Headphone Review
  • Microshar uAmp107b_3
  • Micrshar uAMP107b
  • Micrshar uAMP107b_2
  • Feature Image

Microshar uAMP107B

It’s small, it’s black… it’s a simple headphone amp
The Good

It’s powerful enough to drive 8 Ohm speakers. The unit doesn’t actually turn on until you plug into both the input and output jacks. The volume knob on the front turns smooth with no static or noise. By the way, it’s made in the USA… just throwing that out there.

The Bad

The unit is encased in plastic, so don’t sit on it.

Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarEmpty Star The Verdict

Cool little thing that will maintain your portable system’s audiophile grade. At $135, it’s not going to break your bank. What it lacks in features is more than compensated for in battery life: up to 230 hours. That’s about four times as long as its nearest competitors.

Bite-size Stereo Headphone Amp

Cool little thing that will maintain your portable system’s audiophile grade. At $135, it’s not going to break your bank.

Microshar makes one sick little headphone amp.  It’s simple, inconspicuous and unobtrusive, and its function is probably most appreciated in a portable setup.   The uAMP107B and your iPod can both easily fit into your pocket or fanny pack.

The battery on the uAMP107B lasts for about 230 hours when fully charged.  This is a week and a half straight!  You could listen to the entire Zappa catalogue on one charge.  The charger looks like a computer mouse and fully charges the unit in about four hours.  There is a small blue LED that indicates the battery’s level by how bright it is.

One great feature of the uAMP107B is automatic power-up.  Similar to a guitar pedal, the unit will not power up until both input and output jacks are plugged in.

The input and output jacks are standard eighth-inch.  The input is flexible and can handle virtually any audio signal from any source (iPods, CD players, etc.).

The Microshar uAMP107B is powerful enough to run 8 Ohm speakers.  This is great and all, but be careful when you have headphones on, especially if the unit is placed in your pocket.  The loudness knob can easily be turned to a high level and accidentally send you a dangerously loud signal (dangerous for your headphones and your ears).  For units that fit into bags or pockets, I’d like to see a way to lock the volume.  At the very least, it’d be great if this unit had a gain control to limit the signal.

So how does it sound?  Nice… I like!  It’s crystal clear.  I’m pumping a digital signal from an iMod (modified iPod) into the unit, and it’s driving Sennheiser HD650 headphones.  With the loudness knob set in the middle (at 12 o’clock), the Microshar uAMP107B delivers a detailed, intelligible signal.  It doesn’t distort the phones until about the 2 o’clock position (don’t do that, by the way).

For the past few hours, I’ve been listening to the Exodus  album through the amp (particularly to the vocal treatments on Marley’s voice).  When you can hear specific production qualities of the music, you know you have quality gear.

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