[kothganesh]

Thanks Mat ! I am sorry I was not clear in my earlier post. I did intend to go from the iPod to the DAC/Amp combo and then to my headphones. Looks to me you are suggesting laptop, iPod, combo and then headphones.
 
I will certainly give this a shot.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I dunno. I plug the HE400 straight to my Galaxy Note 2, and it sounds pretty damn good.

 

[kothganesh]

Boy, you must be clairvoyant! I was (very furiously) converting all of my music to Apple lossless when I saw your post. really appreciate the heads up.

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

I dunno. I plug the HE400 straight to my Galaxy Note 2, and it sounds pretty damn good.

Sounds pretty good coming out of my iPhone 5 as well.
 

 
Tim

 

[YGuyG]

I'm not sure if you got the USB version or not but it won't be as satisfying from your iPod into the Biforst, 3.5mm-RCA or dock-3.5mm-RCA or whatever you are doing. If you plug it into the computer it bypasses the sound card in the computer, essentially it's own (I think I'm correct?). This is how you should use it to get optimal sound from your HE-400's. You can't really bypass the internal DAC on an iPod, just amplify it. The iPad I believe is the only Apple mobile product you can use a USB DAC with, by using the camera connector kit, you get a pure digital signal this way, the same way you would with USB from your computer. 

 

[CRUZMISL]

Quote:

Thanks Mat ! I am sorry I was not clear in my earlier post. I did intend to go from the iPod to the DAC/Amp combo and then to my headphones. Looks to me you are suggesting laptop, iPod, combo and then headphones.

 
How do you plan on connecting the iPod to the Bifrost?
 
Will be a waste of money to use the headphone output of the iPod.

 

[kothganesh]

I bought the Bifrost with the USB option. That wayI was hoping to bypass the internal DAC of the iPod.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I bought the Bifrost with the USB option. That wayI was hoping to bypass the internal DAC of the iPod.

Tough luck bro, Apple locked iPods by design not to have its internal DAC bypassed.
 
You might as well just use the DAC/amp setup with your PC permanently, since they are not portable anyhow, and you can store lossless music in huge archives on the PC, and not on the iPod.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Tough luck bro, Apple locked iPods by design not to have its internal DAC bypassed.
 
You might as well just use the DAC/amp setup with your PC permanently, since they are not portable anyhow, and you can store lossless music in huge archives on the PC, and not on the iPod.

 
From what I've read, and heard from other sources, there are just a few companies that have gone through the licensing and approval by Apple to do this.  Fostex, is one such company with the $550 amp/DAC offering, as well as a few others.  But, that number is quite small.  This is why there are some of us die hard iPod Classic "5" / Video, where that last model featured the Wolfson DACs and had great sound.  After that, things changed and not for the better.

 

[kothganesh]

Oh well, another iPod bites the dust. I will use the laptop after all. Guys, thanks for all the feedback. I suppose the iphone 5 shares the same fate.

 

[merkil]

Hi Matt:

I have just ordered the HE-400 and can't wait to get my hands on it after reading your post and updates. FYI, I have also ordered the Bifrost and the Asgard (Jason's recommendation). My music source is the iPod Touch (latest gen). In your trials, did you experiment with different sources , e.g. laptop, a music player like Cowon.

Curious to know if the source makes a huge difference. 

Thanks

Jason from Schiit?? What was his reasoning on choosing the Asgard over the Lyr? I'm just curious. On their website they state the Lyr is excellent for orthos, although I have an Asgard myself.

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Maybe $200. Some people prefer solid state and don't won't to mess with tubes. Although the lyr is my end game amp, I have no problems recommending the Asgard for folks who want SS. It's also a great amp. 

 

[merkil]

^^ Maybe $200. Some people prefer solid state and don't won't to mess with tubes. Although the lyr is my end game amp, I have no problems recommending the Asgard for folks who want SS. It's also a great amp. 

Ya I can understand the money difference and not messing with tubes. That was the reason I went with the Asgard as well. I was just curious that if he actually talked to Jason from Schiit and Jason recommended the Asgard for the HE400s then there must have been some sort of reason. That was all. Just being nosy lol

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

The Lake People G109-S arrived a few hours ago.  I've got it running with the ODAC & HE-400.
 
The sound?  I'm pretty sure I've died & gone to heaven.  Just phenomenal sound quality.  It's worth every penny (and more), in my experience so far.
 
It's freakishly transparent.. and makes the HE-400 sound utterly effortless.  The sound is hypnotically clean, effortless, & natural.  Tremendous depth and detail.  I can't believe the quality of instrument separation, detail, and tonal accuracy I'm hearing.  Just astounding.  It makes the O2 sound, comparatively, slow and muddy 

.
 
My solid state, desktop amp search is over.  This delivers everything I was looking for.
 
Give me some time to pick my jaw off the floor and gather my thoughts.

 
No surprises here, these are the same guys that make the Violectric amps after all (I think). Glad to see you're enjoying them so much, even now after owning these for the best part or 3 months they still awe me with new music. 

 

[catspaw]

Hmm, im looking at the Lyr as my next possible buy (after the HE-400) but im wondering if it will work well with the high impendance HP as well as orthodynamics.
 
Baiscly if i want the HD600 or 700 and the HE-500 if for both types of HP the LYR would be the way to go.