You won't regret the purchase. A very versatile amp that pairs decently with most headphones, both low and high impedance. Sounds pretty decent with my HD800s too.
As someone with a Vali, but always curious about HD800, I'd be interested in your summary about how the HD800 sounds (good and bad) with the Vali.
music genres especially, since I'm not a true classical or jazz listener.
thanks.
As someone with a Vali, but always curious about HD800, I'd be interested in your summary about how the HD800 sounds (good and bad) with the Vali.
music genres especially, since I'm not a true classical or jazz listener.
thanks.
I listen almost exclusively to metal with my HD800 and the occasional Canto-pop tune. Gimme a couple days to have a listen with the Vali before I come back to you...enjoying the 800 too much with my Little Dot Mk III now
From what i can recall, early impressions were it's quite resolving for the price - i could hear pretty good separation of instruments, soundstage was naturally expansive, bass was a tad light and treble was prominent yet not painful..mids were natural with vocals being present and not lost in the mix..
Broke in BOTH my K550's and K702's with a splitter at the same time. No Problems for over 200hrs Straight non stop running for burn-in. 32Ohm + 64 Ohm. Directly off Analog audio outputs from CD Player to Vali at 1/2 Volume via splitter to both headphones.
It does not ring all the time. In my case it only rings for 20 - 40 seconds after plugging in the headphone. Then it is gone. As I do not plug and unplug often, I don't really care about the ringing issue.
I don't even bother opening the case to push the tubes down.
Had the Vali here for a day before returning it. It had already been said that it's quite similar to the A2 which I quickly agreed with when I started listening. My prob is that the low end is overly well-rounded (emphasized?) in these amps. Too much for my taste anyway. I'm curious, what's your views on that? Also, the size man the size. I knew it was tiny and never bothered to actually think about the dimension specifications but it's sooo small! It's like a portable amp. At unpacking I asked myself if they sent me a dummy miniature or something. However stupid this sounds, I couldn't take it very serious /dislike
i was also taken aback by the size. lol. but i imho, good value for the price point given it can drive my hd800 well (lots of room for improvement of course)
i think the size is perfect, especially when stacked on modi, sits perfectly beside my mac. the silver color also matches my mac well. again this is just personal prefererence
i feel the bass is not so punchy as the t-amp inside my Sony CMT-BX20i bookshelf system....so sort of contrary to your overly emphasized...
however, the mids are awesome. no matter male or female vocals - so touching
Finally got around to plugging in my HifiMan HE-400 to my Vali amp. This little amp is crazy good. For 119.00 bones this thing has no business sounding this good but it does. Both Schiit and NuForce have made me do a double take and realize that one doesn't have to sell ones soul to have a nice sounding audio rig and experience top tier audio.
The HE-400 scales nicely with amping, it always has. Out of all my amps only my ALO RX MKIII-B bests it, it better considering its over 600 bones. Even so, the Vali isn't cleanly beaten. My AKG Q701 for example sounds like crud on the ALO amp, no synergy what-so-ever. Its the Q701 that probably benefits the most from the Vali. Under the Vali's toolage the Q701 comes alive and its bass finally has depth and hits hard. The snap I'm hearing on the drums with the Vali driving the Q701 is sublime. Along with the lows the mids seemed to have filled out albeit note presentation still sounds as crisp and clean as it ever did. The highs, still very forward but now its no longer as spiky sounding. Gone with the spikes is that God awful metallic tinge, about time. End result, the treble sounds wonderfully smooth. Astounding what a little cheaply priced amp can do to a headphone.
Bleh, I've gone off on a tangent again. I originally started this entry with the intention of documenting my impressions with the HE-400. Instead I've gone on and on about the Q701. Shouldn't be surprised, jumbled mind jumbled entry.
The HE-400 seems to love the Vali as much as the RX MKIII-B. Listening to it, grooving to Papadosio as I type this, I find myself both entertained and awed by how nimble the HE-400 sounds as it effortlessly belts out great sounding music. The HE-400 on the Aune T1 with Gold Lion Tube sounded good. On the Vali the HE-400 sounds fantastic. The Aune T1's amp section never had a chance against the Vali. The bass sounds cleaner and far faster. Although the Vali seemed to smooth the highs on the Q701 the HE-400 still has the same bite in the upper registers only cleaner. The mids are what I'm still trying to figure out with this pairing. They're far cleaner with the Vali then with the Aune T1. The question I still have to answer for myself is if it's as clean as with the ALO RXIII-B. So far, in my book, it's a tough call. Since I've bought the Aune T1 into the equation, wonder how the Vali would sound if i was to pair it with the Aune's DAC section instead of my ALO CLAS-db? Looks like I have something else to investigate tomorrow.
Jason Stoddard was the mind who designed the Vali and Warren Chi was the guy who said it would blow me away. Good thing neither of them are standing beside me right now. If they were I'd be getting slugged for kissing both of them on the mouth. What a crazy sounding amp.
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