Interesting that you both recommend the SMSL products. I take it you feel their reliability and build quality is at least on-par with JDS and Schiit? Or do you just feel that they're cheap enough that it doesn't really matter if they die sooner? If you HAD to reallocate your vote from the SMSL...

Hello everyone, I promise this is my final post. You have all been very kind, and I don't want to take advantage of the community by spamming threads (more than I already have). With the community's help, I have narrowed a choice of amp and DAC stacks to a few brands, For use with Sennheiser...

Thank you for following me along my absolutely nonsensical stumbling journey, and for your detailed reply. I want to touch on point 2), because you and others are rightfully commenting on how strange it is to EQ 15 dB. I should mention that I won't always be doing this. When listening to...

For me, going the route of using the Rag 2 would mean I don't buy a separate DAC at all for the foreseeable future, as the Rag 2 and its DAC card are already more than my budget.

Hello everyone, I'm trying to find a solid-state DAC and Amp stack for around $900 USD, with plans to add a power amp in the future (so the headphone amp needs to double as a preamp with a switch for the preamp outputs). I've identified a few good companies: Schiit, RME, Topping, SMSL...

TBH a part of me is even considering buying a Ragnarok, now that it's on sale. I mean, at $1000 for a balanced headphone AND SPEAKER amp, with a dac card upgrade, it comes in at roughly the same price as a full stack. Can't seem to find much in the way of comparisons or reviews of the Ragnarok...

So, I don't know if I'm leading myself astray with this, but my thinking is that the Jotunheim 2 has more power over all, which for a pair of harder-to-drive headphones like the HD800s, gives me more headroom for EQ, which is fairly important to me, as I intent to run a fairly strong EQ curve...

Yeah, Schiit is the brand I was most seriously considering for a long time. I would be buying a Modius DAC (ES9028 or AKM?) and a Jotunheim 2 Amp, and then one day adding the Gjallarhorn power amp. I know the gjallarhorn isn't the most powerful amp in the world but that's okay, it's just for a...

I'm okay mixing and matching so long as the products go together visually. Don't want a silver round and bubbly amp sitting atop a black square DAC, for example. But something like a Topping amp on top of an RME DAC is possibly okay. I must stress though there will never be an upgrade. This is...

Ah, in that case it will be too far beyond my budget.

Lol we all must live within our means. $900 is more than enough to get a good DAC and amp.

Hey yeah, I've seen this recommended a lot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's just a DAC, right? No amp? I'm confused because the literature mentions only a DAC, but it has a volume knob and headphone outputs. Yeah, like I said Schiit is the brand I was most seriously considering originally...

If I were to go the Jotunheim route, it would only be with a Modius DAC, as that's approaching the limit of my combined DAC-amp budget.

Hello everyone. I want to start by thanking everyone on this forum for all of the great discussion and education you've all provided me. I have learned a lot, abandoned a lot of old, mistaken ideas, and have really changed in what I'm looking for in an audio setup. I don't want to take...

Hello people, I've noticed, in my pursuit of better audio gear, that a lot of stuff doesn't seem to be designed with constant on-off cycles in mind. Like, for example, a Lyr+ amp from Schiit has its power switch on the back. And it takes 30 seconds or so to actually turn on, once it's turned...

Ah, fair enough. Well, if head-fi takes issue with long titles, they're free to lower the limit of the number of characters in a title. In either case, though, it's really a non-issue.

Dead link

Ah, I see. Didn't think people really bothered with forums like this on mobile devices. I'm on desktop, all threads take up the same size.

Thank you to both of you for commenting. Sorry I never got back to you sooner. Love your profile picture, dunring. I find it funny that the two of you give completely opposite comments -- one that they're not picky, and work on any SS product just fine, the other swearing that they sound...

Thank you all for your comments! It seems Ebay really is the way to go, in terms of establishing what a decent price is. Interestingly, a search for "Schiit Lyr+" returned basically no listings. Only two models sold. Same with the Modius E, and a few more listings exist for the Jotunheim...

Thank you guys for sticking with me. You've given me a lot of good stuff to think about. I've found a lyr on the used market for a decent price. Now the struggle is getting it into Canada. Few people want to deal with customs. Here's hoping!

You are not the first person in my life to make this comparison. Although I don't like the show very much, a lot of people feel I am Chidi. As my mother once said though, the only reason I have to fret this much is because I'm broke. If I had money, I would just buy whatever I desired, and...

Thank you for following up. The only OTHER variable that I'm considering is that I know I WILL be heavily EQ-ing the HD800s. A bass and treble boost culminating in about 6db of boost at the highest and lowest frequencies. Basically just making the headphones more U shaped, while retaining the...

Thank you for the link. I've read through a lot of these kinds of threads already, and unfortunately, they're always outdated. For example, after reading a thread like that one, I think "okay, the lyr 3 is the better option" But then I read about how the Jot 2 is so much better than the Jot 1...

Thanks for your reply. I take it you feel there is a distinct and audible difference between the various tubes and the SS-mode of the Lyr+? I'm worried I won't be able to hear the difference, and should therefore just go with the Jot 2. I don't seem to have very discerning ears, apparently...