I wonder if any of the v8 owners here could chime in on a problem I have, which I suspect maybe has to do with the amp.
I've had the v8 for a few years now paired with some Grado GS1000s (the source being a uDac-2, and also using the Little Pinkie PSU). Over time though I became gradually displeased with the sound... The infamous GS1K's recessed mids and mid-bass hump made for fatiguing long-term listens.
I became even more displeased about a year ago when I bought VSonic GR07 mkII IEMs for my portable player - A totally different animal. These had a lot of detail, to my ears more than the GS1Ks, a very well-balanced FR, and the most noticeable feature for me - the way they handled bass. They extend really low, have no humps, just a very "right", detailed bass with addictive bass drum kicks. They do nothing "wrong", unlike the Grados. And all that even simply connected right to my Samsung galaxy s3 smartphone.
Recently I got a Schiit Modi DAC to replace the uDac-2 (I wanted to use the uDac at work with the VSonics) so I stared listening to my home rig again. Despite the very noticeable improvement of the Modi over the uDac, still the same problems.
I was curious how the VSonics would sound with the new DAC, so I hooked them up to the v8.
I was very disappointed with the result. First there was terrible hiss even with the volume all the way down and even with the DAC disconnected. But even more the GR07 lost their magic. Now
they appeared to have a mid-bass hump, and also the sub-bass felt a bit recessed.
So my question is, could it be that these artifacts are also the fault of the v8? Or is it just the bad match with IEMs that caused this?
I wanna know before I go looking for a new amp