[jerg]

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Hey guys, just a short update. I was one of them complaining about the sibilance on the HE-400 (I have the Rev.3). Anyway, I ordered a Beyerdynamic DT990 600 ohm and just received it today along with a FiiO E17 + E09K combo. I would say the sibilance on both the HE-400 and DT990 are comparable. The sound signature is completely different though, the HE-400 sounds dark and the DT990 is pretty bright in comparison. 
 
The HE-400 has about 100 hours on them, will let the DT990 burn in for about 100 hours as well before comparing them subjectively. As of now, I'm still not sure which one I'm gonna keep. Oh, the DT990 is ridiculously comfortable and so much lighter compared to the HE-400 

Wait why didn't you turn the r3 HE400s in for replacement yet? They are offering recall replacement with free both-way shipping, with the "fixed" drivers that have zero sibilance issues.
 
FYI:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/630549/open-announcement-on-the-hifiman-he-400
 
I would say the r3 HE400s are not even close to representing what these "should" sound like. Either you want to keep the HE400s or sell them, you'll have to get them replaced anyway, as no one would want to buy a r3 unit off of ya knowing how they are defective by design 

.

 

[MattTCG]

Jerg, please let me know how the replacements are. Not that I could stop you...

 

[yokken]

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Hey yokken is your replacement shipped yet? Mine just got shipped, should arrive this Friday.

 
Nope. Ms. T said she'd let me know when she picked mine up. She was online last night and I said hi but she never responded. I don't really blame her. Sigh.

 

[pb21cyclist]

Mine are in the post, according to Fedex due by the 19th...

 

[yokken]

Well, guess you guys can let me know how they are.

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

Whitecrow's comments on the Lyr after he borrowed my HE-400 for a while has led me to stay away from the lyr hype and focus on lcd-2 as my next purchase.  
 
I will not give in.

So you have never actually heard/owned the combo?

 

[TMRaven]

Nope, and I will refuse to.

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

Nope, and I will refuse to.

 Not to come across as harsh, but, based on all your negativity(that always seems to follow someone who says they enjoy the Lyr) I assumed you had at least had some experience with it. 

 

[IEMCrazy]

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Depends on what you're looking for. The GE's from Schitt are brighter while the Japan GE's are warmer. 

 
The Japans are also remarkably unreliable

   Both pairs I had went crazy microphonic within weeks and one developed a loud hiss in that time.  If they don't fall apart on you they sound great.  But they seem to fall apart fast.  Not that the US GEs are the world's most reliable tubes either, but they hold out a lot better than the Japans

  On the other hand a $50 Tungsram went hissy on me, too...so tubes are tubes.
 
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I heard the Lyr - HE400 combo at RMAF off of the Bifrost and was very impressed. They play extremely well off of each other.

 
Yep!

  Still my favorite HE-400 pairing to date, though I haven't heard Mjolnir or run them off my big power amp yet

 
Quote:

Wait why didn't you turn the r3 HE400s in for replacement yet? They are offering recall replacement with free both-way shipping, with the "fixed" drivers that have zero sibilance issues.
 
FYI:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/630549/open-announcement-on-the-hifiman-he-400
 
I would say the r3 HE400s are not even close to representing what these "should" sound like. Either you want to keep the HE400s or sell them, you'll have to get them replaced anyway, as no one would want to buy a r3 unit off of ya knowing how they are defective by design 

.

 
Wow, I missed that announcement....man that's pretty bad...two complete recalls in less than a year on HE-400.  It's a great can, but I'm not sure production was meant for prime-time yet....
 
Quote:

Whitecrow's comments on the Lyr after he borrowed my HE-400 for a while has led me to stay away from the lyr hype and focus on lcd-2 as my next purchase.  
 
I will not give in.

 
I don't think anyone's saying Lyr is the greatest amp ever made, so much as it has great synergy with certain popular headphones to the point that it sounds very good in those applications.  And for the price point it sounds very good.  I was stunned to find that it actually sounds really good even with HD800! I've heard a lot of negativity about it, and certainly HD800 can scale upward very easily, but it actually sounds more than enjoyable even when compared to my HE-6 and the big power amp (Lyr struggles with HE-6's power needs.)   I had to do some careful A/B-ing between Lyr and my Marantz 6004 to identify which was better and why.  Ultimately they both sounded very similar to each other with HD800, both enjoyable, and while the 6004 was a a bit clearer and resolved a little more, that's to be exected when comparing SS and warm tubes.  The catch is the stock Lyr tubes are kind of "meh." If Whitecrow did comparisons with the stock Lyr tubes, it'll sound good on its own, but lousy when compared to other tubes.  I think HD800 is a little more amp demanding than HE-400....so I question any strong dislike of the pairing with 400 as easily as any claim that it's the best amp ever made

 

[jerg]

With regards to Lyr, main reason why it's out of the equation for me is because tube-rolling sounds like a huge hassle and money sink in the long run. I like a system that just sits there and plays without needing parts to be replaced.
 
That said, down the line I'll probably try out speaker taps instead of going the conventional "more and more expensive headphone amp" route.

 

[chewy4]

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With regards to Lyr, main reason why it's out of the equation for me is because tube-rolling sounds like a huge hassle and money sink in the long run. I like a system that just sits there and plays without needing parts to be replaced.
 

Same here. I'm sticking with solid state.

 

[Fearless1]

To each his own, I prefer solid state with most of my HPs (D7ks, 990s etc.) No one is saying one is better then the other, my only point was refrain from comments if you lack the experience with the mentioned product(s).

 

[TMRaven]

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If Whitecrow did comparisons with the stock Lyr tubes, it'll sound good on its own, but lousy when compared to other tubes.  I think HD800 is a little more amp demanding than HE-400....so I question any strong dislike of the pairing with 400 as easily as any claim that it's the best amp ever made

 
Followers of the Little Dot MKII say the exact same thing about its stock tubes, how they're outright awful, and how better tubes from Mullard, GE and the like do it wonders.  I took those remarks to heart and got some Mullards for my Little Dot thinking I'd have a spectacularly better or even marginally better amp.  I was wrong, the differences were subtle in sound signature change and I dare say zero in refinement change.  This might be the same case, I'm not going to ride the Tube rolling wagon again.
 
Quote:

 Not to come across as harsh, but, based on all your negativity(that always seems to follow someone who says they enjoy the Lyr) I assumed you had at least had some experience with it. 

 
I'm not sure if you read my (one) post about it, so I don't really see where 'all your negativity' comes from.  It sounds like you're blowing my comment out of proportion.  In it, I specifically mentioned I was referring to a fellow member whose ears I trust, and how he didn't find the difference strikingly different between the Little Dot and Lyr.  Another example would be MalveauX, who mentioned he still found the HD650 boring out of the Lyr in Matt's thread.  So it's always good to have a differing opinion to assure common head-fi hyperbole isn't running untamed.  This isn't to say I'm trying to down the Lyr as much as I can, because Whitecrow himself is a big supporter of the Lyr with the HE-500.
 
I wouldn't mind if I were to borrow the Lyr just to right an opinion of it myself, but in the meantime I'm just stating that I rather get a new headphone than a questionably better amp at this point in my hobby.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

With regards to Lyr, main reason why it's out of the equation for me is because tube-rolling sounds like a huge hassle and money sink in the long run. I like a system that just sits there and plays without needing parts to be replaced.
 
That said, down the line I'll probably try out speaker taps instead of going the conventional "more and more expensive headphone amp" route.

 
Yeah, the tube train is a fun toy, but it is its own hassle if you're not interested in it....certainly no harm preferring the ease of SS!  For my big & expensive amps I like SS for the same reason, and the longevity factor.  Lyr just happens to be the right price for getting into playing with tube rolling without it being a disaster if tubes cease being available in 10 years.

 
Quote:

 
Followers of the Little Dot MKII say the exact same thing about its stock tubes, how they're outright awful, and how better tubes from Mullard, GE and the like do it wonders.  I took those remarks to heart and got some Mullards for my Little Dot thinking I'd have a spectacularly better or even marginally better amp.  I was wrong, the differences were subtle in sound signature change and I dare say zero in refinement change.  This might be the same case, I'm not going to ride the Tube rolling wagon again.
 
I wouldn't mind if I were to borrow the Lyr just to right an opinion of it myself, but in the meantime I'm just stating that I rather get a new headphone than a questionably better amp at this point in my hobby.

 
I haven't rolled the MkII, so I can't compare.  In terms of Lyr, in terms of, say Tungsram/Telefunken tubes versus Mullard/Matsu****a/Amperex, there's a pretty stark difference, though I will also say for HE-400 the difference isn't as stark as on HD650 or even moreso on K702. HE-400 isn't as responsive to the tube signatures as the others.  K702 (and by extension now, HD800) really shows what tubes are made of.  Though I would say sound signature change is more obvious than refinement change.  One big thing I found with the GE's though was after an hour of warmup they sound a lot better than when you just turn them on.  With all the other tubes I tried they sound the same immediately and an hour later.  That was another big advantage to tube rolling is not needing extensive warmup and one of the things that harms impressions of the GEs.  I'd agree that the GE's after 1-hour warmup versus the Mullards et-al is probably about the same in refinement. But the GE's right after power-up seem to lack refinement and dynamics.  This was especially true of the Japan ones however, but also applied to a lesser extent to the USA ones. 
 
It's a fun ride, but I certainly don't blame you for not wanting to get into the SS wagon.  I love that aspect of the Lyr, but I don't need ANOTHER tube amp that costs more...for the pricier stuff I go for SS as well. 

 

[jerg]

The heck? Fedex delivery estimated date of the replacement changed from 19th to 23rd. I already requested a day off on the 19th just so that I'd get the damn package.