[miceblue]

Yeah...someone almost killed the V2+ at the local meet yesterday. Was using a 3.5 mm TRRS to XLR cable to listen to the LCD-2 on high gain and then they switched out their cable to a single-ended one and used the same port because it's conveniently a 3.5 mm jack. Apparently all audio stopped playing from the device and nearly gave me a heart attack, but cycling the power made it work again.

Also, someone else tried to use the V2+ with an iPad Mini using the Lightning Apple Camera Connection kit and they couldn't get it to work at all. I don't have a Lightning iDevice so I can't say about that (or maybe they were using the other microUSB port because there's conveniently 2 of them and there's no labels on my unit), but it works just fine on my iPhone 4S with the Onkyo HF Player.

^ that's a prototype Norne Audio 3.5 TRRS to 4-pin XLR adaptor that a friend is letting me borrow (he originally intended to use it for the Geek Wave, but that's not coming his way any time soon)


When the GOv2+ did work, people were pretty impressed by it, especially considering its size. I can vouch for its sound quality too and it actually sounds like a slightly less-refined Pulse X Infinity...which is a bit scary considering the price difference.


[rule]
It's kind of late, but here's my unboxing video of the V2+.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ap7KKFmgl0[/video]

Table of Contents:
0:00 - New camera update
0:58 - Box overview
3:44 - Warranty card
4:07 - USB A-microUSB cable
4:33 - Geek Out V2+ overview
5:20 - 3.5 mm TRRS balanced output
6:14 - Digital filters
6:37 - Chassis vents
7:38 - Chassis materials
8:00 - Silkscreened labels
8:33 - Turning the unit on
9:26 - Power output
9:53 - OPPO HA-2 size comparison
10:14 - iPhone 4S size comparison
10:38 - Geek Out size comparison

 

[Antihippy]

How's the weight compared to the HA2?
 
Any other comparisons with the HA2 soundwise?

 

[shotgunshane]

They need a permanent red marking of some sort on the TRRS balanced port. Whether it's red plastic, paint or something else, they need a permanent, or as close to permanent way to label that port. I really don't get what they were thinking. Seems pretty simple logic to me if it will destroy gear. Oh well, their problem when the angry and frustrated customers start complaining that it no longer works.

 

[nigel801]

Can anyone confirm if via SE out GO v2 and V2+ can deliver 1000mW somewhere I read only via balanced out it delivers full power and not via SE output . Thanks

 

[greenkiwi]

I hope that they take the feedback and move to a non 3.5mm trrs. People should be vocal about it.

As for the unit stopping. Larry said that they had built in protection for just that case. Maybe the protection causes the unit to need to be restarted.

I hope the protection works with trrs devices that have microphones too.

 

[shotgunshane]

I hope that they take the feedback and move to a non 3.5mm trrs. People should be vocal about it.

As for the unit stopping. Larry said that they had built in protection for just that case. Maybe the protection causes the unit to need to be restarted.

I hope the protection works with trrs devices that have microphones too.

I'd like to read more about this protection. Do you happen to have any links to that conversation? I haven't followed the LH site ever since they shut the old force down. It became much to complicated to keep up with anything.

 

[Benny-x]

I'd like to read more about this protection. Do you happen to have any links to that conversation? I haven't followed the LH site ever since they shut the old force down. It became much to complicated to keep up with anything.

They've gotten a new site since then, probably because the second version totally failed. I haven't bothered going to the third site, my enthusiasm totally died after perk'agedon. Well, it might just have died because who can really sustain interest in something as insignificant as a bargain DAC for +2 years? 
 
And about the V2+, watch Mouseblue's video, It's good. It's the first real look at what you're getting. I don't know who greenlit the 3D printed sides, it looks like dogshhit compared to the aluminum front and back. Like they took something that was actually alright and touchdown spiked it into the gutter... I hate when people do stupid *** like that. Like why? Why was that necessary after already finding out 3D printed epoxy was a fail? Standard ABS would have been fine here. Not only does it look bad, you can see the LED through the joint AND through the #D printed material itself... A disappointment. 
 
Anyone else have any other thoughts on this? 

 

[mscott58]

Finally got a chance to listen to the V2+ Infinity in balanced mode using my Noble K10's (had a 2.5mm TRRS female to 3.5mm TRRS male cable made so I could use my 2.5mm TRRS terminated ALO Tinsel IEM cable). Sounds really nice, IMHO noticeably better than SE.

If the Wave XD Signature takes this sound and improves upon it for a real DAP then I'm really excited. Still not happy about the delays, but happy with the sound. Also hope that LHL has learned from the challenges of the V2 and V2+ in terms of the cases to help make the Wave case really good.

Cheers

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

That is what I am expecting. And it so good news!

 

[Larry Ho]

Finally got a chance to listen to the V2+ Infinity in balanced mode using my Noble K10's (had a 2.5mm TRRS female to 3.5mm TRRS male cable made so I could use my 2.5mm TRRS terminated ALO Tinsel IEM cable). Sounds really nice, IMHO noticeably better than SE.

If the Wave XD Signature takes this sound and improves upon it for a real DAP then I'm really excited. Still not happy about the delays, but happy with the sound. Also hope that LHL has learned from the challenges of the V2 and V2+ in terms of the cases to help make the Wave case really good.

Cheers

Wave XD will sound better than V2+ Infinity due to one simple fact: It's dual mono.
 
Yes. I do learn about one important thing: Using the most advanced 3D print technology has its 'timing' price.
But at least, this time, no feedback for "It is too hot" anymore...

 

[mscott58]

 
Wave XD will sound better than V2+ Infinity due to one simple fact: It's dual mono.
 
Yes. I do learn about one important thing: Using the most advanced 3D print technology has its 'timing' price.
But at least, this time, no feedback for "It is too hot" anymore...

Thanks Larry - that's even better news! 
 
I also assume the femto's will help boost the Wave XD's SQ?
 
Cheers 

 

[miceblue]

How's the weight compared to the HA2?

Any other comparisons with the HA2 soundwise?

According to my food scale, the GOv2+ (without the rubber plug) is 4.5 oz (127.6 g) while the HA-2 is 6.3 oz (178.6 g)

Sound-wise, I'll have to do more comparisons. The K701 balanced with the Norne Audio adaptor and FRM mode sounds really fantastic though. I'm not getting a lot of the typical Sabre glare that I find to be the case with the XLR output of the X Infinity for some reason...which is, again, scary considering the price difference. I'll need to do more comparisons later once I get a different power cable for the LPS4. I didn't get a Wave X nor XD nor XDF since I figured I would never use balanced audio connections for a portable setup so here's hoping that the dual ESS9018AQ2M chips still sounds great.

I just dislike the user interface of the thing for a desktop. Here's how I have it setup so that it charges and plays audio at the same time.


Cable routing is such a pain for a desktop setup, but for a portable setup, it's nice to have the digital input and analogue output on the same side of the device (unlike the HA-2, which makes the whole setup really long). I don't have a longer microUSB cable so I can't use my MacBook's normal USB ports (which are on opposite sides of the computer) to connect to the v2+.

 

[tmarshl]

Finally got a chance to listen to the V2+ Infinity in balanced mode using my Noble K10's (had a 2.5mm TRRS female to 3.5mm TRRS male cable made so I could use my 2.5mm TRRS terminated ALO Tinsel IEM cable). Sounds really nice, IMHO noticeably better than SE.

If the Wave XD Signature takes this sound and improves upon it for a real DAP then I'm really excited. Still not happy about the delays, but happy with the sound. Also hope that LHL has learned from the challenges of the V2 and V2+ in terms of the cases to help make the Wave case really good.

Cheers

Could you advise where your purchased your 2.5mm TRRS female to 3.5mm TRRS male cable?  I have a balanced 2.5mm cable for my (former) AK240 which I would like to use.  Thanks.

 

[mscott58]

 
Could you advise where your purchased your 2.5mm TRRS female to 3.5mm TRRS male cable?  I have a balanced 2.5mm cable for my (former) AK240 which I would like to use.  Thanks.

Sure! I had Luna Shops make one for me. They're happy to customize cables such as this, just be very clear what you want in terms of size, pin-out and length of cable. I have 5 of their adapters now and only one I had to get redone. 
 
Their email is sales@lunashops.com. I have no connection to them other than using their stuff. It's not TOTL, but it's functional. For anything I want to be super-solid I tend to use Trevor at Norne Audio. 
 
Cheers 

 

[greenkiwi]

I'd like to read more about this protection. Do you happen to have any links to that conversation? I haven't followed the LH site ever since they shut the old force down. It became much to complicated to keep up with anything.

It was definitely on their old site... then they moved to the next one which sucked, and I haven't been back.  Too bad, because I enjoyed the first one a lot.
 
@Larry-Ho would probably be able to answer this very quickly.