[Selbi]

  Schiit gives you 15 days to decide for yourself...  At this price-point it's worth giving it a try.

That would be amazing if I weren't living in Europe, so shipping costs will still be there even with return. So I wanted to be dead-sure before buying it.

 

[Maddex]

   
I think it's really a question of budgets. If you don't want to pay for a full-fat desktop setup, I think this is the best thing currently available at the price point, by quite a healthy margin. It's really not worth farting about with all the weird budget Chi-fi that pops up on Massdrop, asking "what about this one?"- as in that price bracket, there's nothing to touch it. Schiit are such smartarses sometimes.
 
(It also gives you a pretty interesting upgrade path- you could grab a Vali 2 with an 6CG7EH later, and plug it into the fixed DAC output, for a change of flavour, too- which would be hilariously cool and sound oddly good.)

 
this is exactly where I'd like to hear from someone who has both the new Fulla as well as the SMSL M3
I wouldn't throw that one in the "budget Chi-fi" pool, as it is reportedly superior to the Fiio E10K
and has a line out as well, so you could update to a better amp in the future as well
 
what is more, from what I'v read, the Fulla's sound signature seems to be pretty bright - that's not necessarely the best combination for all headphones (I'm looking for something to drive DT990 - which are already bright in itself)

 

[Jammin72]

  That would be amazing if I weren't living in Europe, so shipping costs will still be there even with return. So I wanted to be dead-sure before buying it.

 
 
Ahhh!  I sometimes forget how international this site happens to be.  
 
"Worth it"  Is such a subjective term that it's hard to quantify for someone else even if you had made direct comparisons. Anyone claiming "night and day" differences on this site is using quite a bit of hyperbole to describe what they're hearing. Noticeable and discernible would be terms much better served. Getting the DAC/Amp section out of your Laptop/Desktop/Phone will increase definition, clarity, and imaging for certain during critical listening sessions.  With the X2's the 30 ohm impedance means that most sources will allow the headphones to get loud enough but with the very low output impedance of the Fulla 2 you'll have a really nice damping factor which relates to the control of the drivers.  The Fulla 2 does a little bit of everything without a lot of muss and fuss, I think it's a great device with a small footprint and a great way to get more out of your headphones without spending a ton of cash.

 

[Ancipital]

   
this is exactly where I'd like to hear from someone who has both the new Fulla as well as the SMSL M3
I wouldn't throw that one in the "budget Chi-fi" pool, as it is reportedly superior to the Fiio E10K
and has a line out as well, so you could update to a better amp in the future as well
 
what is more, from what I'v read, the Fulla's sound signature seems to be pretty bright - that's not necessarely the best combination for all headphones (I'm looking for something to drive DT990 - which are already bright in itself)

I wouldn't call it overly bright- it's solid state, and not too rolled off, so to an extent, what you see is what you get. However, you're right, excessively bright headphones may not be a good time out of it. I know that when I plugged my HD800 in, out of morbid curiosity, I got the sort of "facetweeter" experience that I expected. Not pleasant, at all!
 
I think you're going to be hard pushed to find something that sounds great with DT990, especially in the super-budget solid state segment like that. I'm sorry if that's an awkward answer, but I'd rather be honest than cause someone to waste their time/money where possible*. You might be able to find something rolled-off sounding that is tolerable, or something with on-board EQ that you can tweak, but it's going to be a pretty ghetto solution to the problem.
 
Are you playing from a computer? Could you try a spot of EQ from the player end, maybe?
 
 
 
* Apologies to the mods if this is against Head-Fi rules.

 

[Swolern]

this is exactly where I'd like to hear from someone who has both the new Fulla as well as the SMSL M3
I wouldn't throw that one in the "budget Chi-fi" pool, as it is reportedly superior to the Fiio E10K
and has a line out as well, so you could update to a better amp in the future as well

what is more, from what I'v read, the Fulla's sound signature seems to be pretty bright - that's not necessarely the best combination for all headphones (I'm looking for something to drive DT990 - which are already bright in itself)

I'm listening to the Fulla 2 with a DT880 32ohm right now and the sound is sublime, but the 880 is slightly more of a neutral sound signature compared to the 990.

 

[Selbi]

   
With the X2's the 30 ohm impedance means that most sources will allow the headphones to get loud enough but with the very low output impedance of the Fulla 2 you'll have a really nice damping factor which relates to the control of the drivers.

 
Volume isn't much of an issue to me, not at last because of the low impedance. My main concern is that my on-board sound isn't pushing the 200€ I paid for my X2 out there enough. Does that sound silly? Probably.
 
It was a damn hefty price jump for me, as my previous headphones cost me 50€. Now the natural answer would probably be to go for a DAC/Amp at least the same price as my X2, but that simply isn't allowed by my budget.
 
That's why I landed at the Fiio E10K and eventually now the Schiit Fulla 2. I just know too little about the subject to say if I'm going the right direction.

 

[Jammin72]

   
Volume isn't much of an issue to me, not at last because of the low impedance. My main concern is that my on-board sound isn't pushing the 200€ I paid for my X2 out there enough. Does that sound silly? Probably.
 
It was a damn hefty price jump for me, as my previous headphones cost me 50€. Now the natural answer would probably be to go for a DAC/Amp at least the same price as my X2, but that simply isn't allowed by my budget.
 
That's why I landed at the Fiio E10K and eventually now the Schiit Fulla 2. I just know too little about the subject to say if I'm going the right direction.

 
 
Doesn't sound silly at all. The Fulla 2 is a great direction to start listening to finer details in the music and especially focusing on imaging characteristics of your source material. Sometimes it's hard to describe what the differences are at all or what people are hearing here that makes them do little happy dances.  Just this past week I tried playing different things on different setups for my Fiancee and she just kept shaking her head and not getting it.  She just wanted to hear the rhythm, the melody, and the lyrics. The subtleties that are discussed here weren't even really on her radar. The thing that finally got her to understand what I was talking about in regards to imaging were some of the binaural demonstrations that are available on Youtube with the Fulla 2 and the HD 580s.  When she heard scissors moving around her head in all three axes, especially the vertical, the light finally went on.  Then we could move to imaging on stereo speakers.  "How did they do that?  Why doesn't everything do that?"  Now she knows I'm not nuts.
 
I think that for the investment $$ it's worth giving the Fulla 2 a shot.  Even if you can't utilize the 15 day trial, this product line has enough of a following that if this doesn't make sense for you or you feel like you need "more" somehow it will be easy enough to sell on the secondary market.

 

[lixoke]

Does this just run off USB power, or does it use a power adapter? Also, does it accept 3.5mm?

 

[Ancipital]

  Does this just run off USB power, or does it use a power adapter? Also, does it accept 3.5mm?

 
Both. It can draw power from the host that is supplying the signal, but it also has a second micro-USB connector for power, which will prevent it from drawing power from the host.
 
You can find answers to questions like these on the product page. There's a good "FAQ" tab.

 

[Jammin72]

  Does this just run off USB power, or does it use a power adapter? Also, does it accept 3.5mm?

 
 
It accepts 3.5mm analog input.  The headphone jack is 1/4".

 

[M Paul]

So, seeing as this is the Fulla 2 Impressions thread I thought I would sit down and add mine. Let me start with how I hate all that lifting the vail crap. The next time I hear someone use the term I will be climbing my way through the internets, pulling their vail back down, tying their hands behind their back with the shabby thing, then hoisting them on their own petard, whatever a petard is… One more note, I am functionally illiterate so can the comments about my grammar and spelling; this is head-fi not high grammar.
 
The good, the bad, and the ugly, but not necesessarily in that order. 
 
Lets start with the ugly. when I made it home from the shop I could not get my 4G 2.26 core 2 duo 10.6.8 macbook to recognize the unit. I saw the fulla schiit flicker in the output pane of the sound preferences window a few times. I took a break to cook up dinner came back and tried it again first plugging in my iphone charger to the correct usb port, then the usb to my macbook, then the variable output plug to the back of my Yamaha MCR-232BL Micro Component System. As soon as I opened the sound window in my back the fulla schiit was ready for action!
 
The bad, but not in this order. The next day after playing with my new schiit until my laptop battery was wiped clean it would not work at all. A light tapping on the top of the unit it would show up again in the output pane of the sound preferences window but for less then a second. I will be mailing it back for repair as soon as I get return authorization.
 
The good, or how I saved the best for last but not without a fat paragraphical prelude or two. I was that kid at 13 who opened up his speaker cabinets and formed blocks out of white foam, wrapped them with pajama flannel and glued them in the cabinet, then I brushed thinned Elmers glue on the driver cones, all this to make the POSs sound better. At 15 I took a soldering iron to the plastic head of my fathers cheap all in one changer and morfed in a MM cartridge: bliss, but only after learning about preamps! Two weeks later I fabricated a low mass tonearm from balsa wood. I was that kid. Fast forward about 35 years and Im looking for a new end game 2CH setup and about the same time I come across Shiit Audio and then Head-Fi.
Confession: I am a two channel guy although I do have a 25 year old pair of Sienhousers around here somewhere that an ex girlfriends cat sucked off the rubber ear pads. I decided to get the Fulla 2 just for kicks and to play with a piece of schiit in my hands as it were. I'm waiting for the Vader. I'm waiting for the Freya. I'm really just a rock-nroll, concert level, two channel, think Zu speaker, kind of guy. I've never owned a DAC.
 
Where was I? Oh ya, the good: Fulla 2, a belly full of pasta, and an ear full of bliss. God I hate the word Bliss too. I sit down about three feet from my little Yamaha micro system speakers, the Yamaha YST-SW012 8-Inch Front-Firing Active Subwoofer at my feet; think near field if I am using the phrase properly. First I played some Chvrches off a cd in my laptop because it was on the top of the stack. Nice. Then off of itunes I have this live orchestral recording from the Avalon soundtrack of the Warsaw phil with the full chorus. It rocked! I actually got lost in the recording and had shivers a couple of times. I was so lost I didn't recognize when the selection ended it the next began. It actually went into another album from the same composer, Kenji Kawi, and I didn't come back to earth until I realized that the ????? used in the recording, a traditional Japanes marching instrument that has ??? little brass bells, and I realized I was hearing each individual bell as they shimmered together. I just smiled. Near the end if this album is a jazz standerd-ish sung by a lady. Lets just say with the the Fulla 2 I could distinctly hear the wetness of the women's lips and tongue as she opened her mouth to began each phrase…
 
I hope this adds something to the dialog rather then wasting bandwidth about three feet and other nonsense. 

 

[Triggaaar]

  That would be amazing if I weren't living in Europe, so shipping costs will still be there even with return. So I wanted to be dead-sure before buying it.

They have a place in England, where are you?

 

[Ancipital]

 
They have a place in England, where are you?

 
"They" don't. There's a UK dealer who sometimes call themselves "Schiit Europe" rather confusingly- though they're quite patchy and slow at getting stock of some items. It might be worth giving them a call to ask if/when they're getting Fulla 2 (they don't always respond to email very reliably). Might be worth a shot.

 

[XERO1]

I'm having a strange problem with my Fulla 2.

 
 
Whenever I pull out the headphone cable from it (or plug it back in) while playing a YouTube video on my PC, it will cause both the audio and the video playback to stutter for a couple seconds before it resumes playing normally.
 
And when using iTunes, either inserting or removing the headphone cable causes the song to pause.  And doing this a few times in a row made my iTunes crash.
 
As far as I can tell, it shouldn't be doing this.  I could understand if I was removing the USB cable, but this is happening with the headphone cable.

 
Anyone else having this issue?

 

[Triggaaar]

   
"They" don't. There's a UK dealer who sometimes call themselves "Schiit Europe" rather confusingly

 
They are the authorised dealer and call themselves Schiit Europe with permission from Schiit - not sure why that's so confusing?