[KoshNaranek]

Vali 2 is totally acceptable here.  And if necessary can drive the 250 ohms in an office environment.  Others mileage may vary.  Valhalla 2 is a great amp; maybe overkill for what you're looking for.

I would agree, given the office environment, the headphones, and use case.

You might want to use the money saved on Modi Multibit.

 

[bigro]

 

   
I have both.  Am happy with both.  What would you drive?  Monitors, IEMs, 300 Ohm headphones, ...

 

cozzi, thanks.

purehifi192, I've been listening with an original Vali using 250 ohm DT-150 and DT-250 over-the-ear headphones. The new office environment has even more background noise than the previous location, and eyeglasses interfere with the headphone seal, so I want to try some IEMs to see if I can get more isolation from the environment. I also need to give up the headphone weight for awhile, due to neck/upper-back issues.

RickB, the heat isn't a worry for me, but the edginess/possibly fatiguing aspects would be a concern. When I'm trying to concentrate on a project I let the player pull albums at random, listening across a lot of classical, jazz, big band, vocals ... If it gets fatiguing it will somewhat defeat the purpose of blocking out the world.

bigro, did you purchase "Mid-70's Voshkod Rockets 6N1P-EV with Gold Grids" from a vendor who tested for matching/low-noise/etc, or go the eBay route? They don't seem to be an expensive tube in the eBay world, but I don't have equipment to test and match. Taking the edge off might just be the ticket.

Thanks again everybody.

yes and yes. Ebay from a seller who tests and matches and lists the results for each tube. Other on HF have mentioned this seller as well. http://stores.ebay.com/lcielectronics/

 

[r2muchstuff]

  Economy wise .... How does it differ from using the standard tube variety that works in the Vali 2? 

Typically I am driving Beyerdynamics, Grado, and Oppo PM3 with the Vali 2.  I have found that the 6SN7/VT231 tubes provide a SQ I like with these headphones
 
I am the worse one here to describe what I hear in detail, not properly able to parse what I hear with words. To try a bit, there is a detailed, open and balanced sound to the 6SN7s that I enjoy.
 
I am running 6SN7s in Lyr also.
 
I still run stock lines/5670/6N3P in Lyr 2 and Valhalla 2.  I am very happy with these, however finding the "right" tube/headphone combination seems to take more effort.  A drawer full of tubes will attest to my efforts.  And the amp/tube combinations seem to be more headphone specific.  When it is "right" it is glorious, so I am not abandoning these amps, just saying that I easily enjoy the 6SN7s.
 
A lot of 6SN7 discussion is throughout the Vali 2 and Lyr forums where folks describe what they hear way better than I do.
 
Never will I say that 6SN7 are the best or even better than other tubes, just another "Ain't this Schiit fun" rabbit hole. That I am enjoying
 
YMMV & IMHO,
r2

 

[limelake]

I have both Valhalla 2 and Vali 2. I would pick the Valhalla 2.....Hands down. Stock tubes in Valhalla 2 are fantastic. I have rolled tubes in it, it does make a mild difference. Valhalla 2 is just much more richer sounding amp. Not "tubey".....Two different amps, and I will keep them both.

 

[RCBinTN]

That would be a legendary dump in the carefully constructed gold cable peddling anthill.


Hi fellow schiit Kommerads.
I have been enjoying the quiet existence as student of this and Baldrs fine sagas for some years now. I guess it was the expectation of yet another educating and entertaining chapter that caught me. But it is the whole attitude of this thread that has made me stay.
Mike and Jason are both great teachers and their "chapters" creates new discussions relevant to the common goal of spreading excellent sound to the masses. This has me so hooked that I even preach the words of Schittology to my unfortunate surroundings.
HIFI is a human right - viva la revolution.

Aehmm.. And now to what I actually set out to say.
It is very refreshing and fascinating to see an insider in the audio biz challenge those "audio nervosa truths". Perhaps the fascination is amplified here in Denmark, the country of the emperors new clothes.

I acknowledge the reason for well screened cables with good terminations. But it seems like a "well kept" / commonly accepted secret that manufacturing and selling golden Power-, speaker - and interconnecting cables is the most profitable part of the Hifi business. Unfortunately for us it is also where we get the least SQ improvements for our hard earned silver.

Consider this a wish for more Decoding from this one. - A manifesto.

Just catching up...that is the best post I've read in a long time!  This thread is a ton of fun and educational at the same time.  And, @MOFOfunk you be careful out there.  We want to hear MO from you, OK?
 
Cheers,
RCB

 

[NoahFence]

Well, after long being a lurker, I am now a newbie. In my first post I want to thank all of you for the informative posts on how to get better sound, notably from Schiit tube headphone/pre-amps. It's fitting that this comes with a discussion of the Vali 2 which I carry with me in by briefcase (yes, I'm old-fashioned) when I travel (along with the mimby). I do take the tube out and put it in its box for those trips. Thanks again.  

NF
 

 

[bigro]

  Well, after long being a lurker, I am now a newbie. In my first post I want to thank all of you for the informative posts on how to get better sound, notably from Schiit tube headphone/pre-amps. It's fitting that this comes with a discussion of the Vali 2 which I carry with me in by briefcase (yes, I'm old-fashioned) when I travel (along with the mimby). I do take the tube out and put it in its box for those trips. Thanks again.  

NF
 

Welcome. When I Traveled for Work in a previous life for weeks at a time I would have killed for a travel rig like that. What Cans are you using.

 

[NoahFence]

For travel I need closed headphones and use NAD Viso HP50s
 
Yes, indeed, this does make a very nice travel combination. For me one of the marvels of the latter part of the 20th century was the ability to play music with good sonic quality in one's home. A marvel of the second decade of the 21st century is that I can travel with that! We have much to be thankful for, not the least Jason and Mike and the entire Schiit family.

 

[bigro]

  For travel I need closed headphones and use NAD Viso HP50s
 
Yes, indeed, this does make a very nice travel combination. For me one of the marvels of the latter part of the 20th century was the ability to play music with good sonic quality in one's home. A marvel of the second decade of the 21st century is that I can travel with that! We have much to be thankful for, not the least Jason and Mike and the entire Schiit family.

Nice,I use the PSB M4U1 for travel. the HP50's person Cousin, Both Designed By Paul Barton. A Hard drive loaded with all your favorite Music and a travel rig like that makes being on the road very pleasant. I have been using a Fulla 2 when I go on Vacation and it does the job very nicely but If I was going to be away for a longer period I would probably take a stack. Especially a Mimby. That little wonder box is something else.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Yesterday I added the Ragnarok to my Schiit heap.
Mind you, if you already have a forrest of can-amps including Vali2 and Valhalla2 there's no better way to rob yourself of sleep, peace of mind and communication with the outside.
The Ragnarok is primarely substituting my Naim Uniti 2 driving two Piega Coax 311's and a Rel Quake and does that very, very, very well and very much better than the Naim.
A new world opens up.
Now for the hard part. Driving my cans it too opens up a new world.
So..... Am I can-happy? Yes but...it will take some time to compare and make choises.
I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

The new office environment has even more background noise than the previous location, and eyeglasses interfere with the headphone seal, so I want to try some IEMs to see if I can get more isolation from the environment

 
How about your own office and a good pair of open over ears.............
Oh, and contact lenses.

 

[AMRoberts]

  How about your own office and a good pair of open over ears.............

My office has useful walls and venerable-but-satisfying Hafler+Vandersteen equipment, so I do very little headphone listening when working there. 
 
The office environment I was referring to is the new location for my customer, when I'm putting in on-site time.  They relocated to a space with 41 dB of baseline noise (artsy ceiling that leaves open channels for HVAC noise to reach the space, no acoustic treatment, etc), packed in the tight cubicle farm, and drank the Industry Kool-Aid that claims you can achieve privacy by adding a dense array of white-noise masking emitters.  49 dB measured at my `cube in after-hours quiet(?), think "surround-sound" for an AM radio not tuned to any station.
 
I'm looking for all the isolation from that environment I can find.  The travel music library is currently just a straight copy of the home server's folder/file tree, I'll probably generate a parallel tree with significant (audio) compression applied and make that the travel library, since I'm losing the quiet end of the dynamic range to the environmental noise anyhow, especially on the classical material.

 

[rkw]

  The office environment I was referring to is the new location for my customer, when I'm putting in on-site time.  They relocated to a space with 41 dB of baseline noise (artsy ceiling that leaves open channels for HVAC noise to reach the space, no acoustic treatment, etc),

 
Noise cancelling headphones are effective for HVAC noise. Look at Bose QC35 and Sony MDR-1000X.

 

[Rowethren]

If we like talking about Keyboards here as OT I am about to get a Realforce AEAX01, have cherry MX Brown in my Ducky Shine 5 at the moment and this will be my first try of Topre switches 

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

   
Noise cancelling headphones are effective for HVAC noise. Look at Bose QC35 and Sony MDR-1000X.

 
Yes that may be your only choice.
Noise canceling IEM's
I have no experience on that whatsoever so I leave the floor to the specialists.