[DavidA]

 
Thanks, David.  Lots to think about.  I mainly listen to rock, classic rock, prog rock (think Yes or Pink Floyd), acoustic, minimal jazz and classical.  So maybe thats what I seem to like the planar sound.  Is there another headphone that would pair well with the Lyr 2 and over another voicing to experiment with?  I like the idea of something lighter/easy to drive so I could power with my AK100II and transfer between rooms in the house.  Any ideas?

Haven't used a AK100ii so it depends on if this is a bright, neutral or warm sounding DAC, if neutral or warm I would suggest HD-700, my GF uses hers with Fiio X3 almost every day when she walks our dog.  I would say that if you decide on the HD-700 get if from a place that you can return or audition if possible, its a very polarizing headphone, either you love them or hate them.
 
The K7XX and TH-X00 from MassDrop are fun and easy to drive and both will provide very different sound signatures from the LCD-X and if you can or want to DIY, you can build a woody Grado with a Ypsilon driver, there are some who build and sell them also.  I've built a few using the Sennheiser PX-100ii driver but have gone away from them due to inconsistent drivers, one of the great things with these is you can mod/tune them in so many different ways, its a great way of learning the slight changes that happen with various mods, including driver placement, ear pads, damping material types and location and if you do a complete DIY then soldering, cable building and where to source from.

 

[cbl117]

  Haven't used a AK100ii so it depends on if this is a bright, neutral or warm sounding DAC, if neutral or warm I would suggest HD-700, my GF uses hers with Fiio X3 almost every day when she walks our dog.  I would say that if you decide on the HD-700 get if from a place that you can return or audition if possible, its a very polarizing headphone, either you love them or hate them.
 
The K7XX and TH-X00 from MassDrop are fun and easy to drive and both will provide very different sound signatures from the LCD-X and if you can or want to DIY, you can build a woody Grado with a Ypsilon driver, there are some who build and sell them also.  I've built a few using the Sennheiser PX-100ii driver but have gone away from them due to inconsistent drivers, one of the great things with these is you can mod/tune them in so many different ways, its a great way of learning the slight changes that happen with various mods, including driver placement, ear pads, damping material types and location and if you do a complete DIY then soldering, cable building and where to source from.

DavidA, I was building on the idea of a transportable setup to move around the house, and ended up deciding on a ifi micro iDSD to pair with my AK100II DAP and/or macbook pro.  So no AC power needed and minimal boxes.  I was originally planning to pair all of that with my LCD-X, but I found a bundle deal at Adorama that I could not pass up.  So I'm getting a pair of HD-650s too!!  All for only $669!!  That scratches my itch to experiment with more headphones and gets me a transportable setup.  I know we had discussed the Lyr 2 not being the best match with the HD-6XX headphones, but I've heard the ifi micro iDSD is really something of a powerhouse for its size (max of 4W, 8V swing, @ 16ohm I believe) and pairs well with the HD-650.  Do you have any experience with this pairing?  At the very least this can let me get a taste for dynamic drivers and a side-by-side comparison with the LCD-X.  Any idea if these two headphones would make a good complementing pair?

 

[DavidA]

@cbl117, The LCD-X and HD-650 are more alike than different to me, LCD-X is neutral-warm while HD-650 is on the warmer side.  I've never tried the ifi micro iDSD but have seen it mentioned a few times as being a good pairing with the HD-650 and a few other headphones.  Would like to hear your impressions when you get it.
 
As for the output power, the specs only show the rating up to 64ohms (1560mw) in turbo mode, what you is needed is the output @300ohms, which I think would be much lower but still more than enough to drive the HD-650.  Just by looking the specs the micro iDSD looks like it will pair great with the LCD-X.

 

[cbl117]

  @cbl117, The LCD-X and HD-650 are more alike than different to me, LCD-X is neutral-warm while HD-650 is on the warmer side.  I've never tried the ifi micro iDSD but have seen it mentioned a few times as being a good pairing with the HD-650 and a few other headphones.  Would like to hear your impressions when you get it.
 
As for the output power, the specs only show the rating up to 64ohms (1560mw) in turbo mode, what you is needed is the output @300ohms, which I think would be much lower but still more than enough to drive the HD-650.  Just by looking the specs the micro iDSD looks like it will pair great with the LCD-X.

 
I'll let you know my impressions.

 

[kejar31]

I had an opportunity to check out a few amps at a meet this last weekend… I thought I would post some impressions of how the lyr2 (gold lions) / Bifrost 4490 held up against some other amps..
Headphones used
HE-6
LCD-X
HD800 (un-moded)
 
Lyr2
Really the Lyr2 sounded friggin awesome with all the headphones I tried.. It also sounded really great with the HD800 and I now think this would be a great combo.. The LCD-X also sounded good on the Lyr2, in fact I think the LCD-X’s sounded almost as good,  if not better on the lyr2 than any amp I tried..  The best match by far though was the HE-6.. With the Lyr2 the HE-6’s just sounded amazing.. Man I will be thinking about this combo for some time… LOVE THEM together.
 
Burson Audio HA-160D
This amp sounded really good with the HD800, this combo was not better than the Lyr2 per say but sounded as goodm, with a slightly warmer sound sig. With the LCD-X it was just two warm and made X’s sound like LCD-2’s. As with all other amps on this list, this amp did not properly power the HE-6..
 
Audio-gd NFB10ES
I really did not like this amp/dac on any of the headphones I tried.. It sounded good just not as good as the Lyr2.. Was just too dry and boring.
 
Decware Zen Taboo / CSP3
The Taboo was used on the orthos and the CSP3 (OTL) was used with the HD800
Sadly the Taboo just didn’t have the juice to power the to power the HE-6.. With the LCD-X it sounded fantastic but no better than the Lyr2, none that I could discern at least.. On the other hand the HD800 with the CSP3 was a fantastic combo. This combo made the HD800’s give me the chills (raised arm hairs) when listening to Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the wind, just beautiful…  

 

[Supurderek]

Makes me sad since I want to grab some for myself now.

 

[ButchP]

Was the Lyr2 able to tame the sibilance endemic to the HD800s? I preferred the Bererdynamic DT 880 Pro to the HD 800 on all but 1 of the 6 popular headphone amps I auditioned them with. Unfortunately, the Lyr2 wasn't available to make direct comparison. The Macintosh MHA100 ($4500.00!!) made most of the headphones I sampled sound great. 

 

[wadi]

  Was the Lyr2 able to tame the sibilance endemic to the HD800s? I preferred the Bererdynamic DT 880 Pro to the HD 800 on all but 1 of the 6 popular headphone amps I auditioned them with. Unfortunately, the Lyr2 wasn't available to make direct comparison. The Macintosh MHA100 ($4500.00!!) made most of the headphones I sampled sound great. 

I haven't heard Lyr2/Hd800 combo however i doubt Lyr2 will tame highs of Hd800. Lyr2 is a warm amp but it is prone to be sibilant when paired with some open/airy sounding cans.

 

[DavidA]

  Was the Lyr2 able to tame the sibilance endemic to the HD800s? I preferred the Bererdynamic DT 880 Pro to the HD 800 on all but 1 of the 6 popular headphone amps I auditioned them with. Unfortunately, the Lyr2 wasn't available to make direct comparison. The Macintosh MHA100 ($4500.00!!) made most of the headphones I sampled sound great. 

The Lyr2 even with warm tubes will not always tame the sibilance of the HD-800, the only under $500 amp that I know of that pairs well with the HD-800 is the BH Crack (TS-5998 power and Telefunken driver).
 
Heard the MHA-100, its a beast of an amp and while it does pair well with the HD-800, the EC Balancing Act, Liquid Glass and WA22 (tubes based amps) do a slightly better job of driving the HD-800 to me when I got to listen to this gear at a friends house a while back.

 

[kejar31]

Was the Lyr2 able to tame the sibilance endemic to the HD800s? I preferred the Bererdynamic DT 880 Pro to the HD 800 on all but 1 of the 6 popular headphone amps I auditioned them with. Unfortunately, the Lyr2 wasn't available to make direct comparison. The Macintosh MHA100 ($4500.00!!) made most of the headphones I sampled sound great. 

There was some siblance but its not as bad as people make it out to be.. At least not on the pair I heard

 

[CFGamescape]

I will be selling my Lyr 2 soon. Let me know if anyone in CONUS is interested.

 

[KeithG]

Birthday presents arrived yesterday and I unwrapped my Schiit Lyr 2 headphone amplifier, a pair of Amperex Bugle Boys from Mercedesman and two Novib socket savers. It's early days yet, or so I'm led to believe, but wow, I am totally blown away! I already have a Little Dot Mk3 with NOS Novosibirsk valves, a Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 and heavily modded V3. I have three pairs of Grados, including the lovely sounding Bushmills, Senn HD600, AKG K702 and Audeze LCD2(F). The LD works great with the Sennheisers, I love the Grado Bushmills through either of the X-Cans and the AKGs provide another presentation, which up to now is why I thought I liked playing with headphones. As for the LCDs, well they never really sung and always left me a bit disappointed - but that has all changed.

The Lyr 2 combined with the LCDs just seems to make everything else sound totally redundant - even the Bushmills, my favourite cans before now, don't sound quite right. Where before I could change things around and hear differences, now it all just sounds wrong - except that is for the Lyr 2/LCD combo, which is detailed, textured, spacious and so, so real.

 

[DavidA]

@KeithG, nice setup, you headphone tables is so much more organized than mine, I like the (JW Blue?) bottle headphone stand

 

[KeithG]

@KeithG
, nice setup, you headphone tables is so much more organized than mine, I like the (JW Blue?) bottle headphone stand

Thanks, though they were simply organised temporarily for the photo. It's a vintage blue/green Bushmills bottle with an oak base for my Grado Bushmills cans.

 

[DavidA]

@KeithG, did you make most of those headphone stands?  some nice working.