When In Manila and seeking for an extremely small amplifier that doesn’t make your portable set-up feel bulky at all, one would presume that the FiiO E6 would be the best choice to make due to the form factor right? Well I guess I found something much more smaller and yet packs quite more punch than the widely acclaimed FiiO E6, the GoVibe Mini Box portable headphone amplifier.
Just look at how small it is!
Build/Packaging: The packaging is very simple with just a simple small box, even smaller than the FiiO E6 packaging, which contains the GoVibe Mini Box amplifier, an interconnect cable to pair the GoVibe Mini Box to your player and also the USB charger.
Aesthetically better than the E6 as well.
Now heading to the build of the GoVibe Mini Box, the size and form factor is almost exactly the same as a standard cigarette lighter. Talking about similarity to a cigarette, the build quality of the GoVibe Mini Box isn’t like the FiiO E6 that is all plastic and may seem quite a bit fragile. The GoVibe Mini Box is made entirely of steel. I am lucky enough to have received the new revision with this slimmer form factor and probably a slight upgrade with performance than the old revision of the GoVibe Mini Box as well. This is just so slim and yet sturdy, I can’t see any problems dangling this around.
Sound Quality: Now, with how small it is, one might quite infer that they would pack less power and sonic capabilities than bigger amplifiers. Well, I attest the opposite. The sound quality of the GoVibe Mini Box for me is much much much more preferable over the FiiO E6. Yes, the FiiO E6 may have 3 different EQ settings and the GoVibe Mini Box may not have any volume controls or any controls at all which hinders it from being used through line-outs. No controls at all even to the point that the on and off switch is just triggered by plugging-in an output. But they have the smoothness and tight bass control that would trump over the FiiO E6 and will be more widely preferable to people over the iBasso D-Zero which is around twice the price of the GoVibe Mini Box. The overall sound quality of the GoVibe Mini Box shows an extension on the highs, an extension with the soundstage, a slight increased treble sparkle, tighter bass with bass oriented headphones and IEMs while increasing bass punch on less bass oriented headphones and IEMs. I also noticed how the whole range has become so smooth. I used quite a number of IEMs and headphones with the GoVibe Mini Box while testing them with my iPhone, hisoundaudio RoCoo P and my laptop. Upon using the Superlux HD631 directly on my laptop while playing lossless music, there were evident distortions going through and upon putting the GoVibe Mini Box into the mix, the smoothness of the GoVibe Mini Box has completely removed any distortion. I can see the GoVibe Mini Box as a very forgiving amplifier, being opposite of transparent and yet bringing out good details. For me, this is a much more value to purchase overall against the FiiO E6 and iBasso D-Zero. They may have to be used out of the headphone jack, but the improvements on the sound quality are better than the FiiO E6 and iBasso D-Zero through line-out. Let’s face it, the iBasso D-Zero has a different sound signature and has a DAC, but overall sound qualites of the GoVibe Mini Box will trump the D-Zero in many ways. First off, the D-Zero can be very fatiguing and thin sounding even through the DAC, making listening limited to how long you can tolerate the spiking treble. Plus the fact that not all music will favor the sound signature of the D-Zero. Unlike the GoVibe Mini Box which has an overall sound that would fit laid back and punchy. Oh and not to forget, it has power much bigger than its size and that amazing 25hour battery life.
The GoVibe Mini Box retails for around P2,500 and can be purchased through Jaben Singapore’s store or through their website: www.Jaben.net
GoVibe Mini Box portable headphone amplifier: smallest amplifier I’ve ever seen!
