The HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp has upsides, but doesn't offer as much value or audio quality.
When it comes to personal entertainment, few experiences are more deliciously self-indulgent than listening to great music on a pair of exceptional headphones connected to a really good headphone amp.
HeadRoom’s Ultra Desktop Amp includes two sets of analog inputs: optical, coax, and USB digital inputs; an excellent digital audio converter (DAC); and a more powerful amplifier than the one in its smaller sibling, the Micro. This amp draws too much power to run on a battery, but it had no problem driving the Ultrasone Pro 900 headphones. We also liked its sound amp, which is not as warm and inviting as the Grado, but delivers vocals and instrumentals with excellent definition and fidelity. Both HeadRoom amps include a cross-feed circuit that pipes a delayed feed from the right channel to the left, and vice versa, to provide more natural sound stage. This psychoacoustics were effective with the Sennheiser and Shure ’phones, but it didn’t have any impact on the Ultrasones. The HeadRoom Ultra also has a brightness filter that boosts the highs at certain frequency bands, but the results were extremely subtle.
There’s a ton of features in here, but 1,500 bucks is a lot of cabbage for a headphone amp that doesn’t sound any better than Grado’s $400 unit.
Excellent built-in DAC. Extremely versatile. Great sound.
Expensive. 
MacGeorgeHB
February 10, 2009 at 1:41pm
Good to see some audiophile accessories given attention at Mac|Life!I'd really like to trial the amp, just to see how it sounds. As my Grado amp will be arriving shortly, I'll look forward to the experience. I agree that $1600 sounds a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. As my old hot-rodding buddies used to say, "Speed costs money; how fast you wanna go?" Actually, the latest components reviewed haven't even scratched the audiophile big-bucks components. I like the price range of the components you have selected to review - nothing too extravagantly priced. Although some will disagree.By the way, I just opened the new issue today and see the Grado SR60's reviewed. I must agree with the review. I first heard the Grados at a store in Westminster, CA, after reading a review in Stereophile. I bought them on the spot, since even though my old Quadra laptop couldn't do much with audio, I do have a large collection of vinyl and CDs. The SR60's are still working - even better than when new - over a decade later. Indestructible. Way to go, Mac|Life. Keep up the good work. There are a lot of audiophiles who have moved to the Mac for its quality, and we look forward to your magazine every month. I have even begun to enjoy your game review, and I have never even considered computer games. Open minds begin with opening one's mind.
macsuperuser
February 06, 2009 at 2:02pm
So in the universe of Mac accessories that you could cover, why oh why does this $1600 headphone amp merit a review in MacLife? And you give it 4 stars, after stating that it doesn't provide better sound than a competing device that costs one quarter the money? I mean, what the hell is going on over at MacLife? Which part of your readership is in a position to dump the same amount of money that they'd spend on a MacBook, on some esoteric audio device? Are you folks actually in touch with your audience demographic? I would say not, based on this poor excuse for a review.
