Simaudio Moon Neo 430HA Headphone Amplifier "exceptional"

One of the top rated headphone amplifiers in beautiful black color. It will make all your headphones perform their best. Great condition and working perfectly.

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From Sim Audio:

The Neo 430HA is a genuine “tour de force” loaded with numerous state-of-the-art features. This fully balanced, pure analog amplifier using a discrete transconductance circuit topology, selectable gain setting (14 or 20dB), an oversized power supply and a defeatable analog crossfeed circuit. Rated at 667mW at 600 ohms and 8W at 50 ohms, the Neo 430HA will effortlessly drive any headphone to its full potential.

For headphone enthusiasts who desire perfection, the Neo 430HA is the ultimate solution. Borrowing various technologies from our most exotic and costlier Evolution series (M-LoVo, M-eVOL2) while incorporating the most advanced analog audio circuitry, the 430HA will achieve the very best possible sonic performance from your headphones. The optional DSD256 and 32-bit PCM capable DAC can be used with virtually any digital source such as computer for streaming music, satellite TV receiver or Blu-Ray player, offering the same fidelity as your music system.

Of course, key features you’d expect in a MOON Neo Series product are present such as 12V triggers and an RS-232 port for custom-install environments.

Design features

Inputs include 1 balanced on XLR’s, 2 single-ended on RCA’s and 1 single-ended on 1/8” jack located on the front panel.

Outputs include a pair of 3-pin XLR and one 4-Pin XLR located on the front panel behind a sliding window, a ¼” TRS jack, as well as both fixed and variable single-ended line-level RCA stereo pairs.

Four (4) stages of our own M-LoVo (MOON Low Voltage) DC regulation circuit to significantly lower the noise floor.

M-eVOL2 volume control with 530 steps and channel matching of 0.1dB.

Optional fully asynchronous DAC with four (4) digital inputs (S/PDIF x 2, TosLink x 1 & USB x 1) allowing for use with any virtual digital source; Supports DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 (USB input only); Supports PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz (all inputs) and 32-bit/384kHz (USB input only).

Specifications

Output power per channel @ 600 / 300 / 50Ω
667mW / 1.33W / 8W
Headphone Impedance
20 - 600Ω
Frequency Response (audible)
20Hz - 20kHz ±0.1dB
Frequency Response (full range)
5Hz - 100kHz +0/-3dB
THD @ 1kHz, 0dBFS (A-weighted)
0.005%
Intermodulation distortion
0.005%
Signal-to-noise Ratio
120dB

From The Absolute Sound:

To say that the 430HA improved the sound would be a colossal understatement. I was shocked by how much better the PSB headphones sounded in every sonic criterion when driven by the 430HA. With the Moon powering the ’phones, clarity and transparency increased, revealing much more detail. Instrumental lines that had been only hinted at previously were now fully fleshed out, their musical contribution now readily apparent. Fine detail was also better conveyed, particularly in the treble. The 430HA was simultaneously more open and more highly resolved in the top end, but also smoother and more relaxed. Instrumental timbres took on added richness, completely free of grain and edge. Vocals had a silky liquidity that was particularly appealing.

The 430HA’s rendering of bass was spectacularly great, going much lower in the very bottom end and revealing more tonal and dynamic nuances in the bass and midbass. On Jeff Beck’s Performing This Week...Live at Ronnie Scott’s, Vinnie Colaiuta’s big kickdrum that serves as this music’s rhythmic anchor was conveyed with an almost physical sense of impact. Through my previous headphone amp, the kickdrum sounded like a pencil on an oatmeal container by comparison. The sound quality of headphones, particularly their dynamics and bass, is largely dependent on the amplifier driving them. If you think freestanding loudspeakers sound different with different power amplifiers, headphones exhibit an order of magnitude more sound-quality variability.

Another massive improvement was in the presentation of air around instruments and the sense of reverberation. The 430HA’s rendering of space was outstanding, turning what had been a flat, dry canvas into a richly detailed, open, and dimensional one. Snare beats, for example, would light up the acoustic and decay into silence rather than just sounding like pops. On solo piano pieces I could hear the room surrounding the piano, so well resolved was the low-level decay through the 430HA.

The 430HA’s outstanding sound quality was fully revealed when driving the Audeze LCD-X planar-magnetic headphones, with the 430HA fed from the balanced outputs of a Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference decoding hi-res files. This combination was absolutely sensational; the sense of space, transparency, transient speed, resolution of fine detail, and bottom-end depth and clarity rivaled six-figure loudspeakers driven by six-figure electronics. I never would have thought the headphone experience could be this riveting. I had been listening to the LCD-X for a couple of months driven by my portable headphone amplifier, and thought they were exceptional. But it took the 430HA to show me just how exceptional these ’phones can sound.

The DAC section is an excellent addition for the $800 asking price. Fed via an Audience Au24 USB cable from a MacBook Pro running Pure Music, the 430HA’s DAC had none of the chalky midrange heard in some USB implementations. The tonal balance was smooth and uncolored, with good resolution of detail. The DAC also had an open and transparent spatial rendering for its price. I liked that the DAC had a relaxed and engaging sound with a somewhat laid-back midband. This quality imparted a refinement and sophistication often lacking in sub-$1k DACs.

In reviewing the 430HA I found myself the guinea pig in an inadvertent experiment. A few weeks before receiving the 430HA, I had bought the CD Juice by Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood based on Bill Milkowski’s review in TAS Issue 249. I had listened to the disc perhaps six or eight times in the first two weeks after buying it, but only through the AK100, PSB M4U 2 headphones, and my portable headphone amplifier. I hadn’t gotten around to ripping it to my MacBook in the main system. I had surprisingly never listened to Medeski, Martin, & Wood before, and found myself enjoying this popular trio’s collaboration with guitarist John Scofield.

But when I listened to this disc through the 430HA for the first time (still with the AK100 and PSB headphones), it was far more appealing. The sonic qualities described earlier were manifested musically in a way that took me from somewhat liking the disc to really liking it. The difference in sound quality changed my appreciation for the musicianship, compositions, and the disc’s entire feel. On the opening track, the playfulness with which Scofield’s guitar licks weaved in and around the New Orleans funk-blues melody played by Medeski on the organ, only hinted at previously, was now vividly alive. I hadn’t paid much attention to Martin’s bass playing before, but now that I could hear the instrument’s pitches and dynamics, I was enthralled by his performance. I hadn’t realized what a vital contribution he made to the music. Similarly, Wood’s drumming had been interesting, but after switching to the 430HA I could hear a wealth of nuances and dynamics that gave me a far greater appreciation for his playing. For example, his subtle rhythmic excursions on the calypso-inflected groove on the track “Louis the Shoplifter” suddenly came to the fore. I was now hearing the full contributions of four guys making music together and could hear how much fun they were having. The music was much more joyous, inventive, exuberant, and engaging now that I could hear exactly how everyone was playing. The 430HA revealed entirely hidden dimensions in an album I thought I knew—all from upgrading the headphone amplifier.

Conclusion
The Neo 430HA is an outstanding product in features, design, build, and sound quality. It literally transformed the sound of my headphones, and in the process, elevated my engagement with the music. If you’re serious about ’phones, and haven’t heard a first-rate headphone amplifier, take your cans to a Moon dealer and listen to what the 430HA can do for the listening experience.