Violectric HPA V550 - Blue's Brother and the successor to the V281
- Thread starter Fegefeuer
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1266 +12db is a must.Practice has shown that the perception of the amplifier is very dependent on the gain used. Question to the owners, with what gain do you listen to headphones from the V550? Why are you using this particular gain setting?
In my installation, Holo May is connected via XLR to the V590 (used as an amplifier), the Vio is supplied with 5.8 volts from the DAC.
All headphones are connected to the XLR output. As a result, we get listening:
- Abyss 1266 at +6 gain.
- DCA Stealth at 0 gain.
- Fostex 610 at -18 gain.
The magic power of dip switches.
dpeterfy32
100+ Head-Fier
I mean, the built-in dac of the v590 mk2 is quite weak... I didn't want to believe my ears that a 3700 euro device doesn't have a dac of such performance and quality integrated that there are audible differences compared to stand-alone dac devices.... I used the v590 mk2 allinone 1-2 years ago. I know well what it sounds like with active speakers and headphones. I bought an smsl do 300 device, I thought I would listen to the v590 mk2, since I only had an rca cable at home, that was the only way I could connect it. so the snr and dnr range of the dac is 127 db. with xlr cable 134 db... 
)) with rca cable also wiped the floor, simply put, v590 mk2 with built-in double 9026 pro. the entire middle range is much calmer, more natural, clearer, you can listen for as long as you want, the crosstalk is on a completely different level, therefore the imaging, resolution, space, atmosphere are also much better... all this at a clearly audible level... of course, good and experienced hearing is also required... .. so I didn't think I'd say honestly that a 550 dollar dac would eat it for breakfast, but that's the reality. also from a technical point of view, dac has the best results in all areas... So this is a real high-end reference dac regardless of price. it is certain that from now on I will only recommend Violectric amplifiers to anyone.
)) with rca cable also wiped the floor, simply put, v590 mk2 with built-in double 9026 pro. the entire middle range is much calmer, more natural, clearer, you can listen for as long as you want, the crosstalk is on a completely different level, therefore the imaging, resolution, space, atmosphere are also much better... all this at a clearly audible level... of course, good and experienced hearing is also required... .. so I didn't think I'd say honestly that a 550 dollar dac would eat it for breakfast, but that's the reality. also from a technical point of view, dac has the best results in all areas... So this is a real high-end reference dac regardless of price. it is certain that from now on I will only recommend Violectric amplifiers to anyone.
Why? Sounds better with higher gains like schiit amps?
Dear friends here is my Violectric V222 review.
Happy reading and I would be happy to answer to any questions.
Happy reading and I would be happy to answer to any questions.
shwnwllms
1000+ Head-Fier
Been meaning to ask if anyone else is using their V550 as a pre into a tube amp?
-18dB line out V550 Pro
Max volume Pendant SE
Lowers the noise floor even further (Pendant is a relatively quiet amp to begin with with the right tubes regardless), and Justin says A&S amps benefit from a pre in the chain and the extra input juice. Plus I get the added benefit of the 256 step Reed relay volume control.
Took me awhile to get around to trying it but now that I have I’m leaving it in the chain. If I ever want to hear the Pendant vanilla I just switch to Pre-Fader (Fixed Output) mode to pass the signal through un-attenuated.
-18dB line out V550 Pro
Max volume Pendant SE
Lowers the noise floor even further (Pendant is a relatively quiet amp to begin with with the right tubes regardless), and Justin says A&S amps benefit from a pre in the chain and the extra input juice. Plus I get the added benefit of the 256 step Reed relay volume control.
Took me awhile to get around to trying it but now that I have I’m leaving it in the chain. If I ever want to hear the Pendant vanilla I just switch to Pre-Fader (Fixed Output) mode to pass the signal through un-attenuated.
I tried it last week running it out into my Airmid, but I didn't feel the cables I have on hand did the combo any favors. I'm awaiting some interconnects from Audio Envy, who apparently make great sounding cables at a relatively inexpensive price vs. other cables and have a stellar reputation across multiple forums.
Hoping that AE interconnects have good synergy in my system so that i can keep the v550's pre amp function in the chain.
shwnwllms
1000+ Head-Fier
Nice. I knew we spoke about it once. I was wondering if you ever got around to trying it. I hear great things about the AE interconnects as well. Let me know how it works out for you.
TooFrank
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Excellent review - many thanks.
I bought the V222 a while ago because of the alleged tubey sound. I (still) have an iCAN pro amp, that has a tube mode, but where the effect to me seems very modest. Never had the guts to invest in tubes, so insight of the good reviews of the V280, I took the jump. Meanwhile, I discovered that I could swap tube in my dac (Pro iDSD) so that potentially would benefit any connected amp. As regard the V222, the improvement (relative to the iDSD) wasn't that huge. However, after a while it seems to me that the V222 has a really black background. Seems somewhat deeper than the iDSD. (However, the iDSD has the Xbass, that I love). Somewhat different flavors - but very nice indeed. Question: I have many HPs, most of them Grados and as such, easy to drive. The gain switches on the V222, I have set to - 18dB and that works fine. I do use Roon though, and there I have added another -12dB, just to get more room for volume adjustment (on the very, very nice knob). Does it make any difference in the SQ or overall performance to adjust the gain "twice"?
PS I forgot to state, that I really believe that the V222 is a keeper (as the iDSD
)So sorry: Wrong thread
Last edited:
Vangelis
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One of the retailers specified, “the amplifier’s XLR headphone output is truly balanced out”. Is the amplifier fully balanced from input to both the headphone and preamp XLR outputs?
gonintendo
100+ Head-Fier
The amplifier section is but the preamp section is single ended (so for balanced inputs they get converted to single ended and then balanced again, though “balanced” means different things for different parts of the circuit)
This is not necessarily a bad thing though
wgkwgk
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FWIW, used many (5+?) amps over about 10 years. As my listening has gotten more selective and discerning and my budget for "fun stuff only if grail" allows me to do so, I like the HPA 550 Pro because it's dead-quiet and a very adept partner for most anything one can toss at it--5 ZMFs, 3 HD's, Beyers, Grados). To point, it's a great amp for A/B'ing headphones. With the SS/balanced options I could really, very easily, do comparisions with no delay for plug/unplug and volume\balance stuff. Also, it can drive speakers as a pre-amp. Finally, dip-switch to your heart's content--just look at the back panel. Oh, made it Germany...
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
dpeterfy32
100+ Head-Fier
Does anyone have a stable and reliable experience of the difference between the v550 amplifier xlr vs 6.3? which one does it sound like?
fdg
Member of the Trade: Lake People
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What does "TRUE BALANCED" mean concerning the Violectric amps.
Although written many times, here again some explanations:
There are more and more amps in the market, featuring a balanced headphone connector (4-pin XLR / Pentaconn) but only SE amps inside.
So, these sockets are more a "convenience" feature but have nothing to do with the benefits of a real balanced (or push-pull) amplifier design where 4 power stages are engaged.
This in mind we like to express our four amplifier circuitry to be TRUE BALANCED.
But I have to admit that there is also the 2-amplifier Violectric V202 having the Pentaconn socket as an unbalanced "conveniece" feature.
To deal with unbalanced and balanced inputs as well as balanced and unbalanced outputs and to convert signals between them it is necessary to have a unbalanced signal chain inside our amps.
Balanced signals are fed to a differencial amplifier which makes an unbalanced signal out of a balanced signal.
The buffering and signal treating afterwards is the same for the former balanced and the unbalanced signals.
After the volume control - which is performed at least with an Alps RK 27 attenuator or a 256-steps relay attenuator - the signals are converted to be balanced again.
Please note at this point that balancing or unbalancing signals at any position in a signal chain is far from being rocket science.
These signals are input to 4 amplifiers carrying the signals: Left in-phase, Left out-of-phase, Right in-phase, Right out-of-phase.
Balanced headphones with a matching plug and wireing will use the signals from all 4 amps with all the benefits, while unbalanced headphones with a TRS phone jack will only use 2 of the amps.
See attached block circuit from V222 for more details
Cheers, Fried
Although written many times, here again some explanations:
There are more and more amps in the market, featuring a balanced headphone connector (4-pin XLR / Pentaconn) but only SE amps inside.
So, these sockets are more a "convenience" feature but have nothing to do with the benefits of a real balanced (or push-pull) amplifier design where 4 power stages are engaged.
This in mind we like to express our four amplifier circuitry to be TRUE BALANCED.
But I have to admit that there is also the 2-amplifier Violectric V202 having the Pentaconn socket as an unbalanced "conveniece" feature.
To deal with unbalanced and balanced inputs as well as balanced and unbalanced outputs and to convert signals between them it is necessary to have a unbalanced signal chain inside our amps.
Balanced signals are fed to a differencial amplifier which makes an unbalanced signal out of a balanced signal.
The buffering and signal treating afterwards is the same for the former balanced and the unbalanced signals.
After the volume control - which is performed at least with an Alps RK 27 attenuator or a 256-steps relay attenuator - the signals are converted to be balanced again.
Please note at this point that balancing or unbalancing signals at any position in a signal chain is far from being rocket science.
These signals are input to 4 amplifiers carrying the signals: Left in-phase, Left out-of-phase, Right in-phase, Right out-of-phase.
Balanced headphones with a matching plug and wireing will use the signals from all 4 amps with all the benefits, while unbalanced headphones with a TRS phone jack will only use 2 of the amps.
See attached block circuit from V222 for more details
Cheers, Fried
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