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Violectric HPA V550 Pro Review (Pre-amp/Headphone Amp)

rocksteady

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Yea I understand your point also, but for V281 etc. while audibly transparaent, it have less than perfect channel matching for volume control, this one have even higher SINAD, and that the old Vios or LP seems like having some very mild low frequency roll off which is fixed in this one, I for one might buy one if it's at the V281s price bracket, but sadly they just gone most Hifi company route and make them costing an arm and a leg
I understand that this latest offering may be Technically superior to previous models, but being an LP / Violectric user for a number of years, I can safely say that any channel imbalance they may "suffer" from is effectively inaudible at the Volume levels and relative positions of the Pot that I normally listen to.

Especially so since I listen mostly to relatively inefficient, vintage High Z headphones, as well as a few HIFIMAN Planar Magnetics. As for Frequency Roll Off, again, I have never noticed this, even though I admit that at the age of 56 my hearing may no longer be optimal...
 
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YSC

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I understand that this latest offering may be Technically superior to previous models, but being an LP / Violectric user for a number of years, I can safely say that any channel imbalance they may "suffer" from is effectively inaudible at the Volume levels and relative positions of the Pot that I normally listen to.

Especially so since I listen mostly to relatively inefficient, vintage High Z headphones, as well as a few HIFIMAN Planar Magnetics. As for Frequency Roll Off, again, I have never noticed this, even though I admit that at the age of 56 my hearing may no longer be optimal...
yea, I believe all those things they've improved are way beyond perception, so it's basically see the graphs and gets high type of improvement;) same as for the lowered high Z power. personally I believe on the amp and dac side, aside from a few duds like some XXX-gd....

We have reached effective transparency for quite some years and in last 2-3 years a lot of products out there get to the level where even carefully set up and looking for defects type of test can't make any listener find perceivable difference. thus these amp and dacs releasing are just chasing for technical superiority as the designer like, and customer upgrade itch.
 

muslhead

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Nice, but what's it got that Benchmark, Topping and RME ain't got, at a lower price and sometimes with better features? Luxury branding aside, I thought the essence of good engineering was getting the most performance out of the least amount of "stuff".
Power, power and more power.
Your referenced devices are as much as half or less than the 550, depending upon load
 
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redjr

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yea, I believe all those things they've improved are way beyond perception, so it's basically see the graphs and gets high type of improvement;) same as for the lowered high Z power. personally I believe on the amp and dac side, aside from a few duds like some XXX-gd....

We have reached effective transparency for quite some years and in last 2-3 years a lot of products out there get to the level where even carefully set up and looking for defects type of test can't make any listener find perceivable difference. thus these amp and dacs releasing are just chasing for technical superiority as the designer like, and customer upgrade itch.
IOW, bragging rights. :)
 

Shanicky

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What is the distortion or SINAD in the case of a single-ended input and single-ended output?
 

sprellemannen

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Violectric HPA V550 PRO headphone amplifier. It is was sent to me by their US distributor, Power Holdings. It costs 2,999.00EUR and US $3,399 as optioned in US.

This is one beefy, high quality execution making you feel like you are getting something for your money:
Its build quality is amazing.
If I am not wrong, the only difference between the V550 PRO and V550 (not PRO) is that the PRO-version has 256-step relays for even finer tuning of volume levels.

Regarding its price now:
The MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) is 3199 EUR (2599 EUR for the non-PRO version) on Violectric's site.
Thomann USA is selling it for $3149 and $1999 for the non-PRO version.
 
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YSC

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Its build quality is amazing.
If I am not wrong, the only difference between the V550 PRO and V550 (not PRO) is that the PRO-version has 256-step relays for even finer tuning of volume levels.

Regarding its price now:
The MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) is 3199 EUR (2599 EUR for the non-PRO version) on Violectric's site.
Thomann USA is selling it for $3149 and $1999 for the non-PRO version.
The only drawback being the supposedly superior relay implementation. At this price that is disappointing
 

sprellemannen

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I tried the V550 (non-PRO) at a hi-fi shop a few days ago.
My impressions: It is an excellent and very powerful headphone amplifier and its build quality is amazing. Definitively a great experience.
Its footprint is a little bit bigger than an A4 paper (an A4 paper is 210 x 297 mm) : (WxHxD) 290 x 80 x 248 mm (11.4 x 3.1 x 9.8 inches).

The DAC + headphone amplifier Violectric DHA V226, which I think was released in December 2021 or January 2022, is cheaper (ca $1600) and smaller: 165 x 54 x 228 mm (WxHxD). It is also an impressive product and I ended up ordering it.

Violectric gives 5 years warranty on their products.
 
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BenF

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The DAC + headphone amplifier Violectric DHA V226, which I think was released in December 2021 or January 2022, is cheaper (ca $1600) and smaller: 165 x 54 x 228 mm (WxHxD). It is also an impressive product and I ended up ordering it.
I'm waiting for the Violectric HPA V222. It's said to be released in October for 1200€.

11775357.jpg
 
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sprellemannen

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I'm waiting for the Violectric HPA V222. It's said to be released in October for 1200€.
Did you (or are you going to) buy it?
The V222 is very similar to the V226 except that V226 includes a DAC as well (but does not have balanced inputs which V222 has).
I am sure that the V222 is a super product (since the V226 is!).
 
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OK, thanks. I have missed it. So it confirms my impression that it is rather weak in SE mode. Nowhere nearly as impressive in high Impedances, as in powerful, as the V281. And far more expensive. No, thanks…

Power output on violectric amps are the same on either single ended or balanced as all input signals is converted to unbalanced internally to pass through the volume control and then are converted back to balanced to pass through the 4 power amplifiers, it's not 'technically' a true balanced from input to output.
 

Jagamov

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Power output on violectric amps are the same on either single ended or balanced as all input signals is converted to unbalanced internally to pass through the volume control and then are converted back to balanced to pass through the 4 power amplifiers, it's not 'technically' a true balanced from input to output.

Interesting choice considering how much they charge for them...
 

rocksteady

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Power output on violectric amps are the same on either single ended or balanced as all input signals is converted to unbalanced internally to pass through the volume control and then are converted back to balanced to pass through the 4 power amplifiers, it's not 'technically' a true balanced from input to output.
How so? The V281 outputs 4X as much in BL mode as it does in SE mode and it is effectively 2x V200 (or V100) in one Box. So how's that not truly Balanced?
 
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How so? The V281 outputs 4X as much in BL mode as it does in SE mode and it is effectively 2x V200 (or V100) in one Box. So how's that not truly Balanced?

I just explained in the post you quoted why it isn't truly balanced, all input signals are converted through the single ended volume pot and converted back to balanced, it is not a straight through balanced amp from input to output, the signal in converted, this quote is from Fried from Violectric,

"What does "TRUE BALANCED" mean concerning the Violectric amps.
Although written many times, here again some explanations:

There are more and more amps in the market, featuring a balanced headphone connector (4-pin XLR / Pentaconn) but only SE amps inside.
So, these sockets are more a "convenience" feature but have nothing to do with the benefits of a real balanced (or push-pull) amplifier design where 4 power stages are engaged.

This in mind we like to express our four amplifier circuitry to be TRUE BALANCED.

But I have to admit that there is also the 2-amplifier Violectric V202 having the Pentaconn socket as an unbalanced "convenience" feature.

To deal with unbalanced and balanced inputs as well as balanced and unbalanced outputs and to convert signals between them it is necessary to have a unbalanced signal chain inside our amps.
Balanced signals are fed to a differential amplifier which makes an unbalanced signal out of a balanced signal.
The buffering and signal treating afterwards is the same for the former balanced and the unbalanced signals.
After the volume control - which is performed at least with an Alps RK 27 attenuator or a 256-steps relay attenuator - the signals are converted to be balanced again.
Please note at this point that balancing or unbalancing signals at any position in a signal chain is far from being rocket science.
These signals are input to 4 amplifiers carrying the signals: Left in-phase, Left out-of-phase, Right in-phase, Right out-of-phase.
Balanced headphones with a matching plug and wiring will use the signals from all 4 amps with all the benefits, while unbalanced headphones with a TRS phone jack will only use 2 of the amps."
 
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