New Schiit Vali 2 Discussion Thread

@Ronco looked up the receiver you have. seems like it has integration with apple devices, which means you can use the receiver's dac. Not sure about the audio out to the vali though. You'd want some kind of line out from the receiver to the vali 2, but i'm unfamiliar with your receiver so i dont know if it has an equivalent. My old vintage kenwood receiver has line outs so i figured yours might as well. the idea is that the volume should be controlled entirely by the vali. if your receiver can change the volume thats outputted to the vali 2 then that's probably not what you want. hope that helps.

 

too expensive https://imgur.com/M4jOt65

 

Does the Vali 2 have a capacitor coupled output? If so can someone tell me why an amp with a SS output stage needs a capacitor?

 

I think you might better be off shooting a direct email to Schiit. Jason does come to the boards, but not sure how often. I know coupling caps are "bad" in some theoretical audiophile sense, but Schiit uses their own discrete topology, so if it has coupling caps to sound its best, what does it matter?

 

I am posting here because I want a discussion. I am not arguing against coupling capacitors but I am asking from an educational standpoint and why they are used in this case. If you read their FAQs and posts they have made on HF and other sites, Jason has done a lot of work to eliminate coupling capacitors in their solid state designs. I believe the Magni and the Asgard use a DC servo and the Ragnarok has a sophisticated topology using a microprocessor to eliminate DC offset. So I would imagine that Jason has a bias against capacitors or at least would prefer not to use them.

The Valhalla has a capacitor coupled output but that is an all tube design and makes sense. For the Vali 2 with a SS output stage I would think that he wouldn't use a capacitor if he didn't have to. Is it because anything with a tube cannot be DC coupled?

Once again, I am probably better off emailing Schiit but I believe that this is a good discussion to have on this thread.

 

That's fine. Your original post made it seem like you assumed/knew/expected that it is cap coupled and that you wanted to know why (as in you disapproved). It could just be a knee jerk reaction on my part as a result of years on Headfi.

 

Got the A/B box running and level matched to 0.1 dB using a measurement microphone. Been doing rounds with good quality music for about an hour. Stock tube. With either low or high gain the differences between the low-impedance out of the GO450 straight to the box and the high-impedance out through the Vali 2 are incredibly subtle, maybe a hair more reverb and less congestion with the Vali 2? I'm not confident I could pass an ABX test with this setup. Keep in mind that I had to lower the output volume of the GO450 to listenable levels which affects both outputs, I don't know if this would be detrimental compared to feeding the Vali 2 a full-scale signal.

The Vali 2 at the very least isn't murking the GO450 output, and the GO450 has apparently enough juice to power the K7XX properly, let alone the Vali 2 which has a lot more power.

Hope this helps.

 

Hey question, would the vali 2 be able to roll 12au7's too? or is that a terrible idea. would like to know before i attempt it, dont want to break anything now lol

 

It cannot handle 12V tubes, only 6V. You could see which tubes people use with the Lyr, those should work here as well.

 

Wow I've missed you guys. I was diggin around through an old thread about Dacs when I saw a HF post by Purrin... I totally forget he was with Eddie Current [max respect, I've read some of the PDFs he's put out an well wow]

Forgive me for the mega quotes, I read about 7 pages then just hopped to the end

In terms of what amp sounds better than the Vali 2? Well imo the Garage 1217 Project Starlight does... sounds a lot better AND I used the SAME tube with BOTH amps, a 6n23p mind you! Frankly with my Low Impedance headphones on both low an High gain, I found the Vali 2 to be noisy an by far... less clear than the Starlight. There wasn't a real sense of 3D space with the Vali 2, an I spent a lot of time running through David Chesky's Demo Disc... the Starlight to my did a better job of Rendering a very 3D sound, had clear mids, better grip on the bass and brighter highs. It just sounded better... an I sourced everything from my Audio GD NFB10ES2, ofc the issue with the Starlight... is power. With my HE 4... the Starlight failed... the Vali 2 how ever did REALLY well with the HE 4. Given the price an it's peformance with my old school hard to drive ortho I am still impressed with it.

To me, I think both amps are worthy oppenents. How ever the Garage 1217 is a very DIY amp, they even sell it in a DIY Kit for the same price as the Vali 2 assembled, though I'm recommending the V2 with the High Impedance or Low Sensitivity cans, an the Starlight with the Low Impedance and or high sensitivity cans [minus some of the NEW orthos]

 

Oh I mean given the money, it's a helluva amp for some of those exact reasons, PreAmp Functions, if can run as a pure SS with the LISST Pseudo Tubes, the power output and yea it does look pretty classy

still though for my needs, I choose the sillier looking but cleaner sounding Starlight. Though the Black Aluminum Plates an open Chassis look better sitting next to my Computer [which has a bit of visable electronics on it's side [the case through] than the Vali 2 did

Non the less, I think each amp targets a different market though. Still :/ I was hoping the Vali 2 would be as AWESOME as the Vali 1 was, again Golden Award for that thing for SURE! It was just breath taking with my old DT 880 600 ohm back in the day, hell I liked it with the HD 600 too [I owned it like 3 different times] and at $100 it's a steal. Oh an the Vali 2 still has a "TING" when you plug a headphone in :/ it's damned annoying but not nearly as nice sounding [or long lasting] as the Vali 1's was

Either way, given Schiits Market presence I think they hit the Nail on the Head with the Vali 2.

 

Yep.

As with every inexpensive product, it's a question of tradeoffs. In this case, it comes down to power supply. There are only so many rails we can create and regulate at this price and in this size. So, like all other unipolar power supply amps, it has output caps. (It actually has two unipolar supplies, one for the tube B+ and one for the solid-state output.) No interstage coupling caps, though.

The Vali 2 architecture is quite scalable, and it would be interesting to throw a whole bunch more money at it with higher rail voltages, bipolar output power supplies, DC coupling all the way through, etc...but that isn't in the cards at this size and at this price.

 

Howdy, honestly I've enjoyed the Vali 2 for the time I've had it. Again given it's prices it drives my HE 4 better than anything I've tried under $200 easy! I think you guys have the right mix of trade offs for the audiance you cater to,

 

May I give you a advice, my dear sir (plural), wait for vali 3 come out and buy a vali 2 for 99.
My wife also agrees with me, "Brilliant idea!" says she.

 

Well that is the only person who will agree with you. Go troll someplace else dude