Hey!

I just recieved my first pair of nice headphones and an amp. I went with Sennheiser HD 558s and a Schiit Vali. I plan on picking up a Schiit Modi near the end of the month.
 
The Vali really made the HD 558s come to life and i'm living the sound, there is a small underlying hiss but I know the Modi will fix this.

I keep going back and forth about picking up the Magni instead of the Vali. The Vali is my first amp so I don't have prior experience. I really appreciate large sound stages and I listen to a wide variety of music but I hate overpowering bass. I do see myself upgrading in the future and I know I will get some closed headphones for school/smash tournaments (Thinking DT770s because bass impact would be nice while playing smash, i'll have to get a mobile amp for these though). The small hum at the start doesn't concern me much unless I can hear it after a minute or so but I am worried about the tubes decaying, the amps clarity (I love videogames), and how it will fair with further headphone upgrades.  I will be moving the DAC/Amp combo downstairs everyonce in a while to play PS4, probably won't when I purchase the mobile amp but that wont be for a long time, since the Vali is tube based will that cause an issue?

Any advice / thoughts would be much appreciated but the question is should I exchange my Vali for a Magni and what will change?
 
Off-Topic Quesiton: Can I leave my headphones plugged into the Vali? Can I turn the Vali on and off with the headphones plugged in?

ohbizzle said:

  I just received my first pair of nice headphones and an amp. I went with Sennheiser HD 558s and a Schiit Vali. I plan on picking up a Schiit Modi near the end of the month.
The Vali really made the HD 558s come to life and I'm living the sound, there is a small underlying hiss but I know the Modi will fix this.
I keep going back and forth about picking up the Magni instead of the Vali. The Vali is my first amp so I don't have prior experience. I really appreciate large sound stages and I listen to a wide variety of music but I hate overpowering bass. I do see myself upgrading in the future and I know I will get some closed headphones for school/smash tournaments (Thinking DT770s because bass impact would be nice while playing smash, i'll have to get a mobile amp for these though). The small hum at the start doesn't concern me much unless I can hear it after a minute or so but I am worried about the tubes decaying, the amps clarity (I love video games), and how it will fair with further headphone upgrades.  I will be moving the DAC/Amp combo downstairs every once in a while to play PS4, probably won't when I purchase the mobile amp but that wont be for a long time, since the Vali is tube based will that cause an issue?
Any advice / thoughts would be much appreciated but the question is should I exchange my Vali for a Magni and what will change?
Off-Topic Quesiton: Can I leave my headphones plugged into the Vali? Can I turn the Vali on and off with the headphones plugged in?

Click to expand...

 
I would say stick to the Vali, i would guess the tubes bring more life to the HD558s sound.
If you get the Modi DAC, get the optical one, it allows you to use PC sound card features (like for gaming), where as USB bypasses the sound card features.
The Modi optical DAC should work plugged into the PS4's optical output, but you will only be able to do stereo (2-channel) gaming, as the Modi itself can not create headphone surround sound.
Something like the Astro mix-amp (working with the PS4) can take in 6-channels of audio (optically) for creating headphone surround sound.
 
Technically it's a little safer to have the headphones unplugged when turn a headphone amplifier off and no.
But lots of people (like me) just leave the headphone plugged in 24/7, even when turning the amp on or off and so far no problems

Awesome!

I planned on going with the optical version most of my devices support it.

How do you think Vali will fair with DT770s? Will bringing the Modi & Vali up and down the stairs cause damage?

Thanks for the great answer most of the time all I get is "Magni"

ohbizzle said:

Awesome!
I planned on going with the optical version most of my devices support it.
How do you think Vali will fair with DT770s? Will bringing the Modi & Vali up and down the stairs cause damage?
Thanks for the great answer most of the time all I get is "Magni"

Click to expand...

 
The Vali should have no problem driving 250-Ohm headphones.
Carrying the DAC/Amp up and down the stairs all the time, guess(?) that is ok.

purpleangel said:

The Vali should have no problem driving 250-Ohm headphones.
Carrying the DAC/Amp up and down the stairs all the time, guess(?) that is ok.

Click to expand...

Haha not all the time just when my roommates are gone and I want to play Last Of Us or Destiny. That'll stop when I pick up the DT770s, I'll probably get an e17 or something with them. I just worried movement could damage the tubes.

ohbizzle said:

Haha not all the time just when my roommates are gone and I want to play Last Of Us or Destiny. They'll stop when I pick up the DT770s, I'll probably get an e17 or something with them. I just worried movement could damage the tubes.

Click to expand...

 
I've had 2 tube amp stop working on me, but I was not very gentle with them.

purpleangel said:

I've had 2 tube amp stop working on me, but I was not very gentle with them.

Click to expand...

How long had you had them? I'm a very gentle person but it does take a bit of force to plug in the headphones to the Vali.

ohbizzle said:

How long had you had them? I'm a very gentle person but it does take a bit of force to plug in the headphones to the Vali.

Click to expand...

 
They where 6922 tube amplifier (Indeed & Muse) shipped from China, they cost around $75 each.
I really had not used them very much, but I had been moving them from house to house, loosely in a big box
Technically one of them slightly works.
I would guess Schiit builds slightly more robust amplifiers.

purpleangel said:

   
They where 6922 tube amplifier (Indeed & Muse) shipped from China, they cost around $75 each.
I really had not used them very much, but I had been moving them from house to house, loosely in a big box
Technically one of them slightly works.
I would guess Schiit builds slightly more robust amplifiers.

Click to expand...

 
Hmm alrighty!
 
Thanks for your help! Now I just need to decide if this small hiss is going to bother me or not.

The Vali is a hybrid solid state/tube amp. So the tube is on the output stage, which I understand means it will last for thousands of hours.

I'm using Vali with DT 770 pro and DT 990 pro, both 250 ohms. Initial ringing is there but no hiss if no cell phones are nearby ( if my phone/iPad is near, I hear background hissing). With Vali + Hd598 or other sensitive headphones, background hiss is too loud, couldn't use it. My recommendation is if you get sensitive low impedance headphones, get a solid state amps, don't get a tube amp.
(Off topic Q) how come all others got profile pics but I couldnt? I tried but it said not enough privilege! )

namhkim said:

I'm using Vali with DT 770 pro and DT 990 pro, both 250 ohms. Initial ringing is there but no hiss if no cell phones are nearby ( if my phone/iPad is near, I hear background hissing). With Vali + Hd598 or other sensitive headphones, background hiss is too loud, couldn't use it. My recommendation is if you get sensitive low impedance headphones, get a solid state amps, don't get a tube amp.
(Off topic Q) how come all others got profile pics but I couldnt? I tried but it said not enough privilege! )

Click to expand...

You need more posts to get additional privileges.

Thanks Mr Rick,
I just uploaded my avatar pic.