[someyoungguy]

Sorry, these all seem sub par for 300 Ohm Sennheisers.

I think you’ve got me confused with another user, I don’t have any 300 ohm Sennheiser’s (although am certainly curious to hear the new S2 at some stage).

 

[Empyah]

I think you’ve got me confused with another user, I don’t have any 300 ohm Sennheiser’s (although am certainly curious to hear the new S2 at some stage).

Nontheless.

 

[someyoungguy]

Sorry I just don't buy this idea that when you combine your headphones with a specific piece of audio gear that you're suddenly 'hearing them for the first time', as if this is now the 'true' version of the headphones and all other listening you've done with them has been an 'incorrect' version. I order to accept that premise I'd have to accept that every source I've used with my B&W P7s has been insufficient and now only the V226 is 'proper', even though I've owned them for years and used them with: A&K SE180, Plenue S, R, R2, D, D2, P2 mk II, PM2, modded PM2, Arcam rHead, Mojopoly, Mojo 2, Questyle M15, M12, Violectric Chronos, A&K PEE51, HC3, Rupert Neve Precision headphone amp, Drop CTH, A&K SR15, Sony ZX300A, Shanling M6 Pro, Shanling UA3 & UA5, FiiO M11 Pro, BTR7, iBasso DX80, DX120, DX200. I'm probably missing some from that list too.

Obviously there's no way I could accept that these are all insufficient and only the V226 is giving me the 'true' sound. Different DACs/amps/sources all bring something a little different to the mix, and in the end everything comes down to what headphones you combine them with, what particular music you're into and your own particular ear/pinna shape etc. Most of the above I've found are great with the P7s, but there's been a few misses along the way. I've owned the HD58X twice but both times ended up selling it as it just wasn't for me, but they're not hard to drive and don't require bucket loads of power either.

People will find that some amps synergize well their headphones and personal tastes and some won't. The V226 just wasn't a good mix for me, and I see in the V340 thread there's a few people who have posted similar impressions. We're not here to rain on anyone's parade and ruin anyone's else enjoyment - if you like the amp, that's fine, keep enjoying it. But it's also important for users in this forum to post when some piece of gear doesn't work for them or else all the forums will end up biased towards only positive impressions, which won't help newcomers or potential purchasers at all. It's not like I'm crapping on Violectric either, as their Chronos is one of my favorite dongles and well worth every penny.

 

[Empyah]

There is impedance and power curves, damping and slew rate, then there is a drivers potential. Make of it what you want.
Or keep using high impedance cans with toys and then confuse the realized dynamic potential of your dynamic cans with fatigue and overwhelming bass.
Maybe I am wrong, who cares. Enjoy yourself.

This guy explains such a case much better than me:

 

[evhvis]

Sorry I just don't buy this idea that when you combine your headphones with a specific piece of audio gear that you're suddenly 'hearing them for the first time', as if this is now the 'true' version of the headphones and all other listening you've done with them has been an 'incorrect' version. I order to accept that premise I'd have to accept that every source I've used with my B&W P7s has been insufficient and now only the V226 is 'proper', even though I've owned them for years and used them with: A&K SE180, Plenue S, R, R2, D, D2, P2 mk II, PM2, modded PM2, Arcam rHead, Mojopoly, Mojo 2, Questyle M15, M12, Violectric Chronos, A&K PEE51, HC3, Rupert Neve Precision headphone amp, Drop CTH, A&K SR15, Sony ZX300A, Shanling M6 Pro, Shanling UA3 & UA5, FiiO M11 Pro, BTR7, iBasso DX80, DX120, DX200. I'm probably missing some from that list too.

Obviously there's no way I could accept that these are all insufficient and only the V226 is giving me the 'true' sound. Different DACs/amps/sources all bring something a little different to the mix, and in the end everything comes down to what headphones you combine them with, what particular music you're into and your own particular ear/pinna shape etc. Most of the above I've found are great with the P7s, but there's been a few misses along the way. I've owned the HD58X twice but both times ended up selling it as it just wasn't for me, but they're not hard to drive and don't require bucket loads of power either.

People will find that some amps synergize well their headphones and personal tastes and some won't. The V226 just wasn't a good mix for me, and I see in the V340 thread there's a few people who have posted similar impressions. We're not here to rain on anyone's parade and ruin anyone's else enjoyment - if you like the amp, that's fine, keep enjoying it. But it's also important for users in this forum to post when some piece of gear doesn't work for them or else all the forums will end up biased towards only positive impressions, which won't help newcomers or potential purchasers at all. It's not like I'm crapping on Violectric either, as their Chronos is one of my favorite dongles and well worth every penny.

The main issue I have with your comments were that you found the bass overwhelming while my RME ADI-2 DAC FS has the same level of bass, just not quite as well defined as the V226. My other desktop amps are also around the same bass level, mostly differs on quality. I mainly use the RME as my DAC for headphones so they should both have the same analogue signal and tonality is very similar, but with the V226 being a bit better overall on the amplification duties. This applies when using my P9s and pretty much all of my other headphones. Same applies to several other amps, so it seems you either like your amps lightweight in the bass or there is something wrong in your audio chain.

The bass on a powerful amp will in general differ from lower powered amps as the amp doesn't run out of power as easily when pushed and it has better control over the drivers. Most powerful quality amps have very similar amounts of bass in my experience and it is when going down to something weaker like my mojos (1 and 2) that I notice a drop off, even if they have good ability to drive headphones for a portable device.

 

[ringol1003]

I just ordered a pair of op620SQ to replace the stock op-amps NE5532 in my V226.

I learned this technique from the designer/business owner of ASR (a Germans brand integrated amps they have acrylic cases). Who told me that model nos of BB op-amp stated SQ graded product as it was in military grade; normally this line of model must has ceramic case & was being gold plated. Just tiny cost and may have a big changing in the performance of the amp why not to get a try?

 

[Empyah]

Because it is not about the parts but the whole of them and how they play together.
Plus logistics is not as simple as you think. These people order parts like that by the thousands in advance, and availability, shipping, location as well as complicated contracts dictate what and when something ends up in an amp.

And then there is no guarantee that it will synergize and sound pleasant.
But feel free to try and tell us about it and we will be happy to try it ourselves if it sounds better.

 

[AlexHD]

Hello.

Does anyone know what is the minimum resistance allowed in the load V226? Is it 16 Om or less?
thanks

 

[Melting735]

I'm a bit confused on this amp. Since there is no balanced input, does it mean that USB input is the only way to run balanced? If I feed it by my YGGY RCA outs, will it still be single ended signal even though I use the 4pin balanced output?

 

[evhvis]

I'm a bit confused on this amp. Since there is no balanced input, does it mean that USB input is the only way to run balanced? If I feed it by my YGGY RCA outs, will it still be single ended signal even though I use the 4pin balanced output?

Only the output stage is balanced, the rest of the amp is single ended (a lot of amps are single ended internally). The output stage is always balanced as the signal is converted to balanced before the output stage with + and - then fed through 4 amplifier modules ( + and - for each channel ).

 

[Melting735]

Only the output stage is balanced, the rest of the amp is single ended (a lot of amps are single ended internally). The output stage is always balanced as the signal is converted to balanced before the output stage with + and - then fed through 4 amplifier modules ( + and - for each channel ).

If I use yggy RCA (2v) to feed dha226 and XLR (4v) to hpa222, does that mean dha226 will still get a lower volume than hpa222 even though they have the same power rating?

 

[evhvis]

Depends on your gain settings. E.g. you could add +6db gain in the dha226 and get the same output level from the headphone output as you would on the hpa222. The hpa222 makes more sense if you only want the headphone amp while the dha226 is more if you want pre-amp option and possibility of using it as an all in one unit at work or similar.

The DAC in the DHA226 isn't amazing, but it isn't horrible either. It lacks a bit of isolation so it performs better with clean USB sources. It will in general be a lot closer to a chord mojo 2 than a dragonfly red in sound quality, but a good standalone DAC will be noticeably better.

 

[Melting735]

Got it. Thanks a lot!

 

[Wyville]

For anyone interested, my review of the V226 is now online:
https://twister6.com/2023/07/07/violectric-v226/

Many thanks to Dune Blue and Violectric for giving me the opportunity to spend some proper time with it. It is a very enjoyable DAC/amp, thoroughly musical and with excellent performance for use with pretty much anything. From the most sensitive IEMs to high impedance earbuds to headphones, the V226 works a treat! With all the pairings I tried, the V226 produced a velvety smoothness without compromising clarity or transparency too much. Personally, I adore the balance Violectric achieved here as it makes it so easy to get completely lost in the music.

I very rarely recommend anything, but if your preferences lean towards natural and musical, then I highly recommend you check out the V226.

 

[djentbat]

The v226 is pure joy. With my modded 6XX, modded HE500 or LCD2.2 pre fazor, what ever I throw at it it rewards me with musical bliss.
Yes it sounds better with better DAC's, good! Thats how it should be!
Fried hit a homerun with this one - endgame before "true" engame. If you want to enjoy music instead of seeing every atom move in the track (not that you can't with better DAC's).
Wanna hear your HD6X0 for the fist time? This is the one to stop at paired with a Bifrost 2 or Soekris 2541 for either slightly darker and lievelier or smoother and a touch more neutral before going all out.

I would just need to put the bifrost in an input RCA correct? Sorry not used to having an all in one unit.