GoVibe V6 announced! - Page 10

I'm not sure if I should order Low gain or Regular gain.
Will be using it with the V-moda Vibes most of the time. Though I do have a HD600 if that makes any difference.

I have two V5's, one in low-gain and one in standard-gain. Assuming my experience there carries over to the V6 (and it should), here's what I can tell you.

There's a lot of overlap in their ranges. Either one should work, giving you adequate volume (and control of volume) at "normal" listening volumes. The difference lies at the extremes.

With the low-gain amp I can listen to an HD580 at any volume I'd care to, and I get finer control of volume when listening to an IEM at ultra-low levels (say, if I'm wearing an ER-6 while taking a nap). I'd expect the experience with HD600 and Vibes to parallel that pretty well.

With the standard-gain amp it's harder for me to get the volume "just right" when I want to listen ultra-softly (and that's why I bought the low-gain amp). But if I were listening on the HD580 to something with a low recording level - for example classical with huge dynamic changes between the pianissimo and fortissimo sections - then I'd need the standard-gain amp if I wanted to bring the softest parts up to a more audible volume.

I've found for my purposes that the low-gain amp serves all my needs well enough that I don't actually use the standard-gain amp these days, though I keep it around just in case. But if you listen to softly-recorded material on the HD600 or if you sometimes want to crank it extra loud, the standard-gain amp will suit you better. But another way to look at it would be that the standard-gain amp is suitable for pretty much anybody who doesn't have really-really soft listening, or very-sensitive IEMs on their agenda.

Very very cool!!!!

Thanks for the info, episiarch.

So both will work fine, the low gain one will just give me more control of the volume than the regular gain one. But both should sound the same... right...

this is a very good question indeed.

I just ordered mine about an hour ago, can't wait :P

I just woke up to find mine on my doorstep. (No, I wasn't sleeping on the doorstep, it's a bit too cold, even for me.)

I'll let eveyone know how it sounds soon. I don't have a camera, so I can't do the whole 'opening box' thing.

I'd like to know, I finally got around to rolling the AD8397/AD825 in my V5S and the combo sure sounds like a winner. Went up a couple levels in the bass impact department, plus has smoother treble than the 6172/6171s. I'd really like to hear a comparison between the V6 and V5 with the same opamps.

Nine'
I just opened mine to verify that I have the LM 6172/6171, and those indeed are the op-amps used in my low gain Go-Vibe V5.
I will compare it with my upcoming V6 once I will get it
I can't wait...

P.S. thanks for the little comparison with the AD 8397/AD825, I look forward to it even more now

lol, where did you get the impression that I have received my unit ?

I'm sorry CheapTrick, but I don't have the V6 yet..

As a leading edge indicator of what the V6 will sound like:

If any are interested in a comparison of the Go-Vibe V5 (LM6172/1) with the limited edition Go-Vibe V5 (AD8397/AD825) - with the opamps surface-mounted in both, there's this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...0&postcount=83

Wow, all the things I wish I could say but couldn't for lack of eloquence. I thought the original V5 was a great value, but the AD8397/AD825 combo is really amazing. It is a cut above all the other combos I've tried...and I tried 9 opamps.

LM6172
OPA2134
OPA2107
OPA2277
AD8066
AD8397
LM6171
AD825
OPA227

The clear winner of the 18 was the AD8397/AD825, and the only other combos I preferred to the LM6172/LM6171 was having the LM4562/LM6171 or OPA2107/AD825 or LM6171.

If the V6 manages to do more with the same opamps, I may make my second amp purchase in 2 weeks.

It certainly is helpful feedback to have another listener corroborate those descriptions of what I heard. It'll be especially interesting when we start getting actual V6 impressions and reviews. Based on what we've heard from the Go-Vibe V5 with AD8397/AD825 installed, I'm anticipating that there will be quite a few very happy Go-Vibe V6 owners.

I too ordered the Go-Vibe 6 today. Norm seems like a decent guy. Since I am a Newbie it is time to start learning about this hobby. I will try them w the ER-6 that I purchased years ago. Maybe a Wes UM-X in the future. They will accompany my iRiver H140.

vf

I want to say that the switch of opamps in the V6 to the surface-mounted AD8620/10 is pretty exciting to me. My first 3-channel Go-Vibe was a very limited edition Headsave 3-Channel Classic. I had very good listening experiences with socketted AD8620/10 installed in it. Also, the reports of folks who'd built PINTs with these opamps had very good things to say about their sound. So, I've put in an order for one of these new V6's with these opamps surface mounted in it. I'm expecting it to be a real winner.

One thing that I CAN say about the V6 is that: I've got a V5 with surface-mounted AD8397/AD825 AND a V6 with the same opamps. As much as I enjoy the V5 with those opamps, the V6 shows a significantly increased effective dynamic range - which shows itself the most in how fully and well formed very low volume sonic events and background subtleties are portrayed. Something about the new case, or the layout of the new PCB traces has given the V6 yet another very nice step toward the audio satisfaction provided by amps costing 4-5X the price. Now, I'm waiting to hear how the new infrastructure of the V6 will provide a platform upon which to leverage the capabilities of these latest, yet old, familiar, and very capable opamps: the AD8620/10. These are good times for headphone audio.