[joeexp]

So I've had my Modi Multibit for about a year now, however I'm thinking of getting the BiFrost, I'm using the Valhalla 2 and HD 800S, the smaller Modi Multi size annoys me as I want to stack them and I'm wondering how much difference in terms of sound is between them and if it's worth an extra £350, I know this has been said many times, however what are your opinions on it?

I actually prefer the Mimby fed from a good source. But - hey the Bimby can be upgraded.

 

[limelake]

I have both mimby and bimby. People say there is no discernable difference. I think the bimby does sound better.....very very slightly, not enough to justify it though. I think an upgrade is coming for bimby this year. Really only reason to buy a bimby is that it is upgradable and USB Gen 5 board. That is if you use USB. I have no use for USB myself.

 

[Metrops]

I'll continue with other answers but another question, following from the first then, would there be a bigger difference between Valhalla 2 and Mjolnir 2 (using tube)

Also meant the Multibit version of the BiFrost

 

[limelake]

I'll continue with other answers but another question, following from the first then, would there be a bigger difference between Valhalla 2 and Mjolnir 2 (using tube)

Also meant the Multibit version of the BiFrost

I'll continue with other answers but another question, following from the first then, would there be a bigger difference between Valhalla 2 and Mjolnir 2 (using tube)

Also meant the Multibit version of the BiFrost

So what headphones would you be using with the Valhalla 2 or the Mjolnir 2 ? Mjolnir 2 has way more power into low impedance headphones. I use Grados (32ohm) and Audio Techincas (40 ohm) with my Valhalla 2 and it is more than enough. I also have a Vali 2, it puts out way more power than the Valhalla 2 into low impedance loads. Power isn't every thing though......I like my Valhalla 2 better, I also have a couple other HP amps that have more power than the Valhalla 2 and I still like Valhalla 2 best. It's personal as well...different tastes....I like the taste of tubes.....my main speaker rig's are pure tube as well. Don't think the Valhalla 2 is tubby tubey gooey....it's not whatsoever. Valhalla 2 is a pretty special amp to me. It's an amp I would buy again and perhaps again ! Email schiit....they can help you with a choice, and they won't try to upsell you to something more to make more money.

 

[limelake]

Also....Valhalla 2 has 4 tubes to replace.....Mjolnir 2 only has 2 tubes ! Tube rolling gets pricey.....I have my bargain favorites as well.

 

[limelake]

I bought and Hdmi stripper (going back to some posts i made earlier) off amazon. My players will output pcm over hdmi for SACDat 88.2/24bit. Big difference in sound between having audio out from my OPPO analogue jacks, to stripping pcm out of hdmi then putting it via optical into Mimby/Bimby. My 16-bit Mimby and Bimby slap that ess sabre dac to death. Another win for Schiit Multibit. ess sabre is a 24 bit dac, (delta-sigma...supposed to be top of the line). Anyone with sacd's i would recommend this path. Difference was huge, and i am not kidding. Not subtle at all. Massive.

 

[bradbort]

I bought and Hdmi stripper (going back to some posts i made earlier) off amazon. My players will output pcm over hdmi for SACDat 88.2/24bit. Big difference in sound between having audio out from my OPPO analogue jacks, to stripping pcm out of hdmi then putting it via optical into Mimby/Bimby. My 16-bit Mimby and Bimby slap that ess sabre dac to death. Another win for Schiit Multibit. ess sabre is a 24 bit dac, (delta-sigma...supposed to be top of the line). Anyone with sacd's i would recommend this path. Difference was huge, and i am not kidding. Not subtle at all. Massive.

Which Oppo do you have? The 105 and 205 both have native digirtal and toslink outputs. You can tell it to downmix to PCM within its firmware. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding...why did you need the hdmi splitter/stripper?

 

[limelake]

I have the 83se and the 80. Sacd can only be output over hdmi digitally in dsd or pcm, Sacd cannot be output over coax/optical. I needed pcm from the hdmi. I do not have a dsd dac. Nor do I want one.

 

[limelake]

Sacd has to be over hdmi as It needs to see copy protection that hdmi offers. My stripper cheats the protection some how.

 

[Metrops]

So what headphones would you be using with the Valhalla 2 or the Mjolnir 2 ? Mjolnir 2 has way more power into low impedance headphones. I use Grados (32ohm) and Audio Techincas (40 ohm) with my Valhalla 2 and it is more than enough. I also have a Vali 2, it puts out way more power than the Valhalla 2 into low impedance loads. Power isn't every thing though......I like my Valhalla 2 better, I also have a couple other HP amps that have more power than the Valhalla 2 and I still like Valhalla 2 best. It's personal as well...different tastes....I like the taste of tubes.....my main speaker rig's are pure tube as well. Don't think the Valhalla 2 is tubby tubey gooey....it's not whatsoever. Valhalla 2 is a pretty special amp to me. It's an amp I would buy again and perhaps again ! Email schiit....they can help you with a choice, and they won't try to upsell you to something more to make more money.

I'm using the HD 800S

 

[limelake]

I'm using the HD 800S

Well.....Valhalla 2 should have plenty of power for them. Mjolnir 2 has about same amount of power as Valhalla 2 for 300 ohm HP.
Mjolnir is a circlotron amp, so now you gotta chose between tube or circlotron. 2 different topologies with 2 different sounds. Both are good choices.
.

 

[Metrops]

Well.....Valhalla 2 should have plenty of power for them. Mjolnir 2 has about same amount of power as Valhalla 2 for 300 ohm HP.
Mjolnir is a circlotron amp, so now you gotta chose between tube or circlotron. 2 different topologies with 2 different sounds. Both are good choices.
.

So the Mjolnir 2 is not a direct improvement to the Valhalla 2 then?

 

[NorCal]

So the Mjolnir 2 is not a direct improvement to the Valhalla 2 then?

For low impedance HPs, the Mjolnir 2 provides much more power. If you ever get something with 50 ohms impedance, it will provide 5W per channel, (1.25W SE), while the Valhalla 2 is spec'd at 180mW, (0.18W), at 50 ohms. Some of the planar HPs have impedance's in the teens, and the power output of the Valhalla 2, wouldn't be a good match for them.

The Mjolnir 2 is cleaner as for its measured distortion specs, while the Valhalla 2's greater distortion is what some like about having an all tube OTL tube amp, "the magic of tubes". Several HD650 HP owners love the pairing with the Valhalla 2, [it's also a 300 ohm HP]. Below is a link to an article on why tube amps can sound better, even though they have higher distortion.
http://kenrockwell.com/audio/why-tubes-sound-better.htm

The Mjolnir 2 is a balanced design, so if you want this option, it would be the way to go.

 

[limelake]

For low impedance HPs, the Mjolnir 2 provides much more power. If you ever get something with 50 ohms impedance, it will provide 5W per channel, (1.25W SE), while the Valhalla 2 is spec'd at 180mW, (0.18W), at 50 ohms. Some of the planar HPs have impedance's in the teens, and the power output of the Valhalla 2, wouldn't be a good match for them.

The Mjolnir 2 is cleaner as for its measured distortion specs, while the Valhalla 2's greater distortion is what some like about having an all tube OTL tube amp, "the magic of tubes". Several HD650 HP owners love the pairing with the Valhalla 2, [it's also a 300 ohm HP]. Below is a link to an article on why tube amps canfact sound better, even though they have higher distortion.
http://kenrockwell.com/audio/why-tubes-sound-better.htm

The Mjolnir 2 is a balanced design, so if you want this option, it would be the way to go.

I completely forgot about the fact that he may want lower impedance HP later.......very good point.

 

[Tuneslover]

There are too many anecdotal mentions of the "aha" listening experience to dismiss it out of hand as hallucination. As I have mentioned on my own blog on this forum, the newest member of our R&D staff spent much time researching musical mood derivations. She was hired to initially write algorithms for our Manhattan Project, so named because it is a completely new tool for the enjoyment of music.

Any updates on these "aha" moments?