Music Interface Technologies (MIT) has a new headphone amplifier, called the Vero. Well, the Vero HC/AB-29, but Vero rolls a bit smoother. Retail price is going at or around $2,000, but there will be an introductory Early Adopter rate courtesy of Indiegogo (launch forthcoming).
The Vero will join the Vero headphone cable, another Indiegogo campaign that closed last month. If you’re looking for a trend, the intersection of “high-end audio” and “crowd-funding” is where you’ll find it.
Designed by Aaron Reiff, the Chief Engineer from Skywalker Sound, the amplifier is a “high-current, battery-powered, Class A/B” unit that showcases a (miniaturized) version of MIT’s trademarked “Multipole” filtering technology. The amp is also good for 3 watts of power, and has XLR, RCA inputs, a 1/4″ phono output, and mini-jack input/outputs.
I spent some time with it, files coming off an Astell&Kern player, playing into a pair of Audeze LCD XC. The sound was tonally full and expansive, with excellent bass response and dynamics. When I added the new Vero cable, I heard an audible improvement, and an almost dramatic one. The system, with the new cable, was at once quieter and more lean, tonally. Given how full the headphones are, generally, this was more of a “balancing” than a “scooping out”, and the combined system was extremely impressive.
@Andy Smith – The product that we showed at RMAF was a prototype that we built to demo at the show. The finished design will be much more appealing aesthetically! 🙂
Do hope that the aesthetics improve before release, as this looks very hobbyist for $2,000. The faceplate is especially unappealing.
Yes, this is only a “Hobby Box” for the purpose of demonstrating the circuitry, which was well reviewed.Thanks for the comment Andy!