If you want to get into tubes, pick your amp architecture carefully. I have always thought that i preferred bright sound, by recently ive. I am not afraid of a little diy and the price of the crack is attractive, but i really like the design of the valhalla and have heard. The little schiit headphone amp makes a big sound cnet. Recommend amp dac for the hd 6xx drop formerly massdrop. The asgard is distinctly happier with low impedance loads. Otl tube amps including my woo audio wa2 and bottlehead crack.
I predict the lyr 3 wont give you massive sound changes between different tubes like the bottlehead crack does. Lyr 3 discussion thread page 8 super best audio friends. We ordered a couple of cracks right before the price increase was announced more on that later so that probably. Seems to me the valhalla 2 would be a great pairing with the 650s. It is vastly different from say, the crack or valhalla. Where all of the headphones listed dont have the low end depth in their basket of tricks, the amp generously lets them shine and as a result i get to enjoy my music.
Here you will find vacuum tube based amplifier, preamplifier and headphone amplifier kits, speaker kits, finished high end tube audio products, reel to reel tape machine upgrades, parts, and one of the finest support communities on the web. If you like it great and if your hate it also great, either way youll have. While most tube otl amps are really only designed for 300 ohm senns and 600 ohm beyers, valhalla 2 stretches to include headphones that youd never expect to use with a tube amp. Build a bottlehead crack with the speedball upgrade and get a chord mojo dac. Discussion in audio hardware started by gov, jan 5, 2017. I setup the bad boyz and plugged in the cans and boom amazing.
The best schiit amp for 300 ohm headphones like your. Dead quiet, the bass has incredible slam and definition. The bottlehead crack is a lovely little puretube amp and it pairs. The valhalla 2 is probably the more incisive, faster amp and is more neutral. One nice feature of the valhalla is a duel impedance switch for lowerhigher impedance phones like iems.
Considered the valhalla 2, but i read somewhere i think it was a thread at changstar that the method they use to lower the output impedance on the valhalla 2 makes it sound more solid state and less like an otl tube amp. Schiit valhalla 2 page 27 super best audio friends. The valhalla is strictly a otl tube amplifier, not a hybrid like some of the other schiit products. Schiit headphone amp advice valhalla 2 or asgard 2. You may be better off going with a solid state amp that isnt neutral yes, that really is an option or a hybrid like the lyr2 if you have a stable full of planars what planars need is power, and lots of it. Schiit valhalla 2 vs darkvoice 336se steve hoffman music. Schiit valhalla 2 is a class a classic tube headphone amplifier. However im struggling with the selection of a tube amp to drive them before i order them. What yields an even more intense experience than crack. The marvelously addictive bottlehead crack innerfidelity. The torpedo is an unusual amplifier as it emplys the parafeed topology. As the new version of their second ever product, the valhalla ii. I recently heard another bottlehead kit amp at a headfi event in nyc.
Valhalla could give more body to the sound vs a simple solid state preamp. I hadnt soldered in years, but after hearing stuff like the schiit valhalla and reading up about the bottlehead crack, i decide that an otl amp was worth having for my hd650. You will get the tubed magic of the bottlehead crack in a us made product with full warranty support. I run the valhalla 2 from a schiit saga preamp with some older audioquest silver extreme interconnects. Its a proud german name, host to a long line of audio engineers who slaved away in crumbling teutonic fortresses as lightning lashed the dark lands outside, working to perfect the best amplification devices in the world. Two amps that will have more of a tube sound than the valhalla would be the bottlehead crack or. The valhalla 2 from schiit audio is an excellent amplifier. Theres a thread on sbaf that talks about the origins of the ec zdr jr and its relationship to the. Very lively, dynamic, and more tubey and liquid to my ears. But i found something about the valhalla 2 to be a bit dry sounding regardless of tubes, which wore on me. I dont find the valhalla 2 to be a limitation, as all of these. The pc board for the loads on the 6080 tube has very. Two amps that will have more of a tube sound than the valhalla would be the bottlehead crack or woo wa3.
Valhalla 2 with hd650 where to from here super best. Quote from schiit s valhalla 2 description on schiit s website. As a rule of thumb otls and planar headphones are not a good pairing. Richard rodriguez wants to donate to nest foundation causes. I tried this last night with my se530s and was quite pleased. It provides a classic tube sound and can drive headphones with impedances as low as 32 ohms. I loved how easily it scaled for any set of headphones i threw at it and what it accomplished for soundstage and defatiguing my p1s. Schiit valhalla 2 schiit schiit rhymes with split has long been an audiophiliac favorite manufacturer of. Budget tube amps tube hybrids general headphone discussion.
Of course, the general consensus is that the bottlehead crack, darkvoice, and valhalla 2 are the 6xxlovinest amps, and im leaning heavily toward the latter for its neutralitywhilestillbeingtubey signature. From there we get to the schiit valhalla 2, another puretube otl design. The sound is not overly tubey, nor dry its a happy medium. Woo audio wa6 vs bottlehead crack simplebmunchsimp. I pair my 600s and 650s with bottlehead crack speedball. While i have no experience with schiit products yet, i have been using hd650s with a chinese tube amp darkvoice tha332 for years and love it.
The otl or outputtransformerless valved valhalla theres the names tieinprefers high impedances. On the bottlehead crack i have one 6080 tubes that tests 80%100% and it sounds great. Headfi was useful for researching synergies with the 650 for me. Maybe one day when i build up the courage to build my own amp, i might take this on.
Review by headfonia the headphone enthusiasts website. Or get better headphones as well as a better amp and dac. The vali 2 is certainly not a euphonic tube amp like the bottlehead crack. The schiit valhalla, left, the bottlehead crack, right steve guttenberg. The first crack users describe their experience with crack. If you have a little bit of a diy side, the bottlehead crack is an excellent match. So i am in the market for an amp to power my beyerdynamic dt990 600 ohm, and i have mostly decided between either the schiit valhalla or the bottlehead crack. I dont want to assemble anything so the bottlehead crack is out and i have heard there are qa issues with several of the less expensive options little dot, darkvoice. If you are going hd650 get a bottlehead crack amp schiit valhalla 2 vs bottlehead crack for sale. But here i present a little desktop system that i put together to check out a neighbors bottlehead crack headphone amp and he. Speedball is our camille cascode constant current source upgrade for the crack headphone amplifier. But, you know, different people like different things, and they may want to try out tube amps, or balanced amps, or class acontinuity amps, or you might have raalrequisite headphones, and then you actually need a different amp, the jotunheim r, the only direct drive ribbon headphone amp. Cannot comment on the valhalla, as ive not heard one. Asgard vs mstage has been answered two times below if you try to look up in.
Iirc, schiit says its not one of their tubey sounding amps i decided to do a headphone amp shoot out to compare a few amps i have used. Mine doesnt have the speedball and its already very good for. To my ears, the best sounding thing i heard at the show was the bottlehead crack amplifier. The best schiit amp for 300 ohm headphones like your sennheisers. Discover the best headphones and amps from the audiophile enthusiast community and get them for.
Have you considered the bottlehead crack the personal audio price. Im leaning towards the valhalla 2 due to price, warranty, and no assembly required. I didnt mean discounted in any context other than youd taken them off your list of what would work within your window be that for logistical or other reasons. Eventually, i want to get a valhalla 2 so i can compare it head to head with the darkvoice. Why not build the bottlehead, listen to it for a while and compare it to your valhalla 2. Review and measurements of schiit valhalla 2 headphone amp. So ive been looking forward to stepping my game up, and after a month of research, i found that the 650s are exactly what i want. Schiit audio recently released this incredible bargain of an amp.
It makes everyone who bought before the sales wonder if they got screwed. Talking about schiit audio with a straight face is harder than describing their very straightforward and topvalue audio products. I was using a schiit vali 2 with a schiit modi 2 multibit and hd600s. Bottlehead crack headphone amp desktop setup youtube. I am very happy with the v2 no doubt would like o hear how the crack compares someday. The schiit valhalla 2 is a class a, singleended triode headphone amplifier with no overall feedback and non inverting circuit topology. The simplest sales model is one where everything is a fixed cost, no sales, no promos, no special package deals, no loyalty programs, no ez financing. An yes i also felt the valhalla 2 did give my little modded amp a real run for its. I will be primarily using my hd600 with this amp if i buy it.
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