[grokit]

So what about the upcoming statement DAC. Will it have HDMI and/or AES/EBU inputs, does anyone know?

 

[Mediahound]

Asgard or Lyr for all headphones-- low or high impedance.
Valhalla for high impedance headphones.
I love how my Asgard drives any headphone I throw at it, including my 600 ohm set.

Between these , which is best for what type of headphones and which is the most versatile?

I understand the Lyr cranks out a whopping 6 watts so I assume it would be best for planar magnetic headphones like the LCD2s or Hifimans but can it also work for low ohm cans like Denon d7000s?

How does the Asgard do?

 

[Mediahound]

Also, do these have a switch when you plug in headphones, does it turn off the RCA line out?

 

[Defiant00]

Quote:

Between these , which is best for what type of headphones and which is the most versatile?
I understand the Lyr cranks out a whopping 6 watts so I assume it would be best for planar magnetic headphones like the LCD2s or Hifimans but can it also work for low ohm cans like Denon d7000s?
How does the Asgard do?

 
Quote:

Also, do these have a switch when you plug in headphones, does it turn off the RCA line out?

 
I own the Asgard and have listened to the Lyr with various tubes for a few hours and here's what I found (ymmv as usual):
 
Grados, Shure 840s and Denons - I would pick the Asgard. Since these are all sensitive I typically don't go past around 9 o'clock.
AKG K701 - This is the hardest to drive set of cans I've tried on both and on the Asgard I had to turn it up to 10-11 o'clock. Both amps go loud enough, but only the Lyr with the right tubes made these listenable to me (has more to do with their treble than any lack of power though).
HD600s and LCD-2 - The LCD-2s sensitivity keeps surprising me, as it's about as easy to drive as the HD600s and easier than the K701. The LCD-2s were the primary cans I used when trying out the Lyr, and honestly the best that I heard it (trying out different tubes) just sounded the same to me as my Asgard. I do tend to favor clean SS amplification, so if you prefer tube distortion (or like the idea of tube rolling) then the Lyr might be better for you, but the Asgard drives both of these remarkably well. With both I do my normal listening at around 9 and 10 is quite loud.
 
So at least for my cans and desired listening level the Asgard is excellent. The Lyr is also very good (and I had no problems using it with more sensitive cans), but to my ears I actually found the Asgard as good or better than the Lyr depending on the tubes.
 
Oh, and for a fun anecdote, we tried running the K1000s off of the Lyr; had to turn it literally all the way up to get any real volume. Unfortunately I forgot to try it with the Asgard at the time, but I think we all know how that would have gone.
 
 
To the best of my knowledge the RCA line outs are always active on the Lyr.

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

 
 
I own the Asgard and have listened to the Lyr with various tubes for a few hours and here's what I found (ymmv as usual):
 
Grados, Shure 840s and Denons - I would pick the Asgard. Since these are all sensitive I typically don't go past around 9 o'clock.
AKG K701 - This is the hardest to drive set of cans I've tried on both and on the Asgard I had to turn it up to 10-11 o'clock. Both amps go loud enough, but only the Lyr with the right tubes made these listenable to me (has more to do with their treble than any lack of power though).
HD600s and LCD-2 - The LCD-2s sensitivity keeps surprising me, as it's about as easy to drive as the HD600s and easier than the K701. The LCD-2s were the primary cans I used when trying out the Lyr, and honestly the best that I heard it (trying out different tubes) just sounded the same to me as my Asgard. I do tend to favor clean SS amplification, so if you prefer tube distortion (or like the idea of tube rolling) then the Lyr might be better for you, but the Asgard drives both of these remarkably well. With both I do my normal listening at around 9 and 10 is quite loud.
 
So at least for my cans and desired listening level the Asgard is excellent. The Lyr is also very good (and I had no problems using it with more sensitive cans), but to my ears I actually found the Asgard as good or better than the Lyr depending on the tubes.
 
Oh, and for a fun anecdote, we tried running the K1000s off of the Lyr; had to turn it literally all the way up to get any real volume. Unfortunately I forgot to try it with the Asgard at the time, but I think we all know how that would have gone.
 
 
To the best of my knowledge the RCA line outs are always active on the Lyr.

Thanks, sorta sounds like the Asgard may be the way to go if I don't want to get into fooling around with swapping out tubes. 

 

[cthalupa]

Quote:

Thanks, sorta sounds like the Asgard may be the way to go if I don't want to get into fooling around with swapping out tubes. 

That's part of the fun!
 
Just ordered some Mullards for mine

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

That's part of the fun!
 
Just ordered some Mullards for mine

I understand the appeal, don't get me wrong. But some just want the best sound possible without having to wonder what a different tube might sound like all the time. 
 
On the other hand the Lyr outputs more power so I still can't decide!

 

[Mediahound]

If I go with the Lyr, which tubes should I get? This would be for the Audeze LCD2 and I also have Denon D7000 headphones. Additionally, I have Audioengine a5+ powered speakers.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

Between these , which is best for what type of headphones and which is the most versatile?
I understand the Lyr cranks out a whopping 6 watts so I assume it would be best for planar magnetic headphones like the LCD2s or Hifimans but can it also work for low ohm cans like Denon d7000s?
How does the Asgard do?

 
Quote:

Thanks, sorta sounds like the Asgard may be the way to go if I don't want to get into fooling around with swapping out tubes. 

Agreed.  Denons and Lyr simply don't agree.  A few folks around her are lucky and find it works well, but the noise floor is simply too high for the super sensitive headphones.   It's lovely for everything else though!

 

[Defiant00]

Quote:

I understand the appeal, don't get me wrong. But some just want the best sound possible without having to wonder what a different tube might sound like all the time. 
 
On the other hand the Lyr outputs more power so I still can't decide!

 
For anything short of HE-6 or K1000 I've found the Asgard puts out more than enough power.

 

[Mediahound]

For anything short of HE-6 or K1000 I've found the Asgard puts out more than enough power.

Can the Asgard drive the HD600 well? How about the HD800?

Part of my issue is that I'm swapping headphones often and I want an amp that can drive virtually all of them well, if possible. That said, I don't see myself getting into hifiman cans.

 

[olddtfan]

Quote:

Can the Asgard drive the HD600 well? How about the HD800?
Part of my issue is that I'm swapping headphones often and I want an amp that can drive virtually all of them well, if possible. That said, I don't see myself getting into hifiman cans.

It works really well with both.

 

[Defiant00]

Quote:

Can the Asgard drive the HD600 well? How about the HD800?
Part of my issue is that I'm swapping headphones often and I want an amp that can drive virtually all of them well, if possible. That said, I don't see myself getting into hifiman cans.

 
HD600s were my cans before LCD-2 and it was an excellent pairing. I've heard that it'll drive the HD800s well but haven't had the opportunity to try it myself.

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

 
HD600s were my cans before LCD-2 and it was an excellent pairing. I've heard that it'll drive the HD800s well but haven't had the opportunity to try it myself.

Thanks for the info. !

 

[Mediahound]

Here's an interesting problem I will have to solve if I buy a Schiit; I want to use the preamp outs to go to my powered speakers (Audioengine A5+s) but I understand those are active even when you plug in headphones. But, I don't want sound coming out of the speakers when I'm using headphones, and it's a hassle to have to turn off the speakers every time I switch to headphone listening. 
 
How should I solve this issue? Basically, I want the preamp RCA outs from the Schiit amp to not output anything when I'm using headphones.