[brat]

What is the technical explanation of the potential sonic improvement to use the higher voltage setting from the dac to the amp?

 

[SMG52]

  I'd say this was a matter of preference - one person says "liquid" and loves what he hears. Another person hears the same thing, calls it slow or dark, and doesn't care for it. We all hear things differently and we all have our own expectations about what we'd like our gear to do. 

+1
 
So true. I am just loving the LCD-X and Vio V200 combination. I am sure some would say "too smooth", "too dark"......... whatever. I am transported, and could listen all day. 

 

[project86]

  What is the technical explanation of the potential sonic improvement to use the higher voltage setting from the dac to the amp?

 
Your Weiss has what they call an analog/digital hybrid volume control. It should do a good job, better than most, but the fact remains you are throwing away some resolution running it at such a low volume. You then have been compensating for that lower volume with inordinate amounts of gain, which probably hurts THD and SNR to some degree. 
 
It's always a good choice to do the least amount of digital manipulation possible. It's also best to do the least amount of amplification necessary. That way you capture more of the sonic purity coming straight from your DAC. 

 

[roskodan]

my was only advices on some options that are worth trying out, there may be differences or may be not, of course in theory a gain of 12dB is a gain of 12dB no matter if it's achieved in the dac output stage or preamp of the v200, but in practice sources, preamps and amps all have they own signatures, else all the sources would sound the same, as well as preamps and amps
 
the best is to try and be a judge for yourself since you have the options
 
than you can try setting the v200 pot to max and control the volume in the digital domain with your dac

 

[brat]

Untill now I used to listen to my system using Weiss DAC202U at 1.06Vrms (+2.72dBu) and Violectric HPA V200 at 0db, the default settings of these components. In this way I find LCD-2.2 dark, congested and lacking macrodynamics with jazz and classics.
 
Yesterday I've listened to two different settings, about 30min. each:
1. Weiss DAC202U at 1.06Vrms (+2.72dBu) ----> Violectric HPA V200 at +12db ----> LCD-2.2 = more bright and airy sound, edgy highs, more controlled bass.
2. Weiss DAC202U at 4.15Vrms (+14.57dBu) ----> Violectric HPA V200 at 0db ----> LCD-2.2 = more bright and airy sound, pronounced still smooth highs, lack of bass, compared to all other settings.
 
For acoustic music my preference is for setting 2 because of the natural highs and instrument separation, but with modern music (trash metal, electronics) the defaults give more balanced tonal balance.
 
Obviously the output settings of V200 and the outuput voltage of the source can give you substantial differences. I don't know which combination causes less distortions, i.e. which is the technically "right" setting

 

[roskodan]

agree feel the same way with the v800, it's nice to have golden ears

 

[StalkerAssassin]

The Chinese made an exact copy: DAC V800, HPA V181, HPA V200. Who ever heard of these devices?

 

[belisk]

wow thats dirty

pretty close replica apart from the volume knob, even has similar stats and insides.

at least they know they are copying the best.

 

[project86]

I've seen those. Need to show them to Fried Reim as I imagine he isn't aware of them. Not much he can do about it I suppose.
 
While everything appears to be more or less the same, we don't really know for sure. Are all the parts legit and not clones? Are all the values the same? Is the ground plane all funky due to poor construction? Do we really trust the measurements of a company making blatant clones? It doesn't take much to screw up a design royally, even when things look close enough to us casual observers.
 
I'm especially concerned about the V800 clone - jitter is a tough nut to crack, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong between the ASRC, the instrumentation amplifier, the actual DAC itself.... even mismatched impedances can derail an otherwise well done layout. 
 
But hey - maybe they are identical. In that case I guess it comes down who you want to support. An original designer who admits to charging a premium price so he can pay his workers a good wage? Or.... the alternative. 

 

[Contrails]

Hey everyone,

I just bought a v200. Gonna be running it balanced from Mdac and powering he500. Is there any settings or changes I need to make before plugging in the xlr cables in the input?

 

[i019791]

Hey everyone,

I just bought a v200. Gonna be running it balanced from Mdac and powering he500. Is there any settings or changes I need to make before plugging in the xlr cables in the input?

Nothing to do before.
Try to listen at 12-3, adjusting the gain if needed.

 

[Contrails]

Thanks mate, plugged it in, put the gains to zero/OFF and turned the music on, instant WOW! Smooth, clean and analogue comes to mind.  The V200 is brand new and it's suppose to get better with a few hours on the clock, but I am very happy.  I am using an aftermarket powercord and the MDAC is supplying a balanced signal so that's helping a little I hope.  But this is very very nice.  I could listen to this for days - I have a date in two hours and I am hoping the chick cancels! 

 

[SMG52]

I have a V200 driving a set of LCD-X headphones. Love it. I use the Oppo BDP105 as front end. The 105 has balanced outputs, but I am presently using the single ended connection from the Oppo to the V200. Is there any consensus (tricky, I know) about whether balanced out from the 105 to balanced in of the V200 would be the preferable way to go?
 
thanks!

 

[project86]

  I have a V200 driving a set of LCD-X headphones. Love it. I use the Oppo BDP105 as front end. The 105 has balanced outputs, but I am presently using the single ended connection from the Oppo to the V200. Is there any consensus (tricky, I know) about whether balanced out from the 105 to balanced in of the V200 would be the preferable way to go?
 
thanks!

 
I'd run balanced simply based on the 105 having a true balanced DAC on board. It has to be summing to create the single ended output. Is it completely transparent in that process? Maybe. Conceptually, I usually prefer to stick with the native format, whichever way it goes. 
 
You could always pick up some cheap pro-audio style XLR cables and give it a shot. Don't have much to lose. 
 
EDIT - hello to a fellow (the clue) user! You are obviously a man of refined taste. 

 

[Shaffer]

I have a V200 driving a set of LCD-X headphones. Love it. I use the Oppo BDP105 as front end. The 105 has balanced outputs, but I am presently using the single ended connection from the Oppo to the V200. Is there any consensus (tricky, I know) about whether balanced out from the 105 to balanced in of the V200 would be the preferable way to go?

thanks!

I also have a 105 hooked into a V200. Single-ended. I auditioned both sets of outputs and there is an advantage to balanced, albeit it's not night and day. I run balanced into my main system, as it's my primary focus. Good luck.