get an integrated for 1000 bucks, use it via speaker taps and youre done. a proper speaker amp will always beat a headphone amp if you`re not willing to spend 10k or more....

@LeMoviedave - This DAC ends up being very similar to the DA10 in performance. Sweet midrange, great bass extension, flawless treble, wide open staging. It would be very difficult to pick one or the other, as far as the DAC part goes. V590 has a drastically better headphone section, as it should considering the design and price.

@leeperry - Violectric has a history of using the 5532/5534 in their amps. It's always in a supporting role, typically impedance matching, and always run at either unity gain or very low gain (2x is common) where more expensive opamps would A) show no benefit, or B) likely oscillate. As far as I recall, they always make them socketed anyway, in case users want to mess with rolling. Many of us have over the years, and I don't recall anyone claiming to hear benefits, but the option is there if one takes care in terms of stability.

@AxelCloris - haha sorry about that! I also have fond memories of the old V181, great little amp!

@typalder - that's certainly an option when using HE-6 or Susvara or even most Audeze models, the result can be great with the right amp. But I disagree with your general statement. A good headphone amp is just a more specialized version of a speaker amp, designed to work with a broader range of impedance loads. Speaker amps are not designed with the power and noise requirements of a headphone in mind, and the fact that it sometimes does work (and work well!) is more of the exception than the rule imho.

This really sounds like a great piece of gear, but I cant believe you put the DA10 DAC up that high. I think I will have to put the DA10 up against my Bifrost 2 and see who wins.

Dunno, I really like the DA10, I would choose it any day over Bifrost 2 (which I do think is a great DAC for the price).

That would make the DA10 an almost absurd value!

@project86: yes, maybe you are right. i have the abyss1226 which need a lot of power. forgot to mention, sorry.

Abyss 1266 Phi TC sensivity and power requirements pale compared to the 4 screw HE-6 or Susvara. My HE-6 has around 80db and is no problem for the V590 Pro.

I used to have a V100 and it drove the HE-6 without breaking a sweat.

For those interested, an interview with Fried Reim, the owner and developer of Violectric, Niimbus.

Very interesting, many technical backgrounds

it`s not about "not having a problem" driving power hungry headphones. it`s about HOW they are driven. what did you expect? that there isn`t any sound coming out of the violectric? i tried a lot of headphone amps, and a 1000 bucks speaker amplifier was always better (using the speaker taps).

Nearly perfect, except for the lack of Adjustable HPA Gain easily accessible from the front panel. An essential feature, in my view...

@rocksteady65 Once you set the pre-gain to correspond with your source and intended use, the huge range of volume from silent to full scale should be enough in most cases. I suppose if one often switches between Susvara and some uber-sensitive IEMs, it might cause issues, but that's a pretty extreme case. But you're right - front panel would be even better.

Beautiful amp

@project86 So, your back is up against the wall. You have a Morpheus as a DAC and the Thekk for your headphones. Your amp can either be the V590 or the SparkoS Aries. Which do you choose?

Hmmm tough question. In that case I think I might gravitate towards the V590 (or V550, since we aren't using the DAC part). Only because Thekk is slightly more light weight/ethereal sounding, and would thus benefit from the slightly thicker Violectric tonality. But it's a really tough call and Aries would also do the job immensely well.

Thanks for this review. I've bought a Pass Labs HPA-1 and returned the next day because of its buzz I could not get rid of. Thinking about testing this mighty V590 or V550, but it's still hard to put my hands on the gear (not yet available for testing). Do you plan to write a review for V550?

Not likely, since the V550 is just the V590 minus the DAC portion. So I feel like that's pretty much been covered already.

This vs Upcoming Mytek Manhattan All in one. Will Mytek Manhatten be better than Violectric V590 in both DAC and AMP categories being charged $2000 more.

Personally I am not such a huge fan of the Mytek stuff. The Manhattan II was improved over the original model, but still pretty far behind the V590 imho. Obviously I can't comment in the upcoming model though, and I do hope they keep getting better and better.