[tehsprayer]

I don't think I can convince myself to get the Lyr. Someone is selling an Asgard 1 and can trade for my Vali + money. Will this be a decent upgrade?

 

[aamefford]

  I don't think I can convince myself to get the Lyr. Someone is selling an Asgard 1 and can trade for my Vali + money. Will this be a decent upgrade?

In my estimation - side grade.  I owned an Asgard 2, and now own a Vali.  With the Asgard, you get rid of the Vali's weird ringing issues, but loose the tube niceness.  I really like the Vali, and frequently choose it over the amp output of my Oppo HA-1.  The HA-1 has a great amp section, but there is something about the Vali that just makes one want to listen to it.  A used Vali goes for $100 +/-, a used asgard original seems to be $140 +/-.  If it were me, I wouldn't make the trade, but I just like the Vali.  I might not like is so much as my only amp though.  sometimes the microphonic ringing just annoys me, and I have one of the quieter ones!

 

[tehsprayer]

 
In my estimation - side grade.  I owned an Asgard 2, and now own a Vali.  With the Asgard, you get rid of the Vali's weird ringing issues, but loose the tube niceness.  I really like the Vali, and frequently choose it over the amp output of my Oppo HA-1.  The HA-1 has a great amp section, but there is something about the Vali that just makes one want to listen to it.  A used Vali goes for $100 +/-, a used asgard original seems to be $140 +/-.  If it were me, I wouldn't make the trade, but I just like the Vali.  I might not like is so much as my only amp though.  sometimes the microphonic ringing just annoys me, and I have one of the quieter ones!

Yeah my ringing gets annoying. The right tube rings more than the left. It rings sometimes when I change the volume or even move the cable on the ADs but not even noticable if playing music.

 

[imackler]

  Yeah my ringing gets annoying. The right tube rings more than the left. It rings sometimes when I change the volume or even move the cable on the ADs but not even noticable if playing music.

 
The ringing bothered me less than just getting used to tube amps.  Just turn on a solid state and its ready to go, even for a five minute listen. The warming up of tube amps led me to leaving it or forgetting to turn it off, etc. Solid state is just so simple. 

 

[aamefford]

Tell you what though, that Asgard 2 is a nice amp.  I had the Bifrost Uber / Asgard 2 pairing for a month or so.  I would have kept it, except for Oppo's generosity to the HA-1 beta test group.  I couldn't justify keeping both.  They were neck and neck for sound quality.  HA-1 has some connectivity advantages that I use, and has a bit more "cool" factor.

 

[tehsprayer]

This is the Original Asgard 1, if that makes a difference.

 

[Andykong]

Looks like you have respiratory problems.  Hope you find a cure.

Have been on CPAP for 10 years already, getting better recently but unlikely will be cured completely, I am building a rack small rack under the wallmounted cabinet to hold my headphones, and I'll reserve one for my CPAP mask alongside my headphones, should be handle in the future to switch between headphone and mask when i call it end of the day.

 

[Andykong]

Hello folks,

I will soon receive my Alpha Dog headphones and I am very excited!

How well does the Burson Conductor SL 1793 pair with these phones? Although outside my budget, I might be able to grab this amp for a steal!

Also, what else do you guys recommend?

At the moment I am using a Audioquest Dragonfly DAC paired with a Shiit Magni for the T50RP that I modded myself.

Thanks in advance

I have auditioned the Burson Conductor with my Alpha Dog, not a completely quiet room as it is a special event from local dealer, but I get to spend quite some time with the combo and compare against LCDx back and forth, with songs that I am familiar with, I can share some of my observation for your reference:

(1) The Conductor is powerful enough to handle the Alpha Dog satisfactory, but its presentation is fairly tight and upfront, not necessarily the style fit everyone's preference.

(2) The volume is a 24 steps attenuator, while it claim to be high fidelity, I don't always find the right volume spot for the CD/song that I am playing with, as a result, i tend to listen to a little bit louder then I would prefer.

(3) Typical ES9018 implementation, detail but not involving, I actually like the power amp. section more then the DAC section.

 

[tehsprayer]

How are orange globes and lyr with the ADs?

 

[MattTCG]

^^ very nice and a good match IMO

 

[younglee200]

 

 
One of the "Defect color" Alpha Dogs.  I think they look better than the regular reds or the blacks!  I personally find myself enjoying the Audezes much more so I'm selling them, but I could definitely see why the headphones have such a high fan base here.

 

[reddog]

I have just pulled the trigger and ordered myself a set of red alpha dogs. I can hardly wait to hear them on the Lyr 2 with stock tubes. Next month, I will get better tubes for the Lyr 2. The next thing I plan to get is the schiit gungnir usb dac and that should do it for the year.

 

[aamefford]

I have just pulled the trigger and ordered myself a set of red alpha dogs. I can hardly wait to hear them on the Lyr 2 with stock tubes. Next month, I will get better tubes for the Lyr 2. The next thing I plan to get is the schiit gungnir usb dac and that should do it for the year.

I'll be very curious to hear your feedback on the lyr2 Alpha combo.

 

[hifijunky]

So will I. I'm loving the sound of my upgraded AlphaDogs on my Centrance DacMini but I really want to add a good tube amp for variety. I was unsure about the original Shiit Lyr due to reports of voltage spikes on power on and power off. That was addressed, after the fact, in the Lyr but made me a bit nervous about trusting it with expensive headsets. From what I've read on the Schiit site regarding the Lyr2, they have eliminated the issue by delaying output connectivity during power on and disconnecting the output stage prior to power off.

 

[MattTCG]

No need to worry about that with almost any lyr except ancient ones. They installed the relay early on.