@vingard
I have had the Job INTegrated for 3 years. During this period, I have heard many other systems out there - at friends’ places; HiFi shows; dealer shops etc. Singapore is a really small country and a visit to any ’hifi location’ typically takes less than an hour of travelling, so everything that you want to listen to, you sort of can.
In these 3 years, I have never been tempted to replace the Job INTegrated with anything else, despite all that I’ve heard. For me, the INT sounds great and provides excellent value for what it costs, and I know that I have to spend considerably more to achieve the performance it delivered, if I decided to ’upgrade’.
The INT is not without flaw, but it fits splendidly in my system. Despite it not being the most resolving, dynamic or refined sounding dac/amp, it had a great tonality and musicality which I find lacking in plenty of ’high-end’ systems. They just go loud and attack you with thunderous bass and punchy dynamics - not what I’m after.
However, with time, my itchy fingers made me change some things in my system, which resulted in a snowball effect - everything suddenly became a bottleneck, and the Job INT too, couldn’t match up to the ’upgrades’ I brought in. In came Alvin, who provided me an opportunity to try the Kinki dac. Needless to say, I was impressed by it, and decided to get both the Kinki dac and amp.
So with this back story out of the way, let me try to describe the sonic differences. This is a comparison between the Job INT and the Kinki dac/amp combo. RCA connection.
The Kinki combo has a very, very low noise floor. You have to strain to hear the electronic hiss with your ears beside the tweeter. The INT however, is rather noisy, and you can start to hear hiss from the speakers about 2’-3’ away.
The Kinki combo is also way more detailed and dynamic than the INT. Bass growls and punches you hard. The INT in comparison, had a rounder bass which is definitely not as tight or defined. Bass lines aren’t particularly clear with the INT, when compared to the Kinki combo.
The Kinki combo also has a wider soundstage and depth. You get a better sense of air around each performer, and everything has its place in the soundstage. The Kinki also doesn’t lose its composure when it goes loud. There is no perceived distortion even at max volume. The INT however, though it may go louder, starts to lose composure. At loud volumes, it kinda struggles and you’ll start to feel that all you’re listening to is a wall of noise without much depth.
Before getting the Kinki combo, I was worried that it would sound too sterile and clinical but it proved otherwise. I still prefer the INT’s tonality as there’s more warmth in the mids, which makes it sweeter and more enjoyable, especially with female vocals. However, I’m not losing sleep over this as the Kinki combo is really outperforming what I thought possible in its price bracket. I’m also only using the stock power cord that came together for the dac, as I didn’t have a spare ’audiophile grade’ cord lying around for this additional component. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but to me, power cords do make a difference in the sound, and I think the Kinki combo can only get better as I start to tune it to my liking after the dac and amp are properly burnt in.
I have had the Job INTegrated for 3 years. During this period, I have heard many other systems out there - at friends’ places; HiFi shows; dealer shops etc. Singapore is a really small country and a visit to any ’hifi location’ typically takes less than an hour of travelling, so everything that you want to listen to, you sort of can.
In these 3 years, I have never been tempted to replace the Job INTegrated with anything else, despite all that I’ve heard. For me, the INT sounds great and provides excellent value for what it costs, and I know that I have to spend considerably more to achieve the performance it delivered, if I decided to ’upgrade’.
The INT is not without flaw, but it fits splendidly in my system. Despite it not being the most resolving, dynamic or refined sounding dac/amp, it had a great tonality and musicality which I find lacking in plenty of ’high-end’ systems. They just go loud and attack you with thunderous bass and punchy dynamics - not what I’m after.
However, with time, my itchy fingers made me change some things in my system, which resulted in a snowball effect - everything suddenly became a bottleneck, and the Job INT too, couldn’t match up to the ’upgrades’ I brought in. In came Alvin, who provided me an opportunity to try the Kinki dac. Needless to say, I was impressed by it, and decided to get both the Kinki dac and amp.
So with this back story out of the way, let me try to describe the sonic differences. This is a comparison between the Job INT and the Kinki dac/amp combo. RCA connection.
The Kinki combo has a very, very low noise floor. You have to strain to hear the electronic hiss with your ears beside the tweeter. The INT however, is rather noisy, and you can start to hear hiss from the speakers about 2’-3’ away.
The Kinki combo is also way more detailed and dynamic than the INT. Bass growls and punches you hard. The INT in comparison, had a rounder bass which is definitely not as tight or defined. Bass lines aren’t particularly clear with the INT, when compared to the Kinki combo.
The Kinki combo also has a wider soundstage and depth. You get a better sense of air around each performer, and everything has its place in the soundstage. The Kinki also doesn’t lose its composure when it goes loud. There is no perceived distortion even at max volume. The INT however, though it may go louder, starts to lose composure. At loud volumes, it kinda struggles and you’ll start to feel that all you’re listening to is a wall of noise without much depth.
Before getting the Kinki combo, I was worried that it would sound too sterile and clinical but it proved otherwise. I still prefer the INT’s tonality as there’s more warmth in the mids, which makes it sweeter and more enjoyable, especially with female vocals. However, I’m not losing sleep over this as the Kinki combo is really outperforming what I thought possible in its price bracket. I’m also only using the stock power cord that came together for the dac, as I didn’t have a spare ’audiophile grade’ cord lying around for this additional component. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but to me, power cords do make a difference in the sound, and I think the Kinki combo can only get better as I start to tune it to my liking after the dac and amp are properly burnt in.
