First off, I own a Bifrost and Lyr, great products, thank you so much - I look forward to blowing my Christmas bonus on a Ragnarok/Yggdrasil.   You mentioned muting volume between steps on the Ragnarok volume control - this is a great consideration!   The Burson HA-160D amp/dac exhibits this...

I have coaxial, optical, and USB hooked up to my Bifrost Uber / Lyr stack and switching between the three input types has no noticeable difference to my ears through LCD-2 and HE-500. 

  Thanks for the info!   Switching between the three, I don't hear any sound quality difference with HE-500s. I listen to FLAC mostly. I'll switch to USB and leave it alone.

Great thread. I look forward to these posts every week. One question, however:   I own a Bifrost (uber/usb 2) and Lyr, attached to my (modern stand-alone) PC sound card.   My PC supports optical, coaxial, and USB.   Is there any reason to use one over another when all three are available...

  I wouldn't bother with the upgrade, to be frank. Save your money. Even in the likelihood you do hear a 5% improvement in sound quality, is it worth the 400% cost difference? Unlikely. It's easy to get caught up in the never-ending chase for your "end game" sound. Wait until you have enough...

I think the Lyr sounds great with r2.2

  Thanks for the info!

  Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is the goal of 'summit-fi' and how does it differ from what's being offered up in this thread? Is summit-fi just a bragging rights thing, or is it actually a different philosophy? Thanks in advance.

I'm interested in upgrading from the Lyr, can you elaborate on what you mean by this? My other pair is HE-500, thanks!

I couldn't hear anything significant either.

  The money might be better spent making that PC silent. Antec TrueQuiet case fans, SSD hard drive, fan controller unit for the GPU - water cooling system. In order to fully appreciate any increase in sound quality from audio gear when using open headphones, you want your noise floor to be as...

  I don't believe there's anything wrong with USB 1.1 - a 24 bit 192khz audio stream is only 9 megabits per second. USB 1.1 tops out at 12 megabits per second, so you shouldn't experience any issues.

No. Only if you listen to 24/176 content.

Yes, positively.

  Same here - Bifrost Uber / USB Gen2 fed from a Win 7 PC   Creative Labs Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS for the toslink / coax passthrough and mobo USB header for the rest

Quote:   You made my point in your counterargument - a vintage amp would have to be recapped in order to be brought back to original spec and "reset the clock" as far as reliability goes. This can easily surpass $100 in parts alone if you choose the DIY route - or multiples of hundreds if...

Don't cont out the Magnni until  you've heard it. It sounds just great with orthos like HE500 and LCD2. And it's cheaper and more reliable than a decent vintage amp.

How do isolation feet change the sound of a solid state device? Did you try changing the isolation feet of your pc?

My HE-500's came yesterday brand new. The website says its genuine leather but it sure feels like pleather to me. I also own LCD-2r2 and THAT feels like leather - baby soft, luxurious leather.   I paid <$1000 for my rosewood LCDs before Audeze jacked the price up $150. Considering the HE-500...

Quote:   I have the same issue with both my AKG-K701 and the LCD2r2. I have to just move the headband forwards and backwards on my scalp over the course of the day or it will hurt. Bummer, they are great cans.

Comparatively to the AKG K701 on the Schiit Bifrost (uber) + Lyr, the LCD-2r2 are superior, but not by as much as I would have suspected. The LCD has the edge on bass but the AKG have the edge on highs and soundstage.

+1

Does anyone know what the actual difference between the LCD 2 and 3 is besides the color and wood? I assume the driver parts. Does anyone know the driver part numbers? Does Audeze make their own drivers or outsource? I'm very curious about what makes the 3 sound better other than the affect the...

What is everyone doing with their original boards after the upgrade?

So what do we do with the original boards after the upgrade? Do they have resell value? Doesn't feel right to just recycle them.