[chuck8403]

 
Quick comparison of the different amp signature sounds if you dont mind?

Sure, just my opinion. The headphones I have include:
 
Sennheiser HD700, HD650, HD498, HD439, HD280 PRO, HD201, RS180, RS170, RS120, PXC 450
Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO, DT770M80
MrSpeakers Alpha Prime
HiFiMan HE-500
Sony MDRV6
Audio Technica ath-m50
Fostex T50RP Modded
Bose QC15
Parrot Zik 1.0
 
The Magni and Vali are in one class. The others are in a different class.
 
The Magni is clean and powerful for it's price. I think the sound is just slightly warm. This is based on my experience with other amps (O2, ODAC, EF5, Bottlehead Crack, FIIO E09k, and FIIO E12). Should work with most headphones. For lower impedance headphones, it may be all you need. If you have a higher impedance headphone, and like it loud, you will need something else. With that said, most would be fine. I primarily use this in my bedroom with the ATH-M50s and HD439. I find the HD498 too bright with these. The DAC on this is the Modi. This amp has a good size and I typically will take this or the ODAC when I travel.
 
The Vali is very similar to the Magni. Maybe a little more noise and a little less power. You do have to get use to the microphonics. To me this seems to be smoother and the bass is just a tad better. I love the sound through the DT770 PRO. Seems to be a good match to me. I use this at work and again the DAC is a Modi.
 
If I had one amp to choose from between the Magni and Vali, I would go with the Magni.
 
For the next three amps, I use a Bitfrost Uber.
 
I love the Asgard 2 (and Asgard), Valhalla 2 (and Valhalla) and the Lyr (Don't have the Lyr 2 yet, lol). Each I use for different headphones and mood or music.
 
If I am listening to classical, rock, pop or music in general, I like the Asgard 2. The sound is crisp and clean. Drives all of my headphones well and does really well with low impedance headphones. It is my general amp that I use most of the time. (35%) Like most of the Schiit, it seems slightly warm, but this one is closer to neutral than the others. Solid amp. Works well with all of the headphones I have. I like it most with my HD700.
 
I use the Lyr primarily with the HE-500s or when I really want to listen to music loud. Good power. I have a pair of Philips E88CC SQ tubes in it. Like the sound. I have tried some other tubes, but tube rolling isn't for me. Not trying to chase the next great thing on tubes. With tube amps, tubes can change the sound and you have to be careful with reviews from people. Good or bad could be as a result of the tubes. The stock tubes for this amp are fine. You can tweak the sound a bit with changing the tubes. Just not for me. With the tubes I use, this amp is warmer than the Magni, Valli and Asgard. Could be the tube choice. The power really opens up the HE-500s. I can only use this combination if I am the only one in the room. With the Alpha Prime (just got them the other day), the sound is awesome and should only get better. Works well with the HD650 also. Just a bit noisy with the HD700 (could be the tubes!).
 
I use the Valhalla with my HD650 primarily. Great sound combination. So smooth and relaxing. Just love the sound. I use the standard tubes most of the time. Sound just fine to me. I have bought some other cheap tubes for swapping, but I just don't find the need. The amp is smooth with the HD700s as well. Overall, I like this amp with Country, Jazz and other mellow music. 
 
Not real technical, as I just can't write a great review with real descriptive details. I like music and I know when I like the sound. At this point I don't think I will buy very many more amps or headphones. I am pretty happy with what I have now.
 
The great thing about having the different amps is that I can change an amp and headphone each day and think, WOW, I can get rid of the others. Then the next day I change it up and have the same thought. Each combination brings out something in music I like. I am sure eventually I will have a few favorite combinations. Just enjoying the ride for now.
 
Hope that helps!

 

[JimmyJohns99]

Thanks for the thorough breakdown! Sounds like you like the valhalla a lot. Would you say that is the smoothest of the bunch? Or do u think its using the bifrost that smooths things out? Why wouldnt you use that for all the amps? Im looking for the smooth relaxing sound i think

 

[chuck8403]

  Thanks for the thorough breakdown! Sounds like you like the valhalla a lot. Would you say that is the smoothest of the bunch? Or do u think its using the bifrost that smooths things out? Why wouldnt you use that for all the amps? Im looking for the smooth relaxing sound i think

I think it is the combination, but when I hooked up all of the amps with the Modi, the sound was very good. The Bitfrost is definitely better, but the Modi is no slouch. The ODAC does a good job too.

 

[TeddyShot]

Hey I'm planning on buying a modi 2 soon to connect to my PC and iPad with a Lyr 2. I've been wondering though, is it possible to use EQ when connected to a DAC? For example both my iPad and PC have EQ options but I'm not sure if I will be able to enable them when they are connected to the Modi 2.

 

[StanD]

Hey I'm planning on buying a modi 2 soon to connect to my PC and iPad with a Lyr 2. I've been wondering though, is it possible to use EQ when connected to a DAC? For example both my iPad and PC have EQ options but I'm not sure if I will be able to enable them when they are connected to the Modi 2.

EQ works on my PC, iPod Touch 5G and Android devices along with a USB connected DAC, including the Modi 2 Uber and other DACs.

 

[TeddyShot]

EQ works on my PC, iPod Touch 5G and Android devices along with a USB connected DAC, including the Modi 2 Uber and other DACs.

Ok thanks, another thing though, when I connect my iPad to my Lyr 2 via a 3.5 jack I get distortion when I heavily increase the bass on the EQ settings in spotify. I'm guessing it has to do with the iPad's amp not being able to handle it but I could be wrong. Would a DAC fix such an issue?

 

[tafens]

Ok thanks, another thing though, when I connect my iPad to my Lyr 2 via a 3.5 jack I get distortion when I heavily increase the bass on the EQ settings in spotify. I'm guessing it has to do with the iPad's amp not being able to handle it but I could be wrong. Would a DAC fix such an issue?

Perhaps, depending on where the distortion originates from. If the iPad amp can't handle all that bass, then yes. If the distortion is introduced by the EQ itself, then no.. I guess you just have to try to find out.

Personally I'd guess that the EQ is the culprit though. Try to throttle down the bass setting on the EQ and at the same time also lower everything else by the same amount. That should maintain a similar bass response without having the EQ at extreme levels.

 

[TeddyShot]

Perhaps, depending on where the distortion originates from. If the iPad amp can't handle all that bass, then yes. If the distortion is introduced by the EQ itself, then no.. I guess you just have to try to find out.

Personally I'd guess that the EQ is the culprit though. Try to throttle down the bass setting on the EQ and at the same time also lower everything else by the same amount. That should maintain a similar bass response without having the EQ at extreme levels.

I think it was the EQ. I did what you mentioned and now there's zero distortion and the bass is really prominent but still tight.

 

[StanD]

Ok thanks, another thing though, when I connect my iPad to my Lyr 2 via a 3.5 jack I get distortion when I heavily increase the bass on the EQ settings in spotify. I'm guessing it has to do with the iPad's amp not being able to handle it but I could be wrong. Would a DAC fix such an issue?

It's possible that the EQ is causing clipping in the software (numeric) or the output stages of the iPad. Depending on the gain of the Lyr2 and the output of the iPad it is also possible that you might be overloading the input of the Lyr2, you can lower the volume on the Lyr to check this out. If the EQ is causing a numerical overload in software you can try a player that has a preamp gain control that you can lower (software) to work around it. Neutron is available on iOS and has such a control. Neutron has a parametric EQ which I prefer but has a learning curve.

 

[tafens]

I think it was the EQ. I did what you mentioned and now there's zero distortion and the bass is really prominent but still tight.

Great, glad I could help.

 

[bgentry]

Try to throttle down the bass setting on the EQ and at the same time also lower everything else by the same amount. That should maintain a similar bass response without having the EQ at extreme levels.

That's a bad idea. The *intention* of the idea is a good one: To lower the overall preamp level that's being jacked up by the bass boost. What you really want to do is to lower the preamp volume if your EQ program has it built in. It's usually a slider off to the left or right of the rest of the EQ labled as Preamp Level, or something similar.

The problem with trying to compensate by lowering the rest of the EQ bands is twofold: First you end up with a bunch of small notches in your response. It won't be flat like it was before. More like a sawtooth pattern. Second, EQ affects phase, so you'll be introduce phase shift at every single EQ band, which you don't want.

Neither of these things are going to *ruin* the sound, but they aren't good for it either. Find and use the preamp level control instead.

Brian.

 

[Saibastian]

I'm looking into getting this combo except I'm thinking that I'll have a Modi 1 and a Magni 2, most of my headphones are fairly warm, and since this pair is known for being pretty neutral thats why I'm so interested in it. Seems like so many other amps are colored in this way, I few a few questions about it, other than the gain switch is there that much difference between the Magni 1 and 2? I'm leaning more towards to 2 because of it but I'm just wondering. And has anyone paired it with warm headphones (Like the Fidelio X2) and does it pair well?

 

[tafens]

Try to throttle down the bass setting on the EQ and at the same time also lower everything else by the same amount. That should maintain a similar bass response without having the EQ at extreme levels.

That's a bad idea. The *intention* of the idea is a good one: To lower the overall preamp level that's being jacked up by the bass boost. What you really want to do is to lower the preamp volume if your EQ program has it built in. It's usually a slider off to the left or right of the rest of the EQ labled as Preamp Level, or something similar.

The problem with trying to compensate by lowering the rest of the EQ bands is twofold: First you end up with a bunch of small notches in your response. It won't be flat like it was before. More like a sawtooth pattern. Second, EQ affects phase, so you'll be introduce phase shift at every single EQ band, which you don't want.

Neither of these things are going to *ruin* the sound, but they aren't good for it either. Find and use the preamp level control instead.

Brian.

Thanks for the thorough explanation. Sadly, preamp is not available in Spotify's EQ for iOS (iPhone at least, but I would think iPad is the same). It only has the basic bands and a load of presets.

 

[Jozurr]

I'm looking into getting this combo except I'm thinking that I'll have a Modi 1 and a Magni 2, most of my headphones are fairly warm, and since this pair is known for being pretty neutral thats why I'm so interested in it. Seems like so many other amps are colored in this way, I few a few questions about it, other than the gain switch is there that much difference between the Magni 1 and 2? I'm leaning more towards to 2 because of it but I'm just wondering. And has anyone paired it with warm headphones (Like the Fidelio X2) and does it pair well?

I use the modi 1 and magni 2 uber with my Fidelio X1 and they pair really well. I still eq the bass a little because the X1 are extremely bass heavy so I think the magni will work perfecfly with the x2. The magni are very transparent yes (some call it bright because they dont add warmth) and do not distort the sound in any way. Personally I think the magni goes very well with darker headphones.

 

[StanD]

Thanks for the thorough explanation. Sadly, preamp is not available in Spotify's EQ for iOS (iPhone at least, but I would think iPad is the same). It only has the basic bands and a load of presets.

There are a number of player apps for iOS that have extensive EQ. I guess Spotify isn't one of them.