Focusrite VRM Box Headphone Ampliifer DAC Review

The Focusrite VRM Box Headphone Amplifier DAC ($99.00 USD) is the sort of headphone amplifier you would wish for your $1000 PC computer. We purchased it from Tom Lee Music, and it is the one product we have ever - ever returned.

It's aesthetics and lines match the cheap black plastic and rounded grey corners of our quad-processor Hewlett Packard Pavillion PC ($1000.00), and it's volume control matches that of an inexpensive jog-shuttle dial.

In the Pro Audio world, you will find many AD/DA devices over-priced, and under-spec'd, such as the RME BabyFace ($999.00 CDN) Silver Desktop USB Audio Interface, but producers like consistency.

It's the same in the speaker world. In every studio, you will see not only the Yamaha NS-10M (not NS-1000, a decent sounding monitor), but also the Auratone 5C ($399.00 USD).

You will find some exceptions, such as the Univerial Audio Apollo Twin Solo ($999.00 USD).

The Focusrite VRM Box attempts (we dare should say attempts) to model home loudspeakers. You'll recognize most of these.


You can recognize the utter cheesiness of the product from the interface. The same is used in hi fi and home theater. Our Sony TA-N2000ES Digital Processor Pre-amplifier ($2000.00 CDN) was the first product that illustrated to us the utter stupidity of digitally modelling analogue environments. The digital parametric EQ was all-right, as was the ability to change the input-level, pre A-D conversion, and digitally, pre D-A (no clipping) conversion.

The feature to change seat position, seat by seat, front to back, left to right, in a concert hall, or reproduce the sound of a jazz club was "fun" but utterly stupid from any audio perspective - it could do none of this. It could not reproduce any acoustic, other than which was utterly recorded - such is the nature of stereo reproduction.

Now the Lexicon of the time, the Lexicon 480, was seriously nice. Still, it was only of use if you were Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter that is playing Weather Report. That is, Jazz Fusion, in the studio. Were you Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, playing say, The Chan Center, then you would be best to rely on the natural acoustic.

THD+N: -100dB
Signal to Noise Ratio: > 105dB
Crosstalk: > 100dB



The specs are all-right.

JP 2016/06/25
www.hifiart.ca