[Loevhagen]

I enjoyed the review once again over a nice cup of coffee while listening in on some good music. Thanks again for this elaborative review, project86.

 

[vrln]

 
Quote:

However, I still look forward to the new Violectric stuff. 
 
Are you guys at Violectric cultivating the same sound signature in the new amplifiers as the V200, or are you getting more tuned into "brighter / professional" sound signature? Just curious.

I might misinterpret you here, but are you talking about the six new Lake People amps Fried mentioned? If yes, they aren't really Violectric stuff. Lake People is the pro-audio "parent company", and Violectric is their consumer/hifi brand. That said, I think it's very interesting to see how the best new Lake People amp compares to the V200. As it's aimed at broadcasting/studio, it won't look as nice visually, but it might be extremely good value for money for those who don't need/want to pay for the chassis work.
 
Fried: any chance we can get some info about the new six Lake People amps? (especially about how they compare to the V100 / V200)

 

[Zombie_X]

P86, have you noticed when lowering the gain that the sound gets fuller? I lowered my gain to +6dB and the sound seems to be warmer. 

 

[project86]

No, I have not noticed that at all. But I'll keep an ear out for it. 
 
With some headphone amps, I prefer to use the digital volume control on the V800 compared to the analog pot on the amp itself. It is super precise, noise free, perfectly channel matched, and more linear than many potentiometers. 
 
The only reason I can think as to why it would sond different would be that the amp itself is coloring the sound when you feed it a lower voltage signal? Does this happen on a particular amp, or all your amps?

 

[Zombie_X]

It does it on all my amps. The sound is warmer with all my amps when I lower the gain. Even on my Auditor is sounds warmer. But it I raise the gain up to +24dB the sound itself goes back to normal, being neutral that is. But +24dB is too much volume for some of my amps. It seems to induce clipping on my X-CANV8P much sooner. The SPL Auditor is fine but the T1 is insanely loud at only 1/8 of the total volume.
 
I never use the volume control on my V800 as it alters the bit depth if you adjust it too low. I noticed the sound can get wonky.
 
Quote:

No, I have not noticed that at all. But I'll keep an ear out for it. 
 
With some headphone amps, I prefer to use the digital volume control on the V800 compared to the analog pot on the amp itself. It is super precise, noise free, perfectly channel matched, and more linear than many potentiometers. 
 
The only reason I can think as to why it would sond different would be that the amp itself is coloring the sound when you feed it a lower voltage signal? Does this happen on a particular amp, or all your amps?

 
 

 

[project86]

Quote:

It does it on all my amps. The sound is warmer with all my amps when I lower the gain. Even on my Auditor is sounds warmer. But it I raise the gain up to +24dB the sound itself goes back to normal, being neutral that is. But +24dB is too much volume for some of my amps. It seems to induce clipping on my X-CANV8P much sooner. The SPL Auditor is fine but the T1 is insanely loud at only 1/8 of the total volume.
 
I never use the volume control on my V800 as it alters the bit depth if you adjust it too low. I noticed the sound can get wonky.
 


 
 

Interesting. I'll have to keep trying to see if I can hear this.
 
When I use V800 to control volume, I don't go too low. Not that it is an immediate super-obvious change but it can get weird, as you said. But that's only when you are way down to like 1/4 volume or something. I'm usually at 60+ percent and it works great. 
 
Analog volume pots alter the sound too. We are always so hard on digital manipulation but tend to give potentiometers a free pass. They both have their issues, and a well done example of either type can be quite good. 
 

 

[Loevhagen]

No, I was thinking of V281, V282 and V284 (cf. another thread about these). 
 
Six new LP amps: Wow - Where is this mentioned?
 

 
Quote:

I might misinterpret you here, but are you talking about the six new Lake People amps Fried mentioned?
 

 

 

[project86]

Fried said that they are going to redesign a bunch of the Lake People stuff this year, so the new V series amps will be after that. 

 

[vrln]

Post #33 in this thread, Fried mentions:
 
"Also we had been in charge to develop 6 new headphone amps for Lake People which will
replace the current models from next year."

 

[JLBA]

First of all for this very good review

I am a bit ashamed that my first post on this forum is to ask for help, but I guess you have to learn before you can help others

I should receive my V200 and V800 in a day or and I will connect them together using the balanced XLR output from the v800 to the balanced input of the v200 (and, if possible, connect the two RCAs output from the v800 or v200, depending on what is the best, to my Denon integrated amplifier)
I was wondering if you could tell me what output gain to choose in the v800 for that combination ? (I will be using the v200 with a Sennheiser HD800 if it matters).
 
Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[FSonicSmith]

 

 
[size=small]Quote:

[size=small]First of all for this very good review 

[/size]
[size=small]I am a bit ashamed that my first post on this forum is to ask for help, but I guess you have to learn before you can help others 

[/size]
[size=small]I should receive my V200 and V800 in a day or and I will connect them together using the balanced XLR output from the v800 to the balanced input of the v200 (and, if possible, connect the two RCAs output from the v800 or v200, depending on what is the best, to my Denon integrated amplifier)[/size]
[size=small]I was wondering if you could tell me what output gain to choose in the v800 for that combination ? (I will be using the v200 with a Sennheiser HD800 if it matters).[/size]
 
[size=small]Thank you in advance for your help.[/size]

 

[size=small]You will have to experiment for yourself. Generally speaking, you are best off setting the gain on the V800 at maximum (which is unity gain) and then regulating volume with the control on the V200. This is because the volume adjustments on the V800 are done in the digital domain, and in theory you lose resolution when you decrease volume from unity gain in the digital domain (though Fried has explained that there is sufficient digital headroom to make this a non-issue). All said, you don't need to worry about this. Just try things out and adjust accordingly and enjoy. I have the V200 with a V800 expected today. I can't say enough about how fantastic the V200 is. As far as I can tell, the V200 did not change much with four days of constant use so it does not need burn-in, but I can virtually guarantee that the V800 will change with 200 hours of burn in so be patient. [/size]
[/size]


 

 

[project86]

Quote:

First of all for this very good review

I am a bit ashamed that my first post on this forum is to ask for help, but I guess you have to learn before you can help others

I should receive my V200 and V800 in a day or and I will connect them together using the balanced XLR output from the v800 to the balanced input of the v200 (and, if possible, connect the two RCAs output from the v800 or v200, depending on what is the best, to my Denon integrated amplifier)
I was wondering if you could tell me what output gain to choose in the v800 for that combination ? (I will be using the v200 with a Sennheiser HD800 if it matters).
 
Thank you in advance for your help.

 
Not a problem, helping is what this forum is all about!
 
I wouldn't mess with the internal gain settings of the V800. I think that would usually only apply when using something that really expects a higher level output. That isn't very common. 
 
You can adjust the general gain via the volume control. I normally leave mine at maximum, but sometimes drop it down for ultra-precision volume adjustments when using sensitive IEMs. 
 
Please come back to this thread and let us know your impressions, once you get it all up and running. 
 

 

[JLBA]

Thank you very much to both of you!
So, I will leave the internal gain settings alone which, I must admit is a relief

I will definitively share my impressions despite the fact I am far to be an expert (I am upgrading from a sound card so I guess the improvement will be important, but at the same time, I try not to expect too much because I know it's the best way to be disappointed, however good the new material is).
 
I must say, Project86 that your reviews, for both the V200 and the V800 had a big influence on my choice. I appeared to me, that for the kind of budget I have, the combination V200 + V800 (teamed with the HD800) would be the best choice and anything "better" would be a lot more money for a very small increase in performance. What I retired from your reviews was the fact that both, the V200 and the V800 seems to be the "reasonable" choices (maybe the term "reasonable" sounds a bit austere or unattractive, English is not my native language as you probably already noticed

, but what I mean is, everything in the design of both devices seems to have been done to produce the best result possible without ever going out of control.
 
This being said, I don't want to put too much pressure on you, I did read a lot about both devices and there seems to be a real consensus about how good they are (actually, I have seen very negative comments, and I have read about everything I could manage to find in English, German and French). I know it's a choice I will have to live with for quiet a long while so I wanted to be sure not to make a mistake

 

[project86]

JLBA: I think you will be happy with your choices. There is arguably "better" to be had but the improvement is minimal, and the cost is huge.

 

[FSonicSmith]

 

 

 
Quote:

Output Performance

The I2S interface is generally superior to the AES/EBU and S/PDIF. The I2S is compatible with Empirical Audio DACs, Perpetual Technologies P-3A, Northstar DACs and the Stello DA100. The S/PDIF is generally superior to the AES/EBU, although this depends to some extent on your DAC. The very best S/PDIF, AES/EBU and I2S cables should be used to minimize the added jitter. With a good S/PDIF cable, this interface is very close to the I2S performance.

 
The above quote comes from the Empirical Audio site, and though taken out of context as it was among many aspects of Empirical Audio's description of their "Off-Ramp" USB converter, I find it relevant to the V800 review in this respect-I believe that Project86 used (and please correct me if I am mistaken) Signal AES/EBU cabling from the V800 into his V200 for this review. This is a $40 cable. Is it nonetheless among the very best? Or in the alternative, is the cabling from source to DAC not as critical as Empirical Audio and others would have us believe? And does a review that uses rather inexpensive cabling across the board to compare various DACs still valid? With DACs often having different digital inputs, how do you compare ultimate SQ when the type of cabling differs? I don't mean to question Project86's sophistication or reviewing ability (which he very humbly disavows!). I only intend to bring up the issues presented. It would be nice to know how Project86 would have come out on his listening impressions if something along the lines of Wireworld Starlight Platinum or DH Labs Silver Sonic had been used-even if just for grins and giggles experimentation. 
I don't possess a fraction of Project86's experience or knowledge about DACs. I have sent him PM'd questions and he has been kind with his time and advice. Thanks P86! I have a V800 coming to try with my V200 and Audeze LCD-2s with Moon Audio Silver Dragon V3 wiring and I have ordered the Signal $40 AES/EBU 110ohm cables to compare with Wireworld Starlight Gold and I might try the Platinum Starlight too. I will attempt to post my impressions about the cabling for whatever use it might be. I post this mostly as a subject for discussion so I can learn, and I would be most interested to hear any comment on the subject of jitter and cabling.