[Pirakaphile]

I say save your scratch and get the Lyr2/Bifrost. Put the money you saved into more music. Many people here think the LCD/Lyr/Bifrost is endgame. 

A bunch of my music comes from the public library, since the entire county's stash is at my disposal. That usually leaves me with about three to ten albums a year of of pocket, usually coming up to about $50 or so. Getting music isn't a big problem when you know lots of people who have tons of music collections themselves as well.

I guess I'll do more research into what people say about balanced to see if the upgrade could be worth it.

Dunno, man. What don't you like about your current setup? Or is it just a simple case of upgraditis?

EDIT: I also think that Lyr 2 / Bifrost would be sufficient for either HE-500 or LCD-2.

I definitely have upgraditis, but I have no qualms about my current setup. I just know that there is better sound to be had, and if it's within my reach I want it! I also want the Audeze to compliment my HiFiMAN so I'll have a dark set for chillin, and a neutral set for more critical listening and classical music.

 

[madwolfa]

I guess I'll do more research into what people say about balanced to see if the upgrade could be worth it.
I definitely have upgraditis, but I have no qualms about my current setup. I just know that there is better sound to be had, and if it's within my reach I want it! I also want the Audeze to compliment my HiFiMAN so I'll have a dark set for chillin, and a neutral set for more critical listening and classical music.

 
Yep, I'd say - save your money and get yourself a Bifrost / Lyr 2. Just have in mind, that LCD-2 with Fazor is not nearly as dark as it used to be. Honestly I couldn't tell much difference between HE-500 and my LCD-2F on our last meet. You could still get it and decide what you like best.. you could always either return Audeze or sell off your HE-500 later on.

 

[Pirakaphile]

Seems like a pretty solid plan, and since it'll save me $1,500, I might even try and get into the speaker world. :3

Also, would you still say the Audeze outperforms the HiFiMAN in pretty much every way?

And, dog, you live in Olathe? Why haven't we munched on toast together or something? I don't have anyone in all of Kansas who appreciates audio in any form!

 

[madwolfa]

Seems like a pretty solid plan, and since it'll save me $1,500, I might even try and get into the speaker world. :3

Also, would you still say the Audeze outperforms the HiFiMAN in pretty much every way?

And, dog, you live in Olathe? Why haven't we munched on toast together or something? I don't have anyone in all of Kansas who appreciates audio in any form!

 
At least the sound signature was pretty much the same. And comfort-wise, I think, LCD-2 wins solidly. Unfortunately it was a bit hectic and noisy to get down to nuances.
 
Yeah, Olathe. We actually had a meet in Lawrence just few months ago! You must've missed it. We could get together some day and I could give you a good listen of my LCD-2s. Send me a PM.

 

[Pirakaphile]

At least the sound signature was pretty much the same. And comfort-wise, I think, LCD-2 wins solidly. Unfortunately it was a bit hectic and noisy to get down to nuances.

Yeah, Olathe. We actually had a meet in Lawrence just few months ago! You must've missed it. We could actually get together some day and I could give you a good listen of my LCD-2s.

Well FECK. At least I know there are others now, I'm not alone! I could also bring my cans too, so you could get a better representation of the HE-500. I just have to get cables that don't sound like a slinky up to your ear, better pads, and maybe I'll have done the fuzzor and grill mod, so they'll be at their full potential.

 

[TK277]

My Schiit Mjo/Gungnir combo is my go-to. One day I'll finance the 'Rok and Yggy. But I'm super happy with the Mjo/Gungir combo even after auditioning the 'Rok paired with my Gungnir at a few meets. I'll probably replace the fuses in my combo with Synergistic Research reds as my next upgrade.
 
Does anyone use different power cables with their Schiit? Experimenting with a few combinations right now. Copper wires with various connectors plugged into Acme Audio and Oyaide receptacles.

 

[scizzro]

  I've been doing some A/B testing between plugging my headphones hd 650s straight into my computer and plugging it into the bifrost uber/lyr 2 stack and I'm literally not hearing any differences in sound quality at all.

Any updates on this yet? Biting my nails here 

 

[RRod]

  Any updates on this yet? Biting my nails here 

 
Isn't surprising. I'm about to sell off my Bifrost and V200 and go with my PC line-out and Magni for my HD800s, based on such testing as well.

 

[Pirakaphile]

   
Isn't surprising. I'm about to sell off my Bifrost and V200 and go with my PC line-out and Magni for my HD800s, based on such testing as well.

I was just about to flip my schiit when you said HD800, but I see you've included the Magni still. No computer headphone out could ever possibly drive the HD800 to its potential. If you really want those cans to sing, I've heard that the best things for em are tube amps. Gives the HD800 a much more musical side from what I can get from reading gazillions of impressions.

 

[RRod]

  I was just about to flip my schiit when you said HD800, but I see you've included the Magni still. No computer headphone out could ever possibly drive the HD800 to its potential. If you really want those cans to sing, I've heard that the best things for em are tube amps. Gives the HD800 a much more musical side from what I can get from reading gazillions of impressions.

 
They sound plenty fine on all SS amps I've tried them on. Tubes add harmonics so of course they can warm the tone, but then you aren't hearing exactly what's there, and hearing what's there is why I love the 800s. Especially in games, they're almost too realistic…

 

[mkozlows]

  Any updates on this yet? Biting my nails here 

 
Why are you biting your nails from this one person's impression? There are tons and tons of people who will tell you (often with blind testing to back it up) that there are no differences. There are also tons and tons of people who will tell you that the difference is "night and day" and leads to emotion mega-blasts or whatever.
 
If you haven't already decided that one (or both) of these groups is full of it, why would this one person's testimony convince you?

 

[JohnBal]

   
They sound plenty fine on all SS amps I've tried them on. Tubes add harmonics so of course they can warm the tone, but then you aren't hearing exactly what's there, and hearing what's there is why I love the 800s. Especially in games, they're almost too realistic…

Ummm.... That will depend on the tube amp.

 

[RRod]

  Ummm.... That will depend on the tube amp.

 
Well, the more you make a tube amp have the characteristics of a good SS (low distortion, low output impedance), the more you might as well get a SS, no?

 

[JohnBal]

   
Well, the more you make a tube amp have the characteristics of a good SS (low distortion, low output impedance), the more you might as well get a SS, no?

You could make a case for that, sure. There are also overly warm and mushy sounding soild state amps. The lines are blurring between the sounds of tube and solid state amps. But with a tube amp, often times the sound can be tweaked buy tube rolling to flavor to suit your taste. I just dont think people should generalize the sound of tube amps with overly warm and colored sound. It simply is not true in every case.

 

[RRod]

  You could make a case for that, sure. There are also overly warm and mushy sounding soild state amps. The lines are blurring between the sounds of tube and solid state amps. But with a tube amp, often times the sound can be tweaked buy tube rolling to flavor to suit your taste. I just dont think people should generalize the sound of tube amps with overly warm and colored sound. It simply is not true in every case.

 
Agreed, that's why I said "can warm the sound" and not "necessarily warm the sound". Still, I don't think people go tubes to decrease warmth.