Schiit Valhalla 2

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Cspirou, Oct 8, 2015.

  1. Nbees

    Nbees Acquaintance

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    Got the Valhalla 2 about a month ago and here's my experience. I think the stock tubes are very good, I have one set of other tubes I have'nt tried yet, but honestly am pretty satisfied with the tubes it came with.
    Got it mainly to drive 600 ohm DT880's with the idea of maybe throwing it into the speaker system to see how it works there. It gives the best sound I've gotten out of the Beyer headphone.
    In speaker system I ran a cd player into a loki into the Valhalla into Vidar driving Dynaudio Focus 110. On low gain, there is just a bit of hum, and about normal from my experience with tube gear, though some might find it too much. On high gain into any of my power amps (even the somewhat low gain Aegir, the hum was pretty loud, so I use it only on low gain). That is as a preamp, as a headphone amp I don't get any significant amount of hum in either gain mode.
    It far exceeded my expectations as a preamp in main system. The highs were maybe a little rolled off on some recordings, so I tweak the loki settings and it is just magic. It makes instruments sound more real and adds some depth. Your mileage may vary, but overall its one of the best sounding preamps I've ever used (and I've used a fair number).
     
  2. ShaneD

    ShaneD Facebook Friend

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    Just got this amp in today on trade. First off, I have to say it is VERY flexible. I am running 16 Ohm iBasso SR2's through it and it sounds pretty good. Just over an hour's use and I am shutting down for today.
    Looking forward to tomorrow and trying several other sets of headphones right through the weekend.
     
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  3. ShaneD

    ShaneD Facebook Friend

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  4. ShaneD

    ShaneD Facebook Friend

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    Duplicate to be removed.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2023
  5. ShaneD

    ShaneD Facebook Friend

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    I ended up coming back to the Amperex's (6DJ8/ECC88'S) today. I also installed my stupidly expensive Tubemonger socket savers today ($200.00 in Canuck bucks). And now the volume knob is no longer hot to touch.:D

    I am Really impressed with the sound. Very good clarity and sharp, clean bass. I started with my Best of 70's FM playlist. It was fun for a bit and then I spent about six hours listening to my Best of the 80's playlist. Bass, mids and treble all sounded great. It doesn't have the thicker sound of the Little Dot MK9, with these tubes.
    I think tomorrow will be all jazz.

    This a nice little amp, at a great price, especially used. Only problem is that tube prices have gone nuts. I remember buying a pair of 6922 Amperex's for $40.00/$50.00, probably three years ago. Now they are $160.00pr. in Canuck bucks.

    PS: Forgot to mention that the chain was BF2 to Valhalla 2 to Focal Elex's.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2023
  6. ShaneD

    ShaneD Facebook Friend

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    Can't edit my last post. The correct chain is and was BF2 to Valhalla 2 to Focal Clear's.

    And today was jazz day.:)
     
  7. JNicko

    JNicko New

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    Hi Gents,

    It's been a while since I've been on the forum (bought my audio gear and escaped into the sunset!), but I've very recently encountered some issues with my Valhalla 2 and hope someone can shed some light.

    I had been experiencing some static in the left channel for a day or two, it was constant and happened regardless of the DAC being powered on, so it was all down to the amp. I purchased some replacement tubes (hoping for an easy fix..) and they've gotten rid of the static, but now there's random loud pops through the left channel. A bit of electric noise now and left, but then there will be a rather loud "pop" or "bang" and quiet again.

    I'm not looking to damage my cans, so I've stopped usage for now. Are there any easy tests I can run to narrow down the issue?

    Cheers
     
  8. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    I would contact Schiit at this point and ask for an RMA if it's under warranty. That just shouldn't be happening.
     
  9. JNicko

    JNicko New

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    I believe the amp is out of warranty now, I bought it in 2017 direct from Schiit, and they offer a 5 year warranty. That being said, I will be contacting them regarding a potential repair if they offer it (depending on price).

    I wish I could say I was savvy with a voltmeter etc for a proper diagnostic, but I'm not and don't feel like getting zapped by a capacitor lol.

    Does anyone here by chance have experience in dealing with Schiit and repairs?
     
  10. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I sent in my MM to Schiit for wty repair, and when I got it back, I sold it. The guy I sold it to accused me of trying to scam him, because he noticed the coax in was the wrong color. Innards were the d/s modi. They took care of it, but it cost me shipping back and forth to the buyer. Lol. I never even opened it before returning it to the buyer.
     
  11. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    If it's like a kind of popping candy kind of pop I'd guess it is the new tubes.You can confirm by swapping the left/right tubes over and seeing if the popping moves, then it is definitely the tubes. If so, leave it on with no phones attached for a while, as often this will go away in the first few hours of use as the tube burns off any residual gas inside. Might come back again the first few times you power on again from cold. Or it might never go away, but that would be quite unlucky.
     
  12. JNicko

    JNicko New

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    Swapping the tubes didn't swap the static, interestingly enough, it stopped it. Figured I must have had some poor contact maybe when I inserted the tubes?

    Static went, popping went, and I'd gone the 2-3 days since the replies in this thread... Must have been about 30 hours of amp/headphone time? Well, left channel just went bang and took the driver with it! Rest in peace HD800S and Valhalla 2...

    Going to contact Sennheiser (UK) about servicing and replacing the left driver. The driver will still produce sound, but there's kind of low static sound / echo of sound going on + finer details of audio are gone, so I do reckon it's a lost cause. Not sure if drivers are paired though and the right channel would need replacing too for fidelity purposes?

    Will cut my losses on the Valhalla 2 I think... It still seems to work minus the 'killer' problem. I should have just bit the bullet and "upgraded" to a nice solid state amp, but I was legitimately lulled into some security by the issue being completely gone for an extended period of time until it wasn't gone...

    I don't mind dropping the money on some repairs and a new amp, but I do hope the headphones can be fixed...


    Does anyone hear have experience dealing with Sennheiser repairs? I'm aware you can buy drivers online from audio sites, but surely a service center would be a best bet? (Possibly me being naive)

    Any help or input is appreciated my Super Best Audio Friends
     
  13. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Valhalla, while very good, has weaknesses that need addressing and is getting extremely long in the tooth (think it's been over 10 years at this point).... almost every other piece of Schiit has gotten some kind of much needed update. Wonder what's up with V3.
     
  14. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    I’ll try to dig up where but Jason’s talked about why they’ve stalled before in various Schiit Happened chapters. IIRC one reason was he viewed the options to update it as greatly increasing its cost out of its target mid-entry range (which: Folkvangr, sort of). Also some if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it in there too, I think. Again, that’s from memory though, I’ll get back with some links if someone else doesn’t post them first.
     
  15. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    (none of this is directed at you btw) While I wouldn't call V2 broke, it could easily use a tune up. Honestly the other Schiit amps I've heard had less problems IMO and were still upgraded... it just seems to be a normal trend at this point, V2 seems like an obvious oversight. Also, FV is OOP, so a more readily available maybe higher priced Val3 could easily fill that higher tiered OTL slot. People seem to love OTL sound and an improved, more rollable OTL amp would likely sell like gangbusters. Also, Bifrost Multibit was that mid entry DAC until it got all roided-up into BF2 and now flirts with TOTL, so.... all I see are reasons to update it, not the opposite.

    Anyway, thanks for trying to dig that stuff up!
     
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  16. edd

    edd Almost "Made"

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  17. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Val3 looks to be getting phased out. I wonder if this means V3 is in the near future.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. loki993

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    The answer is yes considering your idea of what near future is, spring-ish. Jason said in his thread over on HF. Im sure there are some here that know more about it and may or more likely may not be able to say anything.
     
  19. x79ftw

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    Does anyone have a photo of the back of a 230v Valhalla 2 PCB? I cant find one anywhere online, only of the 115v version.
     

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