[rreifsn]

Another of my many Vali updates.  I posted earlier that I gave my Vali to my son when he started back at college to match up with a pair of  HD-600s and kept my old Asgard 1 to run my HE400s.  For me it was a gigantic difference going back to the Asgard and after 3 days I had to ask for it back.  Lol, I felt bad but for me the sound with the HE400s is startling better and I really missed it.  He has my old Asgard 1 now which is a great sounding amp with the HD-600s and I have the Vali back.
 
For all you guys new to this thread the Vali is a great pairing with the HE400s and the HD-600s.  For me it lifts the soundstage and differentiates each instrument. Try Steely Dan Katy Lied.  Donald Fagen used a local microphonics recording system to capture each player in a separated environment.  Sounds much better on the Vali than Asgard.
 
As far as the ringing ****, yes it rings when bumped or first turned on.  Get over it. My amp settles down in 20 secs at most and I have it sitting on 2 layers of that grip beaded shelf liner which dampens any vibration.  Just buy this amp especially if you have a nice Sennheiser or lower llvl Ortho.  You will be happy.

 

[00Dan]

So since I've determined through reading this thread that both of the following work well with the Vali, if you had to pick between an HE-400 or an HD 650 to pair with it, which would it be?

 

[StanD]

  Another of my many Vali updates.  I posted earlier that I gave my Vali to my son when he started back at college to match up with a pair of  HD-600s and kept my old Asgard 1 to run my HE400s.  For me it was a gigantic difference going back to the Asgard and after 3 days I had to ask for it back.  Lol, I felt bad but for me the sound with the HE400s is startling better and I really missed it.  He has my old Asgard 1 now which is a great sounding amp with the HD-400s and I have the Vali back.
 
For all you guys new to this thread the Vali is a great pairing with the HE400s and the HD-600s.  For me it lifts the soundstage and differentiates each instrument. Try Steely Dan Katy Lied.  Donald Fagen used a local microphonics recording system to capture each player in a separated environment.  Sounds much better on the Vali than Asgard.
 
As far as the ringing ****, yes it rings when bumped or first turned on.  Get over it. My amp settles down in 20 secs at most and I have it sitting on 2 layers of that grip beaded shelf liner which dampens any vibration.  Just buy this amp especially if you have a nice Sennheiser or lower llvl Ortho.  You will be happy.

I have a Vali and the newer Asgard 2. The Asgard 2 is very improved, it drives my HD600's and HE-500's superbly.
My Vali sits directly on a night table and I have no serious ringing issues. I can turn the volume knob and touch the unit, no problems. Plugging the jack in or out starts a short ringing session.

 

[antikryst]

I've already tried the Asgard2 with both HE-500's and HD600's. In a word, outstanding. If I had to keep only one or could only purchase one, it would be the Asgard 2. The HD600's do well with both amps. The HE-500's does OK with the Vali but the Asgard2 can drive them much harder and that pairing will be my choice. I'll have to try some more later but from memory I think the Asgard delivered bass better to the HE-500's, I'll have to do an A/B this weekend as I wouldn't trust memory for an accurate comparison.
Of course the Asgard doesn't have the ringing, which in the Vali I have doesn't bug me so much...........OK, just for you....I plugged in my Momentums which are much more sensitive. On the Vali I could hear noise. On the Asgard2 with the gain switch on high and the volume cranked up all the way, not a peep. If I turned on the music my head would have imploded, my eyes would pop out and I would be deaf till death. This amp is the bee's knees.

The Vali does an excellent job with the HD600's, since they are not too sensitive, I hear no noise, yet the HD600's are sensitive enough for the Vali to drive quite loudly. Either amp does an excellent job with the HD600's. If you are planning to drive sensitive IEM's/cans or low efficiency Orthos, the Vali may not be for you. They do an adequate job of driving the HE-600's with no apparent extra distortion, read as sufficient headroom unless you need to play real loud. I can turn it up all the way with the HE-500's and not feel pain although I wouldn't want to listen at that level for too long even though it is not quite blasting. An HE-6 or similar low efficiency can is out of the question. If you like your Vali and it works with your cans/IEM's keep it and enjoy the music.
TIme to swap the Momentums out and the HE-500's in. I'll listen more to the Vali later as it's upstairs.

So how does the he500 do on the vali vs magni vs asgard 2?

Have the modi and magni stack and the he500s. Thinking of my next upgrade. Bifrost and asgard. Or maybe another modi plus vali for a second setup at home.

 

[StanD]

So how does the he500 do on the vali vs magni vs asgard 2?

Have the modi and magni stack and the he500s. Thinking of my next upgrade. Bifrost and asgard. Or maybe another modi plus vali for a second setup at home.

I don't have a Magni, but do have both the Vali and Asgard 2. The HE-500's play well on both. The Asgard 2 can drive them much louder. I can turn the Vali up all the way and not have to rip the cans off my head. 

 The Asgard 2 has no background noise, the Vali does have some, however, it's not a problem with the HE-500's. At one time I was considering getting the Magni, the specs are very good, distortion very low and plenty of power.
How does the Magni handle your HE-500's? I suspect that it can drive them rather well.

 

[swannie007]

   
It's a long thread, so I'm not surprised you couldn't find the comments on this pairing.
 
From what I recall, the bumped up bass and warm tone of the 650 was too much when paired with the Vali. Too much of a good thing when put together. That was the take away I got.
 
Apparently, the 600 is a better pairing. It's not as euphonic as the 650, so matches better with the Vali.
 
I haven't tried the 650 on the Vali myself, so anyone who has, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I have the 650's and tried them quite a bit(about 4 to 6 hours) with the Vali and must concur, too much of a good thing. I much prefer my Q701's with the Vali, a much better synergy for my ears and more revealing of the background nuances of the music. Hey, different strokes for different folks.

 

[LogicAudio]

  I really like this amp but I find it fatiguing with my X1

I had same frustrating hearing experience with it. sound is good at first hear but won't last too much to unplug it

 

[heart banger-97]

I recently received my Vali. and my Vali's number is 867. I have a question about ringing, that may have been asked before in this thread.
 
The ringing in my left side, disappear very soon (less than 15 second or maybe less) but in the right, it lasts for about 1 min. is this usual? is it possible that this happens because one of tubes looses its place and comes up? when I hit Vali's box, the ringing in the right ear is much more than left ear too.
 
thanks

 

[x838nwy]

I recently received my Vali. and my Vali's number is 867. I have a question about ringing, that may have been asked before in this thread.

The ringing in my left side, disappear very soon (less than 15 second or maybe less) but in the right, it lasts for about 1 min. is this usual? is it possible that this happens because one of tubes looses its place and comes up? when I hit Vali's box, the ringing in the right ear is much more than left ear too.

thanks

Okay, it's Sunday evening here so i'll be nice. It rings. The two sides don't ring the same And i think most people find it worse on the right channel. This i stipulated that it is to do with where the tubes are located on the board - one is notably closer to the headphone jack and the vol. pot than the other. However this has not been confirmed as the actual reason.

And i assume it's not necessary to tap the case?

 

[coffeenotaddict]

Hello
 
I recently got my Vali+Modi in, and when paired with my PSBM4U-1 headphones, the hissing is severe and unbearable. I am told that this is normal for these efficient headphones. I was wondering what specific measurement in the headphone specifications I should be looking at when judging whether the Vali noise floor would be inaudible with certain headphones.
 
I initially thought it would just be the sensitivity measurement, but these (apparently) have the same sensitivity level (102db) as Sennheiser HD 800.
 
I've also been hearing a lot of inconsistent information when it is paired with the Sennheiser HD 598's. Some say that the hissing is non-existent, but I was told at customer service that the 598's do, in fact, hiss.
 
I'm really hoping these aren't defective. I paid well over the product price because of some really obscene brokerage fees by my terrible shipping company.

 

[StanD]

  Hello
 
I recently got my Vali+Modi in, and when paired with my PSBM4U-1 headphones, the hissing is severe and unbearable. I am told that this is normal for these efficient headphones. I was wondering what specific measurement in the headphone specifications I should be looking at when judging whether the Vali noise floor would be inaudible with certain headphones.
 
I initially thought it would just be the sensitivity measurement, but these (apparently) have the same sensitivity level (102db) as Sennheiser HD 800.
 
I've also been hearing a lot of inconsistent information when it is paired with the Sennheiser HD 598's. Some say that the hissing is non-existent, but I was told at customer service that the 598's do, in fact, hiss.
 
I'm really hoping these aren't defective. I paid well over the product price because of some really obscene brokerage fees by my terrible shipping company.

Your cans are rated at 102 dB/mW at 32 Ohms while the HD800's are 102 db at 1V at 300 Ohms. Not the same story. Sorry, it's too early in the morning for me to start with the calculator and it's Sunday. You'll have to work out the comparative figures.

 

[prsut]

  I recently received my Vali. and my Vali's number is 867. I have a question about ringing, that may have been asked before in this thread.
 
The ringing in my left side, disappear very soon (less than 15 second or maybe less) but in the right, it lasts for about 1 min. is this usual? is it possible that this happens because one of tubes looses its place and comes up? when I hit Vali's box, the ringing in the right ear is much more than left ear too.
 
thanks

On my unit it rings opposite. Left is ringing louder and longer. If I want to hear right, I must knock vali hard enough. I did it only once as I do not want to make it worse because ringing is no issue for me.
When my Vali arrived I unscrewed cover. Both tubes were pressed to foam firmly, but I noticed difference. One tube is parallel to PCB, while other tube is pressed more at legs part - I do not remember what tube - left or right, difference is maybe 5 degrees.

 

[prsut]

  Hello
 
I recently got my Vali+Modi in, and when paired with my PSBM4U-1 headphones, the hissing is severe and unbearable. I am told that this is normal for these efficient headphones. I was wondering what specific measurement in the headphone specifications I should be looking at when judging whether the Vali noise floor would be inaudible with certain headphones.
 
I initially thought it would just be the sensitivity measurement, but these (apparently) have the same sensitivity level (102db) as Sennheiser HD 800.
 
I've also been hearing a lot of inconsistent information when it is paired with the Sennheiser HD 598's. Some say that the hissing is non-existent, but I was told at customer service that the 598's do, in fact, hiss.
 
I'm really hoping these aren't defective. I paid well over the product price because of some really obscene brokerage fees by my terrible shipping company.

My denons are 25Ohm / 106dB/mW. I hear noise floor, but for example Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon (original Mobile Fidelity ultradisc II Gold CD) has noise floor higher. So my Vali noise is barely audible. Once something is playing I do not register it (Today I had session with Carmen McRae and Shirley Horn). 

 

[StanD]

 
My denons are 25Ohm / 106dB/mW. I hear noise floor, but for example Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon (original Mobile Fidelity ultradisc II Gold CD) has noise floor higher. So my Vali noise is barely audible. Once something is playing I do not register it (Today I had session with Carmen McRae and Shirley Horn). 

Unplug your RCA input cables (source) and then listen for the noise of the Vali itself.

 

[benjaminhuypham]

I know Vali is phenomenal amp, but Go Broncos, Go Orange Crush =))