money4me247
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
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So folks, recently I bought a LCD-2 (c'mon Audeze, just ship it already!). It's is my first "serious" headphone, but I still need an amp+dac combo.
Barrage of questions incoming...
1 - I like a warm and lush sound, so after some research, I narrowed my options to the Lyr 2 + Bifrost combo. Is it the best option? (I realize I'm asking this in a Schiit owners thread, lol)
2 - About the Bifrost, are the upgrades (uber analog + gen 2 usb) worth it?
3 - I'm also buying the cables there ( PYST RCA 6" + PYST USB A-B 1M), just for the sake of convenience, but for I also wonder if they are good.
4 - Lastly, what's the best (online) shop to to buy the mentioned combo? I only know Schiit's website.
Thank you very much! Sorry for that many questions and for the any mistakes
1) The most similar alternative to the Lyr 2 in this price range would be Garage1217's Project Ember hybrid tube amplifier. $325 for standard version, $$365 for version with supercharger (allows you to roll more powerful tubes).
2) You will get different subjective responses on this. I personally always like to max out my gear, so I would get it. However, differences are likely to be subtler than the claims as differences between DACs are generally a lot more subtle than differences between headphones. I think very few people really have done an objective blind ABx test between the two options, so you will not get a definite answer for this question. Depends on your budget & wants.
3) Cables don't make a difference. You can get PYST cables or cheap Monoprice cables. This is a debated topic though, so there are people here who do believe that cables make a difference. Scientifically speaking, there has not really been any conclusion studies showing audible gains from different cables. If you are staying within the budget bracket of cables (not going for fancy custom cables), it is unlikely that cables will make a difference unless you have a pair of defective or poorly made cables. Monoprice is pretty reputable. Even if you are in the "cables" make a difference camp, you will be needing to spend $100+ or more for one such cable & even cable believers recognize that cables would be the last thing in your chain to worry about. Order of importance for sound quality: Source>>> Headphones>>> Amps/Dacs >>> cables/other. (and amps/dacs are really for tuning the last 10-15% of your sound quality, so if cables maybe a sonic difference, it would be like 1% or less).
4) Best online store would be Schiit's website. You can consider purchasing from Amazon if you are a Prime member, want the 2-day shipping, and Amazon customer service (30 day hassle-free return policy). Schiit has a 15 return period with a restocking fee (I believe 10%).