[ImagesbyMurray]

One of my all time favorite audiophile recordings, back before audiophile became a dirty word, is the Sheffield Lab's "I've Got the Music In Me" featuring Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker. Originally recorded and released as a Direct To Disc vinyl record (Direct To Disc meaning that the output of the recording studio mixing console was plugged straight into the disc cutting lathe, run in real time) in 1974. The CD is directly from the back up 2 track tape that was recorded at the same time as they were cutting the record. Rehearse the hell out of the musicians over several weeks so that everyone could play four pieces of music without a single flubbed note, stuff everyone into a large recording studio at the same time, start the lathe as they're counting off the first tune, cross your fingers and hope for the best. None of this multitrack with overdubs, we'll fix it in the mix nonsense. Get it right the first time, all 4 tunes per album side. Old school.

+1

 

[Les Strat]

Coming up for air..... Sorry for the radio silence, it has been a busy holiday week and weekend with family and non-audio stuff.

Folkvangr - I'm with @ArmchairPhilosopher on this. An astounding amplifier that can deliver beautiful performance with the right headphones. Which is causing me some consternation as to which way to go with this. I suspect that anyone who has Sennheiser HD800s will be very happy with this amp, based on my listening with HD650s (I don't own HD800s - yet). Planars are gonna be a whole lot trickier. More on all this in a day or two.

Am I keeping it? Yep.
Am I fully happy with it yet? Not yet.
Do I see/hear promise with it? Oh, yeah. Do I ever.

Bottom line - This is the most high-end-ish, non-Schitt amplifier that I've bought from Schiit yet. Best performance out of it demands correct pairing of headphones to the amp. It will surprise you with what it will power with reasonable, but not exceptional, performance. And frustrate you at the same time because you can hear the promise with those same 'phones. Welcome to the true high-end experience. My wallet is gonna hate me for a while.

A music note:
One of my all time favorite audiophile recordings, back before audiophile became a dirty word, is the Sheffield Lab's "I've Got the Music In Me" featuring Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker. Originally recorded and released as a Direct To Disc vinyl record (Direct To Disc meaning that the output of the recording studio mixing console was plugged straight into the disc cutting lathe, run in real time) in 1974. The CD is directly from the back up 2 track tape that was recorded at the same time as they were cutting the record. Rehearse the hell out of the musicians over several weeks so that everyone could play four pieces of music without a single flubbed note, stuff everyone into a large recording studio at the same time, start the lathe as they're counting off the first tune, cross your fingers and hope for the best. None of this multitrack with overdubs, we'll fix it in the mix nonsense. Get it right the first time, all 4 tunes per album side. Old school.

So you have Thelma Houston's vocals at her peak, great back up singers, really awesome musicians backing them up, all in an excellent sounding room and recorded with the utmost attention to capturing everything in the most accurate way possible at the time. One of the things I listen for with this recording is the reverb from the room. It has a signature that is easy for me to pick out, with its sound and the decay as it tails off. The better the rig, the easier it is to hear this room sound and how it fills in the trailing sounds of the singers' vocals.

The CD is available on Qobuz if you want to give it a listen.


More to come, I need to do more listening, and probably buy another pair of headphones.

Great to hear your impressions of Folkvangr @AudioGal .

Returning mine would be a really drastic step for me, as I would be down about £250 just on shipping and restocking and would then have to try to reclaim over £300 in tax.

So….. I really hope I like it!

By pure chance, the only headphones I own are a brand new, unused pair of Sennheiser HD800S.

I bought them several months ago before entering the tube rabbit hole.

From what you, and others have said, the HD800S could have good synergy with the FV.

I have bought some spare tubes in UK- 8x 6N6P for output and also 2x ‘Reflektor’ 6N23P EV for the input stage.

My thanks to @Paladin79 for his help with tubes.

I will look out that Sheffield Labs album on Qobuz.

I don’t think there is any substitute for a group of musicians playing ‘live’ in the studio.

Many of my favourite albums were recorded in this way.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

I still have my well played copy of Pressure Cooker's "I've Got The Music In Me," purchased new around 1978. It's an incredible and dynamic album and Thelma Houston's voice is simply sans pareil.

 

[filthy mechanical]

Thanks all giving the reassurance this is normal and won't drastically reduce life below the limited tube life.

 

[Timster]

I don’t think there is any substitute for a group of musicians playing ‘live’ in the studio.

Here's a good example of live the studio (at least it is good to me )

 

[bcowen]

But, in Texas...? Might as well move to NC...!

Just remember that the Blue Ridge Mountains run through North Carolina too, so you're connected. Tragic, I know.

 

[macdonjh]

But, in Texas...? Might as well move to NC...!

Tell me that again on July 22 and 23...

“Come with me if you want to live” in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice.

...but Reese said that.

More to come, I need to do more listening, and probably buy another pair of headphones.

Please, Brer Fox, don't throw me in that briar patch...

 

[JLoud]

Tell me that again on July 22 and 23...


...but Reese said that.


Please, Brer Fox, don't throw me in that briar patch...

You are correct, Reese said the line in Terminator 1, Arnold in Terminator 2. Both lines were said to Sarah Connor. I didn't think my best "Reese voice" sounded as cool.

 

[bcowen]

Lovely picture @quasor
I think my wife's reaction could be a little different when my Folkvangr arrives on Thursday

I predict the same when mine arrives (supposedly) on Wednesday. But then some divine inspiration hit me in the head this morning: Wednesday is also Amazon Day (in the US anyway), so I'll place 10 different orders and she'll be so focused on grumbling about having to move all those boxes inside that she won't notice one is labeled Schiit. This has a 78.4% chance of actually working according to my calculations. Not that I can't buy what I want when I want or have to make excuses or come up with an explanation or anything, of course.

 

[Paladin79]

I predict the same when mine arrives (supposedly) on Wednesday. But then some divine inspiration hit me in the head this morning: Wednesday is also Amazon Day (in the US anyway), so I'll place 10 different orders and she'll be so focused on grumbling about having to move all those boxes inside that she won't notice one is labeled Schiit. This has a 78.4% chance of actually working according to my calculations. Not that I can't buy what I want when I want or have to make excuses or come up with an explanation or anything, of course.

My wife once left a box on our front porch till I returned from a trip. I asked her why and her response was “it looked heavy”.

 

[earnmyturns]

I will not be buying one, I have only one more tube type to yet experience in a headphone amp and that's the 300B

What do you have against the 2A3?

 

[FLTWS]

LOL! Nothing really!

 

[quasor]

I predict the same when mine arrives (supposedly) on Wednesday. But then some divine inspiration hit me in the head this morning: Wednesday is also Amazon Day (in the US anyway), so I'll place 10 different orders and she'll be so focused on grumbling about having to move all those boxes inside that she won't notice one is labeled Schiit. This has a 78.4% chance of actually working according to my calculations. Not that I can't buy what I want when I want or have to make excuses or come up with an explanation or anything, of course.

I recommend very bulky / cheap products. E.g. tinfoil tray liners. Huge box of air.

 

[headfoo]

Sennheiser HD800s will be very happy with this amp

Very indeed. I did a pass without the Lokius, then turned it on. Blown away, really. But strangely, not for all music. Definitely for classical, jazz--whatever the 800S are generally good for. The music genres it's not as good for, I feel that the FV accentuates how the Senns are not suited for those genres. Then, I swap over to the Clears (OG) and I'm super happy again. Non-EQd there. It's like the FV just accentuates the qualities, both good and bad, of the headphones they're driving.

To be fair, I haven't played much with the multiplier.

 

[tincanear]

On FV, the gain switch as well the impedance multiplier may impact the sound