[lunz]

 
Yes, I managed that. Violectric.de didn't have any drivers, but the American site had. Go figure.
 

 
Isn't the driver available at the following address ? http://www.violectric.de/violectric-others.html

 

[xaval]

  Wait I thought you said you already had the amp?  Is this a different one?  Just trying to figure out which amp you're referring to .

 

[Frank I]

  Wait I thought you said you already had the amp?  Is this a different one?  Just trying to figure out which amp you're referring to .

I meant it had  matured. (Burn IN)that it was fully burned in and now has fully opened up some more. Yes the amp is burned in now and sound excellent sorry for the confusion. I meant to edit that word yesterday but got distracted with phone calls.

 

[Byrnie]

I meant it had  matured. (Burn IN)that it was fully burned in and now has fully opened up some more. Yes the amp is burned in now and sound excellent sorry for the confusion. I meant to edit that word yesterday but got distracted with phone calls.

Oh I see. Very cool and thanks for the clarification!

 

[xaval]

So with all this initial enthusiasm I think this amp needs to go against the SS heavy hitters to see how in the top of the pyramid things go.
 
V281 vs:
CMA800R
GS-X2
Phonitor 2
Taurus mkII
 

 

[Frank I]

I have not heard the phonitor or the others  but I did review the GSX Mk2 and it  stacks up nicely .

 

[Xenophon]

  I have not heard the phonitor or the others  but I did review the GSX Mk2 and it  stacks up nicely .

Did you try the GSX-Mk2 with a HE-6?  I had an extended session (but just one) with it and it and greatly like it with my HE-500 but it didn't convince me with the 6, I could get better results with the 6 plugged into my SX-1980 or to my F5, it sounded a bit shrill and thin in the treble with the Mk2 and that typically indicates lack of power on tap.  Does the V281 do better?

 

[Frank I]

 
Did you try the GSX-Mk2 with a HE-6?  I had an extended session (but just one) with it and it and greatly like it with my HE-500 but it didn't convince me with the 6, I could get better results with the 6 plugged into my SX-1980 or to my F5, it sounded a bit shrill and thin in the treble with the Mk2 and that typically indicates lack of power on tap.  Does the V281 do better?

I dont have an hE6 here to drive on the the V281 but did when i had the GSX and I felt as other have the GSX did not drive the hE6 properly. Dubstep Girl felt the same way and uses the WA5 as I dod to drive the hE6. I heard the HE6 with my Viva and it did well. U fortunately I dont have one here to compare it with but it does drive every planar easily an dis also terrific with the hD800.

 

[project86]

I have an HE-6 here and the V281 does a brilliant job with it. Possibly better than the Taurus which is very high praise indeed. Taurus extracts a little more detail while V281 (balanced mode of course) is more engaging and musical. Neither of them seem strained or lacking power at all.

I also have CMA800R and a single one of them is not in the same league when it comes to HE-6 performance. Two of them in dual mono mode becomes more competitive but even then I think V281 has the edge.

Between Taurus, CMA800R, and V281, each of them has at least one headphone it excels with.

 

[xaval]

  I have not heard the phonitor or the others  but I did review the GSX Mk2 and it  stacks up nicely .

 
 

I have an HE-6 here and the V281 does a brilliant job with it. Possibly better than the Taurus which is very high praise indeed. Taurus extracts a little more detail while V281 (balanced mode of course) is more engaging and musical. Neither of them seem strained or lacking power at all.

I also have CMA800R and a single one of them is not in the same league when it comes to HE-6 performance. Two of them in dual mono mode becomes more competitive but even then I think V281 has the edge.

Between Taurus, CMA800R, and V281, each of them has at least one headphone it excels with.

Bring it! Counting on your in depth impressions later then.

 

[navigavi]

For people interested in the v281 located in europe, the v281 is now also available on thomann. It's where I bought my v200/v800 combo. They're on stock, so delivery time should be short, depending on your exact location within europe.
 
http://www.thomann.de/gb/violectric_hpa_v281.htm
 
I don't see any way to address your desired specifications like digital input, feet color, front color though. I have sent them an email about this.
 
Will post more on this when I've got an email back.

 

[JeffMann]

This is my first post as I have just joined the forum - although I have been tracking this thread for a long time as a guest.

I have owned a Sennheiser HD800 and Vioelectric V200 amp for about 3 years and I loved the sound quality of that combination - using a Sony XCD5400 CD player as my music source (using Monoprice's balanced interconnect cables between the CD player and Vioelectric V200 amp). I decided to also purchase the V281 amp based on the many positive comments made in this thread. I only have about 15 hours of playing time (using a balanced Sennheiser headphone cable that I had to buy in order to run the combination in balanced mode).

I have two major questions.

Question number 1: In balanced mode, I have noted that my volume control is usually between 9 - 10 o'clock (when it was previously between 11 - 1 o'clock when using my V200 amplifier) for most recordings when listening at roughly the same sound volume. I noted that there is very little difference in the range of volume control when I tried it out at the -6 and -12 pre-gain setting and it is still no higher than 10:30 o'clock at the -12 pre-gain setting. By contrast, when I plugged my single-ended AKG K701 headphones into the 1/4" single-ended headphone outlet I could see a large difference in volume settings eg. ~10 'clock when set at 0 pre-gain, ~12 o'clock when set at -6 pre-gain and ~2 o'clock when set at -12 pre-gain. Why are these "expected" volume setting changes not seen when I run the amp in balanced mode?

Question number 2:

I only listen to classical music and opera, When I listen to a string quartet using the V281 amp in balanced mode, the dynamic range sounds normal - when compared to my V200 amp. However, when I listen to symphonic music recorded with a large dynamic range, I am having a problem. When I set the softer sounds (eg, when a solo instrument is playing) at a comfortable "hearable" level (that is compatible with my extensive experience with "live" orchestral music) then the music gets too unaturally loud (and raucous) when the orchestra plays full tilt (at fortissimo levels). I have never had this problem with the V200, which can play very loud, while still sounding perfectly controlled and not "unaturally loud". Could this be due to the fact that my V281 amp (and new balanced cable) are not yet "burned-in", or is it due to the over-abundant power that this V281 amp can potentially produce?

Jeff.

 

[saxelrod92]

This is my first post as I have just joined the forum - although I have been tracking this thread for a long time as a guest.

I have owned a Sennheiser HD800 and Vioelectric V200 amp for about 3 years and I loved the sound quality of that combination - using a Sony XCD5400 CD player as my music source (using Monoprice's balanced interconnect cables between the CD player and Vioelectric V200 amp). I decided to also purchase the V281 amp based on the many positive comments made in this thread. I only have about 15 hours of playing time (using a balanced Sennheiser headphone cable that I had to buy in order to run the combination in balanced mode).

I have two major questions.

Question number 1: In balanced mode, I have noted that my volume control is usually between 9 - 10 o'clock (when it was previously between 11 - 1 o'clock when using my V200 amplifier) for most recordings when listening at roughly the same sound volume. I noted that there is very little difference in the range of volume control when I tried it out at the -6 and -12 pre-gain setting and it is still no higher than 10:30 o'clock at the -12 pre-gain setting. By contrast, when I plugged my single-ended AKG K701 headphones into the 1/4" single-ended headphone outlet I could see a large difference in volume settings eg. ~10 'clock when set at 0 pre-gain, ~12 o'clock when set at -6 pre-gain and ~2 o'clock when set at -12 pre-gain. Why are these "expected" volume setting changes not seen when I run the amp in balanced mode?

Question number 2:

I only listen to classical music and opera, When I listen to a string quartet using the V281 amp in balanced mode, the dynamic range sounds normal - when compared to my V200 amp. However, when I listen to symphonic music recorded with a large dynamic range, I am having a problem. When I set the softer sounds (eg, when a solo instrument is playing) at a comfortable "hearable" level (that is compatible with my extensive experience with "live" orchestral music) then the music gets too unaturally loud (and raucous) when the orchestra plays full tilt (at fortissimo levels). I have never had this problem with the V200, which can play very loud, while still sounding perfectly controlled and not "unaturally loud". Could this be due to the fact that my V281 amp (and new balanced cable) are not yet "burned-in", or is it due to the over-abundant power that this V281 amp can potentially produce?

Jeff.

I think besides the power increase the main change that occurs when going balanced with the V281 is that the internal gain increases to 14dB, when in single ended its at 8dB. its like using it with +6dB in single ended, and with more power. Thats really all it is.

 

[xaval]

This is my first post as I have just joined the forum - although I have been tracking this thread for a long time as a guest.

I have owned a Sennheiser HD800 and Vioelectric V200 amp for about 3 years and I loved the sound quality of that combination - using a Sony XCD5400 CD player as my music source (using Monoprice's balanced interconnect cables between the CD player and Vioelectric V200 amp). I decided to also purchase the V281 amp based on the many positive comments made in this thread. I only have about 15 hours of playing time (using a balanced Sennheiser headphone cable that I had to buy in order to run the combination in balanced mode).

I have two major questions.

Question number 1: In balanced mode, I have noted that my volume control is usually between 9 - 10 o'clock (when it was previously between 11 - 1 o'clock when using my V200 amplifier) for most recordings when listening at roughly the same sound volume. I noted that there is very little difference in the range of volume control when I tried it out at the -6 and -12 pre-gain setting and it is still no higher than 10:30 o'clock at the -12 pre-gain setting. By contrast, when I plugged my single-ended AKG K701 headphones into the 1/4" single-ended headphone outlet I could see a large difference in volume settings eg. ~10 'clock when set at 0 pre-gain, ~12 o'clock when set at -6 pre-gain and ~2 o'clock when set at -12 pre-gain. Why are these "expected" volume setting changes not seen when I run the amp in balanced mode?

Question number 2:

I only listen to classical music and opera, When I listen to a string quartet using the V281 amp in balanced mode, the dynamic range sounds normal - when compared to my V200 amp. However, when I listen to symphonic music recorded with a large dynamic range, I am having a problem. When I set the softer sounds (eg, when a solo instrument is playing) at a comfortable "hearable" level (that is compatible with my extensive experience with "live" orchestral music) then the music gets too unaturally loud (and raucous) when the orchestra plays full tilt (at fortissimo levels). I have never had this problem with the V200, which can play very loud, while still sounding perfectly controlled and not "unaturally loud". Could this be due to the fact that my V281 amp (and new balanced cable) are not yet "burned-in", or is it due to the over-abundant power that this V281 amp can potentially produce?

Jeff.

I think question #1 has already been addressed.
 
As for #2, how does it sound unbalanced on the same recording?
I enjoy Classical and listen to live concerts frequently. To be honest, and without further feedback, I think you may actually have a wonderful problem which is increased dynamic range into the HD800 that V200 was unable to reach previously.
In a large concert hall a single instrument can sound a bit faint and distant. A fortissimo isn't called a fortissimo by random chance.
 
I'd rather not get into the burn in thing a lot. From personal perception, all new electronics need to "settle down" and it takes a few hours of play. Leave it on a couple days and see if the sound changes a bit.
 
Congrats on the "problem" and welcome to HeadFi 

 

 

[JeffMann]

I think besides the power increase the main change that occurs when going balanced with the V281 is that the internal gain increases to 14dB, when in single ended its at 8dB. its like using it with +6dB in single ended, and with more power. Thats really all it is.

Thank you for expressing an informed personal opinion regarding my first question. Do you have an opinion as to whether an exaggerated, and uneven, transition from the production of soft musical passages to the production of very loud musical passages could be due a "burn-in" phenomenon. Also, how long does it take for the amp to "burn-in"?

Jeff.