[Kees]

I got an e-mail from Fried Reim from Lake People with the updated manual and I saw the site is updated too now.
They actually changed it to 4pin now.

I personally think it's great they did that. Seems like they actually listen to their customers.

 

[ford2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got an e-mail from Fried Reim from Lake People with the updated manual and I saw the site is updated too now. They actually changed it to 4pin now. I personally think it's great they did that. Seems like they actually listen to their customers.

If they had left it at a 5 pin they would have no customers.

 

[Currawong]

Interesting amp. Looks like Europeans will have a locally made balanced amp available to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am a "member of trade - manufacturer" and hope not to be banned because of answering questions.

As I understand it, you can answer direct questions about your gear, so I'm sure you wont be banned. If you do something wrong, generally the worst that will happen is your post will be deleted and you'll get a message from the moderators about it.

Very good of you though to respond quickly to people here about the balanced connector. What OPAMPs are you using if you don't mind me asking?

 

[krmathis]

Sure looks like a great amplifier!

For several reasons: Made in Europe, fully balanced, 4-pin XLR out, ...

 

[fdg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting amp. Looks like Europeans will have a locally made balanced amp available to them. As I understand it, you can answer direct questions about your gear, so I'm sure you wont be banned. If you do something wrong, generally the worst that will happen is your post will be deleted and you'll get a message from the moderators about it. Very good of you though to respond quickly to people here about the balanced connector. What OPAMPs are you using if you don't mind me asking?

The interest from Europeans in this product is "under developement".
There is more interest from over the oceans (east and west direction )

Concerning banning:
My last experience was that all my post and threads had been deleted without warning ...

Inside all our amps are NE5532 and some NE5534.
These may be rolled because they are installed in precision sockets.
But be careful: Most of these amps are doing nothing but impedance matching with Gain = 1.
Most "sophisticated" op-amps need some gain to work stresslessly.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting amp. Looks like Europeans will have a locally made balanced amp available to them.

We already had the Rudistor amps of course, but now we have an alternative (at a much friendlier pricepoint).

 

[Kees]

I have put all the specs of the V100, V200 and V181 together and compared them.
I see that the specs are very much alike, specially the V200 and V181 don't differ much.
There are two strange exceptions though:

Max voltage swing/power at a 50 Ohm load is actually lower on the V181 than both the V100 and V200. (10,2V for the V181 against 10.5 and 11.6 for the V100 resp V200 and 2100mW against 2200 and 2700 resp for the V100 and V200).
I expected this aspect to be much better for the V181 than either the V100 or V200 to be honest. I get the impression that the voltage swing is cut off for the benefit of the limits of the power supply, but that is just an uneducated guess.

The second thing is the damping factor. It is a mere >250 (200 is often considered to be the bottom limit, although actual audible effects are usually not aparent until below 100), compared to the 400 of the V100 and the 800 of the V200 I find this strange. This is also a factor from which I expect a much better performance in a balanced amp compared to non-balanced.

Bottom line question is actually: in what respect is te V181 better than the V200?
Why should I buy the V181 when there is a V200?

 

[Lil' Knight]

Hmmm, what exactly is the "USB Eingang optional"?

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmmm, what exactly is the "USB Eingang optional"?

I don't know about the "optional", but the V181 has a usb dac built-in.

 

[soberspine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know about the "optional", but the V181 has a usb dac built-in.

Maybe the dac is optional.

Personally i don't see the point of having a usb dac inside this headamps. Making the dac optional would be a good thing IMO. One thing that i don't like about v200 is the dac, why should i pay for something that i will never use. For a high quality amp you need a high quality source and i don't think the built in usb dac is a match for the amp. I always consider a balance in price between components.

 

[markm1111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soberspine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe the dac is optional. Personally i don't see the point of having a usb dac inside this headamps. Making the dac optional would be a good thing IMO. One thing that i don't like about v200 is the dac, why should i pay for something that i will never use. For a high quality amp you need a high quality source and i don't think the built in usb dac is a match for the amp. I always consider a balance in price between components.

I agree. I am interested in the V100, the V181 and the V200, all because of the balanced input that also has a buffered loop through. If the sound quality is up there, I want one of them. A lot of people looking at this level of amp will already have either a dedicated dac or a high end cd player/vinyl source making the dac redundant.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soberspine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe the dac is optional.

Should be optional, let alone this is a balanced amp and I don't think that USB DAC is balanced.

Nice internal though, reminds me of HeadAmp's offerings.

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bottom line question is actually: in what respect is te V181 better than the V200? Why should I buy the V181 when there is a V200?

From what I understand, the v181 is some kind of balanced version of the V100, they plan to release a v200 based balanced headamp later in the year.

By the way can someone point me to a thread for re-terminating headphone cables?

 

[fdg]

Lots of questions ...

@ Lil' Knight:

"USB Eingang optional" means "the USB input is an option" on V181 (and from July 2010 on V100 and V200) at extra cost.


@ Kees:

The USB input incorporates also a DAC, so both are an option on V181


@ Soberspine:

The USB with DAC inside V200 is a nice feature for people who like to plug a PC or LapTop without hustle. The quality of the USB input of V200 is much lower than the rest of the crcuitry.
For that reason we will offer 2 qualites of USB inputs on V100, V181 and V200 from July:
1. USB input with 16 Bit / 48 kHz = -95 dB THD+N / 105 dB dyn. Range
2. USB input with 24 Bit / 96 kHz = -100 dB THD+N / 110 dB dyn. Range


@ khaos974:

V181 circuitry has little to do with V100 - except the case and the inputs which ar now common on V100, V181 and V200.
V100 has a transistorized amp inside and operates from +/- 30 V supply.
V181 has very fast power opamps inside (BUF634) and operates from +/- 18 V supply. This is sufficient because in balanced mode double output voltage is acheived.
A balanced V200 version (perhaps V282

) will have V200 amp topologie inside - meaning a total of 32 transistors - and will be operated from +/- 60 volt.
Here, a automatic gain reduction via a 5. XLR pin could have been very senseful !!
As the contents need much space, a higher case is recommended.

 

[markm1111]

Hi FDG

That clears up a few questions I had as well. A couple that you haven't answered though are:

1. Is the V200 available without the USB dac? And will this reduce the price?

2. What are the primary sound differences between the V100, V181 and V200?

I am leaning towards the V200, but really don't want to pay for a dac I will never use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lots of questions ... @ Lil' Knight: "USB Eingang optional" means "the USB input is an option" on V181 (and from July 2010 on V100 and V200) at extra cost. @ Kees: The USB input incorporates also a DAC, so both are an option on V181 @ Soberspine: The USB with DAC inside V200 is a nice feature for people how like to plug a PC or LapTop without hustle. The quality of the USB input of V200 is much lower than the rest of the crcuitry. For that reason we will offer 2 qualites of USB inputs on V100, V181 and V200 from July: 1. USB input with 16 Bit / 48 kHz = -95 dB THD+N / 105 dB dyn. Range 2. USB input with 24 Bit / 96 kHz = -100 dB THD+N / 110 dB dyn. Range @ khaos974: V181 circuitry has little to do with V100 - except the case and the inputs which ar now common on V100, V181 and V200. V100 has a transistorized amp inside and operates from +/- 30 V supply. V181 has very fast power opamps inside (BUF634) and operates from +/- 18 V supply. This is sufficient because in balanced mode double output voltage is acheived. A balanced V200 version (perhaps V282 ) will have V200 amp topologie inside - meaning a total of 32 transistors - and will be operated from +/- 60 volt. Here, a automatic gain reduction via a 5. XLR pin could have been very senseful !! As the contents need much space, a higher case is recommended.