[zhgutov]

  Are there any optimum settings for the output volume of a DAC or V281 when connecting from the DAC to the balanced or un-balanced signal inputs on a V281?
 
I could use the volume control on the DAC, but would use the channel balance control on the V281.
 
My DAC produces maximum Balanced 4.6 Vrms @ 0dB Volume – Impedance 78 ohm and Un-balanced 2.3 Vrms @ 0dB Volume – Impedance 39 ohm.
 
I will probably be using DAC and V281 with HD800 S headphones.
 
If using a Resonessence Mirus Pro DAC with the V281 could anyone suggest suitable Balanced interconnects between the DAC and V281 (max 1.5m long cable)?
 
Does the 128-step relay attenuator upgrade provide an increase in sound quality?
 
Has anyone used the two unbalanced phone jacks as left and right channels Balanced mode by re-setting the internal jumpers?  

It is better to use the balanced connection everywhere in your case, because your DAC produces balanced signals, V281 is balanced, and your headphones may be connected to the balanced outputs.
I use 4-pin XLR with the internal jumpers set to BAL. I don't use 6.3 mm outputs for that, but I tried both options (jumper settings) and in my oppinion the BAL setting produces slightly better scene. The difference is small, but I always prefer BAL option setting jumpers back and forth. But I think you can make this experiment by yourself and make your own decision
It would be interesting to me if you can share your impressions on that.

 

[reklov]

This is what Fried, CEO of Lake People says about optimal position of volume control on V800/850:

We thought a bit about this 3.5 dB headroom from Benchmark ...
Well, it is theroretically possible that because of the interpolation processes an overshoot may occur between two full-scale samples.
With 44.1 kHz sample rate this overshoot is as long as 23 microseconds ... with 96 kHz sample rate it is about 12 micro secondes and so on.
When its is longer (3 samples or more) there is no overshoot because it is integrated.
If this "long term overshoot" is really a problem for somebody we recommend the volume of DAC V800 / V850 to be turned to the 4 o´clock position which equals to about 2-3 dB attenuation = digital headroom as the volume is reduced before any interpolation respectively D/A conversion.
The more you attenuate the more digital headroom you will win - at the expense of reduced dynamic range.
Just another nice aspect from the digital volume control we never thought about before


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[reklov]

If your buying any product of Violectric/Lake People, ask for their cables as well, I think they're very good value for money.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[project86]

  Hi project86,
 
I am about to return my Resonessence Labs DAC to have it upgraded to the Mirus Pro version.
 
I normally listen to music through my DAC/Preamp/Amp/Speakers and have decided to extend my music listening with good quality headphones.
 
I would be using my upgraded DAC with unbalanced outlets to Preamp/Amp/speakers and the balanced outlets to a new headphone amp.
 
I listened to the HD800 headphones several years ago and was very impressed, although the HD800 and HD800 S are both in my price range, so I shall check out both.
 
I am considering either the Auralic Taurus MKII or Violectric V281 Headphone Amplifiers which appear to work well with the HD800/HD800 S and when my DAC is returned to me I will audition both of them.
 
Selection of headphone cables appears very confusing, I will probably listen to the the stock cables for a while so I have some reference when auditioning replacement cables.
 
Have you arrived at an opinion on how the Mirus Pro DAC drives the V281?
 
If you have used the HD800 or HD800 S headphones with your Mirus Pro and V281 could you advise how the headphones compare?
 
Do you have the 2nd Volume Control Option and if so do you consider this an essential upgrade?
 
 

 
 
Mirus Pro is spectacular. I love it..... definitely worth the upgrade. It's the most excited I've been about a DAC in a long time.
 
I still like the Taurus but if that's the sound you want (super neutral) I'd recommend the Cayin iHA-6 instead. It's smaller, significantly more affordable, has more power,  and sounds pretty much identical in terms of signature.
 
V281 is better than both though, with a more "meaty" signature and presentation overall. Paired with Mirus Pro is crazy good.
 
I use HD800 a lot, very familiar with the signature. I haven't had time to mess with HD800S yet. Whichever one you end up with, be sure to get a balanced cable if you go with V281.
 
I have the relay volume upgrade and it adds a small degree of transparency. But honestly it's probably not worth the cost.... the regular volume is very nice too.

 

[TonyNewman]

   
 
Mirus Pro is spectacular. I love it..... definitely worth the upgrade. It's the most excited I've been about a DAC in a long time.
 
I still like the Taurus but if that's the sound you want (super neutral) I'd recommend the Cayin iHA-6 instead. It's smaller, significantly more affordable, has more power,  and sounds pretty much identical in terms of signature.
 
V281 is better than both though, with a more "meaty" signature and presentation overall. Paired with Mirus Pro is crazy good.
 
I use HD800 a lot, very familiar with the signature. I haven't had time to mess with HD800S yet. Whichever one you end up with, be sure to get a balanced cable if you go with V281.
 
I have the relay volume upgrade and it adds a small degree of transparency. But honestly it's probably not worth the cost.... the regular volume is very nice too.

 
I'd go further and call the Taurus Mk2 somewhat bright and thin sounding. Paired with the HD800, or even the HD800S, caused me some discomfit. Putting a bright-ish and somewhat thin sounding amp with a bright and thin headphone doesn't work for me. Unless you are a massive treble head I would avoid that pairing like the plague. V281, being neutral-warm, works MUCH better with neutral / neutral-bright headphones IMHO. I would pair the Taurus with darker headphones, if that were your thing, like the Audeze range.
 
+1 on the "meaty" sound signature of the V281. I don't know how Violectric do it, but it makes the V281 sound rather "tube-like" while retaining all the detail and dynamics of a high end solid state amp. It also has plenty of power to drive the HE6 or anything else. I have an excellent custom 300B tube amp and the V281 has rendered it almost irrelevant. I use it occasionally for the glow - but SQ-wise there isn't much it does that the V281 doesn't do better.

 

[Smileyko]

Hey guys and gals friends of Vio. I just went to the HiFi show here in Saigon yesterday and picked up the Chord 2Qute DAC. My HD800s has now over 150 hours on them and the sound with the Vio is so much better then the Mojo driving it it's like night and day. Cheers.

 

[3083joe]

It is better to use the balanced connection everywhere in your case, because your DAC produces balanced signals, V281 is balanced, and your headphones may be connected to the balanced outputs.
I use 4-pin XLR with the internal jumpers set to BAL. I don't use 6.3 mm outputs for that, but I tried both options (jumper settings) and in my oppinion the BAL setting produces slightly better scene. The difference is small, but I always prefer BAL option setting jumpers back and forth. But I think you can make this experiment by yourself and make your own decision
It would be interesting to me if you can share your impressions on that.

Are you talking jumpers in v281 or dac?

 

[zhgutov]

Are you talking jumpers in v281 or dac?

I am talking about jumpers inside V281, which may be used to change the mapping for 6.3 jacks.

 

[3083joe]

I am talking about jumpers inside V281, which may be used to change the mapping for 6.3 jacks.

Thanks

 

[jjthorn]

Thanks for the advice reklov, they appear very good XLR interconnects.
 
Does the selection of balanced interconnects from DAC to headphone amp determine the quality of the headphone cable that can be used?
 
Would the Violectric XLR Audio Premium interconnects between my DAC and headphone amp degrade sound quality from a high quality silver litz headphone cable?
 

 

[reklov]

Sorry, I'm no expert, I just read a lot about Violectric and decided they offer a good value for money on all their products. They sent me a long introduction about their cables (in German), and I think they're good enough for me - I use stock OFC cables for my HP. There seems to be no limit to what you can spend on cables, but for me it's the whole system that counts. I paid roughly the same price each for DAC, AMP and HP and 5% of their total price for these cables. In short if you have a great DAC, AMP and HP, you maybe can also spend more money on cables, though after reading and listening for some time, I think less on USB connection, a little more on the XLR cable, and maybe most on the HP cable. I bought a silver cable for my IEMs (crystal cable next, 700 USD) and never regretted it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jjthorn]

The advice and comments provided by members on Head-Fi are extremely useful for someone like me who has to date only used speakers and has very limited knowledge of using headphones.
 
I will get my DAC back in about 4 weeks so will not be able to audition V281 through DAC for a while, although it appears a real bargain at the price.
 
I would be interested in any opinions as to sound quality from V281 if any one is using the V281 with power amplifier/speakers.
 
I could replace my excellent pre-amp with the V281 or connect the V281 to pre-amp unbalanced out (signal would not travel through pre-amp circuitry) with straight through signal to V281.
 
I was advised by my DAC manufacturer that I can only connect both the V281 (balanced) and preamp (unbalanced) at the same time to my DAC outputs if neither puts noise back into the line.
 
I do not understand what puts noise back into the line is.
 
Obviously when either the V281 or preamp is turned on, the other would be turned off.
 
Does the V281 put noise back into the line?
 
It would greatly simplify the setup of my system if my preamp and V281 could be connected directly to my DAC.

 

[FumblingFoo]

Hi everybody, new V281 / V850 combo owner here

. I wish I could offer some detailed impressions upgrading from the Schiit Bifrost Uber / Lyr 2, but I'm both a newbie when it comes to impressions and don't have my AB switch in yet. I might better yet leave the impressions in the Lyr 2 thread because they'd be more useful there.
 
Just a question: Would you guys consider the V281 / V850 an end-game setup? I was kinda disappointed that the V281 wasn't ranked more highly by others at the Big Sound 2015 event on Inner Fidelity.

 

[TonyNewman]

  ...
 
Just a question: Would you guys consider the V281 / V850 an end-game setup? I was kinda disappointed that the V281 wasn't ranked more highly by others at the Big Sound 2015 event on Inner Fidelity.

 
Welcome to the world of hype and individual preferences that is HeadFi. About the only audio review or impression you can really trust is your own ears, listening to gear in your rig, in your environment, with your music. Unless you can get loaner equipment it is often not possible to do that without committing to a purchase, so we have to rely on the views of others quite often. That has been hit and miss for me, to say the least.
 
I have found many of the Violectric haters out there, and they do exist, have heard the V281 using the cheapo DAC option that can be built into the unit. That isn't doing justice to the V281 amp. The amp section is very much a high end device and deserves pairing with a much better DAC unit. I haven't heard the V281 paired with the V850, but I have paired the V281 with the Auralic Vega / Hegel HD30 / Bricasti M1. Each time as I have stepped up my DAC that V281 has also lifted along with it.
 
I have compared the V281 with the Auralic Taurus Mk2 and Simaudio 430HA (owned both) and I prefer the V281 by quite a margin. Is the V281 perfect? No - it can get slightly loose in the bass and a touch hard in the treble - not quite as smooth up top as I would prefer - but it sure as heck beats the pants off everything else I have tried. Taurus is technically great, but the sound signature is bright and thin - not so bad with Audeze type cans, but pretty awful with the HD800, for example. The 430HA has warmth and musicality, but sacrifices bags of detail, speed and punch to do it, leaving it with an overly polite and boring sound.
 
V281 is also one of the few headamps around that can drive the HE6 with authority. 430HA can too. The Taurus cannot.
 
You wouldn't have to search too hard to find a bunch of folks that disagree strongly with my impressions above, and that's OK. It all comes back to individual preferences and setups. Pair the Taurus with an Audeze headphone and a warmish DAC (V850?) and it might be a winner. "YMMV" rules.
 
"End Game" gets thrown around quite a lot. A very subjective term. Only you can figure out what it means to you, and the biggest limiting factor is usually your budget. The Bricasti M1 is absolutely my "end game" DAC because to go further would involve spending crazy dollars that I don't have. My goal is to hook up the Ether Flow and Focal Utopia direct to the DAC XLR outputs and bypass a headamp altogether. That is "End Game" for me (if I can get it to work).
 
Trust your ears and take the views of others (including me) with a large sack of salt.

 

[fdg]

@ jjthorn

What you DAC manufacturer means is that it is critical to connect both devices to you DAC´s output(s) in a passiv way (y-adaptor).
If one of them is unbalanced and the other is balanced it is even more critical.
There are not many DACs in the market with dedicated drivers for both, balanced and unbalanced outputs to use them simultaneously.
If you are looking for one: Violectric DAC V800 and V850 have !
 
The simple solution to your problem is to connect your pre-amp to the V281 as it offers balanced and unbalanced line-outputs.
Further more these can be de/activated by means of a front panel button and they can be configured to a fixed level (unattenuated from the souce) or an attenuated level (with the front attenuator).
Many users love the V281 to also act as a premium pre-amp - so maybe your current pre-amp is needless  afterwards because V281 can do it all.
Just load the manual of V281 from the web site to learn more about the features V281 offers.
Best regards
Fried Reim (CEO of Lake People / Violectric)