EarMen - TR-Amp

** Edit: Adding preamp impressions, I had forgotten to add that part.

The Earmen TR-Amp - Cheeky name for an entry level DACAMP that will surprise you pleasantly.

Purchased something from #headphonezone after a long long time. I had a voucher I needed to use and was evaluating some TWS when I saw the Earmen tab populated on the HPZ website. I was intrigued by this DACamp for sometime now.

It’s a nifty little device about the length and width of my Aune B1 but twice as thick. The body is an Aluminum enclosure with CNCd plates on front and back, the build is quite sturdy, even the PCB is of good quality and is populated with quality components unlike other products in the same price bracket. All bolts and edges sit flush and the finish is quite good. I liked the bright red color. Outputs to 2 HPs simultaneously plugged in to the 6.3mm and 3.5mm SE phone outs on the front. At the back there are twin RCA outs for a preamp out which is selected via a toggle switch next to them and 2 USB C sockets for charging and data respectively.

The DAC chip used, ESS Sabre 9038q2m is what had attracted me to this DAC in the first place, I have the D50 which uses the same chip and have experienced some amazing results with the same after a few mods. I wanted to evaluate the board to see if this can be tweaked as well. The other factors were that this is designed by the founder designer of Auris Audio, Serbia (Not Romania as I was mistaken earlier) who make top class tube amps and have a great reputation, secondly it has similar utility like the D50 to be used as preamp, however the advantage here is the ‘portability’ I can easily carry this on my travels. Added to all this is the ability of hardware based MQA unfolding.

The 9038 implementation on the TR-Amp is very good. Nowhere do I hear an edginess as in the stock D50. Earmen has used the TI OPA1642 opamps in the IV/LPF stages which take care of that fatigue inducing edge. In fact I would have used the same part to mod it because of what I have heard from Soumya Banerjee about the 1642 in his experiments. The amplification is handled by the TP6120A chip which again is very good from my experience with it in the Fiio AM5 module for the X7ii/Q5. The amp section is powerful, in fact it’s not for iems at all. With even the power hungry Stealth Sonics C9s I hardly get any range on the volume knob, with the Noble Kaiser Encore even less. But that’s not all, somehow with both my iems, the tramp sounds bloated and smeared in the lower mids and below. Even with the ieMatch in line before the drivers on Ultra mode (-24dB) there is discernible amount of bloat and boom in the lowend that makes it soft and fuzzy. However moment you switch to full size HPs, that fuzziness and boominess just disappears. I tried the Tramp with Sennheiser HD650, HD800, HD540, Audeze LCDX and the EL8 Ti. It did not disappoint with any pairing except in case of HD800 and more so HD540 (600ohms) where the amp section was overwhelmed a bit. However throughout all pairings that Tramp was clean with very good resolution for this price bracket (on stock configuration). Good extension on either end with nice speed and accuracy. Best aspect is its dynamics and musicality while still maintaining a mostly overall balanced tonality, although on certain vocal heavy songs one does notice a bit of shallow scoop in the mids. But one thing I have to mention even with the sensitive Kaiser Encore, through the different drivers I threw at it, the TRamp was very clean in terms of background noise. At this price point I think this is very good performance for a entry level DAC amp.

The best pairing for me was the HD650, so I would automatically recommend it for the many people asking for a good VFM amp to pair with the Massdrop HD6XX or similar drivers, this can be a good option to start with. Comparing to the Aune B1 I find the TRamp more balanced with better dynamics. While the B1 is a little more powerful and has a better slam, it is warm sounding, almost tube like. The HD800 and HD540 got fatiguing for me after 15-20 minutes of listen, whereas the fast Planars LCDX and EL8 sounded quite good with equally good dynamics and speed.

To conclude, in this form factor and PSU, the TRamp may not match a desktop source, but it brings amazing value at an entry level price point. It is loaded with features like top class chip, MQA capability , adequate power, clean noise free output, preamp and top class components that sound good in stock configuration. Agreed it is pretty much useless for iems, but if you have full sized cans that you want to use on the go with your phone/DAP this is an valid option.

PS: Pre-Amp impressions:

The pre out on this amp is equally clean and resolving, giving it an added advantage of using it with a better amp. I tried it with the Oriolus BA10 portable tube amp and the result is very good. This way I can take full advantage of the 9038 chip with any amp of my choice.

Finally, after a long long wait, and research, bought the Earmen Tr Amp. And I must say, it really delivers the sonic goods.

I use it with my AKG K712 Pro. It ain’t particularly warm (which is a good thing for me). Has a wide and more importantly deep soundstage. Accurate instrument separation in the stereo image. Surprisingly fast attack and decay. Bass is authoritative, but never overtakes the mids and highs. Mids are slightly intimate and highs crisp. I didn’t find them fatiguing though. Good amount of micro detail retrieval.

It drives the K712 fairly well I would say, though a little more power would have made wonders. The analog volume knob is fairly precise, though not the most linear. Slight channel imbalance at very low volumes(as with most analogue volume controls). Also, though the soundstage is quite deep, and wide as well, its not the widest. But hey, now im being extremely picky.

All in all, I am really happy with the TR AMP. A great portable all in one dac amp (with mqa) solution. I even use its line out to connect with my 5.1 home theatre, which is a nice extension of its abilities.

I don’t think anyone can go wrong with it.
Last but not the least, hats off to the Headphonezone team – fair pricing, top rated packaging and superfast delivery, Need I say more?

I purchased TR-Amp after a friend reviewed the unit and I liked what he had to say about the overall tonality, MQA capabilities and LineOut quality. DAC being an ESS Sabre implementation and myself preferring R2R+tubes tonality, initially was reluctant to try it out. I still went ahead based on the initial impressions i could gather from friends and online, but moistly due to the portability being offered. I received this unit in a very speedy manner , given the current situation, kudos to HPZ team.
I was impressed with the pairing of this amp with Campfire Andromeda (with iematch, of-course!). It has almost clean output, no noise/hiss with sensitive iems, but the line-out is much better. Considering this has an ESS based DAC and my all prev. experiences with portable ESS based DACs is that they have an edgy high end, for me thats a big NO-NO. This is different, takes care of the edginess to a greater expent, thanks to the IV stage opamps.
It can easily power high impedance headphones like HD600 to high volume levels, but can it really drive them to their potential is another question. I felt it to be a decent and enjoyable pairing for the size of the device with High Imp. headphones. SQ doesn't match the desktop level dac/amp setup with high imp. headphones but not worth ignoring also, its decent. A good alternative to cheap/budget Chi-fi Dac/amps , plus MQA certified (Tidal users, check this out).