[Coran]

What price range? I'll assume Aeolus-level money as the ceiling unless you say otherwise.

The Audeze LCD-2 prefazor, often referred to as LCD-2.1PF or LCD-2.2PF, has some pretty great planar bass. The HiFiMan Edition X V2 is another warm, bassy planar. Unfortunately you have to find each of those used. There are a couple of TOTL-ish planars out there with excellent bass, but need to know that price range.

Aeolus range is about what I'm thinking as my max right now. Audeze have always looking like an intriguing option, but navigating the land of LCD2 variants can make one's head hurt.

 

[WaveTheory]

Aeolus range is about what I'm thinking as my max right now. Audeze have always looking like an intriguing option, but navigating the land of LCD2 variants can make one's head hurt.

How did the DAC module limit the A3

Audeze have always looking like an intriguing option, but navigating the land of LCD2 variants can make one's head hurt

Yeah, it's confusing. We discussed that over at HiFiGuides starting here:

https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/audeze-lcd-2-pre-fazors/17646/166

Maybe that will help.

 

[JrummerJ]

So I'm looking to get a great planar to pair with my BF2/Jot2 stack. What have some folks used here and really like with this amp? Currently, I'm using an Aeolus which I absolutely love. However I have been planar curious for a while. I want to get a great pair that shows what planar headphones can do (the fabled planar bass, perhaps). I have had some planar headphones before like the Ether CX, but I could not stand them. Never before did a headphone sound so lifeless.

I have been reading some amazing things about the Sundara, so that could be a possibility. I'm open to any planar suggestion that folks really enjoy with the Jot2 that would compliment my setup.

I love my LCD-X with this combo. I am running Audirvana on a mac, and am using the parametric EQ. I started with the Oratory settings, and then made several presets that work for different styles of music. Mostly varying the mid/highs depending on how much detail I want.

 

[adydula]

I have said this many times, the Schiit Bifrost 2 and the Schiit Jotenheim 2 are a fantastic setup for most any headphone....

Absolutely superb!

Alex

 

[Smoothstereo]

I think this stack will be quite easy to reference as many people have the same stack.

I have been experimenting for some time. This stack is amazing and very very good with planars, but please get something that can show its full capacity, especially the dynamics and timbre. I watched those youtube reviewers, and I don't feel they explained fully the strengths of both Jot 2 and Bifrost 2. Especially the Jot 2. They mostly cover the obvious sound traits, but not the more delicate ones, which the other amps they compared with fall flat on their face compared to Jot 2.

Sundara, Ananda, Arya wont be able to show its micro dynamics well. They all sound good, and tonally a match. But you won't see what the stack is capable of. When you compare with better pairings, then you will see how very flat they are. Timbre also suffers. If you only care about details and clarity, then the Sundara is fine. I don't have any Audeze with me at the moment. I wish I do. I can imagine the new LCD-X would be a good pairing. At the very least, the Audeze should have better macro dynamics.

The best I tried so far are the old hifimans and Verum One. I really don't want to promote Verum much, but it is a dream match. Very lively and full. No contest. Give it a try if you already have (or can borrow) one. If you have HE-500, HE-400, HE-6, give them a try too. HE-400 and HE-500 need the fuzzor mod to improve their clarity. Goodness, they are really good. I don't have the HE-6 with me right now, but I think it could be an amazing match. These headphones sing with this stack, showing the full spectrum of the music.

Another headphone that you should consider are the Focals. Boy, they sound really great with this stack as well. Everything is there. Very lovely sound.

I currently have a Sundara with my Schiit triple stack Jot2/BF2/Vali2 and was planning to upgrade to the Arya. Sounds like you have or had it at one point with your Jot2/BF2, can you elaborate more why its not a good pairing?

 

[omniweltall]

Borrowed the Arya from a friend. I love this stack so much, that I wanna try different headphones. This stack is very strong with dynamics, making it the liveliest system I had so far.

The Arya sounds good. Tonality is a good match imo. You will get detail, separation, bass extension, and enough bass slam. You will enjoy it. Only if you compare with, for example, the Verum, side by side, you will notice that (1) the Arya is weak with dynamic swing. It feels flat. The result is that you will lose that rhythm and prat. The Verum, on the other hand is surprisingly good with this. Didn't notice it with my previous system. It's full, sweet and lively (2) Arya retains hifiman's modern timbre that I find unnatural and dry. (3) Arya's bass reach low and rumbles. But not full enough. I get more satisfying bass from HE-500, for example, despite being less technical.

 

[Smoothstereo]

Borrowed the Arya from a friend. I love this stack so much, that I wanna try different headphones. This stack is very strong with dynamics, making it the liveliest system I had so far.

The Arya sounds good. Tonality is a good match imo. You will get detail, separation, bass extension, and enough bass slam. You will enjoy it. Only if you compare with, for example, the Verum, side by side, you will notice that (1) the Arya is weak with dynamic swing. It feels flat. The result is that you will lose that rhythm and prat. The Verum, on the other hand is surprisingly good with this. Didn't notice it with my previous system. It's full, sweet and lively (2) Arya retains hifiman's modern timbre that I find unnatural and dry. (3) Arya's bass reach low and rumbles. But not full enough. I get more satisfying bass from HE-500, for example, despite being less technical.

Great thanks for the info. Would you by chance tested a Denon D9200 on the Jot2/BF2 before? This is another headphone that interests me.

 

[omniweltall]

Great thanks for the info. Would you by chance tested a Denon D9200 on the Jot2/BF2 before? This is another headphone that interests me.

I had the D7200. Unfortunately sold it right before my stack arrived. Never tried the D9200. Sorry, can't help you there. I wish I can try it with this stack.

 

[Sundavor]

It is time for me to upgrade my DAC and Amp. I have read quite a lot of good things about the Jot 2. For an LCD-X and potentially/eventually a Verite Closed, would the Jot 2 be a good match. Is there anything else around the price point that would be a better fit?

As for DAC, I was originally considering the Modius (aesthetically good match), but I had read elsewhere that it's a good/great, not excellent DAC? Again, any good recommendations around the $200-$350 mark to pair? Anything with a microphone input would be a huge plus!

 

[WaveTheory]

It is time for me to upgrade my DAC and Amp. I have read quite a lot of good things about the Jot 2. For an LCD-X and potentially/eventually a Verite Closed, would the Jot 2 be a good match. Is there anything else around the price point that would be a better fit?

Not a straightforward question, IMO. The Jot 2 will be fine for the LCD-X likely, and will probably handle the VC better than any other $400 amp, but not better than a good higher tier amp. If you were 100% positive the VC would be your next headphone, I'd say the Jot 2 is a fine choice if you must stay at $400 or less. If you're willing to go $100 more the Monolith Liquid Platinum is currently on sale for $499. IMO it's an overall higher performing amp than the Jot 2 from its balanced output. You can also tweak the sound a bit with tube rolling. Tubes and balanced cables will increase the cost, tho. For just the LCD-X, the Rupert Neve RNHP is a well known excellent pairing and also costs $500. The RNHP is a more headphone-picky than either Jot 2 or MLP however. So I can't say what it will do for VC.

Regardless of what you do now, I would not plan on using the Jot 2 as your VC amp long term. The VC deserves a higher quality amp. But, either Jot 2 or MLP will drive it plenty well until you're ready to make such an upgrade.

As for DAC, I was originally considering the Modius (aesthetically good match), but I had read elsewhere that it's a good/great, not excellent DAC? Again, any good recommendations around the $200-$350 mark to pair? Anything with a microphone input would be a huge plus!

IMO it doesn't make sense to spend more than ~$250 on a DAC until you're ready to jump up to around $700. The Modius and Geshelli JNOG/J2 are the standard bearers at the lower end and then you don't get much of a price-performance jump until you get into Bifrost 2/Ares II/Soekris dac1321 territory.

AFAIK there aren't audiophile oriented DACs with mic inputs in this price range. On the budget end Schiit has the Hel and Fulla. There are the Focusrite Scarletts and Motu something-something (I don't remember the name). But the Modius or JNOG/J2 will stomp all those in DAC performance.

 

[Sundavor]

Not a straightforward question, IMO. The Jot 2 will be fine for the LCD-X likely, and will probably handle the VC better than any other $400 amp, but not better than a good higher tier amp. If you were 100% positive the VC would be your next headphone, I'd say the Jot 2 is a fine choice if you must stay at $400 or less. If you're willing to go $100 more the Monolith Liquid Platinum is currently on sale for $499. IMO it's an overall higher performing amp than the Jot 2 from its balanced output. You can also tweak the sound a bit with tube rolling. Tubes and balanced cables will increase the cost, tho. For just the LCD-X, the Rupert Neve RNHP is a well known excellent pairing and also costs $500. The RNHP is a more headphone-picky than either Jot 2 or MLP however. So I can't say what it will do for VC.

Regardless of what you do now, I would not plan on using the Jot 2 as your VC amp long term. The VC deserves a higher quality amp. But, either Jot 2 or MLP will drive it plenty well until you're ready to make such an upgrade.




IMO it doesn't make sense to spend more than ~$250 on a DAC until you're ready to jump up to around $700. The Modius and Geshelli JNOG/J2 are the standard bearers at the lower end and then you don't get much of a price-performance jump until you get into Bifrost 2/Ares II/Soekris dac1321 territory.

AFAIK there aren't audiophile oriented DACs with mic inputs in this price range. On the budget end Schiit has the Hel and Fulla. There are the Focusrite Scarletts and Motu something-something (I don't remember the name). But the Modius or JNOG/J2 will stomp all those in DAC performance.

Cheers, I'm building a house and I have a bit of budget constraint in the short term, but decided to splurge on the VCs as they were always something beautiful to look at and listen to. After the house has been built and everything has settled I would probably look into upgrading to a better system down the track.
I have looked at the Monoliths in the past, and at that price it looks pretty good, I'll just have to weigh it up spending more on it.
I've never heard about the RNHPs before, so I have to take my time and lookup more in-depth reviews to compare with the VCs.
Fair enough comment around the DACs though.

 

[Sundavor]

Not a straightforward question, IMO. The Jot 2 will be fine for the LCD-X likely, and will probably handle the VC better than any other $400 amp, but not better than a good higher tier amp. If you were 100% positive the VC would be your next headphone, I'd say the Jot 2 is a fine choice if you must stay at $400 or less. If you're willing to go $100 more the Monolith Liquid Platinum is currently on sale for $499. IMO it's an overall higher performing amp than the Jot 2 from its balanced output. You can also tweak the sound a bit with tube rolling. Tubes and balanced cables will increase the cost, tho. For just the LCD-X, the Rupert Neve RNHP is a well known excellent pairing and also costs $500. The RNHP is a more headphone-picky than either Jot 2 or MLP however. So I can't say what it will do for VC.

Regardless of what you do now, I would not plan on using the Jot 2 as your VC amp long term. The VC deserves a higher quality amp. But, either Jot 2 or MLP will drive it plenty well until you're ready to make such an upgrade.




IMO it doesn't make sense to spend more than ~$250 on a DAC until you're ready to jump up to around $700. The Modius and Geshelli JNOG/J2 are the standard bearers at the lower end and then you don't get much of a price-performance jump until you get into Bifrost 2/Ares II/Soekris dac1321 territory.

AFAIK there aren't audiophile oriented DACs with mic inputs in this price range. On the budget end Schiit has the Hel and Fulla. There are the Focusrite Scarletts and Motu something-something (I don't remember the name). But the Modius or JNOG/J2 will stomp all those in DAC performance.

Forgot to ask, for future investments, what would be a good upgrade amp? Probably up to $1.5k (depending how long I save). I heard good things about the Feliks audio amps too. Are they a good upgrade to the Monolith Liquid Platinum?

 

[In1unison]

Forgot to ask, for future investments, what would be a good upgrade amp? Probably up to $1.5k (depending how long I save). I heard good things about the Feliks audio amps too. Are they a good upgrade to the Monolith Liquid Platinum?

Pathos Aurium/ Burson Soloist 3X/ Gustard H20/ Questyle CMA 12 (incl. DAC)/ Phonitor XE (used)

You cannot go wrong with any of these. The first three will allow you to "tweak" the sound to your preference.

 

[WaveTheory]

Forgot to ask, for future investments, what would be a good upgrade amp? Probably up to $1.5k (depending how long I save). I heard good things about the Feliks audio amps too. Are they a good upgrade to the Monolith Liquid Platinum?

The VC takes well to tubes. I'd add a Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL MZ2 to @In1unison's list. Also, check out the used market at the time you're ready to buy. For tube amps there's a bit of a hole between $1K and $2K much like there's a dac hole between $250 and $700. But, you can usually get some pretty fantastic amp deals in the $1.5K range on the used market.

For solid state, the Violectric HPA-V281 is a monster that is usually in the $1300-1800 range used. I don't know how well it pairs with VC, but it has sounded good with everything I've thrown at it so far.

 

[In1unison]

The VC takes well to tubes. I'd add a Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL MZ2 to @In1unison's list. Also, check out the used market at the time you're ready to buy. For tube amps there's a bit of a hole between $1K and $2K much like there's a dac hole between $250 and $700. But, you can usually get some pretty fantastic amp deals in the $1.5K range on the used market.

For solid state, the Violectric HPA-V281 is a monster that is usually in the $1300-1800 range used. I don't know how well it pairs with VC, but it has sounded good with everything I've thrown at it so far.

ZMF cans work wonders with Tube or Hybrid amps, so ZOTL is a good choice, but with the LPS+ comes to $2,000 price mark. It is a fantastic amp though and worth the penny.