Listen with the eyes
After unpacking the first point to note that there is a really impressive and elegant piece of art in front of you with the Fostex HP-V8. Its massive black face, the front panel made of brushed aluminum, the great feel of the controls, the free view of the tubes that send emblems of Hashimoto Electricity, whose specially designed output transformer in HP V8 do their work … all that exudes pure quality and naturally arouses appropriate expectations regarding the acoustic quality of this exceptional headset amplifier. Here the designers have done a great job.
Less is more
Upon further exploration of HP V8 that expectation is additionally fired because Fostex has focused obviously in the development solely on the perfect realization of the core competence of such a device: recycle signals optimally for different headphones. Unnecessary ballast has been omitted consequently. This philosophy is reflected accordingly also in the minimalist and simultaneously thoughtful amenities to ports and controls. On the front lets you choose between a symmetric (4-pole XLR) and an unbalanced Headphone output (6.3 mm jack), moreover, can be initially always adapted to the headset via a four-stage switch impedance and gain setting. the volume is the Encoder then conventionally set. The rear panel includes besides the obligatory power connector, only a stereo input in the typical RCA format.
Our assessment
After the HP V8 has therefore already made big impression due to its optical and haptic qualities must now figure out whether the sound performance as convincing fails. The separately supplied tubes are quickly installed in the designated sockets, then takes the HP V8 for a first test its place in the signal chain. And indeed: Fostex flagship model already know from the first stroke to inspire – no ifs and buts. During the test phase shows gradually that not least thanks to the adaptability of the impedance and the gain settings with just about any dynamic or magnetostatic headphones exceptional results can be achieved. Here is an excellent service across genres transported momentum, space, detail drawing and transparency, it is a real pleasure. The comparison with the famous Swiss Army knife for the high-end headphones range thus appears obvious and in view of this finding remains actually to draw only the hat before the performance of the development team (and then just continue to listen to music with the Fostex HP-V8 ). Give it a try!
