[StimpyWan]

The Pretty Reckless has a very similar problem. The older two albums were ok-ish, but Going to Hell and Death by Rock And Roll are unlistenable.

That's why I listen to those 2 in the car. The added compression benefits that environment. Plus, I do love those releases, and it would be a shame to not be able to hear them...!

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

That's why I listen to those 2 in the car. The added compression benefits that environment. Plus, I do love those releases, and it would be a shame to not be able to hear them...!

Same.

 

[Balthazar B]

Well they do seem to ship a lot of things in cardboard. Were you expecting new stock?

Uh, oh, you're going to get @bcowen all tumescent. Or something...

 

[Balthazar B]

I am a lover of psychedelic rock (both classic and modern), but one band I've given up on is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The reason is their love of a lo-fi aesthetic in production that makes listening to their albums very disappointing on even my relatively modest audiophile setup. I sometimes think they're tuning their recordings to sound good on Bluetooth speakers or something. It's a shame, because they are a supremely talented band, but they do themselves and their current/future fans a disservice by deliberately going for a schiity sound. Especially nowadays when you can get better sound quality than DSOTM relatively cheaply.

King Gizzard recordings are optimized for this:

 

[OldRoadToad]

A question please, if I may?

I still own and use my Emotiva XDA-2 which has balanced inputs and outputs and so I am wondering if I used the coaxial input from one of my Grace Digital Links and then feed a new Magnius that signal via the XLR out to it's XLR in for amplifying, would that work or not? I am sorry if I appear stupid but it is highly likely because on a great many things I am just that. Kinda-sorta simple. "Simple Toad", LOL!

Any way, any guidance would be appreciated and if it won't do so, I still like my XDA-2 most of all. No VU Meters but the blue lights are rather hypnotic...

Thank you.

ORT

 

[OldRoadToad]

King Gizzard recordings are optimized for this:

"Ah hoooooooo Rrrrrr ah youuuuuuu"?

ORT

 

[JanMc]

So I am fully embedded in my Schiit stack in my office. I have a Modius into a Lyr 3 into a Vidar and I recently got a pair of Zu Omen DW Mk2's. I mostly listen to acoustic music, lots of guitar, some piano. I also listen to classic rock like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and Supertramp. I'm thinking about upgrading to an Aegir and was wondering who here has done that upgrade and how much and what kind of improvement I can hope for. Thanks all!

 

[OldRoadToad]

So I am fully embedded in my Schiit stack in my office. I have a Modius into a Lyr 3 into a Vidar and I recently got a pair of Zu Omen DW Mk2's. I mostly listen to acoustic music, lots of guitar, some piano. I also listen to classic rock like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and Supertramp. I'm thinking about upgrading to an Aegir and was wondering who here has done that upgrade and how much and what kind of improvement I can hope for. Thanks all!

I just looked at those two on Schiit's site and is not your current amp far more powerful (or did I get it backwards)? If so and for the greater part all else being equal I would stay happy with what I have. As my mom used to say to me when I was young, familiarity does not breed contempt but rather fosters content.

Be certain to have fun choosing and it is my hope that what ever you decide, you are satisfied!

ORT

 

[tincanear]

A question please, if I may?

I still own and use my Emotiva XDA-2 which has balanced inputs and outputs and so I am wondering if I used the coaxial input from one of my Grace Digital Links and then feed a new Magnius that signal via the XLR out to it's XLR in for amplifying, would that work or not? I am sorry if I appear stupid but it is highly likely because on a great many things I am just that. Kinda-sorta simple. "Simple Toad", LOL!

Any way, any guidance would be appreciated and if it won't do so, I still like my XDA-2 most of all. No VU Meters but the blue lights are rather hypnotic...

Thank you.

ORT

Many options to hook up XDA-2, Grace Digital Link, and Magnius.

Magnius (with fully differential amplifiers) can take either an SE (RCA) or balanced (XLR) analog input and drive balance-connected (4-pin XLR) headphones. Magnius via RCA inputs can be fed from the Grace Digital Link's RCA analog outputs, or from the XDA-2's RCA or XLR analog outs to respective Magnius analog input.

digital source can be fed into XDA-2, then 1) its RCA or XLR analog outputs can be fed into Magnius, or 2) XDA-2 headphone out can be directly connected to your headphones.

I am not directly familiar with either the XDA-2 and/or Grace Digital Link, so depending on the nature of your digital source (internet streaming, s/pdif coaxial digital output from a CD player etc. ) one or more of those is needed to convert digital to analog.

if you want all three in the signal chain, you could connect digital source to Grace Digital Link, then use its 44.1K/48K digital output into the XDA-2 via digital coaxial cable (video RG-59 style cable works well for this application, or optionally use a toslink cable), then feed XLR analog outs from the XDA-2 into the Magnius.

 

[macdonjh]

Sorry, guys, but I've gotta let off some steam for a second…

Black Stone Cherry - Kentucky

That's just one of those albums that really drive me up the wall. Some of the best southern/hard rock guitar work out there, especially on the track The Way of the Future. But no matter what source you listen to, the tracks all sound like complete swamp ass. 24bit / 96k on both, iTunes and Qobuz, but from both sources, the whole album sounds like a 128kbit/s MP3. Especially during the more powerful passages, the tracks all collapse into a noisy mess of compression artifacts. Particularly the high hats and crashes turn utterly unbearable.

The Pretty Reckless has a very similar problem. The older two albums were ok-ish, but Going to Hell and Death by Rock And Roll are unlistenable.

In fact, this seems to be a relatively prevailing issue throughout most of hard rock, southern rock, and metal. Pick a band from those genres, any band, and chances are that the mix sounds like some crappy Napster rip.

I honestly wonder why that is.

OK, done. Back to our regularly scheduled sine wave.

Edit:
Oh, and to also post something much more positive to keep things balanced:
"California" by Bahari; I'll never be able to listen to that song and not grin like an idiot. Don't even know why, it just makes me happy.

I am a lover of psychedelic rock (both classic and modern), but one band I've given up on is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The reason is their love of a lo-fi aesthetic in production that makes listening to their albums very disappointing on even my relatively modest audiophile setup. I sometimes think they're tuning their recordings to sound good on Bluetooth speakers or something. It's a shame, because they are a supremely talented band, but they do themselves and their current/future fans a disservice by deliberately going for a schiity sound. Especially nowadays when you can get better sound quality than DSOTM relatively cheaply.

A buddy of mine is a metal-head. He follows various bands' webpages and blogs and such. As @RickB says, for many metal bands, it's a purposeful attempt at a specific aesthetic. I think he's told me many of those musicians think it keeps them grounded in their roots playing in their garages. Anyway, that's at least third-hand information, so it may not be worth much, but it's the information I have.

 

[tincanear]

I just looked at those two on Schiit's site and is not your current amp far more powerful (or did I get it backwards)? If so and for the greater part all else being equal I would stay happy with what I have. As my mom used to say to me when I was young, familiarity does not breed contempt but rather fosters content.

Be certain to have fun choosing and it is my hope that what ever you decide, you are satisfied!

ORT

Zu Omen are high sensitivity / high efficiency speakers, so the amplifier choice in this application (Vidar vs Aegir) isn't necessarily driven by max rated power, but perhaps by tonality etc.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Many options to hook up XDA-2, Grace Digital Link, and Magnius.

Magnius (with fully differential amplifiers) can take either an SE (RCA) or balanced (XLR) analog input and drive balance-connected (4-pin XLR) headphones. Magnius via RCA inputs can be fed from the Grace Digital Link's RCA analog outputs, or from the XDA-2's RCA or XLR analog outs to respective Magnius analog input.

digital source can be fed into XDA-2, then 1) its RCA or XLR analog outputs can be fed into Magnius, or 2) XDA-2 headphone out can be directly connected to your headphones.

I am not directly familiar with either the XDA-2 and/or Grace Digital Link, so depending on the nature of your digital source (internet streaming, s/pdif coaxial digital output from a CD player etc. ) one or more of those is needed to convert digital to analog.

if you want all three in the signal chain, you could connect digital source to Grace Digital Link, then use its 44.1K/48K digital output into the XDA-2 via digital coaxial cable (video RG-59 style cable works well for this application, or optionally use a toslink cable), then feed XLR analog outs from the XDA-2 into the Magnius.

Thank you so very much! I truly appreciate the help. My Grace Digital Link has a coax output so I will use that to the XDA-2 and from there to the Magnius. Again, thank you!
Now I can order my self a Magnius for use with my XDA-2. Familiarity begets comfort for me and I have gotten very used to the XDA-2.

ORT

 

[tincanear]

Thank you so very much! I truly appreciate the help. My Grace Digital Link has a coax output so I will use that to the XDA-2 and from there to the Magnius. Again, thank you!
Now I can order my self a Magnius for use with my XDA-2. Familiarity begets comfort for me and I have gotten very used to the XDA-2.

ORT

between the Grace Digital Link coax output and the XDA-2 digital input (CD1 or CD2) use a video type coaxial cable with RCA connectors (these typically have RG-59, or RG-6, 75-ohm designations) and not an analog RCA interconnect.

 

[OldRoadToad]

between the Grace Digital Link coax output and the XDA-2 digital input (CD1 or CD2) use a video type coaxial cable with RCA connectors (these typically have RG-59, or RG-6, 75-ohm designations) and not an analog RCA interconnect.

Thank you! I just ordered the Magnius! Again, I very much appreciate your help. I do think the Magnius is nice looking too and that is some thing that is important to me. Perhaps I should give in and just get some stand alone VU Meters...LOL! For the greater part, most here are very helpful in imparting experience and knowledge regarding this headphone stuff and that is some thing, believe me. That and the humor that flows through out this thread is heartening to one such as I.

My son will be shocked to know that I actually bought some Schitt for my self. I shall send him a text now! I am such a toad and a shallow one at that.

ORT

 

[433521]

So I am fully embedded in my Schiit stack in my office. I have a Modius into a Lyr 3 into a Vidar and I recently got a pair of Zu Omen DW Mk2's. I mostly listen to acoustic music, lots of guitar, some piano. I also listen to classic rock like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and Supertramp. I'm thinking about upgrading to an Aegir and was wondering who here has done that upgrade and how much and what kind of improvement I can hope for. Thanks all!

Odd, I'm thinking of the same thing over here with some generic high efficiency speakers. I love the Vidar but don't need all those watts ... wondering if it should power a different set and get an Aegir or Tyr for these. But it's so hot in Florida, I'll probably just use my class D over summer and Vidar in winter.