Apricot1993
New Head-Fier
Hi,
Many of my searches over the years have lead me to Head-Fi. I've benefitted from all your recommendations enormously. Finally signing up to at least Like your posts.
Always loved music. As a kid I listened to my Walkman with whatever headphones they came with.
When I started work in the early 2000s a friend showed me his Sennheiser HD202s which I loved and used for work headphones for many years. Probably bought 7 pairs over the years. For earbuds I used some Creative EP-630 - which I found in a work drawer and enjoyed - and then some Sennheiser CX 300 IIs.
After seeing the Sennheiser HD 650 constantly praised in Reddit posts and other places, in 2015 I decided to buy them. Along with a Schiit Modi DAC and a Schiit Vali tube hybrid amp. I loved them! Rediscovered my favourite music, hearing sounds I'd never heard before! Finally using decent gear I could hear the difference between Spotify streaming and FLAC files. I gradually moved towards playing more FLAC files. Using Spotify for discovery.
Late 2020 I decided to upgrade to a Schiit Modius (AKM 4493) and Valhalla 2 tube amp, after reading on here how well suited the Valhalla 2 was to the HD 650s.
It was a massive upgrade again and I loved how much more detail and soundstage I experienced with these.
A few weeks ago I purchased the new Schiit Bifrost 2/64. I was constantly reading rave reviews of the Bifrost 2. It's been on my wantlist for a while. When I saw Schiit had released an upgrade to the Bifrost 2 I was very excited. I read reviews saying it's an across the board improvement. I enjoy treble and read reviews saying it had improved on the Bifrost 2's treble but retained all the other good things about the Bifrost 2. I turn 40 this year so used that as an excuse for an early birthday present. On receiving it, I noticed an improvement in detail, staging and texture <-- be gentle on me, I'm still building my audio vocabulary.
It did however seem more neutral and I thought vocals were a bit less prominent. At first I thought it was bright. Then I messed around with the Equalizer in Plexamp and bumped up 500 Hz by +0.7 and used the Equalizer Preamp Gain to increase that to 1.7 dB. I found a wide range of music was enjoyable again. I leave the DAC on all the time as I've read these benefit from that. The Valhalla 2 I turn off each day to hopefully preserve tube life.
This new Bifrost 2/64 has given me so many more questions! Do I now need an EQ like Lokius to get the sound I'm after. Would that even do comparable things to my software EQ which also uses a preamp gain? Is anyone else with the Bifrost 2/64 experiencing a more neutral and less impactful sound with their HD650s and Valhalla 2 by default? Is burn-in a thing, and should I just be patient and wait for it to open up? Is my Valhalla 2 amp now the weakest link in the chain?
I was expecting the Bifrost 2/64 to be a bit more of an upgrade given they are x3 the price of the Modius. I appreciate the Modius even more now. Am I now approaching diminishing returns with more money spent giving me a less and less improvements? Have been refreshing the Bifrost 2/64 thread multiple times a day to get others impressions. Also been waiting for more YouTube reviews to be released but I guess those take time! I'm now over the 15 day return period. After A/Bing the Bifrost 2/64 with my Modius it is a clear improvement with the majority of songs I listen to so I've decided to keep it and continue on my journey of education and discovery.
Many of my searches over the years have lead me to Head-Fi. I've benefitted from all your recommendations enormously. Finally signing up to at least Like your posts.
Always loved music. As a kid I listened to my Walkman with whatever headphones they came with.
When I started work in the early 2000s a friend showed me his Sennheiser HD202s which I loved and used for work headphones for many years. Probably bought 7 pairs over the years. For earbuds I used some Creative EP-630 - which I found in a work drawer and enjoyed - and then some Sennheiser CX 300 IIs.
After seeing the Sennheiser HD 650 constantly praised in Reddit posts and other places, in 2015 I decided to buy them. Along with a Schiit Modi DAC and a Schiit Vali tube hybrid amp. I loved them! Rediscovered my favourite music, hearing sounds I'd never heard before! Finally using decent gear I could hear the difference between Spotify streaming and FLAC files. I gradually moved towards playing more FLAC files. Using Spotify for discovery.
Late 2020 I decided to upgrade to a Schiit Modius (AKM 4493) and Valhalla 2 tube amp, after reading on here how well suited the Valhalla 2 was to the HD 650s.
It was a massive upgrade again and I loved how much more detail and soundstage I experienced with these.
A few weeks ago I purchased the new Schiit Bifrost 2/64. I was constantly reading rave reviews of the Bifrost 2. It's been on my wantlist for a while. When I saw Schiit had released an upgrade to the Bifrost 2 I was very excited. I read reviews saying it's an across the board improvement. I enjoy treble and read reviews saying it had improved on the Bifrost 2's treble but retained all the other good things about the Bifrost 2. I turn 40 this year so used that as an excuse for an early birthday present. On receiving it, I noticed an improvement in detail, staging and texture <-- be gentle on me, I'm still building my audio vocabulary.
It did however seem more neutral and I thought vocals were a bit less prominent. At first I thought it was bright. Then I messed around with the Equalizer in Plexamp and bumped up 500 Hz by +0.7 and used the Equalizer Preamp Gain to increase that to 1.7 dB. I found a wide range of music was enjoyable again. I leave the DAC on all the time as I've read these benefit from that. The Valhalla 2 I turn off each day to hopefully preserve tube life.
This new Bifrost 2/64 has given me so many more questions! Do I now need an EQ like Lokius to get the sound I'm after. Would that even do comparable things to my software EQ which also uses a preamp gain? Is anyone else with the Bifrost 2/64 experiencing a more neutral and less impactful sound with their HD650s and Valhalla 2 by default? Is burn-in a thing, and should I just be patient and wait for it to open up? Is my Valhalla 2 amp now the weakest link in the chain?
I was expecting the Bifrost 2/64 to be a bit more of an upgrade given they are x3 the price of the Modius. I appreciate the Modius even more now. Am I now approaching diminishing returns with more money spent giving me a less and less improvements? Have been refreshing the Bifrost 2/64 thread multiple times a day to get others impressions. Also been waiting for more YouTube reviews to be released but I guess those take time! I'm now over the 15 day return period. After A/Bing the Bifrost 2/64 with my Modius it is a clear improvement with the majority of songs I listen to so I've decided to keep it and continue on my journey of education and discovery.
