V90-BHA - Overview
Musical Fidelity is the first headphone maker to bring the sound quality benefits of balanced audio to the consumer headphone market. With the launch of the V90-BHA headphone amplifier and its partner MF-200B headphones, balanced audio technology is no longer only for esoteric products.
The benefits of balanced connection have long been known in the pro-audio industry, where great efforts are made to minimise noise and interference in the audio chain, particularly with low-level signals.
By using balanced connections, rather than single-ended audio, RF interference on the audio signal is effectively cancelled out, resulting in an exceptionally low noise level and a far more accurate sound.
The V90-BHA offers high input impedance and low output impedance, to allow connection to most sources and the ability to easily drive the vast majority of headphones (from 10 ohms to 600 ohms).
Distortion is very low, typically less than 0.005% across the audio band. The V90-BHA also delivers an outstanding signal-to-noise ratio of better than 109 dB (‘A’ weighted). The frequency response is 20 Hz to 80 kHz (-1dB).
Inputs include both balanced XLR and single-ended RCA, while outputs include a dedicated four pin Mini XLR balanced connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack output, making the V90-BHA a very versatile headphone amplifier.
The V90-BHA’s combination of very low distortion, extremely low noise, flat frequency response and low output impedance gives a smooth, effortless sound quality normally reserved for far more expensive products. The V90-BHA is also designed to effectively run as a dual mono amplifier when in balanced mode, which minimises cross-channel interference and maximises stereo separation.
The V90-BHA features some of Musical Fidelity’s finest electronics, in a tiny package that looks great, with a front panel and cover of custom-made extrusions, finished in fine-texture moonstone.
V90-BHA In Brief
- Outstanding value, fully-balanced headphone amplifier
- Balanced and single-ended inputs (automatically converts single to balanced)
- Great technical performance
- Wide bandwidth: 10Hz-35kHz at +0, -3dB
- Very low noise
- Very low distortion: < 0.005%, 20Hz to 20kHz
- Outstanding channel separation
- Powerful output into 32 ohms
- Beautiful, considered build quality