just recently got a TT2, and all I can say is “wow” while listening to music.
long time lurker here as I was getting into more high-end headphone gear. I ended up getting the Abyss Diana V2’s and the Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack in April, using with my Lake People RS-06 dac (parent company of Violetric that makes more pro-audio oriented gear). I had been researching DACs for months because I wanted something that sounded more analog, less harsh, and with more realistic sound stage/imaging to get rid of that unrealistic wall-of-sound feel.
I also just added an Innuos Pulse streamer a few days before the TT2 got here, and that made a pretty huge difference even with my rs06 dac. Way more fine details and separation, and helped a little with that wall of sound feeling. Before this I was in the “digital is digital” camp but I have never been more wrong. Seriously if you go direct from computer to dac, try a streamer.
Anyway, I was going back and forth between some Bricasti dacs, Weiss, and the Rocknas, but ended up going for a TT2 because I’ve been dying to try the Chord house sound and got a great deal on an open box from the music room.
All I can say is I’m utterly hooked, but I wasn’t initially. I first tried it in amp mode going to the ferrum stack via RCA (read this was the most transparent) and while it sounded good and the soundstage improved a bit, the tonality sounded almost the same as my other dac. and the details didn’t really improve over what adding the streamer gave me.
I listened like this for two days as I was waiting for my 1/4” to 4 pin XLR adapter for the Dianas, and when I finally plugged into the front headphone outs on the TT2… my jaw literally dropped and was hanging open until 2am.
It is the most liquid smooth, sweet sound I’ve ever heard accompanied by razor sharp details. The treble is both unbelievably delicate and non-fatiguing, yet it feels like it’s etching fine details into my brain with a scalpel at the same time. The bass is tight with plenty of slam yet perfectly balanced in the mix.
The soundstage and imaging, holy hell. every sound is separated by so much “air”, everything just feels like it’s effortlessly in its own space, pretty much how live music sounds. Listening to Eric Clapton unplugged, and Hell Freezes Over live, it’s absolutely haunting how real these albums sound, and they really show off the crazy depth of the soundstage the TT2 has. Another interesting thing is that I’ve never had a setup that sounded “alive” unless I crank up the volume. The TT2 sounds so real even at very low volumes, and the best way to describe it is like I’m a few hundred yards away from a band playing live on a stage. Still very real and detailed, just far away.
These words don’t do it justice but suffice it to say that the direct headphone out on the TT2 is a night and day difference, at least for me. This surprised me because I did see a lot of people using it in amp mode out to the ferrum stack and loved it. However I did also see in many reviews that the best sound is directly out of the headphone outputs, so I suppose that was accurate.
So, now I’m considering selling the ferrum stack because after hearing the TT2 there is just no going back for me I think. The best way I can describe it is the ferrum stack seems to just dominate the sound with its own tonality and soundstage rather than letting the dac influence the sound very much. I haven’t listed it anywhere yet but let me know if you are interested in it, it’s in like-new condition as I’ve only had it since April and have barely touched/moved it at all.
anyway thanks for reading my ted talk and hopefully this can help others on the fence about what to buy/audition
