Schiit vali 2 plus or xduoo ta-05?

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
1

Hi all…
i have the Blon B20 headphones …
and its spmewhat edgy bright sounding …
i have heard that hybrid tube amps can smooth the highs
and the sharp edges of the sound
now confused between the vali 2 or xduoo ta-05
what is your recommendation ??
Thanx in advance.

2

do you have a DAC already? if not, consider the ifi Zen DAC, as it’s a combo unit that uses the Burr Brown chips which give off a very warm sound. mine is my daily driver and I love it. I had a Vali 2 (not Plus) and this is way warmer. that said, the Vali 2 Plus sounds like a real winner, but from what M0N observed, it needs to have the tube swapped out for something better, which pushes it into Asgard 3 territory in money spent.

1 Like
3

I have the khadas toneboard dac
Which has ess chip
And fiio q5s portable dac amp
Which has the akm 4493 dac chip.
Im thinking of zen blue
Or an asgard 3 as you said
But got curiousabout tubes cause
Im sensitive to the digital glare
And edginess of the chip based dac
So figuired a tube sound may be cheaper than
An r2r dac or something.

1 Like
4

gotcha. then go with the new Vali 2 Plus and keep in mind you should swap out the stock tube for a better one.

however, if my memory serves me correctly, ESS are a bit on the bright side as a DAC chip, so keep that in mind.

1 Like
5

I realize I didn’t complete my thought when I said this. with ESS being on the brighter side, getting a DAC that is neutral or warm will help as well as changing the amp. it also means that the effect of adding a warm amp to the chain may not have as much an effect because of how bright the DAC is.

6

now im confused between vali or asgard 3
i read about asgard and its on the full warm side
with good schiit technologies

7

Had the Magni 3 at the time and later the Vali 2 came along.
After I had the Electro Harmonix Gold 6922 tube in it, it was the “better” Magni 3.

I don’t know exactly what Schiit did better with the Vali 2 plus.

But I didn’t feel that it was fully tubey.
A bit warmer and richer than the Transitors but not Tubey enough.

The Vali 2 was okay for a taste.
But a tube upgrade for 200$ was out of the question.
Because for 450$ you have something better, which is more tubey.

On Massdrop there is still the Cavaelli which is not bad either, because it can still do Xlr, but it costs a bit more.

1 Like
8

I wouldn’t worry about tubes, you’re better off just picking up a warmer sounding amp, maybe an Asgard 3.
To be honest your not going to fix the headphone with electronics, they can help, but it’s still going to be fundamentally bright, you might try some EQ before you start trying to fix it by purchasing electronics.

2 Likes