The All Purpose Advice Thread

Heck I'd settle for owning a strip club. They play a lot of music!

 

HIFIMAN 400S would be a good choice. Checks off all the boxes you gave.

 

I was working backwards from ragnarok, but looking for exactly the same criteria: preamp for lsr305, hi/lo gain switching, quiet for sensitive cans, high current for orthos, high voltage for dynamics, balanced outs (didn't care as much whether it had SE). I landed with Mjolnir 2 and have no regrets. There are other options, but nearly all are more expensive (the Ragnarok and Bryston BHA-1 come immediately to mind). I don't follow what audio-gd is making because I don't have money/time/buffer-of-sanity to sample their constantly-tweaked products with infinite options, but they probably make something that fits those criteria and costs anywhere from $500 to $2000, how well its implemented, again, is a bit of a crap shoot.

 

I really appreciate the response! I went through the exact same logic cycle as you. I checked out AudioGD, and it was really confusing for a while, but their products that met my requirements weren't any cheaper than Mjolnir 2, and I'd rather have the customer service/familiarity of Schiit. Plus my Lyr 1 tubes will work. Last night I got paranoid that the B-stocks would run out soon so I pulled the trigger. I have Ether opens on the way too so it's a very exciting time for me and this hobby!

Again much appreciated. Now I'm worried I'll end up with a Gungnir to go "truly balanced" and then if I'm getting that, may as well step it up to a Gungnir Multibit... oh boy

 

Looking for suggestions for an amp/DAC combo (either all in one unit or separates). My current inventory of headphones (that I listen to on a regular rotation) are: Oppo PM-2; AKG Q701; and AKG K7xx. At some point will probably sell off or gift one of the AKGs. May acquire a used Senn HD 6x0 and/or LCD-2 (pre-Fazor version) at some point. Other than those, no other cans on the horizon.

My short list is as follows:

Gungnir MB/Mjolnir 2 comb -- was almost set to go this direction, but then have heard the SE of the Mojo 2 is not great and the use of this amp should really be for balanced. I am not going to go through trouble of trying to re-terminate my AKGs so stuck with SE for those.

Bifrost MB/ Lyr 2 -- conundrum is that current and any future balanced cans are likely going to be better off of the Mojo 2 setup above, but this setup may be adequate or even better for the SE-only AKGs.

Oppo HA-1 -- jack of all trades, perhaps master of none, but seems like a decent and affordable choice; comes with a remote which would actually be meaningful for me as I do not have a desktop setup but rather use my stereo from the other side of my room to my couch or chair.

Cavalli Liquid Carbon (probably add Bifrost MB to this). I liked this when I heard it last spring but memory is now fuzzy.

Moon Simaudio 230 HAD. Very few reviews on this. I demoed this at a local dealer and everything I threw at it sounded pretty decent to good. I have no sense as to whether this is really overpriced or not but I though tit sounded good, and, in fact (and much to my surprise), off of this amp my PM-2 didn't lag too far behind the LCD-3 the dealer had for demoing with the amp. Decent sounding and attractive unit with a remote, but I have no idea of it is overpriced SQ-wise compared to these other options.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

 

Thanks gunner and the rest who chimed in for the advice. I was listing the Shure 215s as more of what I had and what I could get for it. I am definitely keeping them for now as they are perfect for what I use them for. Sorry for the confusion.

I am tempted to keep the Pulse Xfi since it is in hand, compact, versatile, and for the money I paid, a really good device. The main question I have, which I can't really answer for myself unfortunately unless I committed more money temporarily is whether or not a Schiit stack (Valhalla 2 and Multibit Bifrost) would give me a noticeable upgrade in sound for the $400 or so more it would cost. I don't know how many people have heard the Pulse offerings and the Multibit Schiit offerings to do a good comparison.
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The second question I have, assuming LHLabs will play ball at all, is what to ask for in the GO V2 family I should ask for in exchange for the second Pulse Xfi that I am still owed as part of the Wave campaign. GOv2 Infinity and a GOv2+ basic? Does the battery change the sound quality at all? I should probably ask in the GO thread too, but any thoughts would be great.

 

Well, I've been down the lyr2/ multifrost road and found it quite good. BUT...the SE out on the mjo2 with nice NOS tubes from my lyr2 was still better than the lyr2. Just marginally but still better. The mjo2 balanced has made me enjoy the music as much as any setup that I've owned. Headphones that I thought would never benefit from the balanced mjo2 have indeed benefited from going balanced.

For example, I recently picked up the pm-1 from AustinValentine here. Just wanted a fun forgiving planar that I could use as a portable for work also. I planned to use the pm-1 with the Asgard 2 I had as a spare amp...neutral, decent power and all that. But the pm-1 and later my hd650 both showed better legs balanced through the mjo2. If it's in your budget my suggestion is the mjo2/gungnir MB combo. It's an incredibly refined and versatile amp (gain switch) that has shown improvement for each headphone I've paired it with.

 

Thanks for the input. One of my favorite combos ever for rock music was a pre-Fazor LCD-2 with the original Mjolnir that I heard at a meet. If I get the Mjolnir 2 I may just have to get a pre-Fazor LCD-2 to go with it.

 

I like the lcd2 (pre-f) but the hd650 is close enough and much more comfortable IMO.

 

I see the following potential candidates in the For Sale forum of HF:

Audio-gd Reference 10.32

and

Bryston BHA-1 Headphone Amplifier Silver

Any thoughts on those?

 

I'd say no to the a-gd. The SS mjolnir 2 or BW are probably better choices than the BHA-1 by now, but I have heard neither.

 

As I type this, I am listening to Eric Clapton's "Hey Hey" and "Nobody Knows When you are Down and Out" from the _Unplugged_ CD through an AudioQuest Dragonfly V1.0, a Bravo V2 (with the original stereo tube) and the Beyer DT880 Pro. I switch to my (Mayflower Electronics) O2 and everything becomes clearer. I find that the Bravo V2 works well with my Beyer DT235 and CAL! for a mid-centered, warm, fuzzy (woolly?) sound experience, but the DT880 Pro and my AKG Q701 are just too good for the Bravo V2: you lose too much detail with it when switching over from the O2.

 

Hello pyrates. I'm keen on trying the "tube" sound but my budget is only $200-250.
While being able to use it with a headphone rig is cool, I also (mainly) want to try it in my 2-channel set up.
Any advice on what I can put in between my DAC and powered speakers? I was thinking of a tube DAC but I haven't seen one with a remote and opinions seem to vary. Can I use Schiit's Valhalla as a preamp?
I have also considered tube buffers like the iFi tube and even considered mic tube-preamps but the latter idea was quickly nuked by OJneg.
Thank you in advance.

 

The Valhalla 2 has preamp outs.

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

For my desktop setup at work, I'm thinking of switching to an Insignia Tablet (OTG) with a Bifrost Multibit as the source. I'm currently using a DX50 lineout to feed my Lyr/headphones. Worthy upgrade? Any other tablet I should consider? I need OTG and microSD card on it.

Thanks!

 

What's your price range? I'd say go with a cheaper Windows tablet, like the Surface 3. No need for OTG, as you get a REAL USB port and full windows, and it's very functional to boot, and makes no noise. It also has a microSD card reader that supports SDXC up to 2TB (if and when that becomes a reality).

 

The Insignia is about $100...Surface 3 is about $500 and I don't have the Bifrost Multibit yet. So I'm looking to get the tablet reasonably cheap (under $150 or so).

No doubt it's a nice a tablet, but I'm not sure what the difference between straight up USB and going OTG will mean...

 

Hey hoping to get some thoughts from you guys. I currently have the Bifrost Multibit and Valhalla 2. I'm looking to upgrade and mainly for two headphones hd800 and hd650. I can only buy one at this time and not sure which route to go with, a better amp or better dac. My choices are EC BW amp or Gungnir Multibit.

 

I suggest to upgrade the amp rather than DAC though I think -from the consensus here- you need to jump a bit further in the price tag to really justify upgrading from a Val2 since it is a good pairing for HD800, that's saying a lot since we all know how picky HD800 is.