Heard some portable amps today at the meet.  Gear was DX100 > Leckerton UHA6Smk2, Continental v.2, Decware Zenhead feeding the UERM.  Not surprisingly the Continental got slaughtered in technicalities like resolution, speed and clarity.  The Leckerton and Zenhead were much closer and both did well.  The Zenhead had more lush/fluid mids versus the UHA6S but had slightly less resolving and controlled bass response.


I was looking for a Dragonfly to compare but everyone kept telling me there wasn't one so gave up.  Apparently Purrin found one, oh well.  Would lie to hear one in future to be sure but from prior experience the physics of such a device is just not going to compare well to more robust, well designed topologies.  I would not be surprised if it was the relative size/performance king though for integrated units.

My offer for you to come to my office and play with my Dragonfly is still open.

If a portable amp doesn't have crossfeed it's dead to me...

Not many portable amps have crossfeed on them.

I've heard the Corda2Move's crossfeed. Hardly impressive.

The only other crossfeed amp I've heard is the Phonitor. Now the Phonitor is something else....   but at 2k..  lol..

The OPA209 is sensitive to 2G signals, but not 3G. My telco (Softbank Japan) doesn't use 2G and I've never heard RF in my Leckerton here. However I have heard it when I went on a business trip abroad. If your phone only uses 3G, you're most likely good with the OPA209.

Have decided on a Leckerton UHA-6SmkII.

Now, given it will be used as a portable, possibly in close proximity to a phone, should I go for the AD8610ARZ that's the current standard (if it's true that it's less prone to interference issues), or the OPA209 for its SQ benefits? Anyone done a comparison between these units?

I'm sure the differences are very small, but given I'll probably be using the amp with a Paradox, I wouldn't mind a bit of optimizing.

Thanks.

Particular what?  That I find the 209 more resolving?  I'm not the only one including many well regarded ears and the opinion and measurements of Nick Leckerton himself.  The 8610 is underperforming by comparison and I'd call it colored.  The only reason to get one is avoidance of GSM from using a phone and preferring a less resolving signature that's more 'entertaining' on the treble and bass end of things.  This is supported by impressions everywhere.  Except for Lee who likes using a FX700 w/ a Hisound V DAP.  Both very colored.  Nobody in their right mind thinks the 209 is brighter than the 8610 like Lee has been spouting off for pages.  That was until he recently confessed he had no idea wtf he is talking about after being called on it by shotgunshane, uelover and others.


The day I consider a V-shaped headphone w/ the worst, driest mids, accentuated treble and bass plugged into a bright DAP 'reference' is the day I ask a Head-fi nub for advice on opamps.  The 209 became the default opamp for the mk2 until recently when either Lee started pushing the 8610 on new buyers due to his tastes and/or people complained about gsm interference.  It sounds V shaped and less resolving to me but then I think the Pico Slim was also slightly boosted in the low low end which fatigued me and a few others. 


My comparisons of the 8610/209/627 are in the Leckerton UHA6S page.  The mark 1.

Particular what?  That I find the 209 more resolving?  I'm not the only one including many well regarded ears and the opinion and measurements of Nick Leckerton himself.  The 8610 is underperforming by comparison and I'd call it colored.  The only reason to get one is avoidance of GSM from using a phone and preferring a less resolving signature that's more 'entertaining' on the treble and bass end of things.  This is supported by impressions everywhere.  Except for Lee who likes using a FX700 w/ a Hisound V DAP.  Both very colored.  Nobody in their right mind thinks the 209 is brighter than the 8610 like Lee has been spouting off for pages.  That was until he recently confessed he had no idea wtf he is talking about after being called on it by shotgunshane, uelover and others.


The day I consider a V-shaped headphone w/ the worst, driest mids, accentuated treble and bass plugged into a bright DAP 'reference' is the day I ask a Head-fi nub for advice on opamps.  The 209 became the default opamp for the mk2 until recently when either Lee started pushing the 8610 on new buyers due to his tastes and/or people complained about gsm interference.  It sounds V shaped and less resolving to me but then I think the Pico Slim was also slightly boosted in the low low end which fatigued me and a few others. 


My comparisons of the 8610/209/627 are in the Leckerton UHA6S page.  The mark 1.

Thanks for the reply.

Only browsed through the MKII thread and couldn't find any direct comparisons or many sensible arguments at all, for that matter. Will have a quick look through the UHA6S thread as well.
Also you pretty much nailed the reason why I didn't ask this at HF. Almost did though... 

GSM/2G in Finland at the moment. But I rarely get the interference with my Voyager either, so maybe the 209 won't be such a problem.