Hey, any rules on switching gain or headphones on Vali? Should power always be off when changing gain or hp? Or it isnenough to turn volume down?
Like Rgmffn, I switch the gain setting with the headphone plugged in. I think you can leave the volume up when you change headphones but personally I turn it all the way down just so I don't get any unpleasant surprises. Speaking of such, there is a slight "pop" sound when you first turn it on. If that sort of thing bothers you, you can just wait a few seconds before wearing the headphones. I feel like it's not too bad, but it can be a little uncomfortable if it happens when you're not expecting it.
Apologies for the delay in reporting my first impressions of my new Vali 2. Aside from some technical difficulties getting started with it (not the fault of the unit itself), I wanted to spend some more time with it in comparison to my stock motherboard audio to make sure my opinions weren't just merely placebo effect.
First, I must commend Schiit Audio on their packaging. Everything was packaged neatly in the box and shipping was fast. It took only about a day, but then again, I do live in CA. I was surprised at how compact the unit was. I had already seen it in video reviews, but it really was a surprise upon seeing it for the first time. I received a 6BQ7A tube, no other markings on it. For reference, my setup is PC (Gigabyte Z97MX motherboard) -> Radioshack Y-split RCA cable through headphone out -> Vali 2 -> Sony MDR-1A / Yamaha YH-2.
The very first time I set everything up, I wasn't getting any sound output into either headphone, but I gave Schiit benefit of the doubt that the unit wasn't faulty / DoA. Turns out it was just a little snafu in the output selection in my motherboard. It was set to Line In, and curiously, there was no Line Out option for me to select, so I switched it to Headphone Out and voila. I almost hate to admit it but the people who said that the Vali (2) is a neutral tube hybrid amp were right. At first, I couldn't detect much of a difference between it and my on-board audio. However, spending a few more hours with it, I realized how good it was after the fact.
With the MDR-1A:
Mids sound fuller and sweeter, whereas on my mobo audio, they were just kind of "there" and even maybe a bit bloated when I tried to EQ them up. Speaking of which, I turned off all EQing for comparisons and all my music files are FLAC/WAV rips of CDs I own. Treble is slightly rolled, and I was afraid that I wouldn't like it from the reviews I've read, but after hearing it in the context of everything else, I have to say it's not as detrimental to the experience as I feared it might be. With my mobo audio, cymbals and high female vocals were extremely shrill and sibilant. Now with the Vali 2, I'm definitely giving up some excitement but the trade-off is I can listening longer without it being fatiguing. I knew not to expect much with the bass, but it still sounds balanced in comparison to the mids and highs. Direct through the mobo, I had more of a mid-bass thump, but the Vali 2 seems to mellow that out, and I get more of a sub-bass rumble that I haven't heard before. It wouldn't make a bass-head satisfied, but then again, I don't like too much bass anyway. Overall I would say that it's a good paring with the MDR-1A, as the Sony headphone tends to have kind of a scooped sound signature, and the Vali 2 flattens it. Not much change in soundstage, but slightly better instrument separation, and I can hear little noises that I never did before, like string buzzes and piano pedal changes.
With the Yamaha YH-2:
I haven't spent much time with it admittedly, but what little I did spend, wasn't that enjoyable. I'd say it has to do with the headphone. It's extremely old and a magnetic planar (or what Yamaha called Orthodynamic), so I used the High setting. I couldn't compare this with my motherboard audio because it has a 1/4" plug and I don't have an adapter. But with the Vali 2, all I can say is...holy mids. The mids pretty much drowned out everything else. Electric guitars would overpower vocals tremendously, and middle key piano notes would stick out like a sore thumb from the bass and treble notes. I inherited it from my late father and it's in its stock form, so perhaps it could benefit from some modding. Until then I think I'll stick with using the Vali 2 with my MDR-1A until I get my Fostex TH-X00s in May.
Now the question is whether or not to get a Modi 2 to complete my Schiit stack. I'm not getting any weird electrical noise or anything of that sort from the mobo's internal DAC, so I'm happy with running it straight to the Vali 2 at the moment. Any thoughts on whether or not it'll actually improve the sound quality?
