The All Purpose Advice Thread

I don't have much experience with tube amps other than my little dot 1+ which is a hybrid, I have no real complaints about it as it's my first amp that uses tubes in any capacity. My fears of pure tube amps are their fragility, but I've also been told they roll off, and are very slow and thick, where I think using my limited experience with amps, I'm looking for a warmer SS...I'll need to do more reading it seems Thanks for the input. I was looking at the bottlehead crack + speedball mod, but having someone assemble the amp puts it way out of my price range.

I've just had a quick look at the Garage 1217 amps, maybe something like the project ember II which is a hybrid type of amp (but much more powerful than my little dot 1+) is what I be what I'm looking for

 

Warmer SS I'd recommend the Project Polaris, I liked it very much with the HD650 and HD600.

 

I just bought some splitters so I can drive multiple (3-4) headphones at the same time. Was this a mistake? Do splitters adversely affect SQ or is it mostly a volume thing? Can I compensate for that by just cranking up the volume on my Magni 2U?

 

That's good to hear. Garage 1217 has some interesting things like Polaris, Ember and their Project Kameleon, which is a hardware EQ which seems to be very interesting.

 

Ditto. The Polaris also has a lot of adjustability, which makes it hard to find a set of cans with which it doesn't work well.

 

Hello folks, I want to beg some advice for alternatives to Gungnir Multibit (Gungnir Multibit), in terms of performance as well as value.

Being satisfied with jot a lot, I am now considering a next step for my rig.

Reading some threads here, I could easily get a sense that Gungnir Multibit would be an extremely solid (maybe the safest) choice.
But before making a judgement call, I want to know what other alternatives might be available. Will try to audition those alternatives (along with Gungnir Multibit) to check whether to satisfy me enough or not. I generally feel more satisfied when decisions are made after my own evaluations among several different alternatives (rather than directly going for the very 'answer').

With that said, my minimum requirements/situations are:

• Budget around $1,000~$1,500, but I may spend a little bit more if it's really valuable..
• Should work well with Jotenheim. Fully balanced topology preferred, but not a must
• Will be mainly used in headphone listenings with flow open, he500, and hd6xx (and probably eikon, too)
• Will be mainly connected to the source through usb (with Wyrd), ac power will be fed by PPP (ps-audio)
• Discontinued products might be ok if they can be relatively easily found in used markets or ebay

Both specific or general advices are all welcome!

 

I may have just found 4 empty Altec VOTT A7 cabs.... listed for $125. Is it worth that for the 4 empty cabs? Im thinking probably...

 

Has anyone listed to the Burson Soloist SL MK2? I'd like to know how it compares with the Schiit Jotunheim and Garage 1217 Polaris stuff. I'm not sure I'm 100% into tube rolling anymore, I feel with tubes I'd always want to keep spending money to try new tubes

 

Burson? They had my local dealer to open their products to do service repair for them. Avoid Burson at all cost.

 

That's odd....Burson is kinda local to me though (same country, Australia) but good to know that's the level of their customer service.

 

The Vali 2 is cheap, effective, and only has one tube to arse about with, so it's another good budget option. It's not just a great inexpensive starter amp, but a nice one to keep around for spare/fun after you upgrade- there's just something about it. There's a long thread with discussion of tube choices which (gasp!) more or less comes to a consensus other than some crazy HF-obsessed randos.

Worth a look anyway, it sounds decent, and is a charming little box.

 

For this price, and with the features you want, I cannot think of a DAC that has value, let alone raw performance, on the level of Gungnir Multibit. Have you sifted through the DAC chart of awesomeness? The actual chart is a little outdated, but the thread is fresh, and the concepts hold true.

With that out of the way, here some that come to mind and have been considered "solid performers" for the price in recent years... ummmm:

• Martix X-Sabre? or one of the LH Geek Pulse models?
  • I only throw those out because they perform well and are priced near the $1k range. I have not heard either directly, but they get discussed in similar veins.
• Maybe find someone that has or will build you an AMB gamma3?
  • the gamma2 is well liked on the value scale but does not have balanced output, which seems to be important for you. The gamma3 has that (and much more), but the BOM alone is ~$1500, and then you either DIY or have someone else do it.
  • I recall @Jh4db536 has built one, maybe can comment further?
• Sticking with DIY, have you looked at soekris? They are true ladder R-2R dacs, which are interesting, and perform well, but others have commented that they don't really compare with Gungnir Multibit. Also, you run into the problem of not a lot out there in the wild to audition easily.

So in conclusion, that last point is probably the most important: in the price range you are looking for with the value proposition and requirements you say are necessary, nothing quite compares with Gungnir Multibit. There are some high performers (x-sabre, pulse) but will depend more on your personal tastes, if you are truly interested in auditioning the competition, these seem the most obvious. The other options are DIY and I have no clue if that is something you want to dive into.

I am sure others will have more ideas. Good Luck!

 

Thanks so much for helpful pieces of advice!
DIY might not be my choice at this level (mainly because I am too much noob, even without a good soldiering skill). I might need something that has less unit-to-unit variance. But both AMB and Soekris offerings look interesting. Maybe find an opportunity to see and hear them in some meets.

I also thought of holo spring dac level 1 (encouraged by discussions for lv 3). Although the difference bw lv1 and lv3 is quite uncertain now, I think it may be a worthy comparison with Gungnir Multibit, assuming lv3 well competes against Yggdrasil.

 

Hey guys, looking for a bit of advice about my setup. I have a pitiful budget at thee moment, and am looking to keep either the K7XX or HE400S. As it'll be a good year and a half until I'll be able to use a desktop DAC (using the Aune M2 DAP as a source for now), and don't think I'll have enough of a budget to spend a lot of money on an amp[ for a $200 headphone, I'd like to ask if the HE400S with HM5 pads/Focus Pads needs an amp to get that planar bass, or should be fine from the M2. Also, anyone have any good budget amp recommendations for the K7XX and HE400S?

Budget is (at most) $200, and am looking to keep only one of these two headphones. I would be getting the 6XX, but don't have $500 to spend on a Bottlehead Crack with Speedball. Other than the Vali 2, what are some other budget options? And will the Vali 2 play well with the HE400S? Thank you all for your time, and this thread!

 

Thanks! I just agreed to a trade for a HE400S w/ 3 sets of good pads (and Venus Cable) for the new 6XX when it comes, so I probably shot myself in the foot there. I had a GO1000 at one point, wasn't very happy with it though. Problem is most of my listening will be near my bedside, without a possibility of a laptop to connect a DAC to (weird dorm rules and whatnot). Thus the Aune M2 - that I can't sell anyway for a couple of reasons.

I have a pretty nice (for me, anyway lol) IEM DAP pairing, and have been pretty happy with that so far. It's just not an open back though, you know?

Just on a side note, I can't seem to find the GO2A anywhere. You mind letting me know where I can buy it (to see the price)?

 

Ok, I could get 2 empty Altec VOTT A7 cabinets for $65, or 4 for $125.... Hard choice... they are pretty big... Just need to store them in my attic for about 4 years until I graduate college and get my own place.

 

It's remarkable how much the internet loves the HD 650 with the Jot...looks like I'll need to go down that path...It's really difficult to get information to compare to any other amps I've looked at to the Jot...

However, I am temped to see if I can get a Laconic Lab Night Blues Mini Amp out of Russia to Australia

 

Reall

I heard the Jotun doesn't sound nearly as good with the 650's as a good tube amp does... I'm kind of afraid that it will only be an "okay" pairing since it's SS. I guess not?