[dnolan227]

gear code was part of a rewards program that was scrapped halfway. it was supposed to grant the person with the gear code the ability to get points if others used their code.

Ok, thank you! Just wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing out on anything.

 

[Z Saber]

I'm a big fan of the Asura 3.0 FE, very natural and full sounding earbud. Also perhaps have my faovorite shell from them. Recently loaned my Zen 3.0 and Asura 3.0 for a friend and he got himself his own Asura now.

Also there is coming a new earbud soon from them, not sure if its sVIP only info so I will wait about sharing.

Monk Omega Pro has identical drivers to the MPV, but theres some differences with the tuning.
Master is more an in between kinda sound. works well for almost any genre, Asura 3.0fe is more suitable for vocals and string instruments, granted it is more expensive then the master.

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably skip the MPV for sure, and maybe wait for this mystery new bud before making any decisions.

 

[reaperzero]

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably skip the MPV for sure, and maybe wait for this mystery new bud before making any decisions.

its an svip exclusive from what i understand

 

[Z Saber]

its an svip exclusive from what i understand

Welp, nevermind then

 

[w3eonline]

It is dac/amp specifically for IEMs

Where can i have this info? Cant find it on their site. Is it not release yet?

 

[wskl]

Where can i have this info? Cant find it on their site. Is it not release yet?

It is still under development so VE have not released many details.

The only facts I know, it will cost around $200 and will be powered by 18650 batteries.

 

[w3eonline]

It is still under development so VE have not released many details.

The only facts I know, it will cost around $200 and will be powered by 18650 batteries.

Yeah just found out thats its still not release yet. Guess have to go for the combo then.

Thanks

 

[WoodyLuvr]

My little gold brick (aka VE Prime Pure DAC Gold) is still performing brilliantly especially now with the newest addition to the chain a SACThailand Silk Classic TVA Passive Preamp... that is not TVA as in Time Variance Authority but rather Transformer Volume Attenuator. My tube amp is now set on unity gain (max volume).

Be warned the Prime Pure DAC runs 4.054 V on both 4.4TRRRS (4.4BAL) and 3.5TRS (3.5SE) outputs! Would love to chat with other Prime owners about their source and component volume settings.

Took me a lot of DACs, ranging from a ~US$50 Meizu HiFi Pro and ~US$80 Topping D10... to a ~$2000 Benchmark DAC2 D / DAC3 L (from my two-channel days) and Holy Audio Spring 2... and upwards to the~$13,000 Chord Dave (which I fortunately was able to borrow from a friend for a few weeks but found it did not synergize well with my setup), before I finally came upon the Prime on a complete lark when a friend encouraged me to take home and audition his standard edition Prime which immediately blew my pants off with it's ear friendly signature and synergy with my tube amp! I tend to not hear and/or distinguish a huge differences between DAC chips per se but rather do immediately detect 'listening fatigue' often times coupled with a headache/earache.

Spoiler: Auditioned DAC Synergy List

Bold Purple = Best Synergy w/ My Setup
Bold Black = Good Synergy w/ My Setup
Non-Bolded Black = No Synergy w/ My Setup

• Benchmark DAC2 D (owned this - gifted)
• Benchmark DAC3 L (owned this - sold)
• Benchmark DAC3 HGC (auditioned)
• Cayin RU6 (auditioned)
• Cayin RU7 (auditioned)
• Chord Dave (auditioned; a friend owns this and I honestly didn't like the pairing at all... thank goodness!)
• Chord Hugo 2 (owned this - sold)
• Chord Mojo (owned this - sold)
• Chord Mojo 2 (FPGA; auditioned)
• Chord Qutest (FPGA; auditioned)
• Denafrips Ares II (owned this - sold)
• FiiO Q11 (auditioned)
• Gustard A26 (auditioned)
• Gustard X16 (owned this - traded)
• Gustard X18 (owned this - sold)
• Gustard X26 (owned this - sold)
• Holy Audio Spring 2 (owned this - traded)
• iFi Audio Nano iDSD BL (Burr Brown; owned this - gifted)
• iFi Audio ZEN DAC Signature V2 (Burr Brown; owned this - hammered it to death)
• Meizu HiFi Audio Pro (CS43131; still own this)
• Questyle M15 (auditioned)
• Quloos MUB-1 (auditioned)
• RME ADI-2 DAC FS (owned this - traded)
• Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 (auditioned)
• Schiit Audio Modi Multibit (owned this - sold)
• SMSL VMV D1 (owned this - traded)
• SMSL VMV D2 (owned this - traded)
• SMSL VMV D3 (auditioned)
• SMSL M400 (owned this - traded)
• SMSL SU-9n (owned this - sold)
• SMSL VMV D1se (auditioned)
• Sony NW-WM1A (S-Master HX; auditioned)
• Topping D10 (owned this - gifted)
• Topping D10S (owned this - gifted)
• Topping D30 Pro (owned this - gifted)
• Topping D90SE (owned this - traded)
• Venture Electronics Prime Pure DAC (ES9018K2M; still own this)

I am still waiting to demo a Matrix Audio X-Sabre 3; Denafrips Pontus II/Venus II; Bryston BDA-3; Gustard R26; Luxman DA-250; Soekris DAC2541; and Schiit Audio Yggdrasil with the later two probably being the least likely to happen as they are hard to find over here in Asia. Really don't think I will seriously consider any DAC costing much over US$3,500 for my setup so there is not really much left for me to audition... thankfully the Prime Pure DAC is thus far serving me admirably.

Spoiler: More pics

Update here

 

[Charlyro222]

Testing Ve Prime Dac Cartier Edition.

I noticed an improved sound over Og, better Dynamics and a more organic signature, definitely a better Dac.

Beautififul sinergies with Defiant amp.

 

[w3eonline]

@Charlyro222

Where did u get this version? Is it a special request ?? Whats the price??

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Testing Ve Prime Dac Cartier Edition.

I noticed an improved sound over Og, better Dynamics and a more organic signature, definitely a better Dac.

Beautififul sinergies with Defiant amp.

Welcome to the gold member club brother!

@Charlyro222 Great to hear your thoughts about how your Cartier aka Gold Edition Prime Pure DAC sounds. I too thoroughly compared mine to a Standard Edition Prime and could not detect any huge difference in sound but had thought I might have detected in the Gold Edition Prime a slight edge in dynamics like you said, as well as sounding more analog to me than the Standard Edition Prime but had chalked it up to being my imagination and me' ole' deaf ears at play! I haven't heard the Copper Edition Prime but assume it will be in the same ballpark as the Gold Edition. One thing is for sure, I do like the heavier casing of the Gold Edition for both aesthetics reasons; desk ergonomics (heavy so remains in place); and longevity purposes. I should note that the Gold Edition Prime seems to run cooler than the Standard Edition Prime perhaps due to the thicker metal casing radiating more heat more quickly (?).

@Charlyro222 I am very keen to hear what your volume settings are set at on your Defiant HeadAMP, music player, and windows volume control settings.

Mine are as follows:

• Music Bee: 100%
• Windows Mixer Volume for MusicBee: 100%
• Windows Main Volume: 100% (FYI - for those that don't know this is the volume control for the Prime Pure DAC)
• SACThailand Silk Classic TVA Pre-Amp: The step attenuator volume control is usually somewhere between ~9 and 1 o'clock
• SACThailand Silk Class 45 SE Tube Amp: Previously set at Unity Gain (max volume) but I have been testing it with the pot set at ~11 to 12 o'clock

I have placed my Gold Edition Prime Pure DAC into SteamPunk'd, a DIY wooden case, to better protect it from the tropics and possibly EMI/RFI:

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Welcome to the gold member club brother!



@Charlyro222 Great to hear your thoughts about how your Cartier aka Gold Edition Prime Pure DAC sounds. I too thoroughly compared mine to a Standard Edition Prime and could not detect any huge difference in sound but had thought I might have detected in the Gold Edition Prime a slight edge in dynamics like you said, as well as sounding more analog to me than the Standard Edition Prime but had chalked it up to being my imagination and me' ole' deaf ears at play! I haven't heard the Copper Edition Prime but assume it will be in the same ballpark as the Gold Edition. One thing is for sure, I do like the heavier casing of the Gold Edition for both aesthetics reasons; desk ergonomics (heavy so remains in place); and longevity purposes. I should note that the Gold Edition Prime seems to run cooler than the Standard Edition Prime perhaps due to the thicker metal casing radiating more heat more quickly (?).

@Charlyro222 I am very keen to hear what your volume settings are set at on your Defiant HeadAMP, music player, and windows volume control settings.

Mine are as follows:

• Music Bee: 100%
• Windows Mixer Volume for MusicBee: 100%
• Windows Main Volume: 100% (FYI - for those that don't know this is the volume control for the Prime Pure DAC)
• SACThailand Silk Classic TVA Pre-Amp: The step attenuator volume control is usually somewhere between ~9 and 1 o'clock
• SACThailand Silk Class 45 SE Tube Amp: Previously set at Unity Gain (max volume) but I have been testing it with the pot set at ~11 to 12 o'clock

I have placed my Gold Edition Prime Pure DAC into SteamPunk'd, a DIY wooden case, to better protect it from the tropics and possibly EMI/RFI:

I’m almost positive the Gold prime dac is copper…at least this is what I was told by Wild Lee…

 

[WoodyLuvr]

I’m almost positive the Gold prime dac is copper…at least this is what I was told by Wild Lee…

Yes, the gold edition is a gold color coated copper. I think what Lee was trying to convey to you was that the Black Coated Copper Edition is no longer available and that the Gold Edition was/is simply a gold color-coated copper. They originally offered three (3) versions of the Prime Pure DAC: standard (~US$99.80); black-coated copper (~US$199.80); and gold-coated copper (~US$299) and thus resulting in Standard Edition; Copper Edition; and Gold Edition. Venture Electronics model naming is sometimes super confusing ! A lost in translation sort of thing.

 

[statuefiddle]

Having troubles driving Prime DAC just from my phone (Android 14). It will only connect when I also power it externally, but the phone should be able to power it from the data port, right? If I just connect it to my phone, it blinks the green LED but doesn't connect unless I provide external power to the charge port too.

Is there some setting in android that I'm missing? Does this work for other people? I've tried with a variety of C-C cables including the one that came from VE. It works with USB A to C from my PC, but no luck from my phone.

 

[reaperzero]

Having troubles driving Prime DAC just from my phone (Android 14). It will only connect when I also power it externally, but the phone should be able to power it from the data port, right? If I just connect it to my phone, it blinks the green LED but doesn't connect unless I provide external power to the charge port too.

Is there some setting in android that I'm missing? Does this work for other people? I've tried with a variety of C-C cables including the one that came from VE. It works with USB A to C from my PC, but no luck from my phone.

not all phones output enough to power the prime dac. if it flickers it just means its not supplying enough power.
my poco f1 and f4 are able to power it, but my sony xperia xz3 is unable to