[J.Pocalypse]

Great idea. Love the design/functionality. A bit too expensive for me though. Hope it sells well, Val.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Quote:

V-MODA Invents VAMP VERZA and Metallo, the World’s First Hi-Fi Amplifier, DAC, Battery and Docking Metal Case for Samsung Galaxy S III, S IV, iPhone 5

invents!
Quote:

 
I would say that Verza is a custom made DAC/Amp based on Go-Dap X especially designed for V-Moda. Since it say made in japan, I guess that VentureCraft is still the one who actually make them.

LOL.
 

 

[caracara08]

Quote:

Great idea. Love the design/functionality. A bit too expensive for me though. Hope it sells well, Val.

+1 only issue for me is that I do upgrade my phone every 2 years.  unlike an otter case or something, selling a 100$ metal case will be tough. Amazing styling and concept.  I hope it works out.

 

[miceblue]

I really like how METALLO has design constraints such as camera accessibility with the sliding mechanism. I can totally imagine people taking out the VERZA/METALLO and sliding their phone to reveal the camera:

 
 
At least that's how I feel when sliding-up my iPhone to reveal the camera when I'm using the JDS Labs C5. I don't have anything securing the iPhone in place, so I can just slide the phone up at will; how many Head-Fier's do that? I'm not a fan of the rubber bands getting in the way of the touch screen, nor sticking 3M dual lock Velcro on the back of my iPhone...

 

[tomscy2000]

VentureCraft should most definitely be building the VERZA for V-Moda; you could say they're the ODM/OEM for the VERZA. I assume that V-Moda is entirely responsible for the dock and METALLO case. However, I'm sure V-Moda footed a bit of the financial risk in the development as well; I'm sure VentureCraft is happy to have them as a business partner --- V-Moda handles the industrial design, and VentureCraft sorts out the electronics. I think they understand that it's their best bet for getting their core products out onto the marketplace (we probing head-fiers make up such a tiny chunk) even if it means having V-Moda branded stuff.
 
Why the difference in spec for the Go-DAP-X and the VERZA? Well, in these type of partnerships, a company like VentureCraft will present V-Moda with a number of different board designs --- they'll say, "this one is better for x, that one lacks y functionality, and that one's the best, but it costs $$$$" --- so V-Moda and VentureCraft will sit down and discuss what's best for them to present as a product, features and price-wise, as well as how much it'll cost to go into production. As the retail face, V-Moda will usually be able to specify which parts go into what and where, and at what cost --- they can help VentureCraft get into contact with various parts suppliers and help negotiate unit costs. In many aspects, this counts as R&D and patent invention as well --- not merely the circuit board stuff. This is the way it works with all retail/OEM relationships, from Apple/Foxconn to anything else as well.
 
How many layers is the X's PCB and is the circuit design much different from the VERZA? Well, we don't know, and neither VentureCraft and V-Moda will divulge, nor are they legally obliged to do so anyways. We can just keep guessing. We're only privy to what they release to us as marketing information.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

V-Moda has confirmed the VERZA has a headphone output impedance of 10ohms. (Facebook page comments).
 
Thanks.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

V-Moda has confirmed the VERZA has a headphone output impedance of 10ohms. (Facebook page comments).
 
Thanks.

Wut...
M-100 is 32 Ω, so the damping factor between the VERZA and the M-100 is eh.....
 
I'm not too worried though since V-MODA tuned the M-100 with the VERZA.

 

[Taowolf51]

Quote:

You won't be able to find any DAC/Amp that work with iDevice in that price range. As someone already mention before that Apple license fee is very expensive. For all the DAC/Amp out their that work with iDevice (HP-P1, Go-Dap X, PHA-1, Verza, Furutech X1, and HiFi-M8), Go-Dap X is the cheapest one but still about 400+ USD. 

 
Wish they made one without the iDevice support, then. I'd rather not pay an extra several hundred dollars for it to be able to work with a phone I don't own.
 
Though maybe the Verza will blow us all away, I definitely wouldn't be against that possibility.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

You won't be able to find any DAC/Amp that work with iDevice in that price range. As someone already mention before that Apple license fee is very expensive. For all the DAC/Amp out their that work with iDevice (HP-P1, Go-Dap X, PHA-1, Verza, Furutech X1, and HiFi-M8), Go-Dap X is the cheapest one but still about 400+ USD. 

 
Wish they made one without the iDevice support, then. I'd rather not pay an extra several hundred dollars for it to be able to work with a phone I don't own.

Tell that to the good handful of Head-Fier's, and others, who do own an iDevice.

 

[meiaen]

Quote:

+1 only issue for me is that I do upgrade my phone every 2 years.  unlike an otter case or something, selling a 100$ metal case will be tough. Amazing styling and concept.  I hope it works out.

/2 years isnt an issue i upgrade/change my phone every 3-4months or whenever a new new comes out. good thing this works on IPC but i will still wait for a review before grabbing one

 

[Taowolf51]

Quote:

Tell that to the good handful of Head-Fier's, and others, who do own an iDevice.

 
They can buy the version with iDevice support. It'll be identical, but cost more because of the apple device license.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

Tell that to the good handful of Head-Fier's, and others, who do own an iDevice.

 
They can buy the version with iDevice support. It'll be identical, but cost more because of the apple device license.

Ah I see. That makes sense, but would it be cost effective for V-MODA to make 2 separate, but nearly identical units at different prices? All of the common DAC/amp combos I know of from Head-Fi are iDevice compatible except for the iBasso DX100(?), and typically run for $500 USD anyhow (including the iBasso).

 

[RootsRockReggae]

I think it's priced correctly for iDevices because it bypasses the internal DAC. I mean look at the HP-P1 price and that ONLY works with the ipod classic. Val mentioned something upcoming for the ipod classic and if it is intriguing enough I will certainly consider selling my HP-P1 and upgrading. 

 

[Taowolf51]

Quote:

Ah I see. That makes sense, but would it be cost effective for V-MODA to make 2 separate, but nearly identical units at different prices? All of the common DAC/amp combos I know of from Head-Fi are iDevice compatible except for the iBasso DX100(?), and typically run for $500 USD anyhow (including the iBasso).

 
I can't say, and I'm sure it would cause confusion.
 
As for price, there are plenty of reasonably priced portable amps. I can't say how they compare to the V-Moda, but I do have to say that seeing their amp at more than double the price of their most expensive headphone is a bit shocking.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Quote:

 I mean look at the HP-P1 price and that ONLY works with the ipod classic. 

LOL wut?
 
 
From fostex manual, you can use hp-p1 as dac with:

Fostex hp_p1 ipod support

Touch 2, 3, 4 G
iPod classic (so 6G and newer)
iPod nano 4, 5, 6 G
iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4

*Also there have been confirmed reports of ipad2, iphone 4s and iphone 5.