One set of socket savers is more than enough to raise the tube out of the Valhalla enclosure. I've not felt the need to put any more on mine. I did find that also putting slightly larger feet helped a little as it got more space for ventilation.   On the plus side, in the winter, I find the...

Well a good set of knives can last forever if well taken care of. :) Just pick up some waterstones ;-)

I recently got a coworker into a cherry red filco... though it was a strange path where I lent him both a topre keyboard and a cherry brown filco. :)

Oh it will be fun you will see with your colleagues' and the keyboard. At first they do not realize it is a QWERTY layout... then usually it is the backspace key followed by the control key. :)

For those headphones, there probably is not a specific reason for you to get a Lyr2, as the Lyr1 works fine with those. (The Valhalla also would work with those headphones as well, since they are high impedance designs. )

Well as you found, the Valhalla 2 pairs well with high impedance headphones. I've listened every so often to my HD600's on the Valhalla 2. :)  Like many tubes amps, and makes those type of headphones shine. :) 

I use mine in Single Ended Configuration, and it works great. (Connected to a Lyr 2 and Valhalla 2) So do not fret too much :)

Crono Trigger was amazing. Wish they made more in that series.

I cook all the time for myself, as I live alone.   In the holidays though, I'm the family sous chef. I get sent to help cook who ever is hosting the that particular family meal. (And I do all the bread baking for them.) That does mean that I do not plan or choose the meal, I just help prep and...

I'm a Happy Hacker Keyboard Pro user at work. It always confuses my coworkers when they try to use my keyboard. But many love how small it is. :)

Many cases it can take training to hear the differences in codecs and bit rates.. For example, a common way to easily pick up moderate MP3 is to listen for cymbals, as the algorithm does not handle them correctly.

And then you forget the high transient in the recording, have the volume raised for those mostly quiet passages... then boom! Happens too many times for me. :)

I just google a vi cheat sheet for quick use if its beyond basic movement and editing.   I brought up the vi and vim difference, more of a warning. Vim has a lot of goodies, so everyone I know who uses vi for coding is actually a vim user.  Basic vi is really small, and thus its included with...

And this is where you give the hearing warning. 130dB SPL at the ears is more than enough for permanent hearing loss. I'm always amazed by the dynamic range, and people forgetting that at the top end, if you use it, its going to hurt. :)

Well make sure to let Google know you want FLAC. ;-) Though it really depends on the mass market, as it seems many find 320 good enough.

The Tidal shop is rather new. Only time will tell if it will do well in the marketplace, but its one of the larger FLAC libraries out there.

I'm an emacs guy as well. I will give a warning, though focus on core vi over vim if you are worried about recovery systems. There are some minor differences, but you will find vi everywhere. I learned only the very basics of vi to use in busybox instances. Busybox has vi, not vim, so it tripped...

Thanks :) I've made a note of those articles to read them someday when I have more time. There is a lot though on my reading queue right now, so it will be a while.

At work I run my HD600 with a Schiit Magni and Modi. It works quit well, though I do have better at home. :)

They should work fine with your Garage Rock Records.   The HD600's are what I have at work to listen too. I feed them a strong diet of Heavy Metal among other things while working, and I'm always pleased with them. 

Another approach in learning about what we hear is to read about Perceptual Audio Codec developments and patents. Many years ago I read some of the patents in the area, but sadly its been so long that I've forgotten the details. There was a lot of research also done by the phone company about...

I bought mine months ago (May 2015), and it did not come with wood treatment kit. And if my memory serves me, they stopped way before that.   As for oil, just make sure it does not go rancid. :)

Alas, I've not herd the DAC1 in person so I cannot give you a personal opinion. But I know for years it was considered a top notch DAC.   Take your time, and enjoy each piece you add on your audio journey. :)

I'm a Tidal user myself.   It is very possible that there is some post processing being done. Sound cards and DSP in the loops might be altering the sound to "sound better" on the speakers for the device, like a laptop.  Its why so many people end up using USB DAC's, as it gets most of the...

Still, it gets you to where you need to be with balanced inputs. I have a Gungnir, but I use only the SE inputs with it right now, and very happy with it so far.