[plakat]

  Seems Tyll is too objective for some and too subjective for others.

 
This is a good sign for a valid middle ground...

 

[project86]

  .....when my experience jibes with theirs, that's a reviewer I'll keep going back to. 

 
 
Me too. 

 

[Gibsonmac]

Anyone know of a decent DAC with balanced out? I'm a vinyl guy, so I don't have much for a DAC, and I want the most out of my v281... Thinking of the Schiit gungnir, or woo wds1.

 

[project86]

Anyone know of a decent DAC with balanced out? I'm a vinyl guy, so I don't have much for a DAC, and I want the most out of my v281... Thinking of the Schiit gungnir, or woo wds1.

 
 
I wasn't particularly impressed with either of those models. The Woo is attractive but seems especially overpriced given the sound. 
 
How about a Violectric V800? With the 15% off promo still running, it comes out to under $1100. So it's competitive with the Woo and sounds better imho. Also it will sit above your V281 for a great looking stack.
 
The only potential downside is the USB drivers have trouble with Windows 8.1 (or so I've heard, I'm sticking with Windows 7 until 10 proves worthy). So that's something to consider. 

 

[Gibsonmac]

Yeah, I was looking at the v800, but was a bit weary of the driver issues. It's a few years old now as well, so I would think the chipsets and whatnot that have released since then would be better choices, which I guess is my main concern. I really don't know much about the digital/DAC side of things though, so I could be completely off base.

In other news, my V281 is STELLAR! The build quality is really something special, as good or better than any Woo product I've had. The sound quality has met and exceeded my expectations in every way, it so far is living up to the hype...

Does anyone know of a splitter/switching unit for balanced connections that won't degrade the sound quality? I want to have both my turntable and DAC connected via xlr.

 

[PleasantSounds]

Does anyone know of a splitter/switching unit for balanced connections that won't degrade the sound quality? I want to have both my turntable and DAC connected via xlr.

 
That wouldn't give you any significant advantage, unless you have very long cable runs or live under powerlines.
The V281 has a single ended preamp and only the power stage is balanced. SE input is as good as the XLR.

 

[Gibsonmac]

That wouldn't give you any significant advantage, unless you have very long cable runs or live under powerlines.
The V281 has a single ended preamp and only the power stage is balanced. SE input is as good as the XLR.

Hey thanks for the info. I was under the impression in order to reap the benefits of balanced amps, it had to have a balanced source as well, at least that's what I was told about the Woo wa22.

 

[i019791]

Anyone know of a decent DAC with balanced out? I'm a vinyl guy, so I don't have much for a DAC, and I want the most out of my v281... Thinking of the Schiit gungnir, or woo wds1.

You could check the Audio gd NFB-1DAC or DAC-19, with Amanero usb.

 

[rx79ez08]

I quite like the Auralic Vega with the V281.
 
I think the clarity and detail of the Vega complimented the 281 very nicely. I used to have a NAD M51, which I found to be a great DAC but is a bit too heavy with the 281.

 

[Gibsonmac]

Yeah so the HE-6 and the V281... Mein Gott, can you say impact?! I feel like I'm finally hearing the HE-6 for the first time. Up until now, I've heard a few amps that could drive them(sort of), and a lot of amps that absolutely could not; I just figured, maybe the power hungry beasts weren't for me, they more or less became a check off the list for me, I've owned them. Well, now that I've finally heard them, WOW!!! They hit harder and dig deeper than my LCD2 rev2, and are at the same time very clear and revealing. Anyone who has not heard this pair that owns a V281, you really owe it to yourself to try it out.

The only critique I have for the V281 at this point is, I kinda wish it had a locking xlr for the headphones, it's a small gripe, I admit, but really the only negative I have for now.

 

[Chik0240]

Yeah so the HE-6 and the V281... Mein Gott, can you say impact?! I feel like I'm finally hearing the HE-6 for the first time. Up until now, I've heard a few amps that could drive them(sort of), and a lot of amps that absolutely could not; I just figured, maybe the power hungry beasts weren't for me, they more or less became a check off the list for me, I've owned them. Well, now that I've finally heard them, WOW!!! They hit harder and dig deeper than my LCD2 rev2, and are at the same time very clear and revealing. Anyone who has not heard this pair that owns a V281, you really owe it to yourself to try it out.

The only critique I have for the V281 at this point is, I kinda wish it had a locking xlr for the headphones, it's a small gripe, I admit, but really the only negative I have for now.

May I ask what are the list of the "could drive HE6" amps? so we won't go the wrong way 

 

[Gibsonmac]

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but:

Well the Taurus mkII can drive them, but I really didn't like the pairing at all, it was pretty bright for me, and I didn't care for the treble, but some people say they like that sound. A rotel stereo speaker amp, enough power but just no synergy. The EF6, again is supposed to drive it very well, it was designed to drive the HE6 after all, but I really didn't like it much, it was pretty average sounding to me, it had enough power, but was kinda lifeless, lacking dynamics... The schiit lyr and (insert headphone) sounded better in comparison, but cannot drive the HE6 either lol.

Pretty much every amp I've owned or borrowed I've tried with them, just in case, but as mostly just a power benchmark I guess is what I was checking.

I've heard very good things about the wa5, but I don't have one, though the guy listing his in the classifieds here has nearly been an impulse buy a couple times. But it's a 'stock' version, and I wanted the upgrade package.

 

[Zkadoush]

Not Tyll's Big Sound array, but my own little endgame rig in bliss mode.

 

[Chik0240]

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but:

Well the Taurus mkII can drive them, but I really didn't like the pairing at all, it was pretty bright for me, and I didn't care for the treble, but some people say they like that sound. A rotel stereo speaker amp, enough power but just no synergy. The EF6, again is supposed to drive it very well, it was designed to drive the HE6 after all, but I really didn't like it much, it was pretty average sounding to me, it had enough power, but was kinda lifeless, lacking dynamics... The schiit lyr and (insert headphone) sounded better in comparison, but cannot drive the HE6 either lol.

Pretty much every amp I've owned or borrowed I've tried with them, just in case, but as mostly just a power benchmark I guess is what I was checking.

I've heard very good things about the wa5, but I don't have one, though the guy listing his in the classifieds here has nearly been an impulse buy a couple times. But it's a 'stock' version, and I wanted the upgrade package.

Thanks man, I didn't mean to be sarcastic, just always heard about so many people claims some amps can drive it well while others say the other way round, but this time with the v281 seemed nobody are saying it can't drive the he-6, which sounds quite solid to me, so just asking for a reference

 

[project86]

I personally think it has to do with sound sig just as much as ability to drive. I've heard a Schiit Lyr 2 do a reasonably good job, and I've heard a different Lyr 2 sound terrible, so it clearly had to do with the tubes being used along with the associated gear in each system.
 
The best I've heard from a reasonably affordable amp is the NuForce HA-200 set up in monoblock mode. That's $700 total for both amps and it sounds very impressive. Violectric's V200 does a pretty good job, and Auralic Taurus is very enjoyable imho. V281 is best of all in my experience.
 
Speaker amps were said to be the best way to go but in my experience they don't guarantee anything at all.