[Klonk]

Thanks for your help and replies @hennessys and @JeffMann 

 

[lunz]

Hi guys,
 
For the Mac users, did you encounter any issues by going to OSX 10.11 El Capitan with the integrated USB Dac ?
I'm having some disconnections from time to time between the DAC and the computer (MBP with OSX 10.11). The sound goes off after a few minutes, and I have to shutdown the Vio and restart it.
Since I skipped Yosemite and went directly from Mavericks to El Capitan, I was wondering if I was an isolated case or not.
(I reinstalled the drivers)
 
Cheers

 

[plakat]

  Hi guys,
 
For the Mac users, did you encounter any issues by going to OSX 10.11 El Capitan with the integrated USB Dac ?
I'm having some disconnections from time to time between the DAC and the computer (MBP with OSX 10.11). The sound goes off after a few minutes, and I have to shutdown the Vio and restart it.
Since I skipped Yosemite and went directly from Mavericks to El Capitan, I was wondering if I was an isolated case or not.
(I reinstalled the drivers)
 
Cheers

El Capitan now requires device drivers to be signed and removed the switch to disable that check. The drivers for the standard USB board offered with the V281 are not signed, so they won't load on El Capitan. There's a newer USB receiver in use in the V850, don't know if there's a new version of the board for the V281 available though. Sorry...
 
Since you own a MBP you could contact Violectric and try to exchange the USB board for either the newer USB receiver if they offer that version for the V281 or an optical input: the MBP has an optical digital out...

 

[reiserFS]

 
El Capitan now requires device drivers to be signed and removed the switch to disable that check. The drivers for the standard USB board offered with the V281 are not signed, so they won't load on El Capitan. There's a newer USB receiver in use in the V850, don't know if there's a new version of the board for the V281 available though. Sorry...
 
Since you own a MBP you could contact Violectric and try to exchange the USB board for either the newer USB receiver if they offer that version for the V281 or an optical input: the MBP has an optical digital out...

Excuse me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't you be able to fix this with disabling the "rootless" mode? (Whoever thought that was a good idea to introduce.)

 

[plakat]

  Excuse me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't you be able to fix this with disabling the "rootless" mode? (Whoever thought that was a good idea to introduce.)

I think the kernel lost the switch to disable the driver signature check altogether... but I may be wrong on that. Still I don't think its a good idea to disable a security feature of such broad range just to load an unsigned driver, even if that check could be disabled in that way. Yes, I do work in network management and security, so aversion to disabling security features is normal for myself
 
Its unfortunate that the USB receiver Violectric used is supported so badly... and I'm happy they switched.

 

[phonomat]

Meanwhile on Innerfidelity, Tyll's take on the headamps used for Big Sound 2015 is finally out -- and the Vio does surprisingly well, seeing as it always appeared (to me, at least) like he was sort of biased against it for some reason.
Okay, what he has to say about it sounds more polite than enthusiastic, and it "only" ranks 6/9, but the five above it are at least double the price (with the exception of the GS-X) and go as high as §15,000 (for the Woo Audio monoblocks). Plus, it outperformed its strong contender, the Ragnarok. Unfortunately, he didn't have an Auralic Taurus to test; I would have liked to see how he thinks they stack up.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-wrap-my-take-headphone-amps#zQIUs7wRuO34wP3d.97

 

[heyyeh]

Hi All,
 
This is really helpful forum.  Thanks.
Very interested in getting a V281 for my HE1000.
But I am wondering if I would get any benefit with the balanced output into the HEK if my source is a Hugo with single ended input to V281.
Appreciate any advice on this.

 

[PleasantSounds]

With V281 it doesn't matter whether input is SE or balanced. In fact internally the pre-amp is single ended, only the power stage is balanced.
So you can feed it with Hugo and you won't lose anything.

 

[heyyeh]

  With V281 it doesn't matter whether input is SE or balanced. In fact internally the pre-amp is single ended, only the power stage is balanced.
So you can feed it with Hugo and you won't lose anything.

Good to know.  Thanks.

 

[gonzfi]

With V281 it doesn't matter whether input is SE or balanced. In fact internally the pre-amp is single ended, only the power stage is balanced.
So you can feed it with Hugo and you won't lose anything.

Does that mean it's not a 'properly balanced' amp then??

 

[project86]

Depends on your definition of true balanced. IMHO it's something that isn't worth fussing over.... Some amps are fully balanced dual mono designs, others are some variation of partially balanced, and others are totally single ended but with an XLR output for maximum compatibility. They all have potential to sound great, or not, based on a number of factors.

 

[gonzfi]

Depends on your definition of true balanced. IMHO it's something that isn't worth fussing over.... Some amps are fully balanced dual mono designs, others are some variation of partially balanced, and others are totally single ended but with an XLR output for maximum compatibility. They all have potential to sound great, or not, based on a number of factors.

The reason I ask is that I have just sent my T1's off to be reterminated to a balanced connection with the expectation of an improvement when using with my v281. Hope I haven't wasted my money!

 

[Ultrainferno]

I prefer most of my headphones in balanced on the v281, only a few in SE mode

 

[Blackrain]

On my V281 the balance headphone out is better than the 1/4" output with both my LCD 3 and HE-1000.  Sound stage is larger and backgrounds are quieter.  From the highs to the lows it just sounds a bit clearer.

 

[PleasantSounds]

The reason I ask is that I have just sent my T1's off to be reterminated to a balanced connection with the expectation of an improvement when using with my v281. Hope I haven't wasted my money!

 
In SE mode V281 uses one power amp per channel. By converting your hps to balanced you are allowing it to use all four onboard power amps, i.e. 2 per channel. I have never heard T1s with the V281, but for all my headphones the difference this makes is substantial. 
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the SE preamp: it's the power stage that makes the difference. Having fully balanced end-to-end amp might feel better, but it would complicate the design and make it more expensive, with negligible impact on sound quality.