The All Purpose Advice Thread

With "older" Hifiman units still on sale prices here in my country, the HE400i is only ~$50 more expensive than the HE400s.

Since I want to take a taste of the planar sound, which of the two would be the better buy? On what areas will the 400i trump the 400s?

There's also the HE560 priced at ~$500, but with the old connectors. Are there any significant changes with the latest revision of the 560 besides the connectors?

 

Personally, if I were going for a 400i, I'd try to find a sale on a new production one. Not only do they have the new connectors, but they slightly changed the driver to be lighter (AFAIK without changing the sound but I haven't A/B'ed them).

 

Keep in mind that more $ is not always better, several folks bought both the 400S and 400i and returned the 400i. Just depends on what signature you are after.

 

Lighter driver? I must have missed that. Details please sir...

 

I hope it's okay to post threads from HF, because this is where the info is: http://www.head-fi.org/t/791185/new-he400i-driver-housing-design-or-just-a-mixup-with-he400s-drivers

 

Solid state amp recommendations (new or used) in the $500 - $800 range. Have a few of tube amps and was looking something neutral to pair with my warm sounding vinyl rig.

Headphones - HD650, TH-X00, ZMF Blackwood, (and hopefully HD800 soon) - currently running all of these single ended (1/4"

Liquid Carbon and Mjolnir 2 (w/ LISST) pop out alot as options in this range but A) heard a liquid carbon and wasn't terribly impressed B) already own a Lyr 2 w/ LISST so mjolnir doesnt seen like a significant upgrade or offer much of a different sound signature (or do I sell the LYR and get the Mjolnir?). What else is on the list for reasonably performing mid price level amps?

 

I can test the Liquid Carbon against it at the next meet if you'd like.

 

Still curious to hear your reply on this, found a deal on a NIB Valhalla2($270 shipped) I couldn't pass up, so for now I'm sticking to SE for the time being.

 

+1 patting-ourselves-on-the-back-for-being-not-as-big-of-assholes bait; this is always ok.

 

Just want to make sure @ALXAndy didn't feel left in the lurch about his request. The thread moved on in a lot of directions, but I hope you were reading the follow-up convo after @PoochZag's question. The PM3 sounds like the most solid recommendation for your circumstance.

 

aaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, my 2 cents on @The Alchemist's question about smartwatches. I have been scouring the earth about them now that I have a giant phone, and feel similar to Hands about the value of not digging out my phone. In addition to spending way too much time reading click-bait watch reviews, I have gone so far as to set foot in a Best Buy, and make the sales associate open a box so I can see how each sits on my wrist.

The first 2 run Android Wear, which is unified by google, so all will have the same software interface. The hardware is pretty different (within the obvious limitations of a Dick Tracy watch).
The Samsung Gear Live is pretty f'ing big, and oddly shaped. It has a ton of features, and is fine in use, but looks decidedly the least like a normal watch
The moto 360 (both models) has the best fit finish for the price of any current smart watch. It and the pebble time steel/round are the only watches I could wear with a suit and not look like a total doofus. (I am not including the "luxury" brand uber watches in this category, because they are crazy expensive and your friend seems to want to limit his spending).
The Sony SW2 is cool, but has the following issue: not running Android Wear, which means very limited app availability and weird set up with not sony phones.

If he is looking for inexpensive, with solid feature set, and doesn't care too much about how it looks, I would also recommend the Asus Zenwatch 2. Its $150 brand new retail, frequently on sale for closer to $125, and can be had used for even less. Its bigger and less sleek looking than any moto watch, but overall pretty solid.

 

thank you @aufmerksam - I talked to him yesterday and I think he is going with the moto 360

 

Hi Guys

Trying to decide between Vali 2 and Valhalla 2. The hd600 are my only headphones. Is the Valhalla 2 twice as good? Just trying to understand the increase in performance. Thanks!

BTW I'm currently using a benchmark dac1 as my amp+DAC.

 

I haven't heard the Valhalla 2, but the Vali 2 pairs wonderfully with my HD600, and with plenty of headroom to spare.

 

I have not had in depth listening to the Vali 2 and Valhala 2, but did hear both at a recent hf meet. I was not impressed wiht the Vali 2 but I think that is because it was being fed by a Audioengine D1. So take that comment with a bucket of salt, I suppose. I did hear the Valhallla 2 being fed by a 4490 Bifrost and was nicely impressed with it feeding my HifiMan 400S.

As for the Benchmark Dac 1. I owned 2 of these for many years, and yes one was for headphone use. The dac is a bit austere as you know, and the headphone out is okay. It is rather clean sounding and can hold it's own with lots of competing gear, even dedicated amps. I do feel though that an amp like the Valhalla will put more meat on the bones, better space and depth and should be a more dynamic choice. I am only basing this on what I felt were the weaker points with the Benchmark HP out.

 

Thanks for the replies. The Valhalla 2 was my first choice but out of stock for the last 3 months in the UK

The Vali 2 at half the price is tempting unless there is a huge improvement...

 

H

How does it compare to any other desktop amps you've used with the hd600?

 

Purrin said that he preferred Valhalla 2 with the HD6x0 here. Pretty sure I saw some other comparisons between the Vali 2 and Valhalla 2 in that thread too, so it's worth reading through. I can't personally comment on this matter, as I've only heard Vali 1 and Valhalla 2.

 

Hi All!
I'm looking for a dac upgrade on my speaker rig (unison research tube\mosfet integrated and infinity k80 speaker) and I need advise on what to go hearing.
I don't want to go completely blind on this one. Following are some impressions in order to get better advice:

So... I pretty much don't like the few sabre based dacs I've heard, I like detail and resolution but they are too digital, lean sounding, involvement lacking for my taste. Also there's something wrong in the bass... I felt like it was spectacular in the beginning but something is clearly missing in articulation.

The only D\S dacs that I kinda liked were the AKM... I liked some chinese dacs based on dual 4399 and the Hegel HD12.

Recently I have had the chance to test some old dacs I had audiotioned a long time ago and I have realized that maybe this time my ears want a multibit dac.
One is the counterpoint DA10 standard version and for the sh price it was a bargain (500 euro). I also loved the sonic frontiers SFD2.
These two on different levels and flavours share some common ground, i.e. a "whole" sound with body. The conterpoint is a nice piece of gear but I felt it was (much) less resolving and involving than the sonic frontiers.

My question is...
Since I don't wanna buy a 20 years old piece of gear with no warranty and likely not serviceable - In the case of the SF SFD2 I cannot even afford it sh! - would the super dac hero of this forum, the Gungnir Multibit, have a sound suitable for me?
Anyone had a chance to compare the dac I mentioned above to it? Any thoughts?
Any other dac I should insert in my short list of udition?

Unfortunately the Italian distributor of Schiit does not allow the 15 days trial period like in the US. Buying the Gungnir Multibit directly from schiit is no option. Beetween vat, shipping cost, custom fees and return shipping cost it'd be a very expensive trial if It doesn't suit my taste.

This is something quite disappointing from schiit. Why the Italian distributor doesn't allow the trial period? How am I supposed to test the sound quality? Should I trust only the buzzword on the boards?
I understand the direct selling thing to keep the price low... but outside US it would be nice to have the chance of a trial period.

 

I do think the Gungnir Multibit might be suitable based on what you like. I can tell you that it is quite good via USB direct and should not offend. The Gungnir Multibit does scale nicely and I feel with increased resolution and clarity across the board with a very good usb/spdif bridge. That is assuming the system is capable of resolving the differences.

For the money and at that price point, I have not been exposed to a dac that I would put ahead of it. However, I am chomping at the bit to get a Gungnir Multibit in my speaker setup to test with a few fantastic bridges I am currently testing. I have managed to turn the X-sabre dac which is an ESS implementation into a very fine sounding front end with the right bridges.

As for the gamble, I would take it because you can always sell the unit with minimal loss if it really is not your glass of super Tuscan