LH Labs Geek Out GO2A, V2, V2+, Infinity and SE Impressions and Reviews

Yes, at this point my use for all of this is with the Andros. My Jotunheim is hooked into my main system so I can use headphones with my vinyl/CD transport/Modi Multibit, leaving the GOV2+ Inf on my desk. ZX2 is my around the house/on the go player because it's easier for me than tethering the GO to the my phone, although that does also sound good.

I was trying to figure out if the Pro is worth an upgrade since I already have the Infinity, but if the improvements are subtle then I'll stick with what I have.

 

Thank you for your detailed response. I appreciate your candor and civility.

Its great that you are trying to steer LH Labs get on the right footing. Its great that you care and put a lot of effort out of pure enthusiasm.

My only concern is that I feel your response is still biased. You say you aren't here for PR, but you are indirectly doing so, by talking about how Larry is such a nice guy, its not his fault for the incompetance of his team, he's learning from his mistakes. He's trying to make the company better. He paid out of his own pocket for the chassis(though he is getting payed from the money that was crowdfunded?).

Its nice that Larry is a great engineer and a genuine guy, but in the end its a business he runs. He is the CEO. I'm not telling him to do every little chore or job, but its his job to manage the company, the overall direction its taking, manage resources, and logistics, etc.. The people he hires, the teams that he uses, how the company works and how it still works(email of upgrading...is a big no no...esp the perkathon days) is still up to him. If he can't manage those things, he should just be the head engineer.

I certainly don't see how it is fair that you bash products like the Mojo to oblivion, and give leeway for LH labs to improve. Maybe if you knew Rob Watts, and he was a nice guy, you would find some excuse that he is currently learning how to implement USB.

The Geekout v2+ was one of my first purchases in starting this hobby, so I apologize if I was a bit emotional after the experience.

I will be off LH products and see what becomes their next product after they fulfill on the Pulse, Vi Dac, Source, Wave.

That being said, I hope you steer them in the right direction and only time will tell if they will change.

I guess I still have a soft spot because I really think that new chassis looks gorgeous on the GO2Pro.

 

Merrick, I think moving from the ZX2 to the WM1A is a bigger jump than upgrading to a Go2Pro SE. Seeing that the WM1A can be had on amazon uk at times for about 800, I would recommend it. Its so good, it actually beats the GO v2+/ALO CDM stack in balanced from 3.5mm TRRS single ended. I'll let you know once I get 4.4mm balanced cables.

 

I'm pretty happy with the ZX2, the only reason I was considering this was because I already had the GOV2+ Infinity.

 

I guess I don't have "known good ears"...YMMV. ZX2 + Andromedas are fantastic anyhow. Enjoy.

 

It's hard to take your impressions seriously when you went from the CDM trounces the WM1A one day, to holy shit the WM1A kicks ass the next. Then you add the caveat that the WM1A is not burned in and you'll get back to us. You should have waited until the unit was burned in and then gave us the play by play, hour by hour.

You're well spoken, but your reviews/impression's come of as pure Heads-Fi hype. I'm sure in time if you stick around and keep contributing, your impressions will be worth something. It just takes time, and a while for people to wrap their head around your preferences.

 

Fair enough. But I did say in my post, it was initial impression and I needed burn in time. Anyways I will post on the other thread for that.

 

GO2Pro Limited Signature Edition Upgrade

http://marketplace-lhlabs.com/go2pro-limited-signature-edition-upgrade/

 

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Can anyone compare Centrance Hifi-m8? Which one is better?

 

GO2ASE arrived today and I had a chance to dink around with it a bit.

Unboxing impressions: this is much better packaging than GOV2. Interestingly the inner flap of the fold-open box refers to the device as a GO2Pro...maybe a little confusing, but not a train smash. The magnetic flap is a nice touch - well done. It seems LH Labs is making progress.

The unit looks soooo much better then GOV2. And the champagne is not quite as cheesy as I feared it might be. Buttons all work well, as do the LEDs .

First test, Andromeda hiss. There is hiss, but it's tolerable, and it's the same on all 3 gain levels. It's slightly more than the Chord Mojo, maybe, but not much. IEMatch cleans it up on 'high' and of course on 'ultra' as well. I'm not noticing a difference between 'high' and 'ultra' in terms of FR changes, FWIW. I didn't bring the ALO Tinsel balanced cable to work as the FedEx ETA was only tomorrow, so I'll report back on that front later.



Of course I put it in the ring with Mojo straight away . Did a casual volume match using JRiver/pink noise and linked them (sends the same output to both simultaneously). Testing with KEF M500 (Andro's are a pain to remove/replace and I get a lot of fly-by's at my desk) and the treble roll-off that people refer to on the Mojo is immediately apparent. Initially vocals seem to sound ever so slightly thinner than Mojo, but cymbals etc. are rendered better and there is a sense of air and dimension that's not quite there with Mojo. Not that Mojo is a slouch, but the GO2ASE edge is easily evident.

I'll spend some more concerted time with Andros, IEMatch and both SE and Balanced cables, as well as HD6XX when I get a chance and pit it against GOV2 as well. But on a casual listen, it's full of win. I imagine GO2A won't be much behind.

I'm impressed. Nice job, LH Labs.

Update: GO2A vs GOV2 + Andromeda w/litz and tinsel balanced
SE:
I used a decent passive switchbox and linked the two Geeks in JRiver. Level matched with narrow band pink noise at a reasonably loud level (for me). The GO2A is significantly louder - -22dB on the GOV2 matches -26dB on the GO2A on low gain. Interestingly switch to high gain and the GOV2 is louder than the GO2A.

To be honest there's not much between them SE. Slightly airier, and a sense of a little better detail. I wonder if the switchbox is getting in the way and blurring things maybe. OK, testing SE with IEMatch and tinsel, there's a much bigger difference...soundstage is noticeably wider on GO2A and instruments are more clearly placed.

Balanced:
Channel match is -29dB GO2A to -22dB GOV2.

GO2ASE hisses more loudly, approximately double the hiss of GOV2. IEMatch takes care of almost all of it at High, but needs Ultra to clean it all up. I was hoping this would be the hiss-killer, but I'm actually OK with the IEMatch, so I;m not going to fret about it. The IEMatch is also great for not having to swap out the cable for SE phone outputs. FWIW, although most feel the tinsel is an ergonomic nightmare, I actually prefer it to the litz. It feels less fiddly to me and I prefer the straight plug. YMMV, but there you have it.

SQ Balanced... (using IEMatch now cause I like that blackground), differences are clearer than SE but of course still close in the grand scheme of things. Greater sense of air, and I'm noticing on live recordings there's better timbre on female vocals. It's almost like there's a slickness/thickness on the GOV2, that's diminished on the GO2A, so you feel more present in the audience. Soundstage is wider, without losing focus, so things feel more natural to me.

SE vs Balanced (GO2A)
This is tough to volume match, so YMMV and all that, but there's clearly more grip and control, especially evident in the bass. Wider stage, better placement of instruments, just overall a sense of better clarity. I'm glad I sprang for the tinsel.

So, fail on the hiss front, but certainly an improvement over GOV2. Tinsel + IEMatch is my new friend.

 

Hot damn, this thing is a little furnace. It's almost too hot to switch out the headphones without getting seared. I joked earlier about an aftermarket heat sink, but I'm not so sure it's that crazy after all.


(from here: http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=145185.225 )

 

Where did you buy the heat sink? I'm going to use my go2a only on my desktop so I maybe I will do the same.

 

Not my post...this is from the old GO 1000 days .

 

It was intended as a joke / or an attempt for the inital heat problems faced by GO v.1.

Found it by chance on Ebay. Somebody tried it for real from the link I posted.

If you are serious here is the link. But the measurements is intended for the original GO. GOV2A has different dimensions / a bit smaller.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-60mm-x...042863?hash=item33b7dcf36f:g:fGQAAOSwSWJXQ~jj

Will be surprised what others have done.

 

My brand new GO2A Infinity arrived in the mail yesterday. I agree with @GoodEnoughGear; both packaging and new case look and feel professional. This is what the product should have been from the beginning. Sound wise, when I listened at the SBAF meet in LA I thought GO2A kicked serious ass; my gut instinct put it somewhere between Bifrost Multibit and Gungnir Multibit in terms of SQ. Nothing I'm hearing so far has changed that impression.

I'm going to let the board and other bits burn in for another day or two and then get to comparisons with the GOV2+ (it's clearly better but I'm going to put it in words) I have here as well as the Yggdrasil/Rag stack.

 

Got some questions regarding the GO2A (especially the Infinity and SE versions).
i) both have three digital filter modes (TCM, FRM and SSM). So which colour (red, blue, green) does apply for which mode?
ii) since the SE version has femto clocks included wouldn´t it be possible to add a fourth mode, FTM (Femto Time Mode) - which is for instance available with the Pulse "F" models - via a firmware? Or does that require more than a FW upgrade?

Thanks in advance.