Ocean Mini Valve Class A Tube Headphone Amplifier

To start off, this is my first tube amp and headphone amp at that. I own what i like to think is a decent ($2-300 range) set of headphones. I've also only been using the amp for 2 days now. It only has about 4 hours of good sound through it at this point. I enjoy loud clean music from anything between Blues to Electronica. Cons: Just to get this out of the way. The red (power) light is kinda bright. I have it sitting on my desk(attached photo) and in the dark it's just TOO bright. I don't mind a small little LED letting me know it's on, but really, i can see that the switch is in the "on" position if i really need to know. I've noticed a few "pops" while listening, nothing that is a big deal, maybe once ever 2 or 3 hours. Just worth noting. Pros: It sounds good. I have nothing to compare it to, really. It sounds better than it did before i had it. It is also louder. It actually drives my headphones. I feel it as much as i can hear it. The sound certainly is more "warm" as most people are describing. The build quality is exceptional, i'm most impressed about this. This thing is built and finished very well. The knob, switch, and input/output ports are high quality. The tube guard is also a nice feature. I love the form factor, i was thinking big huge bulky monstrosity, but it fits well on my relatively small desk. Other thoughts: Bad quality music/sound will still sound bad, simple as that. It gets hot (see picture*Edit, i guess i was only allowed one photo). I've taken temperature readings of the case(which i've read acts as a heatsink made from extruded aluminum) at 110F regularly and i've seen the tube reach above 130F. I guess when talking about electronics, this isn't nothing to be worried about. Nothing i'm worried about at least, i have computer components that reach 160F+ regularly. If you have the headphones on and you flip the power switch on you'll get a bit of noise through the speakers. Caught me off guard the first time it happened. I'll probably use it for a good 250+ hours before thinking about switching out the tube as most people say it's a common modification and actually pretty highly recommended. I can see the itty bitty glow of the tube, but the bright annoying red light shines into the case and "kills the charm" as someone else said. This amp is running off of my PC with an old Soundblaster 5.1 sound card of some sort into the amp via 3mm.

I enjoyed this headphone amp for a while, and I'll give it credit (blame?) for starting me listening to tube amps and the joys (and expense) of tube rolling. You get a lot of listening pleasure for the money with the Bravo, but it's basically a toy. The quality is poor and it has limited functionality. I've replaced mine with another headphone amp from an American company with garage in the name, and I'm much happier because it sounds better and lets you roll many, many more kinds of tubes. So this is a good starter amp. but you'll soon want something better.

I like quatilty of the sound, so agree with all positive feedbacks here. It improves backstage nuances, clears bass and highs, noticable better stereo effect. I compare this against direct connection of SoundBlaster output to my solid state amp (in my case it's 22W single IC TA8220H amp). Though, in couple weeks I assembled pure vacuum tube amp TU-8200 (diy kit, also class A) and was stunned about its performance. This kit it uses same tube in pre-amp phase as Ocean Mini has. Comparing to solid-state amp sound became much more detailed, clear separations of instruments' sound, and bright holographic picture of the scene. I'm very pleased with overall improvement of my acoustic system at home. So, I want to share my exprience with you guys, if you are still working on your Hi-Fi setups (it maybe lifelong hobby for us): 1) For solid state amp - better if you pass source signal via vacuum tube. It will make your sound more realistic and warmed up by tube. You'll get brighter percention of the sound, improved stereo image of the scene. Your ears and brain will enjoy the completness of the sound waves. 2) If you go with pure vacuum amp - even better. It doesn't need preamp like this, but it's costy. If your budget allows I'd recommend TU-8600 (DIY kit) which is improved version of TU-8200 (1300 $ vs 680 $). Though, TU-8200 is also super-cool (I love mine). 3) DAC - make sure you have True Hi-Fi DAC, check reviews. Hi quality DAC defines if you can get solid holographic picture of the soundstage. That's more fun and enjoyment. 4) Bluetooth - if the source of signal is your Mobile phone, ensure that your Bluetooth adapter supports high-density stream, so you don't lose quality. It should support loselessly 24-bit / 192 KHz traffic. I have BlueMe which is excellent, True HiFi Bluetooth receiver and DAC in under one hood (170 $). 5) Get High Quality sound / video files (or magnetic tape if you have one). It's a law, othewise investement in all above sonic-path nodes is not worthy. 6) Speakers - they should be at least from Hi-Fi class, 20-25W per channel for appartment is more than enough (unless you neighbors don't care, or are of the same type like you). I'd recommend some 3-way speakers for solid preception of sonic waves. If you have vintage speakers (30+ years), they likely would need some service (check that by listening and comparing to other systems). 7) How to listen - maybe it's personal, but I enjoy listening to HiFi files sitting on the sofa. The loud-speakers are located on the same height as my head and body, so I'm percepting clear non-reflected sound right from the source (so, Hi-/Mid-/Low waves reach my ears simultaneously without phase shift). I close the eyes for much better focus on music, its soundstage. 8) You can also listen from files from computer / TV, just buy external DAC (with USB, Optical inputs. You can check such vendros like Schiit or Cambridge audio - which provides solid quality of analog signal, for reasonable price (150-350 $).