SPL Phonitor x Headphone And Preamp With VOLTAiR Technology

Phonitor x - Headphone Amplifier and Preamplifier

The Phonitor x is the ultimate headphone amplifier. Thanks to VOLTAiR technology it powers headphones operated both balanced and unbalanced playfully with up to 3.7 W.
The revolutionary Phonitor Matrix delivers the most realistic playback on headphones. As almost all music was mixed for speaker playback the Phonitor Matrix lets you experience music on headphones as being played back through speakers.

The Phonitor x is not just a headphone amplifier, but also an excellent preamplifier that can also drive power amplifiers or active monitors.

Phonitor x

Phonitor is a success story. Designed and developed for the sound engineer and producer giving them a tool to be able to mix on headphones Phonitor soon found a big fan base among Hi-Fi aficionados around the world.
For us it was only logical, that we develop an optimized version for those who enjoy ‘just’ listening to music.
Dual power amp for balanced headphones

Now your headphones can be operated ‘balanced’. Phonitor x has an advanced dual power amp built-in that drives headphones balanced which twice the power of the standard 1/4" jack. This tightens the bass response and makes the overall playback even more relaxed and transparent. The front houses a 4-pin XLR connector to connect the balanced headphone. Both the standard and the 4-pin headphone outputs can be used simultaneously.

Optimized Phonitor-Matrix

The Phonitor matrix has become simpler, because the Phonitor x is purely designed for audio playback. Features like Center Level adjustment, Solo and Polarity are of use in music production and have therefore been left off in the Phonitor x. We have also reduced the amount of selectable Speaker Angles from six to four leaving off the 15° and 75° angles.

Crossfeed

The Crossfeed switch allows you to adjust the frequency-dependent crossfeed simulation of both channels by adjustments of interaural level difference – as if this characteristic would be heard from monitors when in their own room ambience. One can compare variations in crossfeed values as approximating the influence of different room sizes and characteristics on a given loudspeaker setup. This adjustment can be made in six steps ranging from “minimum” to “maximum”. Crossfeed interacts with the Angle value to simulate the width of a stereo image.

Angle

The Angle switch provides for frequency-dependent simulation of your stereo image width by adjustments of interaural time difference. This influences the moment in time at which a signal’s wave form arrives at the ear and corresponds to a particular variation in the angle of an actual loudspeaker pair. The time constants of the interaural time differences between the left and right channels occur within a range of 90 to 635 microseconds. As a starting value select the 30° position.

Preamplifier

Phonitor x is not just a headphone amplifier but also a full-fledged stereo preamplifier. There is provision for connecting up to five stereo sources – two in the analog domain offering XLR connectors for a balanced source and RCA connectors for an unbalanced source. With the optional DA converter installed three more digital stereo sources can be connected via USB, coaxial and optical connectors.

You can connect your active loudspeakers or power amplifier directly to the Phonitor x. The rear Speaker Outputs provide both balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) connections.

Remote Control

To control the Volume you can use any IR remote control. The cool part is that the Phonitor x learns your remote! Take your remote control for the CD player for instance. There are many buttons and there are at least two you don’t really need. Assign Volume Up and Volume Down to those buttons and let the Phonitor x learn them. Please check the manual for more.

AMP CTL (Amplifier Control)

When Phonitor x operates as a preamplifier together with the Performer as power amplifier both units can be wire-linked for simultaneous power on/off. Therefore both units AMP CTL sockets need to be connected with a 3.5mm mono-jack cable.

When switching to headphone listening the Performer can automatically be powered down. To engage this feature set DIP switch #6 on the bottom of the Phonitor x to ON.

Optional DAC786xs

With the optional DAC768xs, three additional digital sources can be added. PCM audio is received in S/P-DIF format both coaxially (RCA) and optically (Toslink F06).

Both PCM audio and DSD audio can be converted via USB.

The DAC automatically picks up the sampling rate and resolution of the digital playback source. No matter if a streamer, computer or CD player is connected. No further settings on the Phonitor x are necessary.

The DAC768xs

The converter chip in the optional digital-to-analog converter is the highly acclaimed AKM AK4490 Velvet Sound™ premium DAC chip, which thanks to its architecture reproduces the finest sound details.

It converts PCM audio at 32-bit resolution and a sampling rate of up to 768 kHz, which is 16 times the resolution of a CD. Direct Stream Digital is also supported up to a resolution of DSD4 or DSD256.

Unlike the DAC768, which is built into the Director Mk2 for example or available as an option for the Phonitor xe, the DAC768xs does not offer an AES/EBU digital input. The SPL DLP120 with VOLTAiR technology was also not included in the DAC768xs. Nevertheless, it offers a great performance that is unparalleled in this league.