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Some initial thoughts on Vali...
Build quality is good, although they look rougher hewn than I'd expect at this price point.
Comfort is ok. I'd prefer a bit less clamp force, and I usually find headphones to be a bit loose on me. If these were mine, I'd be bending the headband a bit to relax the clamp force. It'd be nice if they were a bit lighter, but then I guess you'd be compromising on build quality.
As Andy mentioned, they're surprisingly DAP-friendly. Easy to drive and sound quite good straight out of my DAPs. Not as good as out of my Aune X1S or the Cayin iDAC-6 + iHA-6 stack, but much better than I thought they might. That said, fullness and soundstage are noticeably compromised when using a DAP vs. desktop gear.
Here're some thoughts on Vali + the Cayin stack:
Build quality is good, although they look rougher hewn than I'd expect at this price point.
Comfort is ok. I'd prefer a bit less clamp force, and I usually find headphones to be a bit loose on me. If these were mine, I'd be bending the headband a bit to relax the clamp force. It'd be nice if they were a bit lighter, but then I guess you'd be compromising on build quality.
As Andy mentioned, they're surprisingly DAP-friendly. Easy to drive and sound quite good straight out of my DAPs. Not as good as out of my Aune X1S or the Cayin iDAC-6 + iHA-6 stack, but much better than I thought they might. That said, fullness and soundstage are noticeably compromised when using a DAP vs. desktop gear.
Here're some thoughts on Vali + the Cayin stack:
I've got the iDAC-6 + iHA-6 stack along with the Kennerton Vali headphones right now. I'm mainly doing this out of curiosity, as I'm much more of a portable audio listener (DAP + IEM). My personal headphone setup consists of DAP COAX OUT -> Aune X1S DAC/AMP -> modded HE400. Unfortunately, my HE400 are out for a headband mod right now. Hoping to get them back before I move the Cayin + Kennerton kit up to Seattle.
So with that preamble out of the way, here's my experience with the tour setup...
I first listened to Cayin N5 DAP via LO ->iHA-6 -> Vali. It was too bright / edgy for me with noticeable sibilance hiss after each S and soundstage was pretty closed in. I didn't last long before pulling the plug on this experiment.
Moving right along, I switched to N5 via COAX OUT -> iDAC-6 -> iHA-6 -> Vali. Playing around with the settings a bit, I settled on Vacuum Tube + Slow Filter on iDAC-6 and Low Current and Low Gain out of the High SE 1/4" HO. Whew, there's A LOT to play with!!! Be prepared to get your audiophile geek on
Before I started playing around, I was getting a brighter / edgier sound than I liked. After finding my preferred (at least for now ) settings, the sound is now smooth and enjoyable. Soundstage isn't anything to write home about with this setup, though. I have the feeling Vali is the limiting factor as far as soundstage goes, though.
Not much else to say about the setup right now. I might go back and try out N5 LO -> iHA-6 with High SE, though. I'd tried it via Balanced Out before. Maybe High SE will make a difference.