Auris Euterpe Headphone Amplifier

AURIS EUTERPE – Impressions After getting hold of the HD600 I was looking for a tube amp to pair the HP along with. I wanted something which would serve HD600, run fairily demanding planars and also go well with any future HP purchases. After numerous discussions, deliberations and digging through user opinions/review online decided to jump on the Auris Euterpe which was made locally available by Goldfinch Acoustics PACKAGING & CONTENTS The packaging Euterpe comes in makes you wonder if you have got the right product or not. It comes in a huge square box which is almost 5 times the dimension of the dac/amp itself. The Euterpe comes with tube already attached and the design & packing ensures no damage happens to the tube inside during transit. The box in itself had around 4 layers of plastic wrapping with a stiff cardboard at corners to hold the box in place. Took me about 20 minutes to unwrap the plastic and open the box, probably longest of all packages I have received till date. The contents of the box are minimal with the Euterpe unit, a LPSU and a proprietary cable to connect the EUTERPE to the LPSU. Would have loved to have a good quality USB cable and power cable bundled. BUILD QUALITY The external build quality overall is top notch. As per specs they weigh about 4.1 kgs and feels about right, they are not at all difficult to move around. The outside wooden structure feels solid and lends a very nice texture and look to the amp. Inside is a metallic housing for the internals with the tube slots on top of the housing to allow for easier swapping and lend to the looks as well. Personally though I like the way amps like Feliks/AA are designed with a base surface and tubes on top, this design has helped me to accommodate the amp besides the stack of my DAC and SS amp. For a unit which houses a DAC & amp the size seems relatively small and can raise potential concerns especially when flying blind into such purchases, this did concern me too but decided to fly blind based on feedback from some esteemed members. I am not very qualified neither very knowledgeable to discuss on the internals, but know that it borrows and has design considerations trickling down from its elder sibling HA2-SE. The tubes used are 2 units of PL-95 as power tubes and 1 unit of ECC81 for the pre section. CONNECTIONS At the front comes with a SE 6.35mm connector at the front, a H/L switch for impedance and a A/D switch. The A/D switch allows you to use the Euterpe in numerous configurations either - Using D allows DAC only by using the pre-outs to connect to a different amplifier or use both DAC & amp of Euterpe - Keeping it in A bypasses the DAC section, you can connect an external DAC and use Euterpe as the amp or use it plainly as a preamp in between an external amplifier and DAC. The rear side has 2 pairs of analog connections, one for input and second as an output when using the DAC or using the Euterpe as a preamp. It also has a USB port and power cable input from the LPSU. SOUND QUALITY As a DAC alone While I have not tried a lot of ESS chip based DACs, I owned a SMSL-SU8 for a good amount of time. They had really amazing highs, fairly neutral mids but performed pretty average on the lows. The treble did feel bright for particular numbers in combination with the Ananda. The Euterpe has tamed the treble while still retaining the shimmer, mids sound much more lushful and thicker in comparison, the lows are better than the SU8 & the soundstage created is much wider and deeper than the SU8. However when I pit them against the Denafrip Ares II they do fall short, the Ares II are indeed better in all aspects and my sound signature preference leans towards the R2R presentation in general. Overall I liked the DAC and while mid-range and higher range DACs would likely do better than DAC section of Euterpe, it adds a lot of value as a plug n play solution to connect any source via USB. As a one stop plug n play solution I have found myself using this mode more often than I thought I would. As Sunder rightly pointed out, once these start playing you find yourself enjoying the music and not worry much on the shortcomings of the DAC in comparison to higher end DACs. The DAC and Amp sections synergize really well with each other, all doubts you have had about this due to the size of the unit are pretty much put to rest. The soundstage is wide, the mids are lush and intimate just how I like them and treble is not as sparkly as a SS but the guitar riffs, cymbals and instruments still have the necessary bite. The lows lack a little bit of slam in comparison to SS setups, but still are present in good quantity. The overall presentation is smooth and presents no fatigue, at the same time you don’t miss out on any details in treble. If I would like to improve something it would be the bass slam and the depth of the soundstage as a package solution. As a pre-amp I used the below chain to test this out PC -> Denafrip Ares II -> Auris Euterpe -> Auralic Taurus MK II The Auralic Taurus MKII alone without any pre in between also did a really good job with all my headphones. The lows had a super slam, had a fairly wide & deep soundstage, amazing level of detail and neutral mids. I was curious to see how the Euterpe would contribute here, on adding Euterpe in the chain the following changes were noticed Lows are at a different level, the quantity has increased manifolds while still retaining the pace and slam. The vocals seem to be much more intimate, harsher recordings also sound good and pretty similar to how it sounded when using the Euterpe as a single solution Treble was pretty much retained with the actual sparkle of Taurus with a fair bit of smoothening Soundstage was holographic, the width increased and the perceived depth and layering of instruments was unreal. Probably the best I have heard Ananda sound till date As an amplifier alone Below chain was used to test this PC -> Denafrip Ares II -> Auris Euterpe As a standalone amp the Euterpe delivers and I believe this is where its prime strength lies. The vocals connect with you right away embedded in a very spacious soundstage, treble is smooth and details are not rolled off, lows are tight and punchy (again missing the slam the Auralic introduced), imaging also is good with each instrument easily distinguishable. As you can see using a good DAC does bring in very good improvements across the spectrum and I believe they should scale even higher with a better source/dac feeding into the amplifier. The headphones I tried with these are - Sennheiser HD600 - My search for tube amp started due to this HP and while I wanted to settle with something in middle, knowing I will upgrade my HP in future, decided to go for something beyond my allocated budget. The HD600 and tubes are known to be a match made in heaven, this is no different and really help the HD600 scale beautifully. These sounded the best when using the Auris Euterpe as an amp alone with Ares II and very close with the Euterpe as a DAC/AMP. - AKG Q701 - Again to my surprise these scaled really well with the Auris Euterpe. These sound way more neutral than the HD600 but at the same time not sterile, works for a wider genre of music with the Euterpe than the HD600. Found these to sound better with the Euterpe than a SS amp - Hifiman Ananda – These are my favorite pair of HP to listen to variety of genres. As a HP detail retrieval is excellent, overall presentation is slightly forward and at the same time not fatiguing (other than for a few genres which I don’t listen to and for few bad recordings). When paired with the Euterpe directly I feel the forward presentation gets tamed a little, while still enjoyable don’t think they sound the best they can. Using these with the SS with Euterpe as the pre has been the top scaling point for me with these headphones. Auralic Taurus combined with Euterpe should be good to serve my desktop needs for many years to come whichever direction I go in for the headphones (fingers crossed 🙂 )