[eliwankenobi]

I second. With the latest firmware volume control is on the source, not the GO and has never been an issue for me as well. The GO IEM is a great deal for DAC only use or IEM (duh)

 

[greenkiwi]

I'd be ordering the Geek Out V2.  Doesn't seem like it's worth getting the V1 now that the 2 is out.

 

[mandrake50]

Unless he only wants to spend $200... which is what he said.
 
My Infinity has been doing fine as well. No problems. I have about 100 hours on it and it is sounding very nice. I also use its balanced outs into an H10. Quite a nice combination with the 560s.
 
BTW, I got the HE 560 / Pulse bundle... I got upsold into upgrading it all the way  to X Infinity... I got it a couple of weeks ago in the V1 enclosure.
I think I am glad I did the upgrades, though I have nothing in a model without all the bells and whistles to compare to... I am enjoying the sound though!

 

[adrian0115]

 
If the message is truly anonymous and there's no data whatsoever except heresy to back up the claim, the person sending the messages is a POS. I an many others have had zero issues with their Pulses. If you can't verify the source and can't find anything than a couple of odd ball issues, then you'll be pretty safe using a Pulse if you choose to do so.

+1
 
Fully agree with Jeff on this one.  If the person posting about problems have experienced issues, there's no need to send anonymously.  Whether it rubs people the wrong way or right way, I've posted what I believe to be factual/objective based comments.    

 

[Madeupword]

Likewise no issue with Pulse X Infinity. In fact I'm letting go of 2 GeekOuts over at the Classified, http://www.head-fi.org/t/776540/lh-labs-geekout-450-and-geekout-1000

 

[hemtmaker]

Same here. My infinity has been working flawlessly since day one and is pairly rather nicely with Ether in balanced =)

 

[FlySweep]

I'm an X Infinity backer from October 2013.. so I suppose I would've got an 'early' unit.. but I haven't had a single issue with my LPS & X Infinity.

 

[leomitch]

Nor have I! My Infinity is a remarkable piece of electroics that provides me with the most natural and crystal clear music and it is great for listening and watching movies and videos. My Infinity is coupled with the new Nighthawk  Headphones...what a golden pairing!!
 
Leo

 

[kenman345]

My Unit is a dream. Very happy owner right here :-D

 

[Lord Raven]

Thanks Kenman345, I am a forgetful person and might kill my HPs, I just realized that I will not use the headphone amplifier of this Geek stuff, this might save me from possible damage. I have more questions as you seem to be a great Geek ambassador. Honestly speaking, the LH Labs website is confusing, I don't get it, some stuff is sold out, they say they have a huge facility with 42 employees and they don't have a stock. I want to know about the unit Geek Pulse Fi, which I found on eBay and might want to buy it but there is no link to its specs. Might be a discontinued unit. How do you rate this unit with LPS? Thanks once again, 200 is just a starting point. Initially, when I started hunting for a DAC, so many people in my circle suggested me to buy Oppo 105D. And I wanted to spend that 1299$ cause it came with so many added features. I am looking for something like that, that one unit which will make me fall in love with music again. Then, I found out about this Geeky stuff and people reviewed Geeks to be better than Oppo, that where I dropped Oppo from the hunt. There always is something better out there, but I want the best, in terms of value and quality.
 
A little background into my music history, I have always listened to Bur Brown 24/192 DAC in my car audio setup. I know what a quality DAC feels like, but I am new to tube amplification, right now I am feeding my tube amplifier from a mobile phone and laptop. I am sure if I upgrade the DAC, it will give me two fold SQ. Don't just consider Geek, if you have anything else in mind, do let me know. I am not willing to get the tiny USB DACs, they seem so small and useless. I see you are quite content with Geek, what did you upgrade from? I found my tube amp after a long research, initially I wanted to build one, then I learnt all about tubes and power supplies and chokes. I want to put the same amount of research in the DAC but the thing is, there are thousands of options and I don't know what to get. I cannot audition anything from where I belong, it is going to be a hit and trial for me. I am not even sure if I should get Sabre or Wolfson. Damn it!
 
DACs that I dropped from my hunt are:
 
Oppo 105/105D
(Even wanted to buy a used but they're expensive and in the same price I can get something new that is even better than them)
Audio GD
(People suggested they have background noise, everyone is upgrading from their stuff, so I thought let's not buy a Chinese unit)
HRT
(Another Chinese stuff)
HiFiMeDIY
(Chinese stuff)
 
So now you know what I don't want anymore, and if something is out of my budget I always look for a used unit. That too can be considered. 
 
 
Quote:

It's a shame one person who has been posting on the thread and on the LH Labs site about a bum unit spraying hate. A lot of the QC issues really are from the early production runs and they fixed that before most of those went out the door. The newer units are less and less prone to this and if you read the IGG updates or Larrys blog entries you will find that the numbers for faulty units is actually low it's just that the consumers of these units are all vocal because they're not just an everyday consumer that finds a random item on the Internet to purchase but have been anticipating their unit for many months or years in a lot of cases.

Please whatever you do just do your research, $200 for a DAC is not going to get you far for a LH Labs product anyways, but that does not mean they are not good values at the right price.

EDIT: eliwankenobi is correct actually, I forgot about that part. I am so used to unplugging things.

 
Is this applicable to all Geek stuff? Or just the GeekOut tiny USB stuff? Thanks for your suggestion and clarification bro, I don't think I will get a USB DAC, I might raise my budget but will not get a USB DAC. This is some kind of OCD issue haha I work from home and I can accommodate a nice DAC at my side table, USB DACs are for office going guys
 
 

Yes, they on their instructions to not plug in your headphones until the unit is turned ON. Otherwise you may run the risk of damaging the headphones. This is because of a design choice where they don't use a buffer or something.... All that is true.

If your budget is around $200. I would consider a GeekOut! They right around that price. And the first generation which are still great sounding, can be had for less. The GeekOut IEM 100, is at around $180 and it would be perfect as DAC only or for use with sensitive headphones like IEMs.

 
 
Bro, from anonymous I meant that I don't want to mention that person out here. Nobody would have said a thing about this issue if that guy had not PMed me. I still respect him. I am sure the issue might be fixed in the newed models, Geek sounds like a nice company that puts in a lot of research into their stuff. And I kind of like their name, LH Labs, sound good to me. And the Geeky stuff. LOL
 

 
If the message is truly anonymous and there's no data whatsoever except heresy to back up the claim, the person sending the messages is a POS. I an many others have had zero issues with their Pulses. If you can't verify the source and can't find anything than a couple of odd ball issues, then you'll be pretty safe using a Pulse if you choose to do so.
 

 
Bro, as I mentioned earlier, I can house a nice DAC at home. USB DACs are for office going people. If it has volume issue, I might break it if it did this to me. 

I'd second the idea of a Geek Out for the less than $200 range, though some have had volume issues, it's a delicate baby. If you disconnect it slightly on changing headphones, it acts as if it is newly connected, and defaults to full volume, so you have to be careful with that. Otherwise, it is a great sounding unit (have the GO 1K and the GO Special Edition).

 
Great, good informtion for people looking for a USB DAC.

  With the new firmware update, the volume on the Geek out is not an issue, it is controlled at the source.  You can no longer change the volume from the DAC itself.
At least thats the case with my MAC. The volume buttons are now setting for the digital filters. 
 

 
 
PS Thanks everyone for the clarification about Geek, I might be the nest Geek owner soon. I am still not sure though. If anyone of you is will to sell their DAC stuff, do let me know in a PM. Thanks once again, I will be following this thread!
 
Edit:
PPS I recently found out abou the IGG is www.indiegogo.com LOL I might start a campaign for my first DAC, need to come up with a trippy post so that people could fund my stuff..

 

[eliwankenobi]

@Lord Raven

If you were really willing to spend the dough on a 105D to use it as a DAC, you would have a much better value out of the Oppo HA-1. What you get for that, makes me not even consider a Pulse. Nothing against the Pulse but feature wise, the Oppo is like a PulseX + LPS + Geek Blue + Geek Pre all in one unit. When you get to the higher end PulseXfi, then it gets different field and price too

 

[Lord Raven]

@Lord Raven

If you were really willing to spend the dough on a 105D to use it as a DAC, you would have a much better value out of the Oppo HA-1. What you get for that, makes me not even consider a Pulse. Nothing against the Pulse but feature wise, the Oppo is like a PulseX + LPS + Geek Blue + Geek Pre all in one unit. When you get to the higher end PulseXfi, then it gets different field and price too

Bro, why I dropped the HA-1 was due to couple of bad reviews and mainly cause of the fact that I already spent too much on my Vacuum tube amplifier, I would never have used it's headphone amplifier :/ There is not a single decent review about HA-1, otherwise the unit was good to look at, nice LED display and Oppo's name on it. I was in a mix between 105D and HA-1 and I picked up 105D. Honestly speaking, I even dropped the Darbee cause one reviewer said that Darbee fucntion stops working after a while, and then it's just 105 LOL part of me is still looking for 105 in a used condition to give it a try but then again it goes around for 800-1000 bucks. I always wonder, why no one is selling their Oppo, there must be a reason, and those who are selling they are asking huge prices. WTH.

 

[x RELIC x]

Bro, why I dropped the HA-1 was due to couple of bad reviews and mainly cause of the fact that I already spent too much on my Vacuum tube amplifier, I would never have used it's headphone amplifier :/ There is not a single decent review about HA-1, otherwise the unit was good to look at, nice LED display and Oppo's name on it. I was in a mix between 105D and HA-1 and I picked up 105D. Honestly speaking, I even dropped the Darbee cause one reviewer said that Darbee fucntion stops working after a while, and then it's just 105 LOL part of me is still looking for 105 in a used condition to give it a try but then again it goes around for 800-1000 bucks. I always wonder, why no one is selling their Oppo, there must be a reason, and those who are selling they are asking huge prices. WTH.

Just stumbled on this comment and had to reply. I can understand not wanting to use a combo unit but to say there is not a single decent review of the HA-1 is entirely not true. Of note is the one on Innerfidelity. Google 'Oppo HA-1 review' and there are many well received reviews of the unit, including many on Head-Fi.

 

[doctorjazz]

If you like tube sound, I have the Mojo tubed DA converter
http://www.mojo-audio.com/digital-to-analog-converters/
The Mystique-great sounding unit, vintage NOS R2R tubed dac. I thought it sounded much better than my Peachtree Grandpre preamp, which has an internal DA that was very well reviewed (it doesn't play well with the Peachtree, though, so I'm not using it at present, may set it up in another system, beautiful sounding). Doesn't have other bells and whistles, doesn't do High Resolution files, but great sounding unit. It really is a rack/stereo unit, though. I'm awaiting another tubed dac, Vi Tube Infinity, can't tell you how it sounds, expecting/hoping for great things, but have to wait to know first hand. Another Rack component, though.

 

[gikigill]

Another happy Geek Out 1000 and Xfi/LPS4 owner here.