Schiit Fulla 2 Released

No, I think that's a tier above. But for many in the $200+ space.

 

Got mine about an hour ago. Plug and play with my Win 10 desktop, but can't get it to work (or even register) on my Note 4 running Marshmallow. I tried both with and without external power. OTG cable worked fine with my GOV2 when I still had it, so that shouldn't be an issue. Only thing I can think of is that Verizon/Samsung pushed out a security update a few days ago that could have borked things. Developer mode and USB debugging were turned on, and I selected audio as my usb source in those options. Any other ideas?

As for sound, it probably needs a little more time to warm up (literally, it was dropped off in the snow), but at first blush, it doesn't do anything too wrong. It definitely a little brighter than I am used to since I normally listen out of my Valhalla 2 with some Amperex tubes. Seems to handle my modded T50RPs better, though. Valhalla 2 definitely doesn't do them any justice.

 

If I have a headphone that's rated at 22 ohm impedance and its specification states "maximum input power = 50 mW", would it be unwise to use it with the Fulla 2? It sounds fine (no distortion) plugged in to an HRT microStreamer at louder than listenable volumes, but that is (I think) 4-5x less powerful than the Fulla 2.

 

That's interesting, my SMSL M3 worked on my LG G3 without a hitch, but I can't seem to get it to work with the Fulla.

 

Same problem here. I installed USB Audio Tester from the Play store and it sees a USB device when the Fulla 2 is attached, but it can't identify it as an audio device.

 

My understanding is that Android level usb otg implementations are all over the map, depending on device/manufacturer. I would just cough up 8 bucks for UAPP. Besides, as someone pointed out, it's hard to know if your 44.1 Redbook music is being up sampled to the default Android 48khz when using regular players. And that spoils the whole picnic.

 

Bingo. Android 5.0 wasn't the panacea for digital audio (that some thought it would be). Nor was 6 or 7. It's very hardware-specific. It may even be different across phone versions for different carriers.

For example, a quick search on "LG G3 USB audio" came up with:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/help/usb-audio-t2808224
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/541300-how-to-get-usb-dac-working-with-lg-g3/

In both, the "works in some cases, not in others" applies.

Unfortunately, it is literally impossible to test every combination, especially considering how fast devices move in the Android realm.

 

I want to add to this by saying i just tried it again on my S7 edge, using the google play app. I am 98.3% sure it is upsampling my redbook. unless i'm losin' it, which should not be entirely discounted, it's been... a day... but it sounds like crap compared to UAPP.

 

Unfortunately, that means the Fulla is useless to me since my primary usage is Google Music and the Roku app. None of the five Android devices I tried worked (LG G3, Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.3 w/ Cyanogenmod, and Moto G), so I guess it's back to the SMSL for me. Too bad, though, I really did like the Fulla design.

 

So, this little guy has really thrown me for a loop. What $99 buys now is insane. Not just the sound quality, but the functionality. This is the desktop solution I was looking for many years ago, when I got caught up in all of this upgrade nonsense. No, it isn't as good as my current stack, but we are talking $99 vs $748 retail. @zerodeefex nailed it when he said to grab this and either an HDXX or MD Noble X and save until you can get big boy stuff. The entry level is good enough now that anything in between it and multiple $K systems almost don't make sense. At least, not for me since most of my headphone use is for background music while working or entertainment. Then again, I could have shit ears or I am changing more than the technology.

I actually don't want to downgrade any more because my usefulness on the forum will drop to from almost zero to complete zero unless people need cables.

 

Me and two other guys ordered some to try out. Early Christmas all around

 

I'd reach out to Schiit support if you haven't already, you'll have a better chance of finding a solution there than from a forum given how new the product is. Good luck!

 

My buddy is in touch with Schiit as 1/3 units has a loud static but the other 2 do not. No idea what would cause that...

 

I got a fulla2 in yesterday - very very quick impressions using laptop usb (no additional power):

Sounds great on hd580. Should be fantastic match with hd6xx, cant see recommending anything else in the price range for the sea of massdroppers coming. Bass has impact, full sound, honestly much much better than $100 should sound.

I also quickly tried out hd800 & he560 as that what I had on hand. As expected these got plenty loud enough, but sounded a bit hollow and weak.

I think this is a fantastic amp with more efficient cans, low or high impedance. I am sure more synergistic pairings will come through, but for now I see lots of portable / office / secondary rigs being converted to fulla2 hd650 / hd6xx.

 

I've been in contact with them for the past few days, but I think they're close to giving up. Their latest recommendation is to use UAPP, but that doesn't fit in with my usage patterns. Weird that none of my devices work, even Nexus ones. I need to bring my Fulla to the office and try it with some more Android phones.

 

Just a quick sanity check, but have you tried the fulla2 plugged in, and plugged in such that you connect the aux power _before_ the data cable (per @schiit LPT above)? That would hopefully get around a device refusing to cooperate due to not being able to supply the requested power. Other than that...

Edit: Also close and reopen whatever player app you are using after you connect

 

Yup, that was one of the first things we tried.