The All Purpose Advice Thread

Can I get some help on suggestions on a good amp pairing for the HD600? I would like something that is is touch warm. Price range is up to $400.

 

Could always do the http://schiit.com/products/vali-2 and spend too much money on tube rolling because it's addicting and fun for a while until you realize you've spent too much money on tubes that sit in the closet.

 

Most people here would probably recommend the Vali 2, given that price range. Maybe a used Valhalla 2 if you don't mind tube shopping, or used Lyr 2 if you can find one. Bottlehead Crack is probably a good contender as well, if you don't mind the DIY aspect of it.

I'd also recommend checking out the "introduce yourself" thread, and referring to existing threads in the future if you're going to remain active here. This isn't your typical community forum, and it's sort of expected that you do your due diligence of learning and research (both about the topics and the atmosphere here in general) before you start posting.

If you're curious, I believe @zonto disliked your post because your question is pretty 'lazy', in the sense that using the search function could have probably answered your question without the need to post an entire thread (which is additionally not in the best place to ask it).

 

that's OK, thanks anyway!

 

@Rdwng1975 To reiterate the other posters before me, Vali 2 or Valhalla 2 (with warmer tubes). In addition, there are two very useful threads pinned in the amp subforum that could have provided you with an answer as well.

http://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/superbaf-cheap-tube-amp-guide-1200-or-less.2796/
http://superbestaudiofriends.org/in...ompendium-guide-to-schiit-amps-headamps.3058/

I'm moving this to the advice thread.

 

Hello everyone,

I am in the market for a another amplifier that will hopefully compliment the first generation schiit mjolnir(fed by a bifrost 4490) I have and will sound great with my hd650's and paradox slants.

I'm trying to get a more spacious sound and that tube magic I've been sort of missing when I sold my vali 2.

The amps I've been considering are the cavalli EHHA(saw on head fi), Valhalla 2(not sure if it plays well with playnars and it seems it's due for a revision), and the Laconic Night Blue Mini(I hear it's got a smallish soundstage but not sure if it's smaller than the mjolnir).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and if there are other recommendations some users might have, I welcome them as well.

 

My 2c.

Given you have a mjolnir already which is reasonably versatile in driving planars and dynamics, if I was in your situation, I'd try to get an amp that suits HD 650 really well even if it means that it is not a great pairing with planars (or vice-versa). Once I have an amp that is versatile enough for most headphones, I look for specialization that takes HD 650 to great levels.

The reason I am suggesting this is because HD 650 sounds really good with OTL amps and most planars don't work well with them. This thread has info about amps for HD 650 http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ennheiser-hd650-m-compendium.3188/#post-94646

 

Hey everybody!

I currently own the Valhalla 2, Ether Flow open, Modi Multibit coming from a Soundblaster Z from SPDIF out. I have the Ether flow is the 1/4 in jack. I was wondering from a PC gaming perspective would I have better luck using a solid state amp with balanced cable help detail and soundstage. Really just looking for more immersion in gaming. The music and movies are awesome after turning the SBZ off.

Budget is roughly a 500-800 give or take what I can sell the Valhalla 2 for.

I ordered the ether flow Electro Stat pads yesterday if that helps any decision.

 

The valhalla 2 is terrible for orthos. You'd be much better off with a vali 2, lyr 2, or mjolnir 2 for your Ether Flow if you want to stick with Schiit.

 

At work I have the HD650 running from Chord Mojo. Is it worth upgrading/downgrading/sidegrading to another source + amp or all-in-one? When I run it through my home setup I do hear some improvement but not a lot. I have never owned tube amps, is it worth going down that rabbit hole? I would like to stay within 500 USD total for DAC + amp, and running through USB from the work desktop. Space is not an issue. Right now the 650 is running with the stock cable, would like to keep that way i.e.single-ended.

 

My initial gut reaction is, no. Stick with what you have unless something about the sound at work is really bothering you. Especially if your home setup isn't wowing you in comparison.

That said, what's are you using at home?

 

I have the Benchmark DAC 3, tried the 650 with the headphone out from the built-in amp. Also tried through my main setup which is a First Watt J2 speaker amp. The J2 was the best, and provided say 5% improvement over the Benchmark built-in. And the Benchmark was another 5% over the Chord Mojo.

Compared to the HD650, the HD800S scales a lot more among these 3 setups (J2>>>>>>Benchmark >> Mojo). So I am guessing you are right. Just curious if someone ever was in this situation i.e. jumped ship from Chord Mojo + HD650 to *something else* + HD650 and saw noticeable improvement.

 

Afraid I haven't heard them with the Mojo.

Given your price constraints you could try the Jot w/DAC or the Jot/Modi Multibit setup.

I'd try to audition it first, though, as it's certainly not for everyone.

 

I have two Nuforce HA-200 running as monoblocks. Got tired of adjusting two volume knobs. The only balanced preamp I have is Bryston BHA-1 already connected to poweramp. My DAC does not have preamp function. Need advice on balanced simple preamp (passive?) that would not make me poorer. OR should I just use XLR splitters from Bryston. Have no idea how they affect SQ. I had Emotiva Control Freak balanced but sold it stupidly.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LevelPilot

Basically the same thing as the Control Freak.

 

I called Emotiva, they had at least one balanced control freak to sell me. I returned it unopened because my desktop set got rearranged. This was like 3 weeks ago so they may have some, I told another internet person this recently and he got one.

It was 59.99, but the thing K4star linked is the same idea

 

How do the Fostex HPA4BL, iFi micro iCAN SE, and Jotunheim all compare to eachother in terms of JUST single ended solid state amplification alone? Not interested in their DAC features.

I'd love to buy a Jotun, but the normal local dealer I buy from (Headphonebar) doesn't seem to carry Schiit anymore.

 

I never tried the Fostex, but I have the Jot and Micro SE. The Micro SE drives anything, and doesn't sound bad. I never bought it with the intent of having it be a reference amp in any fashion, more of a small work solution. I never really did any serious listening through it, more of a set a playlist and forget it while I work kind of thing. Playing around with the xbass stuff was novel for a while. I could never get the holographic sound settings, or whatever they call it, to sound good to me. At least, not enough that I appreciated the bad changes it made alongside the good ones. Tone would slightly change while soundstage increased, and the highest setting was... not bad, just too different from baseline. Hard to explain I guess. In the end, I had both settings turned off and just played music. I will say this - my HD650 did appreciate the bass boost, but with the Eikons on the headphone stand next to them, they got little play time. The iFi might actually be the only (relatively) inexpensive amp I'd suggest to people to fix poor bass performing headphones... maybe. I digress...

The Jot served as my primary for quite a while. You can read better opinions than mine on how the Jot sounds. I will say it is a really good pairing with the Eikon. The Jot moved off to work and replaced the Micro SE when I got the Milo. It's 1/4" connection isn't bad, but once I got more balanced cables and headphones in, I almost completely stopped using the 1/4" connection. I think the Jot's balanced connection sounds better. Not sure if that's amp architecture or just pure power making the difference, but there is a difference.

The Jot does sound cleaner than the iFi, in my opinion. If I were to pick either, it would be the Jot. I have two primary reasons for that. One, I think it sounds better from the balanced connection - cleaner, better tone in mids and treble, and more natural staging. Two, I use balanced connections almost exclusively now so it fits to make that connection convenient.

Keep in mind, I'm working off audio memory here. I never directly compared the two. I never thought to. They had two different purposes in my audio world.

Anyway, I hope something in what I said helped. GL!

(I don't suppose you want to buy my old iFi SE huh? hehehe)

 

sorry if I missed it but is the asgard 2 a better allrounder for the hd600 and some other random cans on the side vs the vali 2?

 

Thanks I will give them a call today- Control Freak would be my preference. There are a lot of updated reviews about the Level Pilot. Apparently it develops some severe static after a couple of months.