[Tassie Devil]

As posted before, unless the DAC or player has TWO 3 pin XLR analog audio outputs, all you will get will be unbalanced. A very few portable players (Pioneer 30R is one) have balanced out via a 2.5mm (NOT the usual 3.5mm) output jacks. And of course for balanced listening your headphone cord needs to have either twin 3 pin XLR male plugs, a 4 pin male XLR plug or a 4 pole 2.5mm jack plug.

You seem obsessed with balanced output. As I posted before, that is the LAST step and by itself is no guarantee of improved audio quality. Basically it is designed to eliminate hum caused by earth loops, something which is highly unlikely in battery operated portables. The difference between the audio quality of balanced vs unbalanced is not dramatic and will only be observed with the best gear and certainly not in items you have described.

 

[lcasadonte]

Well I made the plunge and upgraded my stack with a vega as well. I have a taurus mk2 and altair. The altair settled down a bit with the sibilance but just didn't hit the mark for the sound signature i was trying to achieve with the system/upgrade. I wanted a streamer with a dac that was at least as good as my lynx hilo. IMO thats not an easy order. While i would never spend the money new on the vega for the price i think i hit my mark. The vega took a good system to a whole new level, certainly on par with what i was hoping for. I wanted a stand alone system that i did not have to rely on my computer for and thats why i wanted a dedicated streamer. The funny thing is i am now pushing the quality envelope for my beyer t5p's and in order to realize some of the benefits of this system i may have to upgrade the hp. And the quest continues........

 

[Vu Chau]

I read that the Taurus MK II sounds best once warmed up, so I started turning it on like 1-2 hours before each listening session. I wouldn't say the amp gets hot, but it's quite warm during that time. Just wanted to confirm that this is "normal" even when there's no signal flowing through the amp yet.

 

[Tassie Devil]

I read that the Taurus MK II sounds best once warmed up, so I started turning it on like 1-2 hours before each listening session. I wouldn't say the amp gets hot, but it's quite warm during that time. Just wanted to confirm that this is "normal" even when there's no signal flowing through the amp yet.

Yes and one must be careful with ventillation.
Tested here, in free air on top of a cabinet with room temp arounf 20C, the Taurus stabilises at 30C. Put in a cabinet with insufficient clearance on top it gets too hot so I have a quiet 12V 120mm PC cooling fan at the back of the cabinet. That does lower the temperature to around 26C but that is OK.

I leave the amp & fan on 24/7 as it is then thermally stable to listen with at any time. And I'm currently using Sennheiser 800S headphones and the AQ (mostly classical music - all sorts) is superb. FYI the setup at the serious listening station here is:

Roon on this advanced PC (6TB HDD for 16,000 albums) -> Auralic Aries via LAN cabling -> balanced digital feed using Canare D206 cabling [I've just discovered lately how important good cabling is] -> Schiit YGGDRASIL DAC -> Tauris MkII -> Sennheiser HD800S in balanced mode.

I also have Focal Utopia headphones but made the mistake of letting a visitor drive them too loud (he is a bit deaf but will not admit it) so they are currently away being repaired. I have other balanced digital feeds fed around the house to 3 other listening stations (possible using a Canare 3 way splitter) + another 2 analog feeds to other rooms so can enjoy music via Roon & Auralic anywhere in the house. I guess by now you have figured I'm an incurable audio nutter.

Bottom line I concur with all the praise heaped on the Taurus. It is a genuine hi-end item without the stratosheric price attached to some it its rivals.

 

[Vu Chau]

Yes and one must be careful with ventillation.
Tested here, in free air on top of a cabinet with room temp arounf 20C, the Taurus stabilises at 30C. Put in a cabinet with insufficient clearance on top it gets too hot so I have a quiet 12V 120mm PC cooling fan at the back of the cabinet. That does lower the temperature to around 26C but that is OK.

I leave the amp & fan on 24/7 as it is then thermally stable to listen with at any time. And I'm currently using Sennheiser 800S headphones and the AQ (mostly classical music - all sorts) is superb. FYI the setup at the serious listening station here is:

Roon on this advanced PC (6TB HDD for 16,000 albums) -> Auralic Aries via LAN cabling -> balanced digital feed using Canare D206 cabling [I've just discovered lately how important good cabling is] -> Schiit YGGDRASIL DAC -> Tauris MkII -> Sennheiser HD800S in balanced mode.

I also have Focal Utopia headphones but made the mistake of letting a visitor drive them too loud (he is a bit deaf but will not admit it) so they are currently away being repaired. I have other balanced digital feeds fed around the house to 3 other listening stations (possible using a Canare 3 way splitter) + another 2 analog feeds to other rooms so can enjoy music via Roon & Auralic anywhere in the house. I guess by now you have figured I'm an incurable audio nutter.

Bottom line I concur with all the praise heaped on the Taurus. It is a genuine hi-end item without the stratosheric price attached to some it its rivals.

Very nice - 6 TB! I have almost the same amount of storage, but my album count (also almost exclusively classical) is probably somewhere around 10K. Agreed that the Taurus really pushes the music and the headphone (Mojo > HD 650 SE). I feel a bit weird that the soundstage is larger now. Maybe just need to get used to it...

Getting new, balanced, cables for the HD 650 and HE 560 so looking forward to trying those. Drove planars with the Taurus SE but wasn't too happy - hopefully balanced will change it, considering this is a balanced amp.

 

[Tassie Devil]

Very nice - 6 TB! I have almost the same amount of storage, but my album count (also almost exclusively classical) is probably somewhere around 10K. Agreed that the Taurus really pushes the music and the headphone (Mojo > HD 650 SE). I feel a bit weird that the soundstage is larger now. Maybe just need to get used to it...

Getting new, balanced, cables for the HD 650 and HE 560 so looking forward to trying those. Drove planars with the Taurus SE but wasn't too happy - hopefully balanced will change it, considering this is a balanced amp.

You are not far behind me as of the 16,000 only 12,500 are classical. The rest are manily jazz and pop vocal. There are quite a few venturing into the Rock area (given to me by a friend) that I never listen to but currently retain for visitors who happen to like that genre. Lately I've established some rather nice classical music internet stations on Roon and they have top quality audio. There is just so much lovely music to listen to - we are spoiled by the offerings.

 

[SptsNaz]

Now that I've had the amp a few weeks I feel like I can comment on it. Basically, it's a wonderful amp if you can afford it. I think even at retail it's worth it, but if you can snatch one up used it's a bargain (relatively speaking of course).

Not much more to add that hasn't been said in 133 pages, but it does nothing wrong. Better yet, it does everything right. My biggest fear in getting it was that it was going to sound too solid state, and it doesn't. It's a good middle ground sound between a tube amp and your typical analytical SS sound. But yeah, the transparency this thing offers is astounding... there is nothing you're missing in the music if your headphones are up to par. Of course source matters, but as Hurricane Irma was sweeping through I had this thing being fed by a Sansa Clip + with my Grado's on the other end and I had numerous spine tingling moments with it (a few gin and tonics beforehand didn't hurt). A lot of equipment comes and goes here on Head-fi, but I do think people will still be talking about this amp in a few years because it's that good. I'm sure there's better out there, but probably not in the same price range.

 

[kylev]

It has been 4-5 months since I got this Auralic Taurus MK II and it has been enjoyable moment since then.
I used to own Schiit Lyr 1 prior to it.
Pairing it with Gumby is elevating it to the next level of enjoyment - the sound stage becomes wider, clarity is better presented and it is very neutral compare to Lyr which is coloring it bit (warmer).

Here is a snapshot of my setup with it
https://imgur.com/RYH2tgg

 

[Arnold Schwartz]

It has been 4-5 months since I got this Auralic Taurus MK II and it has been enjoyable moment since then.
I used to own Schiit Lyr 1 prior to it.
Pairing it with Gumby is elevating it to the next level of enjoyment - the sound stage becomes wider, clarity is better presented and it is very neutral compare to Lyr which is coloring it bit (warmer).

Here is a snapshot of my setup with it
https://imgur.com/RYH2tgg

I have almost the exact same setup. Just ordered a Gumby and Taurus amp last week to pair with my HD800, can't wait!

 

[ichibahnwrx]

I'm eyeing this thread with envy. I just bought a Gumby and I need a good balanced amp to go with it. Has anyone used the Taurus with Sony Z1Rs, Beyer T1 2nd gens, or Denon D5000s that are balanced? I want to run my rig in balanced mode, as I have them all reterminated (obviously I don't need the power). It's between this and the Ragnarok, but I really want a smaller amp.

Anyone looking to unload their Taurus MkII?

 

[whill]

I'm eyeing this thread with envy. I just bought a Gumby and I need a good balanced amp to go with it. Has anyone used the Taurus with Sony Z1Rs, Beyer T1 2nd gens, or Denon D5000s that are balanced? I want to run my rig in balanced mode, as I have them all reterminated (obviously I don't need the power). It's between this and the Ragnarok, but I really want a smaller amp.

Anyone looking to unload their Taurus MkII?

Hi ichibahnwrx

I have Jriver > Musical Fidelity Vlink (coaxial) > NAD D1050 (balanced out) > Auralic Taurus MKII > Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (balanced)

All i can say with this set up is that it is very revealing and unforgiving. PRaT is on spot, neutral though i do have a slight problem in terms of peaks/sibilance specially with poor/hot recordings. it can be bothersome specially with mid-high level of listening. I am talking to Kylev about the combination of Gumby and Auralic if that peaks/sibilance will be reduced slightly.

Whill

 

[lcasadonte]

I am using the taurus in the following config Roon Core > Auralic Altair > Auralic Vega > Auralic Taurus MKII > Beyerdynamic T5P gen 2 and soon Focal Utopia. I think the amp sounds better in balanced mode myself but there are many who have indicated it truly depends on the headphones. I think one of the differences with the taurus is it is not a truly balanced amp (doubling the hardware and balanced end to end). Everything behind the taurus in my config is running balanced w/xlr's. I think the Vega tames the highs extremely nicely but its an expensive solution.

 

[kylev]

Hi ichibahnwrx

I have Jriver > Musical Fidelity Vlink (coaxial) > NAD D1050 (balanced out) > Auralic Taurus MKII > Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (balanced)

All i can say with this set up is that it is very revealing and unforgiving. PRaT is on spot, neutral though i do have a slight problem in terms of peaks/sibilance specially with poor/hot recordings. it can be bothersome specially with mid-high level of listening. I am talking to Kylev about the combination of Gumby and Auralic if that peaks/sibilance will be reduced slightly.

Whill

Was using HD800s last time with Gumby and Taurus, but the Gumby was using stock power cable. I am quite sensitive to sibilance, don't like overwhelmed bass, but love very details or clear sounding signatures.
Hence I went for HD800s last time. This setup with HD800s on certain music tracks I still feel the peaky highs even though HD800s supposed to reduce it.
But, after that I switched the Taurus stock power cord and get Furutech power flux power cord, it helps a bit to reduce the peaky highs.

I think using pure copper power cord will slightly help to reduce the sibilance, also the Headphone cable.

Cheers!
Kylev

 

[ichibahnwrx]

I am using the taurus in the following config Roon Core > Auralic Altair > Auralic Vega > Auralic Taurus MKII > Beyerdynamic T5P gen 2 and soon Focal Utopia. I think the amp sounds better in balanced mode myself but there are many who have indicated it truly depends on the headphones. I think one of the differences with the taurus is it is not a truly balanced amp (doubling the hardware and balanced end to end). Everything behind the taurus in my config is running balanced w/xlr's. I think the Vega tames the highs extremely nicely but its an expensive solution.

I didn't realize that the Taurus wasn't fully balanced. Where does it become single ended, in the chain? All of my Headphones and my DAC are all balanced, so I won't be using the single ended 1/4" much at all.

 

[kylev]

Was using HD800s last time with Gumby and Taurus, but the Gumby was using stock power cable. I am quite sensitive to sibilance, don't like overwhelmed bass, but love very details or clear sounding signatures.
Hence I went for HD800s last time. This setup with HD800s on certain music tracks I still feel the peaky highs even though HD800s supposed to reduce it.
But, after that I switched the Taurus stock power cord and get Furutech power flux power cord, it helps a bit to reduce the peaky highs.

I think using pure copper power cord will slightly help to reduce the sibilance, also the Headphone cable.

Cheers!
Kylev

Forgot to mention one thing - I usually listen to Taylor Swift "Blank Space" to review if a setup is overly bright or not.