[karlsonklam]

Mike's 6DJ8 cascode Theta phono preamp was about my favorite  - (I wasn't suggesting you guyz didn't have your Schiit together)

 

[wje]

   
Yep, sorry I didn't see the talk about O-rings/grommets/etc earlier. We tried all of that (and a couple of other things, too) and they don't help appreciably with the microphonics. If they had, that's the way we would have gone. Believe it or not, we have a real engineering department here. 
 
Why doesn't damping the tube make the microphonics better? Simple--the tube glass isn't ringing, it's the internal structure of the tube, which you cannot touch.
 
The best solution would be a small antigravity device to float the tubes in open air, but short of that, the solution we arrived at is the best from a production standpoint. In happier news, though, we're now applying an additional, long-term noise sort on testing to weed out the unacceptable "ringers."

 
Jason
 
Thanks.  I never had any doubt that you would have some of the best real engineering that I have seen.  Your products clearly demonstrate it. I'm making an assumption from your last sentence that you're now applying a final step prior to releasing the Vali for shipping that works to resolve some of the noted issues?  If so, that sounds fabulous!  Seriously.  If you are open to work with me on updating the unit I have, I'd be happy as peaches.  As mentioned, though, the Vali is a great amp.  Beautiful sound.  Beautiful punchy bass ... yet providing enough on the top end to get some real cymbal action to come through for an appreciable listening experience.  The Lil' Vali has some characteristics that I've not been able to hear in some other mid-fi headphone amplifiers that cost 3, 4 or 5 times that of the Vali.
 
I'm not sure which other amp that Schiit offers would provide a pleasing sound like the Vali.  The Asgard is nice.  Quite nice in fact, but it is a polite amp with a polite sound.  I'm not sure if the Valhalla or Lyr can offer the same punch and cymbal detail that I've described as a attribute of the Vali.  Since I'm getting nicely adjusting and loving the sound I hear, I'd be less inclined to spend more money for a sound that I might not fully appreciate and a sound that could potentially be too much different from that of what I can appreciate in the Vali.

 

[swannie007]

Just got my Vali when I got home today!! Opened it up and found one tube at about a 30 degree angle (hey, it shipped from CA. to Queensland, Australia!) so I took some paper towel and pushed it back down, put the rubber feet on it, plugged in some cans and fired her up. Holy Schiit!!! This little baby can sing!  Not getting any noticeable ringing and I love the detail without the the harshness(hey, I'm no audiophile with years of experience in describing the tonal qualities of equipment, I just know what I like and what sounds good to me so don't take me to task about the lack of technicalities in my description!).
So far in the last three hours I have listened to this amp paired with a Modi dac and a pair of Q701's , a pair of custom Grado's with aluminium cups and upgraded drivers and right now with my HD650's.
So far, I like it best with the HD650's but the other two are great as well. The clarity is amazing. Right now I am listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan (Tin Pan Alley) and it is some of the best sound I have ever heard! Now before you get your knickers in a knot, let me clarify that it is some of the best sound I have heard, that does not mean it is the best sound out there but to my ears, it is fantastic.
I will pair the Vali with my Rotel  RDD06 dac as well as my Audio Engine D1 dac and see what that sounds like. Looking forward to doing some back to back comparisons in the next few days with a bunch of other cans I have.
So, bottom line, I am a happy camper and must say that this is certainly some of the best money I have spent with this hobby! Thank you Schiit for the great products and also for pricing them at a level that makes them accessible to a lot of consumers who might otherwise not be able to enjoy the pleasure of such good sound.
Happy holidays to all and enjoy your music.

 

[JohnBal]

Just got my Vali when I got home today!! Opened it up and found one tube at about a 30 degree angle (hey, it shipped from CA. to Queensland, Australia!) so I took some paper towel and pushed it back down, put the rubber feet on it, plugged in some cans and fired her up. Holy Schiit!!! This little baby can sing!  Not getting any noticeable ringing and I love the detail without the the harshness(hey, I'm no audiophile with years of experience in describing the tonal qualities of equipment, I just know what I like and what sounds good to me so don't take me to task about the lack of technicalities in my description!).


So far in the last three hours I have listened to this amp paired with a Modi dac and a pair of Q701's , a pair of custom Grado's with aluminium cups and upgraded drivers and right now with my HD650's.


So far, I like it best with the HD650's but the other two are great as well. The clarity is amazing. Right now I am listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan (Tin Pan Alley) and it is some of the best sound I have ever heard! Now before you get your knickers in a knot, let me clarify that it is some of the best sound I have heard, that does not mean it is the best sound out there but to my ears, it is fantastic.


I will pair the Vali with my Rotel  RDD06 dac as well as my Audio Engine D1 dac and see what that sounds like. Looking forward to doing some back to back comparisons in the next few days with a bunch of other cans I have.


So, bottom line, I am a happy camper and must say that this is certainly some of the best money I have spent with this hobby! Thank you Schiit for the great products and also for pricing them at a level that makes them accessible to a lot of consumers who might otherwise not be able to enjoy the pleasure of such good sound.


Happy holidays to all and enjoy your music.

 


Now that is what this hobby is all about! Enjoy you music! I need another piece of Schiit for the holidays myself.

 

[wje]

Swannie007,
 
What serial number does yours have on the back?  Also, the ringing issue is not an on-going item that remains present while you listen to music.  It initially only appears for about the first 30 seconds after powering up the amp.  In this case, that is just the issue with the minor microphonics playing their effects.  In my case, it is present as I've clicked on the power switch in the back of the amp - thus, moving it slightly to activate the microphics item and creating a small ring - small, but clears up in about 30 seconds.
 
Also, for the others, here's a quick picture of the tubes with the "O" rings in place.
 

 

[swannie007]

Hey wje,
The serial # on mine is 00184.  I just treat it like any other amp and it's just fine during normal operation. Perhaps it's the good snake oil they used for the units they shipped to Oz! Cheers.

 

[thegunner100]

  Thanks for posting this.  I'm considering getting one or both, and selling whichever I like least.  This will be my first foray into tubes, and I must admit I am at least interested in being able to roll.  Sounds like you would go for the Vali?  I'm thinking that's the direction I'm going to go.  Can't really lose for $119, and I've been really happy with Schiit's customer service.

I definitely prefer the vali with the hd800s and my friend really enjoyed the vali with his hd600s and said he would most likely purchase one. Really depends on the pair of headphones and dac you will be using. If your dac and headphones arent too resolving, you probably wont notice a huge difference between the two amps. 

 

[Makiah S]

  I did all of my comparing with the hd800 (anax 2.0 modded) while my friend used his hd600s (old black drivers). The little dot was equipped with the Sylvania Gold Brand 5654 tubes. Overall our impressions between the two were very similar; with me noticing more differences than he did. 
 
Soundstage - It felt like the little dot had a little bit more depth to it than the vali, however, the vali was a little bit wider. The Vali's soundstage was more coherent, with the instruments and vocals filling the soundstage more appropiately. 
 
Bass - The Vali was punchier, and also brought out more subbass than the little dot.
 
Mids - The vali had more wetness to it than the little dot, despite it being a a hybrid compared to a OTL. The mids on the vali were more enjoyable than on the little dot.
 
Treble - The vali was slightly brighter than the little dot and stood out more, due to the lively nature of the vali. It was also more detailed as well.
 
Other comments - The vali was more dynamic and lively sounding whereas the little dot is the typical OTL tube amp with its warm sounding and smooth nature. However due to the smoothness, the amp was lacking dynamics. The bass and cymbals hit harder on the vali, which I felt was more true to the track's nature  The Vali was more revealing and transparent than the little dot and brings out more of your dac than the little dot does. It will scale better with your dacs than the little dot as well. 

that is so magical to hear! I've yet to try my Vali on my NFB 10ES2, I'm uber excited now. And I must admit... that sub bass HITS HARD... which shocked me! I'm very happy with my purchase! Also happier to hear it's brighter than a typical OTL... I like a few others... have to ask what upgrade is there from the Vali q.q hoping I won't have to break into the thousands <.< 

 

[thegunner100]

  that is so magical to hear! I've yet to try my Vali on my NFB 10ES2, I'm uber excited now. And I must admit... that sub bass HITS HARD... which shocked me! I'm very happy with my purchase! Also happier to hear it's brighter than a typical OTL... I like a few others... have to ask what upgrade is there from the Vali q.q hoping I won't have to break into the thousands <.< 

Well... It'll probably cost quite a bit to get an upg from the Vali. Mjolnir is a good choice for orthos, based on what i've read. Since I strictly use the hd800s, I am just waiting on a zana deux
 
I also finally bit the bullet on a b-stock gungnir usb gen 2 from schiit. I think that may be my end game dac, unless the yggdrasil proves to be REALLY good. But with the gungnir's upgradeability, I think I'll be safe. I'll comment on the gungnir + vali combo sometime next week. 
 
After the gungnir and zana deux... I think i'm done. It's getting so hard to justify upgrading, with the steep diminishing returns. I met up with someone two days ago, with the master 7, lampizator gen 4, and the dna stratus. I unfortunately didn't get to try out my music because the USB drivers weren't working properly on my surface, but I might go back to his house sometime next year when I have the ZD + gungnir to compare. 
 
Oh, and he was really impressed by the Vali + lampi + hd800 (anax 2.0) combo. He said he was hearing everything that he was used to hearing with his lampi/m7 + dna stratus combo. 

 

[eccom]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

  Swannie007,
 
What serial number does yours have on the back?  Also, the ringing issue is not an on-going item that remains present while you listen to music.  It initially only appears for about the first 30 seconds after powering up the amp.  In this case, that is just the issue with the minor microphonics playing their effects.  In my case, it is present as I've clicked on the power switch in the back of the amp - thus, moving it slightly to activate the microphics item and creating a small ring - small, but clears up in about 30 seconds.
 
Also, for the others, here's a quick picture of the tubes with the "O" rings in place.
 

 

For me the ringing is both on turning the amp on, and a "persistent" issue. It can be solved by turning the amp off, and then on again in my case. I've even experienced it to start ringing by itself so loud that I walked into the room to find the source of the squeal Turns out I left it on and it started ringing.
 
I do still enjoy it, it has very full sound and i do prefer it over my O2 or reciever with the HD650s. A great bass punch, which it turns out I've been missing all along.

 

[Makiah S]

 
Well... It'll probably cost quite a bit to get an upg from the Vali. Mjolnir is a good choice for orthos, based on what i've read. Since I strictly use the hd800s, I am just waiting on a zana deux
 
I also finally bit the bullet on a b-stock gungnir usb gen 2 from schiit. I think that may be my end game dac, unless the yggdrasil proves to be REALLY good. But with the gungnir's upgradeability, I think I'll be safe. I'll comment on the gungnir + vali combo sometime next week. 
 
After the gungnir and zana deux... I think i'm done. It's getting so hard to justify upgrading, with the steep diminishing returns. I met up with someone two days ago, with the master 7, lampizator gen 4, and the dna stratus. I unfortunately didn't get to try out my music because the USB drivers weren't working properly on my surface, but I might go back to his house sometime next year when I have the ZD + gungnir to compare. 
 
Oh, and he was really impressed by the Vali + lampi + hd800 (anax 2.0) combo. He said he was hearing everything that he was used to hearing with his lampi/m7 + dna stratus combo. 

A solid state isn't the upgrade I''m looking for. I mean a tube upgrade

 

[Binge]

 
So pretty much the same as the Vali. Has anyone done comparisons of the 2?

 
I have both in my possession right now.  The Aune T1 is interesting but it is nothing like the Vali.  The Aune uses the tube as a filter for the DAC.  That being said it does not amplify a thing.  The amp (which is a mediocre solid state) in the Aune is much worse than the Vali depending on the pair.
 
If you needed an amp/dac and you were on a budget I would not hesitate to buy the Aune for $110, but if you really want the Vali's class A tube front end then you should not compare it to the Aune at all and just get yourself a nice DAC to go with it.

 

[Makiah S]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

For me the ringing is both on turning the amp on, and a "persistent" issue. It can be solved by turning the amp off, and then on again in my case. I've even experienced it to start ringing by itself so loud that I walked into the room to find the source of the squeal Turns out I left it on and it started ringing.
 
I do still enjoy it, it has very full sound and i do prefer it over my O2 or reciever with the HD650s. A great bass punch, which it turns out I've been missing all along.

btw did you get teh O Rings, or are you thinking about it? 
 
I wonder if they would help for those of you still having ringing issues.
 
I'm on a VERY wobbly desk atm, so a lot of very small but substitianl movements and no ringing on my Vali... 

 

[eccom]

My right tube is a stinker, just have to live with it. As we can see from Jason's reply they're not dumb, of course they tried to dampen things.

It actually got worse when I reseated it into the foam, so for sure there's no one way to do it.

Being careful and using the software volume control (which I did anyways with my other amps) solves the problem.

 

[4nradio]

  The clarity is amazing. Right now I am listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan (Tin Pan Alley) and it is some of the best sound I have ever heard! Now before you get your knickers in a knot, let me clarify that it is some of the best sound I have heard, that does not mean it is the best sound out there but to my ears, it is fantastic.
 

 
Excellent choice of test material  

  Do you have the MSFL version of the album that's made from the original master tapes? The Tin Pan Alley track is awesome from that album, with the clarity of the album coupled with the Vali's strengths. 
 
The Vali/HD800 (Anax) combo is causing me to go back through all my SRV material. Thanks to the Vali I'm enjoying these recordings like I've never heard them before.