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Author Topic: Schiit Vali Impressions Index  (Read 10223 times)

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xnor

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2013, 12:36:00 AM »
Quote from: purrin on December 05, 2013, 05:04:10 PM
A little bit of expectation bias on your part huh? (We all know your hatred of tubes is not based on science.)
Quoted for the LOLs. You all know what exactly? WTF  :)p13


Quote from: ultrabike on December 05, 2013, 09:13:57 AM
*snip*
Thanks for the summaries.


My previous post was *obviously* (maybe not, duh) quite a bit of an exaggeration.
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thegunner100

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2013, 12:37:48 AM »
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Marvey

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2013, 12:57:18 AM »
Yeah - just read it. Great write-up and I gave you a thumbs up on it!  headbang
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BournePerfect

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2013, 01:15:38 AM »
Quote from: thegunner100 on December 06, 2013, 12:37:48 AM
My impressions posted here:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685162/new-vali-schiit-amp/1815#post_10040009

I actually read that and enjoyed it too. One of the more down to earth reviews that came across as very honest with your experiences, without trying to act like you've heard everything else out there, like other HF reviews. Thanks for that.

-Daniel
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thegunner100

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2013, 02:01:26 AM »
Quote from: purrin on December 06, 2013, 12:57:18 AM
Yeah - just read it. Great write-up and I gave you a thumbs up on it!  headbang

Quote from: BournePerfect on December 06, 2013, 01:15:38 AM
I actually read that and enjoyed it too. One of the more down to earth reviews that came across as very honest with your experiences, without trying to act like you've heard everything else out there, like other HF reviews. Thanks for that.

-Daniel

Thanks you two!  :)p1
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tdockweiler

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2013, 03:01:49 AM »
Ultrabike,

I love the Vali with the Q701/K400, but your summary of what I thought was pretty funny. I really wish I could get it working well with my HD-650/DJ100. Not sure what was going on there.

O2 makes a great bedroom amp, but it's not perfect. That's what I bought the Vali for.

I'm glad that the person who got my Vali seems to like it. I'm down to 5 headphones and only 2 of them worked well with the Vali so it was not worth keeping.

I actually left a positive review of it! One less gold star than the Magni.

Gunner100 has left the best impressions though so far that i've read.
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TMRaven

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #16 on: December 08, 2013, 04:37:58 AM »
Put that money into a bifrost ubaaaar.
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Anaxilus

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #17 on: December 08, 2013, 05:40:31 AM »
Stop buying 5-10 pieces of mid low to lower-fi gear.  Sell all but one or two pieces and start getting real reference gear so at least you can have an authoritative frame of reference.  It's also a waste of time, money and effort if you think about it.  Obviously your O2 and other gear didn't make a persuasive argument to be the be all end all of amps, so maybe time to raise the bar.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2013, 05:47:35 AM by purrin »
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tdockweiler

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #18 on: December 08, 2013, 06:32:05 AM »
(sorry, sort of wall-o-text incoming)
That's some good advice and i'll keep it in mind. To be honest, i'm not as serious about audio as most of you and only listen for a couple hours a day. My business took a massive nose dive in the last year and i'm sort of in recovery mode. No reference gear for me for a long time. I'm down to the modded Q701, 2x K400, HD-598, DJ100 and HD-650.

The reason I bought so much low-fi gear lately is that I was trying to come up with a perfect bedroom setup. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. It wasn't to replace my main setup. If I don't like something I usually sell it immediately.

I'm really happy with my main setup. In 4 years I've loved listening to every second of it. It's the Headroom Micro Amp + Astrodyne. People can bad-mouth my crap gear all they want, but to me it's transparent and better sounding than my O2. I've never had a headphone sound wonky from it but I don't use orthos or IEMs. I originally went from the Asgard 1 to what I have now. It's taken me awhile to really figure out my main amp. It sounds basically like what I plug into it and sorry to have to say that. I complained about it's crappy closed in soundstage and muffled sound and it was my HRT MSII. Stupid me.

The Vali + Q701 sounded 95% identical to how it does on my Micro Amp. Weird right? Q701 + O2 is worse than both.

Basically my self imposed limit is $400 per piece. For how little I listen this is kind of overkill to begin with. These days I feel guilty even buying a $250 tablet since I have so many other priorities right now.

The last main amp I tried was the Asgard 2 but that was a total fail for me. I'm trying out the iFI iCAN this monday (loaner) and maybe i'll like that. I'd like to top MY favorite and do it under $400 but I have no luck. My HD-650 and Q701 is the best i've ever heard it.

My current amp does sound sort of like an O2 but with all the rough edges taken off. A little smoother to me but it's definitely not a warm sounding amp. I really feel it doesn't add anything.

Bifrost is on my radar but a bit out of my price range unless I buy used. I love the Modi but did upgrade that. I find the Micro DAC very very revealing but sort of lean sounding. Definitely more revealing than ODAC/Modi. I think it was worth the price.

Basically I want the best somewhat transparent "all-rounder" amp I can find under $400. So far I haven't found anything better. UHA-6S was on my radar for awhile and I bet I'd like that.

Supposedly the iCAN measures well, but maybe i'll hate it.



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ultrabike

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Re: Schiit Vali Impressions Index
« Reply #19 on: December 08, 2013, 06:38:49 AM »
 :)p13 Well, regarding your previous post... Three stars doesn't exactly say "not shit" in the minds of many people. I think your O2 review was a 5 star one... But not everyone has the same priorities, and points of reference.

At the time I heard the Vali, I could only evaluate it with humble cans like my HD558, an SR60 and my KSC-75s, vs a Focusrite 2i2.

The Vali didn't transform my HD558s into an Orpheus rig, or into airline free-buds. But they did sound different relative to what I was used to. The bass felt more detailed and with more extension. It also seemed to bring a slight amount of aggressiveness to the cans. Much more engaging. I liked the HD558 + Vali synergy. And IMO it also measured well.

I dunno about the O2. I will try it eventually. It's obviously not everyone's cup tea though. Haven't heard the Headroom Micro Dac (discontinued :'() & Amp either, but I'm really curious about that one actually.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2013, 06:46:44 AM by ultrabike »
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