[tafens]

So, the question I'm struggling with is, if this pair of mid-fi cans (plus the HD-650's in the other stack, and Ghosts in my basement office) are giving me such joy end enjoyment, do I need to look at higher-end cans? I have been seriously looking at Focal Clear MG's, Hifiman Arya Organic, and the Sennheiser HD 800S, all the same price at about $2k Canadian (ouch!). my wallet is burning a hole in my pocket. I haven't heard any of these yet but I'm wondering with my tinnitis and lower acuity in my left ear, will the difference between what I have and the higher-end cans be that much greater and obvious? Will I get that much more out of the music, hear more, etc, or am I chasing that additional 5-10% more for 4x the cost of curent cans? How diminishing are the returns here? Something I'll be pondering for a little while as I obsesssivley read up on those headphones and likley others.

I don’t know if this will be helpful or not (probably not to your wallet anyway), but I have a low level tinnitus in my left ear with some hearing loss and still clearly hear differences between my HD6XX and HD8XX (night and day). I still prefer the HD6XX though. So I think you probably would hear differences in cans, but as always, YMMV

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

I had a pair of "wow" moments with my Schiit last evening, which is leading me to a question (that likely only I can answer).

The audio chain was the Mac Mini->Gumby->Freya N with Telefunken ECC88's->Lokius->Magni Piety->Hifiman Sundara headphones. I was listening to Neil young's "American Stars 'n Bars" album when "Will to Love" came on. While listening to it, I was hearing the occasional loud noise. I thought it was my youngest Border collie having a case of the zoomies and tossing his hard Nylabone around the family room's hardwood flooring on the other side of the wall. It was distracting so I took off the phones and...silence. Phones back on - the loud noise. Off - silence. Turns out Neil recorded the song in his cabin in front of a lit fireplace. I was hearing the pop and crackle of the fire that sounded so 3D I thought it was in the next room.

The first crackle is at 2 second, bearing 10 o'clock. Speakers can play it out too.

 

[Ripper2860]

@AstronomerXI -- If you love Sundara you'll go Goo-Goo over Arya. I went Sundara, Ananda, OG Arya upgrade path and the Arya is my end-game HP...

...until I can afford a ZMF.

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

Regarding Frank Zappa, "ZAPPA '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana" is one of my favourite.

 

[AstronomerXI]

Regarding Frank Zappa, "ZAPPA '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana is one of my favourite.

I'll seek that one out. Thanks!

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

I'll seek that one out. Thanks!

You are welcome, my friend, enjoy it, it is really nice, many of the Former Yugoslavia people remembers this show.

 

[c34webb]

I always prefer Vali2++ to Piety if I use headphones. Piety fits better for IEMs. Try to find 7062 PW tube for it, it’s just the best.

Right now I feeding my Vali2++ with Wandla, which is 4.65V in SE It drives Tungsten really really good. Better than CMA15 or A90 with standard voltage.

Is this the best combo you’ve found thus far for the Tungsten? Seems like the MJ3 or v222 would be decent too.

 

[AstronomerXI]

I don’t know if this will be helpful or not (probably not to your wallet anyway), but I have a low level tinnitus in my left ear with some hearing loss and still clearly hear differences between my HD6XX and HD8XX (night and day). I still prefer the HD6XX though. So I think you probably would hear differences in cans, but as always, YMMV

The trick will be hearing differences that up my enjoyment. I'll have to see what cans the local audio shops carry, or take a Saturday road trip to Toronto to Bay Bloor Audio.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Hey all,

Just a brief moment to note the passing of the Yggdrasil OG. It has gone into the ether, after one of the longest DAC runs in history.

If you missed it, and still want one, I suspect a couple will end up on B-Stock. If you want something with the same D/A converters, the Yggdrasil GS2 will continue to be available until we are out of Analog 1 boards. I won't estimate a time for that; see Jason's Law.

Beyond that, Yggdrasil LIM and MIB live on!

All the best,
Jason

 

[AstronomerXI]

@AstronomerXI -- If you love Sundara you'll go Goo-Goo over Arya. I have the OG Arya and went Sundara, Ananda, Arya upgrade path and the Arya is my end-game HP...

...until I can afford a ZMF.

I do love the Sundara sound, and the Arya organic has been my front-runner. Arya Stealth Magnet also looks interesting, and at almost half the cost of the Organic. There's the FOMO factor in play: will I be missing out if I don't go up to the Organic?

 

[AstronomerXI]

You are welcome, my friend, enjoy it, it is really nice, many of the Former Yugoslavia people remembers this show.

I saw him play in Halifax, Canada in '84 or '85. He had a bad cold and the show only lasted the minimal contracted 90 minutes, but it was still an excellent show. The level of musicianship in his band was amazing.

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

I saw him play in Halifax, Canada in '84 or '85. He had a bad cold and the show only lasted the minimal contracted 90 minutes, but it was still an excellent show. The level of musicianship in his band was amazing.

I have a habit, when I visit the 3rd world, I always ask the local people there about western music, and listen carefully what they tell and describe. Yugoslavia people talks about Frank Zappa, Moscow people talks about Billy Joel, those people mostly aged.

 

[Tbone289]

Both instances were very 3D, a sure combo of the Gumby and Freya N + Tubes + recording. I was and am thrilled that I'm getting so much out of the Schiit stack. The Gumby has been an absolute game changer for my listening.

+1

I've owned a lot of Schiit over the years, and Gumby A2 + Freya-N have brought my rig as close to end-game as it's ever been. They're truly remarkable pieces of Schiit.

The same goes for Syn in my home theater. I feel it's the most inventive product they've yet produced, and a game changer.

 

[Cliffh93]

Hey all,

Just a brief moment to note the passing of the Yggdrasil OG. It has gone into the ether, after one of the longest DAC runs in history.

If you missed it, and still want one, I suspect a couple will end up on B-Stock. If you want something with the same D/A converters, the Yggdrasil GS2 will continue to be available until we are out of Analog 1 boards. I won't estimate a time for that; see Jason's Law.

Beyond that, Yggdrasil LIM and MIB live on!

All the best,
Jason

I'm happy that I was able to snag one of the last ones in the original chassis about a year ago.

If there's ever a DAC Hall of Fame, Yggy OG will get in there on the first vote.

 

[Ohno Schiitizen]

+1

I've owned a lot of Schiit over the years, and Gumby A2 + Freya-N have brought my rig as close to end-game as it's ever been. They're truly remarkable pieces of Schiit.

The same goes for Syn in my home theater. I feel it's the most inventive product they've yet produced, and a game changer.

They name it as Schiit-Tastic