[detoxguy]

Hi guys, for my he 500 should I go for the Audio gd compass 2 or should I save the extra money for the schiit modi and lyr? Is there a clear difference in sound quality between the 2?

You have asked this and generated a lengthy discussion about it already. You need to just make up your mind and go for it. It's likely this setup is just a stepping stone anyways. Buy the best setup you can afford right now and enjoy the music.

You can always sell and upgrade later. Happens to all of us.

 

[Pumelman8]

You have asked this and generated a lengthy discussion about it already. You need to just make up your mind and go for it. It's likely this setup is just a stepping stone anyways. Buy the best setup you can afford right now and enjoy the music.

You can always sell and upgrade later. Happens to all of us.

Last conversation we were talking about the modi and Asgard 2 or Valhalla or Yulong A100. This time I'm talking about the schiit lyr. It this amp better than the built in compass 2 sabre amp and is it worth the money?
I know I'm probably being irritating but I can't find anywhere in the UK that is close to me that can let you try the headphones and amps I was looking at. The reason I am nervous is cause I'm buying blind and I want to make sure I am getting the best for my money.
The only way to get buying advice is to post on this forum so I'm really sorry.

 

[DanPluck]

Last conversation we were talking about the modi and Asgard 2 or Valhalla or Yulong A100. This time I'm talking about the schiit lyr. It this amp better than the built in compass 2 sabre amp and is it worth the money?
I know I'm probably being irritating but I can't find anywhere in the UK that is close to me that can let you try the headphones and amps I was looking at. The reason I am nervous is cause I'm buying blind and I want to make sure I am getting the best for my money.
The only way to get buying advice is to post on this forum so I'm really sorry.

 
I'm afraid you will struggle to get a definitive answer and if you do it will merely be an opinion and not an answer.  There aren't really any definitives in your journey just different tastes for different people.  To allow people to give informed opinions, what sound signature do you prefer, warm and musical or reference flat?

 

[Pumelman8]

I li

I'm afraid you will struggle to get a definitive answer and if you do it will merely be an opinion and not an answer.  There aren't really any definitives in your journey just different tastes for different people.  To allow people to give informed opinions, what sound signature do you prefer, warm and musical or reference flat?

I like quie warm sound but I still would like the song to be true to the track. I don't like the sound of something as analytical as the hd800 but nothing overly warm. My Grado's I do find sometimes too bright and harsh so a relatively even frequency response would be nice. I guess I'm looking at about halfway between the 2 extremes.

 

[DanPluck]

I have owned both the Matrix M-Stage and the Compass 2 and they both keep on the slightly warm and smooth side of things.  You will need some feedback from Schiit and yulong owners but i have heard the Magni can be a little brittle sounding.

 

[brunk]

  I have owned both the Matrix M-Stage and the Compass 2 and they both keep on the slightly warm and smooth side of things.  You will need some feedback from Schiit and yulong owners but i have heard the Magni can be a little brittle sounding.

 
Yulong is also slightly warm and smooth too. 

 

[daerron]

I think if you want a good choice without taking too much risk, look at the Project Ember amplifier from Garage 1217. The shipping costs is not too bad and it is a very flexible and powerful hybrid amplifier. It will also leave you with more pennies to spend on a few valves that allow you to tweak the sound. Pair it with a transparent and neutral DAC and you should be good to go.
 
I've personally gone from the Project Sunrise 2 to the Emotiva Mini-x and I definitely prefer the sound of the Emotiva amp, but my current PS Audio NuWave DAC is not such a good combination with the Mini-x, due to its obsessiveness with trying to be neutral. I think the Mini-X can benefit from a more musical DAC. The additional power the Mini-X has is definitely noticeable with the HE-500s.
 
I am actually trying to figure out what to do with my setup as well. I kind of miss the compactness of the Project Sunrise 2 and Audioquest Dragonfly I had, so I am thinking of buying a Project Ember and combining it with the Resonessence Concero HD as a long term solution. This was from scrapping my initial plans of getting the Audio-GD NFB-10ES2. I can also get the Asus Essence One MUSES edition here for around $750 which seems like a very good DAC/amp solution. Also have a Silver Poison cable inbound on of these days, but have to make up my mind whether I want a balanced or single ended cable... *thinking* --> too many possibilities!!

 

[Pumelman8]

I think if you want a good choice without taking too much risk, look at the Project Ember amplifier from Garage 1217. The shipping costs is not too bad and it is a very flexible and powerful hybrid amplifier. It will also leave you with more pennies to spend on a few valves that allow you to tweak the sound. Pair it with a transparent and neutral DAC and you should be good to go.

I've personally gone from the Project Sunrise 2 to the Emotiva Mini-x and I definitely prefer the sound of the Emotiva amp, but my current PS Audio NuWave DAC is not such a good combination with the Mini-x, due to its obsessiveness with trying to be neutral. I think the Mini-X can benefit from a more musical DAC. The additional power the Mini-X has is definitely noticeable with the HE-500s.

I am actually trying to figure out what to do with my setup as well. I kind of miss the compactness of the Project Sunrise 2 and Audioquest Dragonfly I had, so I am thinking of buying a Project Ember and combining it with the Resonessence Concero HD as a long term solution. This was from scrapping my initial plans of getting the Audio-GD NFB-10ES2. I can also get the Asus Essence One MUSES edition here for around $750 which seems like a very good DAC/amp solution. Also have a Silver Poison cable inbound on of these days, but have to make up my mind whether I want a balanced or single ended cable... *thinking* --> too many possibilities!!

I can't buy the resonessence concero cause it's far more expensive in the UK. How about the Schiit modi with the project ember?

 

[daerron]

What is your budget for a DAC, then we can perhaps give you a couple of pointers. I see the Concero's are really expensive in the UK... The Meridian Explorer could be a nice option as well as the iFi Audio iDAC. That last one seems to be very similar in design to the Concero, except the Concero has a much more sophisticated processing engine behind it.

 

[Pumelman8]

What is your budget for a DAC?

About $150

 

[daerron]

About $150

 
You can look at the ODAC available from JDS Labs at that price. Not sure how it compares to the Schiit Modi, but its supposedly very clean sounding. Might be a nice pairing with the Project Ember, but I would ask around a bit.

 

[fihidelity]

I switched to the velour pads last night (very stressful) in the hope it would lessen the sibilance but so far if anything it's just aggravated it. Does the treble mellow out a bit with burn in as I've only had about twenty hours with them so far?

 

[jerg]

  I switched to the velour pads last night (very stressful) in the hope it would lessen the sibilance but so far if anything it's just aggravated it. Does the treble mellow out a bit with burn in as I've only had about twenty hours with them so far?

 
What were your previous headphones?
 
To have minimum sibilance / brightness in the treble region, use the pleather earpads BUT pull out the thick foam rings tucked inside them.
 
Past that you can really enhance how the HE500s sound with pleather earpads via modding but that's a whole 'nother can of worms (consult the Jergpad link in my signature if you are curious).

 

[daerron]

Also found the HE-500s are definitely brighter with the velour pads, but give them some time to burn in. The first couple of hours is a bit of a rollercoaster.

 

[Llloyd]

Guys, please stop cheaping it up on your source. DACs are very important, if your amp is over $500, you're insulting your HE-500 by having a $100 DAC. SPEND MORE MONEY DDDD
 
Seriously though you are getting so much less than you could. DACs are improving in value at a pretty rapid rate, but even still the modi or odac or what have you is like an entry level dac. Do yourself a favor since you already spent like 1500 usd. Having a cheap source will not get you the most out of your investment.