The All Purpose Advice Thread

FWIW I went from the Lyr 1 to Mjolnir 2 when I had HE-500's and definitely noticed an improvement in many areas with Mjolnir 2 (less overly warm, still great bass, more resolving, just overall improvement), even with using the same tubes. Just remember to get/make a balanced cable. I didn't have my Gungnir Multibit back then, and was using a more basic DAC at the time (ODAC and similar) so I can't compare on that front

 

I've always really enjoyed the HE500s but I didn't know they would scale that well. It's nice to hear that something I have is still relevant lol.

"Jotunheim if you want a neutral, forward, gripping sound, or Lyr 2 if you want something that's more euphonic and cozy, yet still powerful, or perhaps an Mjolnir 2 for something in-between"

Hmm, in-between seems like the sweet spot to me, my wallet is cringing. To be honest your description of the Jotunheim sound sig is pretty appealing to me but I do kind of like the tube sound and the headphone rig just seems like the place to utilize them as over a speaker based set up. If Mojo 2 retains a lot of the tubey goodness of the the Lyr but adds some clarity and detail that might exactly what I'm looking for. Is the low end of Mojo 2 tighter than Lyr 1? Lyr 1 bass to me is dynamic with great weight, but its kind of bloomy and loose.

I'm not seeing to many Gungnir Multibit or Moby 2's on the used market, probably a good sign.

 

Did you think the Mjolnir 2 was a big improvement with HE500s over the Lyr 1 even when running Mojo 2 single ended?

Is there any benefit in running balanced from Gungnir Multibit to Mojo 2 but single ended out to the headphones? Or do you really need to go balanced the whole way to reep the benefits?

 

Yes. You are getting the best that Gungnir Multibit can offer, into Mjo2, which is a great amp.

Yes and no. In my opinion, the summed out on Mjo2 was noticeably better than Valhalla2 into high impedance headphones and definitely better than Asgard 2 into lower impedence stuff. Was it as good as the balanced out? No. Was it "gimped"? Also no. Would the HE500 benefit from a balanced input? Probably. The HE500 is a great headphone, it doesn't suffer from a resolution wall, which is why I think it benefits from upstream improvements as others have noted. The things it suffers from are obesity and treble nasties. If you are sturdy of neck, and don't find the treble offensive, then scale on up.

If you ever get that far, PM me if you are interested in a balanced cable for one. I don't own any HifiMan stuff anymore, and doubt I will in the future, BUT my first cable project was a super-universal cable for my then-HE500 using the spare (stupid) mmcx connectors that used to ship with all HE500. It goes from cups to a mini-xlr4, and then I have mini-xlr adapters for 1/4", 3.5mm, and xlr4.

 

I wouldn't recommend the DX90, unrealistic Sabre treble which isn't harsh per se but has a really off tonality. Overdriven guitar sounds like candy. Battery life is poor as well. DX50 has nicer tonality actually (though probably as a DAP it's not an upgrade over the X3).

 

Yes. It was an improvement on Lyr 2, that's how I tested the two amps for the first week or so, single ended with HE-500. The single ended isn't that different from the balanced headphone out (aside from obvious power deficiencies). It's overblown that it's hindered or useless, it sounds good and similar to the balanced out in tonality...etc. But at the same time if one is going to own Mjo2, I would still highly encourage one to get the most out of it by using a balanced cable

Gungnir Multibit balanced in would be the best way to use the Gungnir Multibit, so balanced into Mjo 2 would be ideal. Single ended Gungnir Multibit is still a huge improvement over more entry-level DACs, but I haven't done enough BALgumby vs. SEgumby into the same amp to compare that way. Unsure if the concept of the "whole way" matters, but again, the balanced headphone output on Mjo2 is ideal so I'd encourage using it if possible.

 

Cool thanks for the input! I think my tentative upgrade path is this:

Selll the d100 immediately and get a Modi Multibit. I should be able to do this without laying out any extra cash, so
If It leads to a substianal performance bump that would be awesome and rather unexpected.

Down the road look for a used mojo 2. I would expect this to be another worthy performance bump. I may try to audition the Jutenhiem first because I think there's a small chance I will actually prefere it to mojo 2 with HE500s, and that would be great for my wallet.

Further down the road look for a used Gungnir Multibit. This should be yet another performance bump and honestly might be end game for me. At least for my he500s. Ahh..., who am I kidding, that will keep me happy for a couple years and then I'll want to try something else!

Still curious about he500s with juten, if anyone can comment on that please do.

Also wondering about mojo 2 bass, is it tighter/more controlled than lyr 1?

Thanks!

 

^^^ Concur, Mjo2 has great bass performance. Some aspects of Mjolnir bass are tube dependent, though it always hits hard and fast. Best bass I found is actually with the LISSTs.

 

LISSTs are great, waiting to get one of my pair repaired, though.

 

Looking for advice on digital transport. My options are tricked-out raspberry pi, building a barebones pc to put my Digigram vx222e in, or being patient trying to get a used rednet 3. Anyone have any impressions/comparisons among these options?

 

Generally all headphones somehow benefit from good amping, yet there are situations where for the sake of convenience (less clutter/cables) a headphone needs to sound good from a generic source like the PSVR, Oculus or Vive.

I'm considering going for a open headphone purely for VR and best candidates are HD 558, 598 and their corresponding yet to be properly reviewed successors 559, 579 and 599. Then (though priced much higher) the Fostex TH-X00 most likely. Any other good headphone I might have missed? K7XX too power hungry, X2 is a weirdo.

 

Honestly, in a pinch I will play my HD 600 out of my Iphone and IMHO it still sounds pretty good. And then of course it scales really well. (HD 650 does not work nearly as well in that regard. Also, I own K7xx, which I like, but think it needs a decent amp to sound good.) But I cannot comment on VR applications, just music.

 

For open, I would put a strong second to the HD598, I used the HD595 unamped for games and it was great. For closed maybe also consider the low impedence versions of closed "studio" beyers, like the DT 150, 250 or even 770. (I have also used the DT150 for games, pretty good, but my model has 150 ohm impedence, and suffers a little bit).

 

When I used to have the 598's, I could get them going pretty loud out of virtually anything that had a 3.5mm out. They also have a really, really good soundstage for their cost (as you can usually find them for under $150 new or ~$100 used).

 

Another recommendations for MDR-MA900, That thing has a wide soundstage, low impedance, and light weight, good for your head which will wear these head mounted VR devices

 

This question broaches a very interesting topic that I have thought a bit about. Does a headphone that has a wide soundstage for music offer the best presentation of binaural sounds experienced in VR? Could this be an instance when something like a cheap Grado headphone would be superior to a MA900?

 

I'd take my HD600 via my laptop jack (which weirdly is not horrible) over a HD598. Out of a portable player, I guess I'd go for the HD558 or 598. Though, if you like da bass, and can swing the cost, that TH-X00 is really nice and easy to drive.

 

I wouldn't rule out the KSC75/35/PortaPotty, they work surprisingly well with binaural stuff.