Comments Tension Labs EAP03 Earphone Audio Processor - Headphones - review

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BobaFett

11:02 AM on 28 June, 2009

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I'm confused by your comment: "Secondly, the EAP03 isn't designed to power demanding, low impedance, full-sized headphones.". I thought that high impedance phones were harder to drive? Or rather for a fixed current, voltage is directly proportional to impedance.

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morsch

11:59 AM on 28 June, 2009

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The only reason I'd buy this is to see the increasingly incredulous looks from friends and family when I explain its function and its price -- on top of headphones 10x as expensive as they have ever bought. I'll maybe -- maybe -- go for a simple headphone amp (with long battery life) at some point, but the extra features this offers seem like gimmicks, to me, anyway.

The nanny feature is sensible, but if you're sensible enough to use it, you can just as well check up on yourself and regularly ask yourself: "Do I need to listen at this volume?" I try to do this, and my volume level varies a lot along with what I'm doing and my mood. (But I'm sure it's still bad for my hearing.) I also wonder how accurate their calculations are -- for instance, at least my perception of volume varies a lot when I just reposition my IEMs. And can you really accurately calculate the db produced using those response figures? If so -- neat.

As for the microphone feature, I guess some people do need this, and Etymotic (I think) has a cable in-line adapter that does the same thing. Personally, I don't think any of the (many) IEMs I had really had such an effective seal that I flat out could not understand people talking in a normal voice when the music was paused. I can (and do...) go about most things with my IEMs in place. On the other hand, I often remove them because it's simply impolite to leave them in -- for instance, at the checkout in a shop, I remove them because it's just rude otherwise, even though I can understand the cashier just fine.

The sound expansion features, finally, seem like something the player should do, really, and I'd think most of them do have these features (equalizer etc.).

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StuAndrews

10:47 AM on 29 June, 2009

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@AndyH

You're quite right. I meant high impedance but for some reason typed low. Will get this fixed asap.

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StuAndrews

10:55 AM on 29 June, 2009

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@Morsch

Fair enough - this product isn't for you. I think it does have a niche with people who own and love high-end IEMs, and for them it's a decent choice. As I said in the body of the review, if you just want a simple, basic and very affordable amp, you can't go far wrong with the FiiO E3 and E5 (£10 to £20), but even then you're better off splashing out on the headphones first, and the amplification second.

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Rickysio

12:21 PM on 25 July, 2009

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@morsch

GoVibe Martini for you, then. 400hrs of battery life purportedly and small and relatively cheap, but much more of an investment than a FiiO.

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fixafix

5:43 PM on 31 July, 2009

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I bought this product and was so disappointed by the amount of hiss I was experiencing with my custom IEMs (ACS T2) that I returned it for a refund. What with shipping and exchange rate differences, it turned out to be an expensive trial. :-(

Tension Labs' Steve Iseberg seemed surprised that I should be able to hear the hiss as he later tested the unit with his most sensitive headphones. I, however, found the hiss present at all gain settings and regardless of whether plugged into my source (ipod on or off) or not. (And obviously with the ambiance mic off!).

Steve promised to let me know the results once he had run it through his production test system which was being upgraded so was unavailable. That was April and I still haven't heard back from him :-(

I have been keeping an eye on the Tension labs site in case a better product emerged but this doesn't seem to have happened yet. My father has some hearing loss in one ear and I was hoping to find a product that would have at the very least: a balance control, and ideally a parametric EQ which could be configured differently in each channel.

In response to Morsch's comment about still hearing what people say with the IEMs in place, I find the soft silicone used to make the ACS T2s make them particularly effective at blocking out external sounds so I really have to remove them to hear someone talking to me - the EAP 03 ambiance mic would have been helpful if the sound quality issue hadn't forced me to return it.

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The EAP03 is targeted at a niche market, and so it's not the most versatile of headphone amps, but if you want optimal sound from your IEMs and access to a range of useful features, then the Tension Labs unit is worth the sizable outlay.

Overall

8/10

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Reviewed by Stuart Andrews

28 June 2009

Price as reviewed

£159.00

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