I've not (yet) had a chance to listen to a Vali2 (due to lack of funds on my part) but there's some food for thought here.
Since a bunch of you have a seeming hard-on for the starlight I decided to look it up.
1) Its ugly. Even their aluminum "chassis" is just a couple plates on stand-offs. *shrug* I mean hey even ugly girls need loving too so if it still gets the job done then I'll not hold it against it. Just was my first impression is all...
2) COMPLETELY different tube. Several of us have already pointed out that even within tubes you've got a *huge* range of variation. They *are* tubes after all. The ECC82/12AU7 has a significantly lower gain than the ECC88/6922 does. That in itself can cause more/less microphonics or more/less noise.
Well okay, so you can run different tubes in both. What if I put the same tube in both? Same tube in different circuits are not created equal. Heck just recently I was flip-flopping phono tubes around in my system between channels because one chan was a slight bit brighter than the other. I was afraid after re-capping and re-resistoring the input stage that something was wrong....especially because the symptom didn't follow the tube. Nope, just random interaction between the same circuits (scold me if you want for not getting a matching pair....that's going to change here soon). Also with swapping tubes while it *shouldn't* matter too much keep in mind that if its burned in at one Q-point on one amp......that may not translate over to a great q-point on the other one.
Moving beyond comparing to another amp or tube or proper cabling, are all of you that are experiencing noise sure its not in your source? Several of you have noted that it shows up in classical music during the quiet parts. I mean...that's getting pretty damn picky AND its a medium that's extremely hard to get right. Even the last round of the Led Zep remasters which were taken from reel-to-reel sources have noise in them when you listen to it that just was from the original recording techniques. Are you sure that one amplifier isn't just more revealing and is picking up more noise in the source?
Is everyone letting their tubes warm up for a good 5-10 mins before using them? How many listening hours do you have on it (the tube)? That was already an issue of concern in the thread that's been addressed but very few that said "out of the box it sounds like blah blah blah" came back and gave any more input after letting the tubes burn in. Same goes for anyone that's said "the stock tube is absolute trash". C'mon guys, they're all in the same family. Each one can have little differences here and there but I'm going to be VERY IMPRESSED if you can magically make a previously trashy sounding amp a golden child by switching to a tube in the same family.....
Lastly yeah i know it sounds like I'm stroking schiit's ego here and I'm not. It's very possible that there might be some noise but there's just so many variables pointing to many different sources of issues to definitively say...yes...this schiit is...well....schiity....and not in a good way. So far I've not seen a repeatable occurrence of "here's the problem". Additionally.....there is the whole perceived notion. I'm perfectly happy thrashing around my 911 but recently had someone comment that the ride was too rough....I mean...really? It's not a damn towncar...what did you expect?!
The two amps are not created equal, the Starlight is a serious PITA amp to own. You manually adjust the bias every time you roll it, an you need to fine tune the Output Resistance to get an ideal sound from it
So with the Exact same tube in each amp, both warmed up for about 15mins an both sourced from the Same NFB10ES2 Fixed line out, running Kernal Streaming out of Windows 7 an Foo Bar [no eq] I'm finding it to be noisy, with classical for starters but also with Jazz. Anything with a quiet mix has more audible noise in it on the Vali 2 vs the Starlight
Now, you plug a Higher ohm headphone into the Vali 2 an there is little to no noise at all, an if you get above 600 ohms on the starlight... you may run out of headroom. But apples for Apples, same headphone, same source, same song, same tube, same amount of time burned in there is a differance
now how does one get the improved or blacker background on the Starlight? You have to open it up an fiddle around with it's output jumper settings. You also need to make sure your tube is biased about every 2-3 days. If you do that the extra $20 you spend get's you imo a better sounding amp
but guess what... does EVERY one want to spend more money and more time for better sound? Not always, an hence is the differance between the two amps. The Starlight requires you spend time with it, tuning it, experimenting with it to get the best sound. An if your willing to tolerate it's "ugly" chasis and play with it. You'll get a better quality of sound, though that's ONLY with Low Impedance Dynamic Headphones
Where as the Vali 2... is SO MUCH simpler to own! LITERALLY PLUG in and enjoy. The most you might need to do is flip the gain switch, other wise your set! Did I think schiit make a "schiity" sounding amp? No, given the price an the amazing flexability an ease of ownership it sounds fantastic! Do I think you can get a better amp in the same price Category, yes, does that amp have the same level of flexability and simplicity... not really. So there's the differance,
Schiit has done an excellent job creating an eco system for them selvs! Kinda like Apple Products, if some one posts in the intro Boards that they've NEVER owned a headphone amp or dac before, an they are curious about tube amps... 9/10 I'm going to point to the Schiit Vali 2 Modi Stack. because for that consumer, she/he is going to have a great product that is simple to enjoy
In terms of Sound an Build, despite it's open chasis I found the Starlight to be better, but that improvement in quality comes at the expense of simplicity and overall ease of owner ship.
I an others have derailed this thread long enough, I've made a new thread to countinue this discussion
http://www.head-fi.org/t/793686/the-new-generation-of-entry-level-hybrid-tubes