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

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by jexby, Sep 29, 2015.

  1. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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  2. Neal

    Neal Facebook Friend

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    If you're looking to get one any time soon go the used route. I pre-ordered one in the beginning of November and received no communication whatsoever until I put in a ticket with their support in mid-December. And even then they still weren't able to give me a ship date.
     
  3. MrButchi

    MrButchi Gear Master Europe

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    I ordered late November too when the reservations opened. Opened a ticket 10 days ago and was told mid-January is the aim.
    Hence I think that end of March is reasonable to shoot for.
     
  4. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Anyone experience a change in their GO V2+ Infinity? At first i felt it was thin and bass was soft on impact. Extremely detailed and layered, but analytical. I'm around 100 hours in......and must say it sounds fantastic. Bass reproduction is just wow.....the sound def has more body to it, treble is definitely less harsh. Before I prefered the ZX2, but I think the tides may have just turned ><.
     
  5. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Anyone preoder the GO2A? Its on sale on the LH Labs website........LOL...the way lh labs does business ><
     
  6. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    They are all in production for preorders. I've confirmed all the preorders will go out first. The chassis from the last shipment were delayed but now they have enough for all the orders and more. The boards have been sitting waiting for chassis for a while.
     
  7. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    It would be beneficial to their business if there was any sort of proactive communication from them. I must confess it pisses me off when I get repeated marketing email but they dont respond to any customer service channel comms.
     
  8. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    I just discovered something weird with the GO2A - when in SE mode (doesnt matter which gain setting) fed via a macbook, the volume increases upto the second last step (15/16) and then the last step up (16/16) makes the volume drop pretty drastically like as if it was at 12/16.

    Would be helpful if someone else can check if they have the same thing happening, I tried running the SE output to an integrated receiver and discovered this, then tried some headphones (with the volume turned down in iTunes just so it doesnt damage the drivers) and the same thing happened..

    EDIT: nevermind, it turns out the macbook was acting up with a lot of other apps as well. Restarted it and everything went back to normal o_O
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2017
  9. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Sorry about the double post, but I have a time sensitive question regarding the GOV2+ and Andromedas here. Thanks!

    Edit: Question answered. Decided not to go for it. See this in Used Deals.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2017
  10. AdvanTech

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    Plugged in my balanced Vegas into the GOV2+ this morning and I had to take them out of my ears because it was getting shocked by them. It seems to happen whenever it's connected to anything via USB.

    I then tried an SE 3.5mm cable out to my nearfields to see if the balanced plug was the problem and when I turned them on the speakers nearly blew up with the loudest and worst noise. I hope I didn't blow them. wtf happened?
     
  11. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Do you have a cheap pair of earbuds or something you could try plugging into the SE output of the V2+ just to test to make sure it's still operating? Sounds fishy.

    You could also try using a different USB port to see if that might be part of the issue. Good luck and let us know how it goes
     
  12. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    It seems to have fixed itself, but now I'm terrified of using it as the DAC for my nearfields.
     
  13. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    One challenge with the V2+ (and V2A) is the lack of a physical volume button. Just get used to going into system and turning the volume all the way down before you plug in any transducers (your nearfields or HPs/IEMs). Unfortunately in my experience the V2+ always reverts back to 100% volume, which can risk hurting the equipment and/or your ears if you're not careful. Cheers
     
  14. ufospls2

    ufospls2 Friend

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    I've had nothing but trouble with the GO family. My first GOV2 fell apart physically, so I sent it away to be fixed, which took two months. The second worked for a while, about 2 months, then developed weird USB issues. It continually disconnected, wouldn't be recognised etc..so I sent it back to be fixed, again. After 6 months of waiting, I sent an email that was a bit strongly worded and asked for a GO2A to be sent as a replacement if they weren't going to fix my GOV2. They sent the GO2A after another month of waiting, so 7 months in total, and on arrival it had similar USB issues. I've tried it on 4 different computers now, and it has the same problems with each, so its not my computer.

    Has anyone else had these problems with their GO's, and what did you do to resolve them? I've spent more time without my GO's than with them since I purchased it originally. The GO2A is a huge improvement build quality wise over the GOV2, but I haven't been able to listen to it long enough to evaluate it sonically due to the USB issues.

    The thing is that when they work, they sound fantastic. Its just in my experience, they don't work all that often.
     
  15. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    I don't think I have anything new to add here, but what the hell... my thoughts on the GOV2+ Infinity.

    Backstory: For a decent while I have been using a Chord Mojo with Oppo PM-3 as my everyday portable setup, for the train to and from work. I liked lots of things about the Mojo, but in the end various annoyances meant I was not listening to it at all. So before Christmas I sold it off and picked up what is apparently @Cellist88's old GOV2+ Infinity. This is the newest revision with the metal case. After a couple of weeks with the new setup the executive summary is: BINGO. Some further thoughts, in no particular order. All this is with the green filter mode selected.

    Good points:
    • Tuning is wizardy. Tonality is super coherent and this shit is SMOOTH. Smoother than most non-portable SS amps I've heard. Extremely non-fatiguing.
    • Fast. Articulate bass.
    • Black background and surprising good plankton retrieval.
    • Balanced out. PM3 will accept this with a straight TRRS cable (I like this kind) and it sounds f'ing great. PM3 has pretty poor soundstage and this helps a lot. Overall excellent synergy with the PM3 - with these phones I prefer it to the ZX2 (going off a fairly long in-store demo I did).
    • Amp section seems to have gobs of power, though I'm only using this with the PM3 so can't really tell.
    Bad points. I'm being pretty nitpicky here. These are not major faults.
    • Transients are slightly smeary. In the bass this makes things sound a bit rounded. Blue filter modes improves transients but is digititus city.
    • Treble still has a hint of that sugary, syrupy Sabre sound. A lot of Sabre stuff fucks this up real bad and this is way better, but it's still there if you listen out for it. Distorted guitars show it up. Try the self-titled Blur album or early Sonic Youth. It isn't glarey or prickly, just a bit timbrally off.
    Vs Mojo:
    • Form factor is way better.
    • USB implementation is way better. Mojo sounded good from the coax out of the RME card in my desktop. It sounded crap out of my phone. It was tolerable with coax from my old iBasso DX50 (the combo I used = hypercrap form factor). GO sounds great from my phone.
    • DAC section is slightly better. Mojo DAC is pretty good, nice tonality, good technicalities - except for the treble prickles. After a long day at work, when I was tired, when there was a lot of external noise, it was like the Cheshire cat, all the nice tonality disappeared and left only prickles behind. The Geek Out has no prickles. I do think that Mojo edges it a bit in transient response.
    • Amp section is way better, just more authoritative, clearer, betterer all round.
    • Here's a curveball - I think the GO (in its current iteration) is built better. The sockets are properly strain-relieved. The metal casing isn't made of bullshit brushed aluminium that scratches as soon as you look at it. I am probably hexing myself by writing this.
    In summary: I am super happy with the change, which was basically cost neutral and a significant step up in both sound quality and usability.

    Random information dump, all this is probably pretty obvious but took me a few goes to figure out:
    • UAPP is a super great player: CUE sheet support, ReplayGain, hardware volume control. Mac port please! Set it to bitperfect, volume toggle to hardware volume control, 100 volume steps.
    • Starting a listening session with UAPP is a bit finicky. If it's running already, close it down using the Android back button (NOT killing it from the running apps). THEN plug in the GO and switch it on.
    • Using it on a Mac, you need to go into Audio MIDI Setup and cut the volume loads (like around 36db on mine), otherwise your player volume control is basically unusable. (Unless you are fancy enough to use Audivarna or something like that).
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2017
  16. Audioviel

    Audioviel New

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    How many hours did your GOV2+ inf run?
     
  17. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Well from me around 20 hrs, the owner after not so much...so probably not a lot. I habe to say it sounds better when you let the caps settle.
     
  18. rainer.skill

    rainer.skill New

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    Do you think the GO2A infinity is worth the 100$ price difference?
     
  19. Audioviel

    Audioviel New

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    This was my intention. My GO has nearly 40 hours on the clock and is getting better during the last 10 hours (Less harsh in treble, more involving). It is far away from LHs 100 hour recommendation for break in.
     
  20. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Larry and I have been going back and forth but all future products will be tested with Andromeda. I actually want to maintain the current tuning and low OI, but we're going to work on tweaking to reduce the noise floor in addition to future improvements like all metal chassis across the GO line.
     

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