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Whether you have amazing headphones or just mediocre ones, there's no question that adding the Helm Audio DB12 AAAmp inline with your music source is going to make it sound better. It's an innovative headphone amp that's THX Certified and adds +12dB to any audio you push through it. Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ auditions the Helm Audio DB12 AAAmp and finds it a terrific audiophile addition to anyone's setup.
Learn more at Helm Audio: https://www.HelmAudio.com/
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This is going to change the way you listen to your headphones
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Let's check it out. Dave Taylor here, and I'm just enjoying my Beyerdynamic T90s
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These are such sweet headphones. But you know, however good your headphones are, there's always still a little bit that
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you're missing, which is why this is such a cool device. This little gizmo is the Helm Audio DB12AA amp
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And you're like, AA amp? What the heck is an AA amp
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The answer is, it's actually an achromatic audio amplifier. This is a THX certified audio device, and it's the THX AAA amplification system that
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it's using. So cool. It is an inline headphone amp. So what that means is that you unplug wherever your headphones are plugged in, you plug them
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into the amp, you plug this into the source device, and boom, you've just made it sound
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significantly better. Now this comes with a 12 decibel boost on everything, depending on what volume you set
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it to, and a 6 decibel additional bass boost. So if you really want to get that bass, and remember you can use these with games and
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gamer headphones, so if you really want to feel those rumbles and explosions, this is
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going to blow your socks off. Honestly, it's pretty cool. But don't just listen to that
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Let's talk about the specs. In fact, let's not talk about the specs. Let me just show you the specs
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So you can just soak in all this technical audio geek goodness
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There's a lot to study here. You could even pause it and go through if you're so inclined
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Suffice to say, this little device is powered, has a whole lot of power, and it's a really
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simple idea, but boy, they did a great job with this. So let me give you a quick tour
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It's rechargeable, and when you charge it, it takes about two and a half hours on a fast charge
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You charge through the USB on this side, and it gives you six to eight hours of playback time
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So there's plenty for, honestly, for a full day for most people
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And then on the opposite side is the switch, and it's a three position switch, off, on
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and on plus bass boost. And when you put that bass boost on, there is no question you just added that feature
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It is pretty impressive. Then on the front, it is actually a classic three-button controller
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Well, mostly classic. So there's plus and minus for volume control, and then the middle is a multi-function button
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where one push gets you pause or play, two pushes gets you to the next track, and a push
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and hold will actually bring up your voice assistant. So if you have this hooked up to an iPhone, you'll be talking to Siri
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That's simple enough. It's how it works. There's not much else you need to do
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You don't need an app for this. It will work with anything that's 3.5 millimeter audio, and it'll make it sound way better
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So let's talk about the sound, because this is remarkable. And one of the things that makes this so cool is that it actually has no distortion as you
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get louder and louder. Now, a lot of amplifiers have their sweet spot, and when you turn it beyond that, you
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start to get clipping, or it gets harsh, or bright, or tinny
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This doesn't exhibit any of those, which means that I can take something like Tidal, or even
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iTunes, or a movie on Netflix, and crank it way beyond what I can actually comfortably
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listen to, and it sounds super good. Like crazy loud, like a bad theater experience, but boy, this is such a clean signature, and
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it does such a nice job of giving you clean audio. And I'm just super impressed
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The sound stage gets bigger, it's rich, you get a precision and a clarity, and I was listening
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to stuff like some old Ella Fitzgerald, and I swear I could actually hear her breathing
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and really just visualize where all of the musicians were in that room when they were
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recording that song. And I admit, I already have good headphones, but imagine if you have maybe less good headphones
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or even mediocre headphones, this is gonna make any headphones sound better
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And if you have good headphones, they're gonna become great headphones. If you have great headphones, they'll be amazing headphones
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If you have really bad headphones, well, seriously, upgrade. It's not gonna do magic
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If the drivers and the little tiny speakers inside your ears pieces can't do it, then
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this isn't gonna make it sound better. But honestly, I've tried it out with probably a dozen different headphones in the studio
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and they all just sound better. And having that volume control is pretty critical, because when you plug this in and turn it
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on, boom, it's a lot louder. So you will want to fine tune that
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Really, I gotta say, I'm a big fan. This is a pretty sweet piece of audio gear
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Now, all that's left to talk about is the price, and it is a little spendy, so let's
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be honest about this. But before we get there, I'm gonna ask, if you can subscribe to my channel, just click
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or tap on that little red subscribe button, and we're connected. Fantastic
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So, this is the Helm Audio DB12AA amp, and it's $199.99 at HelmAudio.com
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And if you're an audiophile or you just want to listen to the best possible music reproduction
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you can, this is a definite thing to check out and investigate and probably to just purchase
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I'm a fan. I'm gonna keep this with me. I'm gonna have this in my computer bag, and even if I'm sitting at home, I'm gonna use
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this to just get more out of my audio. So why wouldn't you do that
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So definitely worth checking out. And with that, I'll catch you in my next video
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