800S can sound so much better.

The Austrian Audio Composer on paper is a whole lot easier to drive and that in reality also is the case with the L-Amp. That unfortunately also means that when no music is playing you do hear a bit of ground noise, but it isn’t audible when it’s in use. With The Composer the L-Amp gets loud fast but it does sound excellent. You get a lively, full and very dynamic sound. Bass is full and punchy, the mid timbre smooth and spacious. Vocals are very good here with a slightly more forward yet natural presentation. The top end here is energetic and extended, without them ever sounding harsh. The Composer is a great headphone and the L-Amp brings out the best of it. A musical yet refined combo is the result. After the HE1000 Unveiled, this is my favorite headphone with the L-Amp. You could turn on the B= to get more weight and bass, but to me this isn’t needed and it even makes the Composer a little unnatural sounding.

Sound – IEMs

As mentioned before, the L-Amp has a dedicated IEM setting and that’s the one we’re checking out in this chapter. I have chosen the following IEMs: UM Multiverse Mentor, Sennheiser IE900, Beyerdynamic Xelento and the JH13v2.

When plugging in the Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor (in custom version), you will hear a high-pitched tone that will fade out. This tone and effect are also audible when pushing any of the buttons, but when music is playing it’s not really noticeable. With the Mentor there is some ground noise when no music is playing, but when music is playing this hardly is noticeable. I prefer listening to the Mentor without the B+ engaged as the bass quantity is too much for me. With the Mentor, you get a full-bodied sound, excellent bass, good precision and a smoothly musical delivery with a touch of warmth. It’s not the most technically proficient combo, even if the technical level is quite high. It’s a very engaging, fun and musical combo.

With the Jerry Harvey JH13V2, the ground noise is much lower but still lightly present. When playing music it is no issue at all. I prefer this combo over the Mentor as you get a higher energy level here, with improved clarity and speed. The L-Amp adds sweetness and lushness to it, and you get a lovely combo of precision, liveliness and musicality. The amount of body here is lighter in mids and bass, and you get a more neutral, reference tuning where the vocal placement is more to the front. Of course this IEM allows you to tweak the bass via the cable control. A really good combo.

With the Sennheiser IE 900 you get an even lower level of noise in silent mode. Here the tuning is much lighter and I really like using the B+ bass boost in this combo. The clarity, cleanness and speed are exemplary here, but you do get a lighter general presentation. It’s a very reference tuning, but the L-AMP does make it very musical, precise and engaging. My ears like this typical “high-end musically tuned combo”.

Last but not least we have the Beyerdynamic Xelento. With this popular IEM, the noise is audible in a higher amount, like with the Mentor but it isn’t audible when playing. I prefer the L-Amp and Xelento combo without extra bass, as it sounds unnatural to me. Without the B+ engaged you get a fast, clean and clear monitor with a neutral amount of weight and a good punch and kick. The L-Amp always makes it musical and engaging and in this combo you get excellent dynamics on top of that.

TL;DR: While the L-Amp is equipped to work with IEMs, you will have to accept that there is some noise when music is playing. It’s almost impossible to prevent from a technical point of view. The fact that you hear a high-pitched tone can be annoying, especially in the beginning. As this sounds quickly fades away however, it’s not a really issue. All-in-all you can use your regular IEMs with the L-Amp, but it simply sounds cleaner with less sensitive gear.

Sound – Vs Woo Audio Tube Mini

For this section I used the Hifiman HE1000 Unveiled. From a design point of view they both share a window to show off the tubes but it stops there.

The EarMen L-Amp is larger in size than the Tube Mini, but it also has a larger tube window as well as the B+ feature. The Woo “dongle” doesn’t have a separated power input like the L-Amp, so it will use your sources battery. The Woo dongle only version is $50 to $100 USD more expensive depending on where you are located. You can buy a separate dock from Woo however for an additional $349 to $399 USD.

The Tube Mini uses a different suspension system and here the higher pitched tone is louder than on the L-Amp. The latter’s suspension simply creates less tube and other noise. When a sensitive headphone is connected, the Tube Mini is the most quiet, though the noise in both units is not audible when music is playing.

From a tuning point of view, both units are very different. Where the L-Amp is spacious, airy and wide, the Tube Mini has a more intimate presentation. Its soundstage is smaller in all directions.

The Woo version sounds lighter and it has less body/weight from top to bottom, with a sharper end more forward presentation. The vocals are also more placed upfront. Where the L-Amp has smooth, lush tuby timbre, the Tube Mini is more neutral, edgy and energetic sounding. It has a livelier top end with good decay. Overall the PRaT of the Tube Mini is better, it’s the tightest and fastest sounding of both units, and it has the best separation.

The EarMen L-Amp is more musical and easier to listen to. It is just softer to the ear with a more tube-like sound. The Tube Mini has a more neutral reference type of tuning. Both of the units are detailed and use an ESS DAC chip (though 32bit for the L-Amp and 24 for the Tube Mini) but the L-Amps technical level overall is better that of the Tube mini. The decay and extension are also better on L-Amp. On top of that everything is more audible in the latter because of the more spacious presentation.

My personal preference goes to the L-Amp, pure from a sound quality point of view. It has a higher technical level and an ear pleasing tube timbre. It’s also quite a bit cheaper.

For both units, I recommend using headphones and not IEMs though they can also do that. If you can live with a little more noise and louder fading pings, IEMs are a possibility.

Conclusion

EarMen up to now has designed and produced multiple excellent products, but for me the L-Amp is one of the highlights.

The L-Amp with the ESS DAC and JAN6418 Raytheon tubes is delivering pure enjoyment in a portable box. With the detail and energy of the DAC and the smoothness and silkiness of the tubes, the L-Amp quickly wins over your ears and heart.

While it works its very best for headphones, you can also use it for your IEMs, but in that case you have to accept a higher floor noise.

All-in-all this is a superbly built, tube-based DAC/AMP, with an excellent price setting and a high versatility. Even if the L-Amp is not perfect, it is very easy for me to give it our Recommended Buy Award, especially for its headphone use. The EarMen L-Amp is now featured on our list of Best DAC/AMP combos.

Summary

Pro:

• Design
• Tuning – high SQ
• Tube lushness
• Price
• Bass switch

Cons:

• IEM performance (noise)
• Ping