Has worked flawlessly with medium use for 10 years. 7/10 rating due to age. Selling with VAC 1 power supply, Will not separate. Selling because I've reconfigured to a server based music system. VDA 2 box is included, not the VDA 1 box. WIll pack well.
Comes with a silver power connector cable to run to the VAC 1 and a Toslink cable for output as well as a My Audio Cable Source plus soundpipe power cord (not pictured). Original wall wart is also included.Description(From the CI Audio Website)VDA.2Our new VDA.2 takes Digital to Analog audio conversion to a new level. Traditional DAC designs use brick-wall digital filters, usually followed by more analog filtering to reduce sampling noise, but cause signal degradation in the process. Another approach has been to use no filtering at all, but this adds noise to the analog signal. Both of these designs have their strengths and weaknesses, but neither tends to be a good trade-off.
Our design uses only a mild 'slow roll-off' digital filter and first order analog filter to tame the sampling noise. This architecture has reduced filtering artifacts compared to brick-wall types, and lower sampling noise than filterless types, resulting in a more 'analog' sound.VDA.2 rear plateDigital input signals are accepted by Toslink optical or coaxial SPDIF, then fed to the CS8416 24 bit/192k low jitter input receiver, then to the Burr Brown PCM1794 balanced/current output DAC.
Our unique output stage is a fully discrete/zero feedback design and uses only a single transistor per output to insure the purity of the audio signal. Circuit board is high quality 2 oz. Copper with lead-free silver solder construction.Input selection and digital domain phase are selected by convenient front panel switches, and an LED indicates 'LOCK' when a valid signal is being received.
Features: Using my Macbook and a USB DAC (CI Audio Transient MK II) I listened to uncompressed music played through iTunes. The VHP-2 headphone amp served as the amplifier for my Sennheiser HD-600 headphones. The brushed aluminium faceplate incorporates a single 1/4 inch stereo headphone jack, a 2 gain levels button, and a smooth functioning volume knob. Inside and out, this hifi headphone amp uses carefully selected parts.
A simple blue LED indicates power is connected and the amp is ready for use.
Dimensions: 9.0 inches wide x 9.1 inches deep x 3.3 inches tall (with feet).Weight: 10.5 pounds; 14 pounds in its full double-box shipping cartons (shipping dimensions 14'x14'x9').Warranty: 3-year parts and labor (excludes shipping costs after 90 days).Made in U.S.A. Shipping anywhere in the world via Express Mail Intl. (EMS) or FedEx (custom-quoted deep discount rates by country; often less than than postal, plus faster and more secure).Includes:1 custom 5-foot DC cable. This special cable is a shielded, star-quad with 4 conductors of tinned, stranded 18AWG; paired at the connector that makes it about a heavy 15AWG.
Gold/copper/brass Oyaide (5.5mm x 2.5mm) DC barrel plugs from Japan at both ends. Just powering the computer, the difference—between the R-core and a toroidal transformer in the bass was shocking. And in comparisons powering a DAC or other audio-signal-handling component, the sonic benefits ranged top-to-bottom, cymbals and piano to deep bass. Plus R-core transformers, due to the gapless construction of the core, are mechanically silent.John Swenson on the benefits of a choke-filtered linear power supply:The traditional cap only filter (transformer, diode bridge, big cap) produces raw DC with a sawtooth riding on top. That sawtooth produces lots of high frequency components that the regulator has to deal with. Traditional regulators do very well at low frequencies, but have lousy characteristics at high frequencies which means a fair amount of those high frequency components from the cap-only filter get through to the regulator.
Fancy discrete regulators do well at blocking the high frequency components, but add cost and complexity to a PS. Our approach is to use a properly designed choke-based supply whose ripple is a perfect sine wave, no high frequency components, thus a traditional regulator works very well. The discrete regulator is not needed to deal with the high frequency components, since there aren't any.All diode types except Schottkys emit a burst of ultrasonic noise as they turn off. This noise can go forward into the load circuit AND it can go back into the AC line, and it can also excite the transformer resonance. The 'slow' diodes still have this ultrasonic noise.
Schottkys are the only type which do not have this noise. Schottkys also usually have about half the voltage drop of other diode types and are usually faster. Which type to use depends a lot on what your supply looks like and what you are trying to optimize for.With a traditional low voltage design with a large cap right after a bridge you get large current spikes, these produce a large amount of high frequency noise which needs to be filtered by what comes after the cap. In this type of circuit the slow diodes can help cut down on the extent of the high frequencies generated by the sharp high current pulse.
BUT they still generate the ultrasonic noise.This is another reason why we like to use the choke-based design. With the choke there is no steep high current pulse, so no disadvantage to Schottky diodes. You get the advantage of no ultrasonic noise, lower voltage drop (so lower power consumption in the diode) and no big massive current pulses.
Description FeaturesOur VAC.1 is the perfect upgrade for our source components. The upgrade yields improved bass definition, dynamics and noise performance. Available in 120v and 240v input voltage (selectable by solder-in jumpers). IEC type AC socket for use with aftermarket power cords. AC input and output cables included.VAC.1 is compatible with the following CI Audio Products:.
48 Vac Power Supply
VDA.1 24bit/96k Digital/Analog Converter. VDA.2 24bit/192k Digital/Analog Converter.
VPP.1 MM/MC Phono Preamplifier. VHP.1 Headphone Amplifier. VHP.2 Headphone Amplifier. Reviews“Seriously though, whether you have the VHP-1 or 2, I feel the power supply is essential. It really takes this amp to a much higher level. Transient slam is better, and the bass is definitely a lot punchier.
100 Vac Power Supply
What I really enjoy about adding the power supply is that it is a big jump in performance the minute you plug it in, you won’t be struggling to hear what you spent another $160 on. ”“The VHP.1’s already impressive bass response became even more powerfully solid with the heavy-duty power supply. Not deeper, simply more physical This was no small improvement, but it wasn’t the biggest change the VAC.1 wrought.
That would be its increase in dynamic contrast With the VAC.1 powering the amp, there was more contrast between music and silence: where there was music, it seemed as if there was more of the stuff it was made from.”You may also like.Related products.