[theOmni]

Thank you for your quick reply!
 
This is the sound card I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102033
 
Which ports do I use and which wire will I need?

 

[bearFNF]

  Thank you for your quick reply!
 
This is the sound card I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102033
 
Which ports do I use and which wire will I need?

Need RCA to RCA cable like this:
Monoprice 1.5ft Premium 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable - Black

 
Here ya go:

 

[FlySweep]

I know it's been mentioned before.. but I thought I'd reiterate this point w/ my own personal experience:
 
- The Vali is very, very worthy of being paired with a DAC that cost many times its price -
 
I finally got a chance to hook the Vali up to the V800.. plugged in the HD650.
 
Oh. My. Goodness.
 
I was astonished at how this diminutive beast impressed me even further.  I'm not even tossing a bunch of hi-res, super-well recorded stuff at it, either (a variety of hip hop, jazz, electronica, and rock from my MOG subscription).
 
Simply terrific.
 
This amp is destined for classic status, IMO.  Again, $120 has no business sounding this good.

 

[Makiah S]

are you stuck to tubes?
I only ask because I enjoy both SS and tubes...

me too. My w1000X sounds divine out of my nfb vali combo. While I prefer my dt 880 fully balanced with the nfb10es2

either way the vali imo is phenominal for the price

also a touch south of neutral is a good way to describe it!

 

[Makiah S]

I know it's been mentioned before.. but I thought I'd reiterate this point w/ my own personal experience:

- The Vali is very, very worthy of being paired with a DAC that cost many times its price -

I finally got a chance to hook the Vali up to the V800.. plugged in the HD650.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I was astonished at how this diminutive beast impressed me even further.  I'm not even tossing a bunch of hi-res, super-well recorded stuff at it, either (a variety of hip hop, jazz, electronica, and rock from my MOG subscription).

Simply terrific.

This amp is destined for classic status, IMO.  Again, $120 has no business sounding this good.

+9000 lol. I noticed the same. The vali scaled amazingly with my nfb10es2 as a preamp. The only flaw it has is a lil noise with sensitive cans during quiet passages... n i csn TOTALLY live with that!

 

[vaibhavp]

is vali good for adding some warmth and musicality to analytical sounding cans like akg q701?
 
can anyone explain how pair sounds in your experience?
 
thanks.

 

[bala]

  I know it's been mentioned before.. but I thought I'd reiterate this point w/ my own personal experience:
 
- The Vali is very, very worthy of being paired with a DAC that cost many times its price -
 
I finally got a chance to hook the Vali up to the V800.. plugged in the HD650.
 
Oh. My. Goodness.
 
I was astonished at how this diminutive beast impressed me even further.  I'm not even tossing a bunch of hi-res, super-well recorded stuff at it, either (a variety of hip hop, jazz, electronica, and rock from my MOG subscription).
 
Simply terrific.
 
This amp is destined for classic status, IMO.  Again, $120 has no business sounding this good.

 
That sure is high praise coming from a BH/SB-HD650 listener, makes life difficult waiting for Schiit to fix the initial issues with the amp! Have to resist

 

[Makiah S]

   
That sure is high praise coming from a BH/SB-HD650 listener, makes life difficult waiting for Schiit to fix the initial issues with the amp! Have to resist

GIVE IN,
 
I got unit 5xx and It's fine. Yea it has a little noise but it's a tube that's to be expected. Not to mention it is dead silent with my DT 880 600 ohm 

 

[Misterrogers]

   
That sure is high praise coming from a BH/SB-HD650 listener, makes life difficult waiting for Schiit to fix the initial issues with the amp! Have to resist

I don't expect Schiit to go farther than they have in trying to 'fix' the microphonics of this little amp. Combining the microphonic nature of the tube being used, the efforts already taken, the price point of the amp... As is, they'll sell everyone they can make.

 

[MattTCG]

I liked the Vali, but it does not work well for sensitive cans IMO. The sony ma900 was noisy to the point of being unlistenable.  The only other real issue that I had outside the microphonics was that there wasn't much play on the volume pot. For me, it was medium loud at 9:00...so to be at a comfortable listening level I was at 8-8:30. 
 
Other than that I felt like the Vali was a bargain at it's price point. In fairness, I wouldn't compare the Vali to amps costing $1k+. But I did feel it was comparable to amps costing 2-3x as much which is quite a testament to just how good it is. 
 
The is my go to recommendation for all those asking what to spend around $100. Nothing else even comes close IMO.
 
To the guys at Schiit...
 
 

 

[CarpeDijon]

I liked the Vali, but it does not work well for sensitive cans IMO. The sony ma900 was noisy to the point of being unlistenable.  

From your statement and others I've read, I assume that it won't work well with the ATH-AD2000, either. Has anyone tried this pairing?

 

[ryant]

Thanks for the kind words regarding the review. I will probably update it once I get closer to the 100 hour mark.

I did just order some fostex t50rp cans and modding supplies. They should be here Friday so I can hopefully get some impressions of how the Vali pairs with them. It might be a while before I can get them tweaked how I like but I think a before and after impression would be warranted .

As to sensitive cans. My HE-300s may fall into that range a bit. 50 ohms and 92 db. I can pick out just the slightest bit of noise if I am in a quiet room with nothing playing. Where the volume pot is at doesn't change the level. I was listening for any noise floor issues and honestly took a while to hear it. The sennheiser hd-439's do not pair well. The noise floor is higher and ringing seems almost constant though faint.

 

[Makiah S]

From your statement and others I've read, I assume that it won't work well with the ATH-AD2000, either. Has anyone tried this pairing?

I like it with my W1000x, which should have simmilar sensivity and impedance as the AD 2000 

 

[jaywillin]

  are you stuck to tubes?
I only ask because I enjoy both SS and tubes...

NOOOOOOOOOOO ! lol   though i do tend to lean the "tube" way
 
as i type, listening to the lcd2.2 out of my wadia 121's headphone output, its top notch ! and i briefly had the soloist, but i ultimately opted for the lyr over it
and honestly, i don't know that i'd pick the vali over the lyr, but sonically, they are pretty dang close
and the lyr controls my ps1's
what i may do, and i'm pretty close to pulling the trigger, is giving the mjolnir a whirl, run it from the balanced outs of the
wadia, run single ended to the lyr.
i'm still exploring !!
and open to suggestions !!

 

[Makiah S]

 
NOOOOOOOOOOO ! lol   though i do tend to lean the "tube" way
 
as i type, listening to the lcd2.2 out of my wadia 121's headphone output, its top notch ! and i briefly had the soloist, but i ultimately opted for the lyr over it
and honestly, i don't know that i'd pick the vali over the lyr, but sonically, they are pretty dang close
and the lyr controls my ps1's
what i may do, and i'm pretty close to pulling the trigger, is giving the mjolnir a whirl, run it from the balanced outs of the
wadia, run single ended to the lyr.
i'm still exploring !!

Crazy story, about 6 months ago this fellow bought my Indeed G3... and now he's got A Lyr COMMUNITY 
 
ehm, that said I'm really a Solid State guy. The Vali is the nicest sounding tube I've heard so far... and I've only had cheap tubes atm. I don't think I'll b upgrading from the Vali for a while! Honestly >.>