[AuditoryCanvas]

Ok So I have a question for you guys. I got my Lyr 3 in today and have been letting it and a tube burn in for a bit while I was at class. When I got home and gave it a listen, I was shocked at how schiity it sounded. It sounded like something was causing interference to the signal, making it come across as garbled and almost staticy. I thought it might be the tube, so I switched to a different 6sn7 and the problem persisted. I thought "Well this is just great!" new amp and it's already busted. I decided to investigate further and see if it might be my gumby causing the issue, so I flipped on the massdrop lcx and nope no problem there. So I switched my jack back to the Lyr 3 while the LCX was still on and low and behold the garbled sound was gone. So this made my try turning the LCX off while the Lyr 3 was still playing music, as soon as I shut it off, bam! garbled sound again. Anyone know what would be causing this? It's not like I'm using either as a premamp, they are plugged into separate rca's on the back of the gumby. I went a head and disconnected the LCX rca's and everything seems to be ok now. I'm just confused on why it would be doing that in the first place.

Cross-talk/cable interference from what I can fathom from your description, or running both outputs on the Gumby at the same time could also be causing issues. Are they cheap rca cables?

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Has anyone else here come across any Westinghouse ECC88 made by Philips, Harleen?

Yes, I've seen relabelled A-frame Philips tubes for Westinghouse. The etched code should give it away with the Side slanted Delta for Philips Heerlen.

I've also seen Westinghouse labled RCA, and National tubes.

 

[bb rodriquez]

Cross-talk/cable interference from what I can fathom from your description, or running both outputs on the Gumby at the same time could also be causing issues. Are they cheap rca cables?

Man that is weird. When I tried the original lyr with the massdrop cth I didn’t have any issues. Maybe I’ll try the lyr 1 and lyr 3 hooked up to see if that causes issues.

They’re actually some cables I made using Mogami cable and neutrik rca connectors.

 

[mattrudy80]

Yes, I've seen relabelled A-frame Philips tubes for Westinghouse. The etched code should give it away with the Side slanted Delta for Philips Heerlen.

I've also seen Westinghouse labled RCA, and National tubes.

Thanks! Yes the delta is what gave it away.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Man that is weird. When I tried the original lyr with the massdrop cth I didn’t have any issues. Maybe I’ll try the lyr 1 and lyr 3 hooked up to see if that causes issues.

They’re actually some cables I made using Mogami cable and neutrik rca connectors.

Might be worth trying different cables to narrow down the issue. Maybe also check your wiring on the cables in case something got loose or there's a cold solder joint. Could just be that you disturbed it with the on/off switching. May as well reheat the solder points just in case.

 

[bb rodriquez]

Might be worth trying different cables to narrow down the issue. Maybe also check your wiring on the cables in case something got loose or there's a cold solder joint. Could just be that you disturbed it with the on/off switching. May as well reheat the solder points just in case.

That’s probably not a bad idea. I’ll give them a look over and see if there anything loose.

 

[koover]

Gentleman,
I'm REALLY thinking about upgrading from Mimby/LYR2 to Gumby/Mjolnir 2
I have a friend who's going to let me borrow his Gumby for a bit to try it before taking the plunge and I'm "strongly" considering buying @Phantaminum's Mjolnir 2.

I know Phantaminun is all our buds so PLEASE try to not be bias
Have any of you guys owned the LYR2 with MImby and upgraded to this combo? There's also a guy who already PM'd me about his Gumby gen3 waiting in the wings but I need to act quick even though I'm just getting the loaner today. If you guys have had the Mimby/LYR2 combo, truly, am I really going to hear that much of a difference for the better? I don't want to lay down $1500+ for something with diminishing returns on sound. I have no chance of hearing this combo first so your feedback will definitely sway me in the direction I'm going to go. I TRULY value all of your opinions.

This be a big step for me and I know P will sell his Mjolnir if I didn't buy it (I think it will go quickly too) but I'd rather buy it from him versus anyone else if I do decide to do this.

 

[TK16]

Gumby was a huge step up from a Bifrost Uber I think and a Lite Dac 68 tube dac, the MJ2 is a substantial upgrade from my Lyr2 SQ wise. Tubes play a substantially higher role in the sound. The Lyr2 sounds congested vs the MJ2. Both are worth the cash to upgrade. Bought quite a few high quality cables balanced for my cans for big money. SE output is limited to 2 watts. Way lower than the Lyr2.

If you can only do 1 upgrade, get the Gumby first, then the amp upgrade.

 

[Phantaminum]

Gumby was a huge step up from a Bifrost Uber I think and a Lite Dac 68 tube dac, the MJ2 is a substantial upgrade from my Lyr2 SQ wise. Tubes play a substantially higher role in the sound. The Lyr2 sounds congested vs the MJ2. Both are worth the cash to upgrade. Bought quite a few high quality cables balanced for my cans for big money. SE output is limited to 2 watts. Way lower than the Lyr2.

If you can only do 1 upgrade, get the Gumby first, then the amp upgrade.

I gave Koover the wrong info and verified it on he Schiit site. Thought the single end and balanced end output was the same but I guess I was thinking of the Jot. I stand corrected.

 

[koover]

That’s a killer then. I cannot afford to go balanced on everything I own because nothings balanced. That’s a deal breaker. Damn!!!

 

[Phantaminum]

That’s a killer then. I cannot afford to go balanced on everything I own because nothings balanced. That’s a deal breaker. Damn!!!

It’s all good bro! I’d rather you be happy with the amp than regret the purchase. Now I need you to buy the Lyr 3 and tell me how it is.

 

[kolkoo]

That’s a killer then. I cannot afford to go balanced on everything I own because nothings balanced. That’s a deal breaker. Damn!!!

Most SE cables can be reterminated to go balanced with some soldering. I did that for my Sennheiser HD800's stock cable and it went perfectly. Of course that may vary per headphone cable.

 

[ThurstonX]

Ok So I have a question for you guys. I got my Lyr 3 in today and have been letting it and a tube burn in for a bit while I was at class. When I got home and gave it a listen, I was shocked at how schiity it sounded. It sounded like something was causing interference to the signal, making it come across as garbled and almost staticy. I thought it might be the tube, so I switched to a different 6sn7 and the problem persisted. I thought "Well this is just great!" new amp and it's already busted. I decided to investigate further and see if it might be my gumby causing the issue, so I flipped on the massdrop lcx and nope no problem there. So I switched my jack back to the Lyr 3 while the LCX was still on and low and behold the garbled sound was gone. So this made my try turning the LCX off while the Lyr 3 was still playing music, as soon as I shut it off, bam! garbled sound again. Anyone know what would be causing this? It's not like I'm using either as a premamp, they are plugged into separate rca's on the back of the gumby. I went a head and disconnected the LCX rca's and everything seems to be ok now. I'm just confused on why it would be doing that in the first place.

I don't have a clear picture of your rig, but this reminded me off a strange problem I was having. I'll try to keep it pithy.

My Bifrost is one of two audio devices in my PC. It is not the default device, but it is the selected output in foobar2000.
My default device feeds an integrated amp that runs speakers. Since I'm often watching TV (sports) while listening to music, I didn't want the Bifrost as the default audio device, and Windows Media Center will use whatever the default device is.
I never muted the default audio device, and probably had the volume at 100%, as sometimes I want to listen to the TV audio, or some Internet stream, etc.
With cans plugged into the Lyr, during quiet passages in music, or no music at all, while the TV (digital tuner in PC) was playing, I heard what I later determined to be "cross talk" or "interference" from the default device manifesting on the USB out channel.
Knocking the default device down to 0% and muting it solved my problem. Silly Windows 7.

Again, not sure if that's germane to your scenario, but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[bb rodriquez]

I don't have a clear picture of your rig, but this reminded me off a strange problem I was having. I'll try to keep it pithy.

My Bifrost is one of two audio devices in my PC. It is not the default device, but it is the selected output in foobar2000.
My default device feeds an integrated amp that runs speakers. Since I'm often watching TV (sports) while listening to music, I didn't want the Bifrost as the default audio device, and Windows Media Center will use whatever the default device is.
I never muted the default audio device, and probably had the volume at 100%, as sometimes I want to listen to the TV audio, or some Internet stream, etc.
With cans plugged into the Lyr, during quiet passages in music, or no music at all, while the TV (digital tuner in PC) was playing, I heard what I later determined to be "cross talk" or "interference" from the default device manifesting on the USB out channel.
Knocking the default device down to 0% and muting it solved my problem. Silly Windows 7.

Again, not sure if that's germane to your scenario, but thought I'd throw it out there.

I will look into this and see if I can nail down something else that could be causing interference. Thanks for the suggestions!

I just think it's strange that it happens while the LCX is off, but clears up when it is on. Maybe I should post this over in the Schiit thread or just email Schiit directly to see what they say.

 

[koover]

Most SE cables can be reterminated to go balanced with some soldering. I did that for my Sennheiser HD800's stock cable and it went perfectly. Of course that may vary per headphone cable.

I thought about that but I don’t have the skills (even if it’s pretty easy) nor a soldering gun and the like. Still can’t afford it as it was gonna be tight anyway.