[bboris77]

Hi everyone,
 
I have had a few more days to play with the Vali 2 and I am still blown away by it. With my T50RP MK III and Q701, it is spectacular. I also have an update regarding how it pairs with my Grado SR60e. Basically, it sounds great and the hiss that the original Vali had is completely gone at the low gain setting (at any volume) and the high gain setting up to about 2 o'clock on the volume pot. After that, I can hear some mild hiss but nobody sane would ever run this headphone at that volume anyway.
 
I do have a question considering some very mild 60hz hum that I am experiencing with low-impedance high-sensitivity headphones such as the Grados or the PX100. Basically, on these type of phones, there is a low level hum present at any volume setting in the high gain mode. It is very mild and can only be heard when no music is playing. On my PX100 it was present in the low gain mode as well, but it was extremely quiet to the point that you would have to have absolute silence in the room and really concentrate on it to hear it. While I could use the low gain mode for these phones, I prefer the high gain mode since it appears to open up the sound a bit. I only noticed this last night and I did not have the time to let the amp warm up to see if the noise would subside after the tube was up to its optimal temperature. I would really appreciate it if someone can check if their Vali 2 exhibits this kind of behaviour. I read on the Lyr threads that both Lyr and Lyr 2 do this under certain circumstances. I do have a spare stock tube and it too exhibits the same behaviour. I also tried the usual troubleshooting - unplugging everything, moving the amp, trying different outlets and so on.
 
Second thing that I noticed is that compared to the original Vali, the muting relay allows for a slightly louder pop when the amp is first turned on, especially if you are using the high-gain mode. Not to the point that it is uncomfortable, even on sensitive headphones, but it is something that is different compared to the original which had a mild pop and the famous ringing. The funny thing is that the actual mechanical relay click sound is much softer on the Vali 2 - looking at the board pictures, it is obvious that it is using a much smaller NEC relay, so I guess it is normal that it is behaving quite differently.
 
Just for the fun of it, I plugged in the original Vali last night to compare and wow, it is so easy to forget the microphonic nature of those micro tubes. With my PX100 there was mild but constant background hiss and adjusting the volume would produce mild ringing for a few seconds. No 60hz hum though at all. Sounds good, but not in the same league as its younger brother.

 

[bboris77]

  Bass versus the original Vali would be hard to compare without the original Vali in hand. I will be asking/requesting/reminding, daily if need be, for our local head-fier to bring his original Vali to our Februrary meet. (Of course the original question was how does HD800 do on the new and old versions of the Vali). I sold my Q701 and the K7XX is use today have a lot more bass. Just popped my HD650 on (I like these headphones a lot too through the Vali 2) and still have to say, first thing that I hear is the clarity of the highs and soundstage depth. The Vali 2 is certainly not lacking bass energy, but I would call the sound balanced overall - for a bass-head, perhaps even a little light with respect to bass. I'm certainly not hearing the thump that I've heard at meets when listening on the Bottlehead Crack or Woo Audio WA3 (internally modified for more power). That WA3 was just craziness - you could enjoy the HD650 while standing next to the person listening 

 

 
Not sure how to characterize the bass though in the Vali 2, without having a Vali next to me 

 

Hi,
 
I have both the Vali and Vali 2. While I did not do any A/B testing as I do not have the proper equipment for that, I can say with full confidence that the bass is much better on the Vali 2 in all aspects. Much better defined, extends lower but it's not bloated or overpowered. It seems faster as well, but it could simply be that the Vali 2 is just getting the best out of my T50RP mk3 planars. I have to say that a much superior bass performance was the first thing I noticed once I switched to the Vali 2 and I have the original Vali sound signature imprinted in my mind as I have been listening to it every day since I got it this summer.

 

[sheldaze]

 
I do have a question considering some very mild 60hz hum that I am experiencing with low-impedance high-sensitivity headphones such as the Grados or the PX100. Basically, on these type of phones, there is a low level hum present at any volume setting in the high gain mode. It is very mild and can only be heard when no music is playing. On my PX100 it was present in the low gain mode as well, but it was extremely quiet to the point that you would have to have absolute silence in the room and really concentrate on it to hear it. While I could use the low gain mode for these phones, I prefer the high gain mode since it appears to open up the sound a bit. I only noticed this last night and I did not have the time to let the amp warm up to see if the noise would subside after the tube was up to its optimal temperature. I would really appreciate it if someone can check if their Vali 2 exhibits this kind of behaviour. I read on the Lyr threads that both Lyr and Lyr 2 do this under certain circumstances. I do have a spare stock tube and it too exhibits the same behaviour. I also tried the usual troubleshooting - unplugging everything, moving the amp, trying different outlets and so on.
 
Second thing that I noticed is that compared to the original Vali, the muting relay allows for a slightly louder pop when the amp is first turned on, especially if you are using the high-gain mode. Not to the point that it is uncomfortable, even on sensitive headphones, but it is something that is different compared to the original which had a mild pop and the famous ringing. The funny thing is that the actual mechanical relay click sound is much softer on the Vali 2 - looking at the board pictures, it is obvious that it is using a much smaller NEC relay, so I guess it is normal that it is behaving quite differently.

Hum is probably due to low-impedance headphone with high-impedance output setting you've selected. Are you sure you cannot just turn up the volume and get the same "open" sound from the low setting? I'm rather attached to the sound (currently listening to a few tracks on my HD650), so I'll have to reconnect my Grado in a short while. Oh, what the hay - just hit pause while I'm typing this - no hum. There is something, very quiet and electrical, but I would not call it a hum. And it is more present on the Grado (while in high setting).
 
Yes, with regards to the pop. I don't think I'll leave my headphones plugged in as it turns on. I only recall a nice, quiet microphonic "ding" from the original Vali, once the mute switched off. The pop was a little disconcerting - I'll need to read the manual to see what they suggest. But I will just plug in after power on for now.

 

[Makiah S]

  Bass versus the original Vali would be hard to compare without the original Vali in hand. I will be asking/requesting/reminding, daily if need be, for our local head-fier to bring his original Vali to our Februrary meet. (Of course the original question was how does HD800 do on the new and old versions of the Vali). I sold my Q701 and the K7XX is use today have a lot more bass. Just popped my HD650 on (I like these headphones a lot too through the Vali 2) and still have to say, first thing that I hear is the clarity of the highs and soundstage depth. The Vali 2 is certainly not lacking bass energy, but I would call the sound balanced overall - for a bass-head, perhaps even a little light with respect to bass. I'm certainly not hearing the thump that I've heard at meets when listening on the Bottlehead Crack or Woo Audio WA3 (internally modified for more power). That WA3 was just craziness - you could enjoy the HD650 while standing next to the person listening 

 

 
Not sure how to characterize the bass though in the Vali 2, without having a Vali next to me 

 

 
 

  Hum is probably due to low-impedance headphone with high-impedance output setting you've selected. Are you sure you cannot just turn up the volume and get the same "open" sound from the low setting? I'm rather attached to the sound (currently listening to a few tracks on my HD650), so I'll have to reconnect my Grado in a short while. Oh, what the hay - just hit pause while I'm typing this - no hum. There is something, very quiet and electrical, but I would not call it a hum. And it is more present on the Grado (while in high setting).
 
Yes, with regards to the pop. I don't think I'll leave my headphones plugged in as it turns on. I only recall a nice, quiet microphonic "ding" from the original Vali, once the mute switched off. The pop was a little disconcerting - I'll need to read the manual to see what they suggest. But I will just plug in after power on for now.

 
It's good to hear the general consesus is the Vali 2 is a step above the orignal Vali, I compared the Orignal Vali to the SE out put on my NFB 10E2 which is imo a very poor SE output, an even so the NFB10ES2 had a better sound stage :/ 
 
point being, I'm hoping an expecting the Vali 2 to be the step forward from the Vali 1, you've all reported
 
An I'll know for sure by tommorow! 

 

[bboris77]

  Hum is probably due to low-impedance headphone with high-impedance output setting you've selected. Are you sure you cannot just turn up the volume and get the same "open" sound from the low setting? I'm rather attached to the sound (currently listening to a few tracks on my HD650), so I'll have to reconnect my Grado in a short while. Oh, what the hay - just hit pause while I'm typing this - no hum. There is something, very quiet and electrical, but I would not call it a hum. And it is more present on the Grado (while in high setting).
 
Yes, with regards to the pop. I don't think I'll leave my headphones plugged in as it turns on. I only recall a nice, quiet microphonic "ding" from the original Vali, once the mute switched off. The pop was a little disconcerting - I'll need to read the manual to see what they suggest. But I will just plug in after power on for now.

Thanks! Just to update everyone, someone from Schiit tech support got back to me on both of these items and said that they are normal. I will follow up to ask whether it's safe to leave low-impedance headphones plugged in while powering on in high gain mode. Their manual says that it is but does not hurt asking them to confirm that it is safe under any circumstances.

 

[rwpritchett]

Can someone comment on the light output of the Vali 2? From pictures, it doesn't look like Schiit has LEDs illuminating the tube.

I'm looking into replacing my bedside table headphone amp I listen to at night. Currently, I use a Bravo V1 and I hate the bright LED lights and EMI sensitivity. Since I have a dozen or so tubes already for the V1 that will work with the Vali 2, I'm interested. Is there any tube illumination on the Vali 2? Also, how bright is the white power LED?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

To throw some more fuel on the rolling opportunities, Mike Moffat has told me he likes 6CG7s in the Vali 2. While this tube isn't on the "official" tube list (and it does look extra silly--it's a big tube) it does highlight the fact that you can use tubes up to 600mA heater current with Vali 2.
 
So, if it has 6DJ8 pinout, 6V heater, and 600mA heater current or under, it's good to go with Vali 2. In addition to the 6CG7s, this opens up the 6N1P as well.
 
Happy rolling! (And don't go too crazy with it--you can easily eclipse the price of the Vali 2 in tubes.)

 

[Makiah S]

  To throw some more fuel on the rolling opportunities, Mike Moffat has told me he likes 6CG7s in the Vali 2. While this tube isn't on the "official" tube list (and it does look extra silly--it's a big tube) it does highlight the fact that you can use tubes up to 600mA heater current with Vali 2.
 
So, if it has 6DJ8 pinout, 6V heater, and 600mA heater current or under, it's good to go with Vali 2. In addition to the 6CG7s, this opens up the 6N1P as well.
 
Happy rolling! (And don't go too crazy with it--you can easily eclipse the price of the Vali 2 in tubes.)

hmmm an at about $56 dollars it might be worth while to try, I had an RCA 12UA7 Clear top I really liked on my last hybrid am here's a 6CG7 variant from them
 
 

 

[lvince95]

  To throw some more fuel on the rolling opportunities, Mike Moffat has told me he likes 6CG7s in the Vali 2. While this tube isn't on the "official" tube list (and it does look extra silly--it's a big tube) it does highlight the fact that you can use tubes up to 600mA heater current with Vali 2.
 
So, if it has 6DJ8 pinout, 6V heater, and 600mA heater current or under, it's good to go with Vali 2. In addition to the 6CG7s, this opens up the 6N1P as well.
 
Happy rolling! (And don't go too crazy with it--you can easily eclipse the price of the Vali 2 in tubes.)

What about 7DJ8/PCC88 tubes? I have limited experience with tube rolling, but iirc it shoudlw ork fine in 6922 capable amps right?

 

[Makiah S]

  To throw some more fuel on the rolling opportunities, Mike Moffat has told me he likes 6CG7s in the Vali 2. While this tube isn't on the "official" tube list (and it does look extra silly--it's a big tube) it does highlight the fact that you can use tubes up to 600mA heater current with Vali 2.
 
So, if it has 6DJ8 pinout, 6V heater, and 600mA heater current or under, it's good to go with Vali 2. In addition to the 6CG7s, this opens up the 6N1P as well.
 
Happy rolling! (And don't go too crazy with it--you can easily eclipse the price of the Vali 2 in tubes.)

Also does the 6CG7 need an adapter? 

 

[sheldaze]

Came across this gem while listening to my HE-1000 on the Vali 2:

I like 

 

[bboris77]

Can someone comment on the light output of the Vali 2? From pictures, it doesn't look like Schiit has LEDs illuminating the tube.

I'm looking into replacing my bedside table headphone amp I listen to at night. Currently, I use a Bravo V1 and I hate the bright LED lights and EMI sensitivity. Since I have a dozen or so tubes already for the V1 that will work with the Vali 2, I'm interested. Is there any tube illumination on the Vali 2? Also, how bright is the white power LED?

I am also sensitive to the bright LED lights and I would say that the LED on the Vali 2 is a bit brighter than the one on the original, but it is still acceptable. In comparison, the LED on my Modi 2 Uber is about 15% dimmer. On the other hand, the LED on my original Modi 2 (non-uber) was blindingly bright. I had to actually put a LightDim on it, and it did the trick.
 
As for the actual tube, it does light up and it looks awesome. Warm and subtle light. I am attaching a picture taken in the low light environment.
 
In other news, their tech support confirmed that it should be fine to leave even the low impedance headphones plugged in while turning the amp on or off. They respond so quickly it's not even funny. Pretty impressive.
 

 

[bretemm]

For the Vali2,
Would using my Bifrost DS be possibly better then the Modi2uber?
To save (for now) I'm thinking of just getting then the SYS.

 

[sheldaze]

For the Vali2,
Would using my Bifrost DS be possibly better then the Modi2uber?
To save (for now) I'm thinking of just getting then the SYS.

If you already have a DAC and AMP, just get the SYS and split between the two.
 
If you are looking for your end-game DAC, the Bifrost will be upgradable. But to me, it's a different topic - a SYS today will let you continue using your existing system and add the Vali 2.

 

[bigro]

Ahh Great. The Vali 2 Has not even arrived yet and now I want to buy tubes to roll.