donato
500+ Head-Fier
I didn't know that. So the V281/280 are not fully balanced topologies?
It's linked on the first page of this thread
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vio...-durch-balanced.705318/page-249#post-14378632
I didn't know that. So the V281/280 are not fully balanced topologies?
Thank you, I've been clicking last page :<It's linked on the first page of this thread
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vio...-durch-balanced.705318/page-249#post-14378632
If my experience counts, you're on the right track. I have the Metrum Menuet and to me it's a fantastic match for the V281. I have tried a couple of Chord models as well as the Yggy and ended up preferring the Menuet. The latest Metrum generation may be a further improvement over that, but I haven't tried any of them and do not intend to upgrade any time soon.I've been looking at the Metrum Acoustics DACs as an alternative to Chord. I had both Mojo and Hugo 2 and they didn't really do it for me; I preferred the AK SP1000.
@Pharmaboy
As far as I remember you have listened to the JAR 650 a lot and know it very well by now. I've managed to get one to listen to for a while and while I find it to be a slightly better defined and refined and overall superior, the bass sticks out more compared to the regular HD 650.
I don't think it's the elevation itself (I am very sure there's more bass with the JAR 650) or alone that's sticking out to me but the combination of more bass and the technical downside of the HD650 itself as I'm simply used to much better controlled bass over the years.
Did you find yourself to be experiencing the same?
Interesting. My immediate thought was that the HD800s does not sound at its best with the V281. I have one but much prefer the HD800s through my Pro-Ject Head Box which is a hybrid amp. I use a Denafrips Terminator as my DAC. I can tell you it makes a night and day difference compared to the Chord TT I was using before.Hi guys! We were talking earlier about choosing a DAC for the v281. So here is an update on the situation which you may find interesting.
I went to local shop today to compare the v800 DAC against my current DAC (the Fiio X3 II DAP).
THE SETUP
I set the following two audio chains:
1. Fiio X3 II DAP -> RCA Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
2. Windows PC -> USB Cable -> v800 DAC -> XLR Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
I used the same audio files on a Flash drive for the Windows PC and on the Fiio DAP's SD Card.
Volume was matched by ear by adjusting it on the v800 DAC. The volume knob of the v800 ended up being at about 1-2 o'clock.
In this setup I was able to change between DACs only by changing the input on the v281 between RCA and XLR.
Most of the time I managed to sync the song timing of the two sources perfectly.
THE RESULTS
Absolutely identical sound from the two audio chains. There was no way I could distinguish between the two. It was to the point where I started to feel like the source switching buttons don't work. It was the same as if I was pressing some random button on some unrelated audio gear in the shop, just no difference. I tried hard to distinguish between the two DACs and I did this for more than an hour with variety of different songs from different genres and recording quality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I was there in the shop trying only the v800 without comparing it with my current DAC I was probably going to conclude it is better. And it sounds amazing by itself. The thing is the Fiio sounds just as amazing.
As a result of this now I'm more sceptical regarding DAC differences. What I can say for sure is that in my case paying about 1000 euro for the v800 is not justified. For me this means I'll have to pass on the v850 as well as it should be similar to the v800. It is very much possible that this conclusion will be the same for at least some other people too. In that case, you could save your money and do something with it that gives you more value.
I know DACs measure differently, but it seems in some cases that difference is not audiable. Also, I'm not saying all DACs sound the same. I'm curious to try higher-end DACs and also ladder NOS DACs.
I'll probably travel to another audio store to try more stuff in the coming 1-2 weeks, including the Hugo 2, Hegel HD30, iFi Audio Pro iDSD, iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label. Also, I'm very curious to try some tube amps like the Woo Audio WA6-SE and see if it is much more engaging and musical than the v281.
As for the v281 it seems it's true TOTL amp and the difference with other less refined amps is obvious.
Hi guys! We were talking earlier about choosing a DAC for the v281. So here is an update on the situation which you may find interesting.
I went to local shop today to compare the v800 DAC against my current DAC (the Fiio X3 II DAP).
THE SETUP
I set the following two audio chains:
1. Fiio X3 II DAP -> RCA Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
2. Windows PC -> USB Cable -> v800 DAC -> XLR Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
I used the same audio files on a Flash drive for the Windows PC and on the Fiio DAP's SD Card.
Volume was matched by ear by adjusting it on the v800 DAC. The volume knob of the v800 ended up being at about 1-2 o'clock.
In this setup I was able to change between DACs only by changing the input on the v281 between RCA and XLR.
Most of the time I managed to sync the song timing of the two sources perfectly.
THE RESULTS
Absolutely identical sound from the two audio chains. There was no way I could distinguish between the two. It was to the point where I started to feel like the source switching buttons don't work. It was the same as if I was pressing some random button on some unrelated audio gear in the shop, just no difference. I tried hard to distinguish between the two DACs and I did this for more than an hour with variety of different songs from different genres and recording quality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I was there in the shop trying only the v800 without comparing it with my current DAC I was probably going to conclude it is better. And it sounds amazing by itself. The thing is the Fiio sounds just as amazing.
As a result of this now I'm more sceptical regarding DAC differences. What I can say for sure is that in my case paying about 1000 euro for the v800 is not justified. For me this means I'll have to pass on the v850 as well as it should be similar to the v800. It is very much possible that this conclusion will be the same for at least some other people too. In that case, you could save your money and do something with it that gives you more value.
I know DACs measure differently, but it seems in some cases that difference is not audiable. Also, I'm not saying all DACs sound the same. I'm curious to try higher-end DACs and also ladder NOS DACs.
I'll probably travel to another audio store to try more stuff in the coming 1-2 weeks, including the Hugo 2, Hegel HD30, iFi Audio Pro iDSD, iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label. Also, I'm very curious to try some tube amps like the Woo Audio WA6-SE and see if it is much more engaging and musical than the v281.
As for the v281 it seems it's true TOTL amp and the difference with other less refined amps is obvious.
Hi guys! We were talking earlier about choosing a DAC for the v281. So here is an update on the situation which you may find interesting.
I went to local shop today to compare the v800 DAC against my current DAC (the Fiio X3 II DAP).
THE SETUP
I set the following two audio chains:
1. Fiio X3 II DAP -> RCA Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
2. Windows PC -> USB Cable -> v800 DAC -> XLR Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
I used the same audio files on a Flash drive for the Windows PC and on the Fiio DAP's SD Card.
Volume was matched by ear by adjusting it on the v800 DAC. The volume knob of the v800 ended up being at about 1-2 o'clock.
In this setup I was able to change between DACs only by changing the input on the v281 between RCA and XLR.
Most of the time I managed to sync the song timing of the two sources perfectly.
THE RESULTS
Absolutely identical sound from the two audio chains. There was no way I could distinguish between the two. It was to the point where I started to feel like the source switching buttons don't work. It was the same as if I was pressing some random button on some unrelated audio gear in the shop, just no difference. I tried hard to distinguish between the two DACs and I did this for more than an hour with variety of different songs from different genres and recording quality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I was there in the shop trying only the v800 without comparing it with my current DAC I was probably going to conclude it is better. And it sounds amazing by itself. The thing is the Fiio sounds just as amazing.
As a result of this now I'm more sceptical regarding DAC differences. What I can say for sure is that in my case paying about 1000 euro for the v800 is not justified. For me this means I'll have to pass on the v850 as well as it should be similar to the v800. It is very much possible that this conclusion will be the same for at least some other people too. In that case, you could save your money and do something with it that gives you more value.
I know DACs measure differently, but it seems in some cases that difference is not audiable. Also, I'm not saying all DACs sound the same. I'm curious to try higher-end DACs and also ladder NOS DACs.
I'll probably travel to another audio store to try more stuff in the coming 1-2 weeks, including the Hugo 2, Hegel HD30, iFi Audio Pro iDSD, iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label. Also, I'm very curious to try some tube amps like the Woo Audio WA6-SE and see if it is much more engaging and musical than the v281.
As for the v281 it seems it's true TOTL amp and the difference with other less refined amps is obvious.
I don't know how you can but for real comparison, run v800 with AES input and volume set at max. Please read about Dante to run V800 through AES, most probably will change your perception.Hi guys! We were talking earlier about choosing a DAC for the v281. So here is an update on the situation which you may find interesting.
I went to local shop today to compare the v800 DAC against my current DAC (the Fiio X3 II DAP).
THE SETUP
I set the following two audio chains:
1. Fiio X3 II DAP -> RCA Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
2. Windows PC -> USB Cable -> v800 DAC -> XLR Cable -> v281 -> HD800S
I used the same audio files on a Flash drive for the Windows PC and on the Fiio DAP's SD Card.
Volume was matched by ear by adjusting it on the v800 DAC. The volume knob of the v800 ended up being at about 1-2 o'clock.
In this setup I was able to change between DACs only by changing the input on the v281 between RCA and XLR.
Most of the time I managed to sync the song timing of the two sources perfectly.
THE RESULTS
Absolutely identical sound from the two audio chains. There was no way I could distinguish between the two. It was to the point where I started to feel like the source switching buttons don't work. It was the same as if I was pressing some random button on some unrelated audio gear in the shop, just no difference. I tried hard to distinguish between the two DACs and I did this for more than an hour with variety of different songs from different genres and recording quality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I was there in the shop trying only the v800 without comparing it with my current DAC I was probably going to conclude it is better. And it sounds amazing by itself. The thing is the Fiio sounds just as amazing.
As a result of this now I'm more sceptical regarding DAC differences. What I can say for sure is that in my case paying about 1000 euro for the v800 is not justified. For me this means I'll have to pass on the v850 as well as it should be similar to the v800. It is very much possible that this conclusion will be the same for at least some other people too. In that case, you could save your money and do something with it that gives you more value.
I know DACs measure differently, but it seems in some cases that difference is not audiable. Also, I'm not saying all DACs sound the same. I'm curious to try higher-end DACs and also ladder NOS DACs.
I'll probably travel to another audio store to try more stuff in the coming 1-2 weeks, including the Hugo 2, Hegel HD30, iFi Audio Pro iDSD, iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label. Also, I'm very curious to try some tube amps like the Woo Audio WA6-SE and see if it is much more engaging and musical than the v281.
As for the v281 it seems it's true TOTL amp and the difference with other less refined amps is obvious.
I don't intent to try other inputs on the DAC as that would mean I have to buy some additional gear. I don't think it is justified to put even more money on signal converters when I don't hear any difference with USB. To my knowledge the USB input on the v800 is good.