[SelmO]

Hello everybody!

I'm just about to upgrade my audio-gear a little bit and was thinking quite a lot of the Vali as supposedly it would work pretty well with an AKG K701. Currently I'm running my music over a MacbookPro through an Audinst MX-2 and  was thinking to run the Audinst as a DAC. Does anybody of you have tried that, yet? Would you expect that to be a plausible upgrade or just a change in sound-characteristics? Thanks in advance already!

 

[skyline315]

  Hello everybody!

I'm just about to upgrade my audio-gear a little bit and was thinking quite a lot of the Vali as supposedly it would work pretty well with an AKG K701. Currently I'm running my music over a MacbookPro through an Audinst MX-2 and  was thinking to run the Audinst as a DAC. Does anybody of you have tried that, yet? Would you expect that to be a plausible upgrade or just a change in sound-characteristics? Thanks in advance already!

 
I'd sell the Audinst and got for the Schiit stack.
 
I have the mx-1 and took it to work.  It does a fine job there with my DT1350s.

 

[SelmO]

Thanks for your quick response! With Schiit-Stack you mean Modi+Vali or Modi+Magni? How do you think these two would compare?

 

[RestoredSparda]

Did the same mod as the above poster on also a early production unitt with *severe* ringing and it fixed the ringing when changing the volume... if i move the pot carefully.

The amp still randomly starts to ring quite loudly when it has been on a long time and nothing besides a restart can fix it. Anyone else having the same issue?

Yep! I've had my amp for quite some time as a bedside rig and if left on for an hour or more it will suddenly have a very loud constant ringing. Like you said, only a restart fixes it. When this happens its actually loud enough for me to hear in another room. Lol.

 

[TwinACStacks]

I'm using the Vali with 701's, 702's, K550's and Senn 650's and it sounds great. Still no appreciable ringing and I've owned it around 9 months, give or take.
 
TWIN

 

[skyline315]

  Thanks for your quick response! With Schiit-Stack you mean Modi+Vali or Modi+Magni? How do you think these two would compare?

 
My recommendation would be modi+vali, but that is speculation on my part since I haven't had much time with the 701.

 

[clusterm]

Would you recommend this amp vs the hifiman ef-2a amp?

 

[SelmO]

   
My recommendation would be modi+vali, but that is speculation on my part since I haven't had much time with the 701.

Thanks! Will give the modi+vali a try...getting excited. Never had a tube-amp before...

 

[skyline315]

 
Thanks! Will give the modi+vali a try...getting excited. Never had a tube-amp before.

 
And it's a great tube amp to start with.  It gives you a taste of what they're all about without having to worry about tube rolling and dumping tons of money into that hole.

 

[TwinACStacks]

For Price v.s. Performance The Vali is pretty much a no-brainer. You have to spend (considerably) more to get any better.
 
That is my take on it.
 

TWIN

 

[Nauglanch]

Microphonics note: I just received my Modi 2 Uber / Vali stack. Absolutely no microphonics from the Vali. Volume, phono jack. Tapping on case. No microphonics. Maybe it was the Friday 13th delivery date. Headphones are 250 ohm DT-770 Pro .
 
Vali with the 250 ohm DT-770 Pro is running at 9 o-clock - only two binks up from zero - so plenty of power to drive them. As a comparison my E17 needs to be about 30 (with default gain of 6) for matching volume. This playing Blues Traveler.
 
[Edit 4/16/2015]: I recently completed a MS-1000 build.  I can hear the microphonics very clearly with the MS-1000. I can only hear them from a stout insertion of the phono plug or rapping on the case. Touching the map or adjusting volume still has no microphonics for me.
 
The nominal impedance of the base Allesandro MS-1 is 32 ohms so I'd suppose any low impedance phones, certainly Grado, would be susceptible. My Beyer 770 Pro's are 250 ohm and are silent.

 

[Mr Rick]

  Microphonics note: I just received my Modi 2 Uber / Vali stack. Absolutely no microphonics from the Vali. Volume, phono jack. Tapping on case. No microphonics. Maybe it was the Friday 13th delivery date. Headphones are 250 ohm DT-770 Pro .
 
Vali with the 250 ohm DT-770 Pro is running at 9 o-clock - only two binks up from zero - so plenty of power to drive them.

My Vali is only a few weeks old. I have no microphonics whatsoever. I'm using HD650s, HD598s and Philips X2s.

 

[MickeyVee]

Just picked up my new Vali to mate with the HE400i.  I ordered my first one on release day and it was plagued with ringing so I ended up selling it a few months later. Still following this thread, it seems like Schiit improved on the ringing and that it would mate well with the HE400i.  To my surprise and delight on initial power up and subsequent listening, there is NO ringing at all! I can turn up the volume, tap on the chassis and nada, nothing.  Even with the low Canadian $ and import duties/taxes, this little puppy is really worth the money.
 
Setup: AK100 II Line Out > Vali > HE400i. I can pick it up and take it anywhere in the house where I have a plug and with the bluetooth remote for the AK100II, sweet!
 
Letting it cook (break-in) for a while and will be spending some quality time listening.  Me thinks the McIntosh/HD800 system may get a little jealous over the next week or so.

 

[Nauglanch]

I was reluctant to look inside and see what they might have changed. Then based on how hot it gets I decided to mod the case on my milling machine and add one or two more rows of cooling holes.
 
I've only marked up the underside of the top - I'll do the milling this weekend - probably with a close-enough sized center drill for a one-pass no-bit-walk hole.
 
I noticed the curved bent leads (visible with a cover-on peek) and the right tube is starting to lift up. We'll see how that goes. Ideally for convection cooling we'd have a lower air inlet. But the PCB is a fairly snug fit - and it looked like some black goo or foam or such between the front edge and the case. So it looks like dampening on the PCB as well. I didn't want to disturb that in case it's sticky so will just go with another row or two of top holes in a matching pattern.
 
About 20 listening hours at work now and enjoying Vali!

 

[blackcatSVK]

I'm owning Schiit stack: Modi/ Vali and it is performing amazingly.
I have 3 headphones, Hifiman HE-400, Senn HD600 and Denon D2000.

On HE-400: Vali is slightly different from my other amp: MapleTree Ear+ HD.
On HD600: on MapEar, it absolutely performs better but it is still very good at Vali.
On D2000: Vali is completely more excellent than MapEar, because this D2000 got clipping on MapEar but very sweet and smooth on Vali.
 
If someone said that Vali is the best amp for the price up to $1650, it is a true exaggeration, but Vali is obviously a good amp, or even best amp I've tried up to $300, clearly a bargain.