SCHIIT VALI
iMac > Fidelia/Vox>Nuforce Icon DAC> Schiit Vali>Yamaha HPH MT220
iMac > Vox > JDS LABS ODAC> Schiit Vali> Yamaha HPH MT220
PROS AND CONS:
- harmless or non hindering
- tiny bit of tube flavor(don't expect a lot)
- transparent
- scalable
- detailed (what you put is what you get)
- capable
- nothing recessed (maybe the highs a tad if anything)
- smooth
- good power for any dynamic
- simplicity
- build
- PRICE
- size/footprint
cons:
- microphonics
- wow factor
To start I would like to say that right from the jump the Vali is a good pick for someone wanting an amp at an affordable price. It is pretty hard for me to explain what exactly this amp does do really well
but more so it is hard for me to explain what it does bad and below is why:
MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT:
For a headphone amp you may be expect for your bass to become really strong, your soundstage to take off in width and depth, or your highs to become more clear and enhanced. The Vali has become for me a tool of learning. I think that equipment can fight each other and you can have a Good DAC but the amp mess it up and Vice Versa. The awesome thing about the Vali is that it won't mess up the sound quality of what is upstream of it. It won't muddy up your DAC nor will it make it sound better but maybe slightly different. The tube sound of this amp isn't all syrupy and lush either. It doesnt take your music and butter poach it for you.
I am limited in experience with DACs and amps but if any amp taught me my DAC it was the Vali. At first I plugged the Vali into the JDS LABS ODAC and the combo was pretty enjoyable but I kept feeling like it took away from the raw and natural sound of my Yamaha hph-mt220
(the headphone I proselytize ...we all have one). It made it sound softer, a little more murky but balanced with the instruments rounded off in a way that made them less vivid and more emotionless. The bass became soft and lost its weight. The soundstage compared to my iMac out increased slightly and there was more space around the instruments but it left me wanting. It didn't leave me wanting more bass quantity or more highs or mids, but it left me wanting the headphone to sound like I know it is supposed to sound with other sources I have tried with it before. I had some serious brain burn in with the trio(yammie,odac,vali) and came to enjoy its more polite way of communicating my music but missing the Yamaha realism and clarity. Before this I had an emotiva and modi and tried the yamaha, focusrite forte, and fiio x3 with it so I knew how it was supposed to sound.
Then I got the late model Nuforce Icon DAC. The amp by itself brought everything back that I missed about the Yamaha and more, but sometimes a bit too much more. All of a sudden the bass firmed back up, the soundstage stayed as open, the highs sprouted, and the mids were ripe again. So I thought "Well let me try this Vali with the Nuforce DAC Section" ... VIOLA!! Nothing missing from what I love about the yamaha at all!!! The bass stayed clean and clear, the mids were very similar to how they were on the Nuforce ICON DAC by them selves and the highs were a little more palpable. The overall sound was just a tad smoother.
In short the VALI HINDERED NOTHING and only added a tad bit of tube flavor. I was baffled and played all night going back and forth between the Vali and Nuforce headphone outs to see if I was losing any textures or anything and could find nothing.
It is very easy for me to hear the Nuforce Icon DAC through the VALI; "Hear through" factor to me equals transparency.
Previous reviews have mentioned flaws with the Vali like soft bass etc. but I would bet it is their source.
On the flip side I have heard comments about the bass being enhanced and the mids sounding fuller etc etc....
I also do not hear any of that either. I hear what my DAC is doing but with a very slight touch of tube.
MICROPHONICS:
What is true about this X 2 is the microphonics. I looked it up before I bought it to try to understand how it would sound. Good thing I didn't get a good description because it may have influenced my purchase. Well imagine a clean and high pitched synth midi note being sustained that is more than audible but annoying. When you move the thing around or tap the table it makes the noise. You can make it do this by tapping it with the metal end of a pen or something and it will ring. The ringing goes away after some 10-20 seconds and then it is music time. I can put up with that. I just turn it on before I am ready to listen.
So there is a review if you want to call it that. I will just say that these are impressions.