Yeah. Actually today is the first day I started trying this lol :p. I'm starting to notice a bit more keenness in my hearing for say low vs high bitrate songs and some other sonic qualities too, especially with some of the music from hdtracks. Really surprised me that I was hearing a difference...

Yes I'd like to vouch for the DAT RS 05 as well. Playing around with the up and down sampling can yield some interesting sonic results. After software upsampling a 176khz stream to 192khz, I then downsampled back to 176khz with the DAT RS 05 and the music sounded clearer and crisper than being...

I can't seem to get kernel streaming or ASIO4ALL or the Violectric ASIO drivers to use the correct sample rate on foobar2000. 192khz or whatever and the violectric control panel shows 44.1... Only way around issue is to use the primary audio driver and set it manually to 192khz. Google has not...

Speaking of which, I've only come across a couple of in-depth reviews about the v850. It sounds even better with the DAT RS 05 IMO, but does anyone have an opinion on how the v850 itself performs? Does it perform at its price range? Above? What does it compete with now? The v850 topic here is a...

Yes, I've noticed a recent surge in interest. Perhaps Niimbus won't market cannibalize the Violectric brand like a v282 or 284 would the v281 :).

I don't know, and I don't think the manual says (could be some kind of custom design), but by process of elimination: Class A? No, because the v281 doesn't get hot but marginally warm. Class B? Possibly, it has two amps per channel. Depends on if these do push-pull action. Also possible...

I've done this to see if I was actually able to hear a difference between $100 amps/DACs and $$$$ amps/DACs, so I could really appreciate just how much I invested in headphone equipment. Well, YES, I can hear a difference. (or that's at least what my brain is telling me when considering physical...

I can vouch for the Violectric V200 as well, I'm a big fan of their gear. I own the v281 and a couple other gadgets from them and they sound great with my Hifiman HE-1000 planars. I also own the Lyr 2 and as fun as the amp is with rolling tubes the Violectric gear has better resolution...

I have a motley crew of about 13 headphones (the HD800S is still missing from my collection though :wink: ) and one IEM. I find myself mainly listening to the Beyerdynamic Amiron Home, Sennheiser HD 600's, and Grado SR325e's. The Hifiman HE-1000's deserve an honorable mention in my listening...

I can't find out this amp's architecture to determine how much of an improvement in sound quality the amp would provide in balanced mode, but as above it appears to output a lot more power in balanced mode which could be useful. For the full force of fully-balanced, your amp will need 4 amp...

Good luck for good listening pleasure, and sorry about your wallet :). If you want, stop by here and let us know how you like your new gear.

As far as I know there isn't one, only Lake People - Germany and Violectric - USA. But IIRC Violectric products are assembled and shipped in Germany, so you might be able to get in contact with Arthur or Fried and get your gear direct from Germany :).

I can't wait to see what the Niimbus DAC's will be like as well. Despite my satisfaction with my Violectric gear, I can't help but feel a bit of envy, like there's a new itch that can't be scratched to have the best of the best again. Something for me to drool over for the next 3 or 4 years :p...

The Niimbus does have some extra filtering capacity for signal purity, but it does seem to offer more power too. I myself have thought it cool to have the gain at minimum and still have the tight volume play of the powerful Lyr 2 at minimum gain. Its like having a concept-grade v12 engine in v6...

The Niimbus appears to have over 2.5x more power circuitry, huge radiator fans, and more circuitry and board elements, so I'm optimistic about its performance. I would say, comparing its internals to the v281, the its $5k price tag is to be expected based upon the extra physical cost of the...