[Jacobh]

Hi guys, I got a little problem with Vali 2 regard noise/hum. Actually I can feel/listen the noise/hum in low or even in high mode and its quite annoying....
But I could be bearing with that in the past but now I got a "new" set-up with addition of Valhalla 2.
Only using Valhalla I have no noise at all and I pretty much get used to "no noise/hum" again.
The main problem is : I was trying to play with both together and them the big problem comes out. Its like Valhalla amplifies the noise comming from Vali 2.

When Vali 2 and Valhalla 2 are connected, If I Connect my headphone to Vali output I can head/feel those noise/hum but is like in the past "annoying but ok~~~~ "

But When it comes to Valhalla 2 the noise/hum is really annoying and I cant live with that. If outputting Vali 2 with lo-gain it gets really better but not enough yet.

Anything that I could do , any suggestions?

Vali 2 using or 6922 from Electro-harmonix or E88CC from JJ Electronic; Tried with the original tube but I forgot how terrible that tube is, the noise/hum got so "electrostatic", when I come with my hand near the tube it got bigger and when get far it lowers.

(set-up using a Modi 2 as DAC, Sennheiser HD 598/600/650 and Hifi-Man Ananda for listening)

My Vali 2 has hum as well. It’s there no matter what tube I use (although some make it worse than others). With high impedence headphones and low gain it ranges from barely noticeable to annoying but listenable. I gave up with low impedence headphones. I bought mine used, but Schiit told me this level of hum was normal.

I also have a Valhalla 2 that is dead quiet which also feels a lot better built to me.

I have not tried the setup of connecting them together, but are you using the headphone out or the rca out on the Vali? You could try whichever you are not using and see if it helps. You could also try adding an impedence adapter in between them.

For me the quietest tubes I’ve found for the Vali are GE5670 with an adapter. They’re inexpensive and sound good.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

GE5670 with an adapter. They’re inexpensive and sound good.

Oh my. Wait until @bcowen sees this. He'll explain where the hum comes from and what it is. And, no, it is NOT the adapter...

 

[Jacobh]

Oh my. Wait until @bcowen sees this. He'll explain where the hum comes from and what it is. And, no, it is NOT the adapter...

Schiit told me the hum is normal because of the design of the amplifier. I know it’s not the adapter as I said it happens with every tube I’ve tried and I’ve tried many. The GE tubes are just the ones that have the least noticeable noise for me.

 

[bcowen]

Hi guys, I got a little problem with Vali 2 regard noise/hum. Actually I can feel/listen the noise/hum in low or even in high mode and its quite annoying....
But I could be bearing with that in the past but now I got a "new" set-up with addition of Valhalla 2.
Only using Valhalla I have no noise at all and I pretty much get used to "no noise/hum" again.
The main problem is : I was trying to play with both together and them the big problem comes out. Its like Valhalla amplifies the noise comming from Vali 2.

When Vali 2 and Valhalla 2 are connected, If I Connect my headphone to Vali output I can head/feel those noise/hum but is like in the past "annoying but ok~~~~ "

But When it comes to Valhalla 2 the noise/hum is really annoying and I cant live with that. If outputting Vali 2 with lo-gain it gets really better but not enough yet.

Anything that I could do , any suggestions?

Vali 2 using or 6922 from Electro-harmonix or E88CC from JJ Electronic; Tried with the original tube but I forgot how terrible that tube is, the noise/hum got so "electrostatic", when I come with my hand near the tube it got bigger and when get far it lowers.

(set-up using a Modi 2 as DAC, Sennheiser HD 598/600/650 and Hifi-Man Ananda for listening)

Not sure I understand what you mean by "I was trying to play with both together." You mean with one plugged into the other (why?), or just both of them connected in the system and powered up at the same time? If your VH2 is quiet on its own, then we can probably rule out environmental factors (grounding, power feed, RFI / radiated EMI, etc), and if you're getting the same level/type of hum across different tubes in the Vali, it's not likely a tube problem.

I get zero hum out of my Vali 2 regardless of tube or gain setting and with either 300 ohm HD-6XX's or 13 ohm Aeon 2's. I would suggest that something has gone wrong with your Vali. Is it still under warranty? If so, I'd contact Schiit and send it in. I used my Lyr 3 for almost 2 years without even the slightest hiccup, then one day it developed a hum that started at a very low level but began to increase. Contacted Schiit, they provided an RMA to send it in, and I got it back very quickly with a new main board installed and it is once again dead silent. And contrary to paranoiac comments in some other threads, no headphones were harmed in the process.

 

[bcowen]

Oh my. Wait until @bcowen sees this. He'll explain where the hum comes from and what it is. And, no, it is NOT the adapter...

All GE's hum...'cause they don't know the words.

Ugh...sorry.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

I get zero hum out of my Vali 2 regardless of tube or gain setting

same here.

 

[oakparkmusicguy]

My Vali 2 hums with some tubes when then the volume is between 6-8. Seriously. I’ve determined it’s those tubes fault. Or mine.

 

[Jacobh]

same here.

That's good. I imagine most people's amps are quieter than mine, but I know I'm not the only one whose amplifier hums since others have mentioned it on the forums. It's not the tubes, I've tried over 10 and they all hum in the Vali and none of them hum in other amps. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it than others or maybe there is a natural level of variance in the amount of noise due to component selection and I got unlucky.

I have contacted Schiit about it and they basically told me what I was describing is normal and didn't seem interested in answering any further questions. I have no reason to believe they lied to me about this and their trouble-shooting guide acknowledges hum is possible. I purchased my Vali second hand, and I get that they don't want to spend a lot of time answering support questions used equipment, but I have purchased multiple other things from them directly.

I believe the issue is likely with the power supply, but the shipping fees are such that I'll wait until I have something else to order from them before ordering a replacement.

 

[Cafofo]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "I was trying to play with both together." You mean with one plugged into the other (why?), or just both of them connected in the system and powered up at the same time? If your VH2 is quiet on its own, then we can probably rule out environmental factors (grounding, power feed, RFI / radiated EMI, etc), and if you're getting the same level/type of hum across different tubes in the Vali, it's not likely a tube problem.

I get zero hum out of my Vali 2 regardless of tube or gain setting and with either 300 ohm HD-6XX's or 13 ohm Aeon 2's. I would suggest that something has gone wrong with your Vali. Is it still under warranty? If so, I'd contact Schiit and send it in. I used my Lyr 3 for almost 2 years without even the slightest hiccup, then one day it developed a hum that started at a very low level but began to increase. Contacted Schiit, they provided an RMA to send it in, and I got it back very quickly with a new main board installed and it is once again dead silent. And contrary to paranoiac comments in some other threads, no headphones were harmed in the process.

By "playing with them together" I mean use the Vali as a "pre-amp"/another-stage using the output RCA to VH and connecting the headphone into the VH.
Why? Just to try out how it goes, if I can get anything different using a set-up like that....
I agree with you regard as VH2 is quiet probably I dont have any problem like grounding or something and also I have the hum with the Vali2 isolated regardless the gain mode with all headphones I said which has different range of impedance.

I tried to measure if the metal case is grounded or something but it seens like. I could get low resistence between the Metal Case and the 4 RCA. But I could not get from any of 4 pins from Power Source(idk why). Probably its not in warranty I have it for 2 or 3 years I dont remember. But when I first get it I contacted them and they said it was normal(at that time I had only HD598 which I could feel the hum even more than the other "new" high impedance headphones) and I remember searching on foruns people saying they had it too. By the way I could not even send them the Vali 'cause Im not in USA, Im in Brazil so it becomes really difficult and expensive to do. That's why I came here trying my luck with you guys hahaha !

For sure my "main" is VH2 which I do love but if I could "gain" something different/interesting from Vali using it as a pre-stage of VH could be interesting as far as I already have it(yet...) but amplifiying the hum It becomes really unusable.

 

[adktitan]

Hope all is well with everyone - I guess we have lots of time to listen to music eh? Anyway, I ordered this as my first tube amp (hybrid, but still) and have been listening for the past two days using the stock tube and I gotta say, its better then I expected. I am using JH Roxannes, and for full sizer's Denon AHD7000 and as both are super easy to drive anyway, the amp sounds great. Zero hum, zero microphonics, just total awesomeness. I just ordered a new JJ E88CC gold pin tube and I'm looking forward to hearing if there is any difference between the tubes and start the rabbit hole of tube rolling. I also ordered a Modi3 at the same time, so the pairing is perfect for my needs and doesn't break the bank. Anyway, thanks to all for the thread action on this, it helped me make my decision easy and my ears thank you as well - Have a good day.

 

[oakparkmusicguy]

Different tubes do make an audible difference. I find the tube rolling more of a fun side hobby rather than thinking of them as eq. If you want a huge difference then a Loki eq is great (I have 2 and love them).

Different tubes also sound different on different setups. I have a tube that I don’t like with my headphones but it sounded really good with my speakers.

I would try different tube types first rather than different ones within the same type.

Regardless - have fun and enjoy!!

 

[adktitan]

Cool- thanks for the feedback -

This sentence "I would try different tube types first rather than different ones within the same type" is of interest to me because I have NO IDEA what kind of tube came with the Vali 2. Its not marked anywhere on it. Somewhere in this thread, or the tube rolling thread I saw one post that had similar experiences, but his said "CAD" or something - mine is blank, just a clear tune so I honestly don't know what family Im starting with. I ordered a new tube becuase I had to start somewhere.

I'm not interested in EQ so much - with my headphones, especially the Roxannes, the recording quality and the mix is really, really, evident and makes for a lot of fun to listen to music and shuffle between live music, studio recordings, etc.

 

[oakparkmusicguy]

Cool- thanks for the feedback -

This sentence "I would try different tube types first rather than different ones within the same type" is of interest to me because I have NO IDEA what kind of tube came with the Vali 2. Its not marked anywhere on it. Somewhere in this thread, or the tube rolling thread I saw one post that had similar experiences, but his said "CAD" or something - mine is blank, just a clear tune so I honestly don't know what family Im starting with. I ordered a new tube becuase I had to start somewhere.

I'm not interested in EQ so much - with my headphones, especially the Roxannes, the recording quality and the mix is really, really, evident and makes for a lot of fun to listen to music and shuffle between live music, studio recordings, etc.

Mine wasn't marked either. What kind of tube did you order?
Mine favorite type has been 6CG7. I also have several 6SN7 with an adapter.

 

[adktitan]

I ordered a JJ E88CC / 6922 Gold Pin Preamp Vacuum Tube. It wasn't expensive and I thought a good place to start. The prices get pretty hefty - but I also read that the price of the tube isn't everything and not to spend more on tubes then the amp itself, so I'm starting with that one at lower price and off I go!

 

[Mr Trev]

The stock tube should be a 6bz7. Mostly a "meh" tube, although others have tried Brimars which are supposed to be good.
Other drop-in tubes are 6dj8/6922, and 6cg7. I'd recommend trying a 6cg7 firstly. I just saw you post you ordered a JJ 6922 - a good choice.
12au7, 5670, 6sn7, ecc40, will also work, but adapters are needed for those.