[tafens]

On SS vs tubes, I've got the Magni2U and plenty happy with it.

If I had had a tube amp then I'd wonder about tube rolling, would have to try it, it would cost a lot of money and regardless of how many tubes I try there's always another that just might sound better that I would have to try also...

I don't have the budget for that so, no.

 

[StanD]

I didn't think it was much to sweat over either...which is why Im curious as to why the extra money would be worth it to me. The price vs performance is for sure what brought me to them. I mean on paper at least they're stuff is really tough to beat. It actually confuses me when people say they don't like them or they don't make good stuff..or its just mediocre. Some of it I think is just haters and/or people that think the may be exposing some of the snake oil of the audio industry. IF some other manufacturers made the same amps they would probably cost double or triple what Schitt is selling them for.

I suppose all said and done, 150 for a M2U isnt really a lot of money so I guess if I eventually have to replace it its not a hige deal...but maybe Im just looking for a reason to spend more lol, and probably a reason thats not there.

I guess when I look at the specs of the Asgard vs the Magni then I see now people say the Asgard sounds a lot better then the Magni..I just dont really see how. Again though Im no engineer, nor do I claim to know as much about electronics then the people that make the stuff so Im sure they know what theyre doing.

Sometimes what people say and what is real are two different things as we are easily fooled by the short time period, scant few seconds, for the auditory memory of fine details. I wouldn't get hung up on this business and simply listen and enjoy to your music.

 

[Defiant00]

I didn't think it was much to sweat over either...which is why Im curious as to why the extra money would be worth it to me. The price vs performance is for sure what brought me to them. I mean on paper at least they're stuff is really tough to beat. It actually confuses me when people say they don't like them or they don't make good stuff..or its just mediocre. Some of it I think is just haters and/or people that think the may be exposing some of the snake oil of the audio industry. IF some other manufacturers made the same amps they would probably cost double or triple what Schitt is selling them for.

I suppose all said and done, 150 for a M2U isnt really a lot of money so I guess if I eventually have to replace it its not a hige deal...but maybe Im just looking for a reason to spend more lol, and probably a reason thats not there.

I guess when I look at the specs of the Asgard vs the Magni then I see now people say the Asgard sounds a lot better then the Magni..I just dont really see how. Again though Im no engineer, nor do I claim to know as much about electronics then the people that make the stuff so Im sure they know what theyre doing.

 
Asgard looks nicer (to me) and the volume control is a lot nicer to use (larger, smoother, basically no channel imbalance).
 
I haven't heard the M2U (only the original), but I suspect I'd have picked it instead of my Asgard 2 if it had been an option at the time (the original Magni's fixed high gain was a main reason for me to choose the Asgard 2).

 

[bretemm]

Ok, well I have the magni and modi and they sound great, as far as higher ohm IEMs, I'm looking at getting the 50ohm klipsch x11i or x7i

You should try to go somewhere to hear for yourself and do a proper volume matched comparison. Otherwise you will get all sorts of conflicting stories, often hot blooded arguments. After much comparisons I prefer SS, ymmv.

 

[StanD]

Ok, well I have the magni and modi and they sound great, as far as higher ohm IEMs, I'm looking at getting the 50ohm klipsch x11i or x7i

I wouldn't exactly call 50 Ohms high impedance as far as amps go. That would be more like 300 Ohms or more.

 

[bretemm]

Ok, do you know of any IEMs that are that high? (I'm stuck using IEMs because of something medical I have) would the Valhalla2 still be great for tube sound even with a iem? Thanks

I wouldn't exactly call 50 Ohms high impedance as far as amps go. That would be more like 300 Ohms or more.

 

[superjawes]

Ok, do you know of any IEMs that are that high? (I'm stuck using IEMs because of something medical I have) would the Valhalla2 still be great for tube sound even with a iem? Thanks

Valhalla 2's output impedance (on low gain) is 3.5 Ohms. As long as you damping factor is higher than 8 (Damping factor = input impedance / output impedance), you should be good.

A Valhalla still wouldn't necessarily be a perfect choice, and it might be a little overkill, but as far as "will this work?" I think you'll be fine.

 

[Lupino]

According to Nick from Schiit the Valhalla will be"fairly noisy with IEMs".

 

[bretemm]

Ok, but tho, is there any iem that has a "headphone quality"? I'm looking at the klipsch x11i right now, or the shure ae846, but I'm not sure what iem would be good

According to Nick from Schiit the Valhalla will be"fairly noisy with IEMs".

 

[cuiter23]

Ok, but tho, is there any iem that has a "headphone quality"? I'm looking at the klipsch x11i right now, or the shure ae846, but I'm not sure what iem would be good

 
It all comes down to preference. Some say IEMs can't touch headphones in terms of SQ while there are others that say the opposite. 
 
All depends on what you need them for. Personally I like anything that produces good sound

 

[superjawes]

Well depending on the driver type, some IEMs are actually supposed to be more accurate than their "full size" headphone equivalents. However, you'll lose sound stage and potentially bass response.

The main takeaway is that IEMs are "different".

Oh, and I can't speak from experience on the noisiness of IEMs with Valhalla, but it wouldn't surprise me. Tubes just tend to be noisy, and IEMs are typically very sensitive, so that noise just gets played along with the music.

 

[KLJTech]

I've never heard the Klipsch X11i's but the outer case/design looks extremely similar to the X10 and X10i. All of my full-size and portable (like the B&W P7's) headphones outshine the Klipsch X10's and X10i's by a pretty good margin, in my opinion. I haven't heard a ton of high dollar IEM's, but I can tell you that the Westone W40's that I use daily sound very, very good and with great source material can give a lot of good full-size headphones a run for their money. Plus you can wear them longer as your head doesn't get sore from a headphone's headband and in-ears won't make you sweaty like some earcups will cause. I've heard that the W60's are even more impressive if you can swing the asking price. If you can afford to spend the money IEM's have gotten incredibly good over the past several years. 
 
As an aside the Asgard 2 sounds fantastic (on low gain) with IEM's like the W40's. I use the Gungnir/Asgard 2 stack in my office setup and I use IEM's almost every day with that setup and love it. 

 

[bretemm]

What if I used the rca out of the Valhalla to go to my magni or modi (the headphone amp part) would that possibly cut down on noise from the Valhalla? But still give me tube sound/quality?

 

[superjawes]

What if I used the rca out of the Valhalla to go to my magni or modi (the headphone amp part) would that possibly cut down on noise from the Valhalla? But still give me tube sound/quality?

No.

 

[loki993]

Asgard looks nicer (to me) and the volume control is a lot nicer to use (larger, smoother, basically no channel imbalance).

I haven't heard the M2U (only the original), but I suspect I'd have picked it instead of my Asgard 2 if it had been an option at the time (the original Magni's fixed high gain was a main reason for me to choose the Asgard 2).

I completely agree it looks better, but for me I'm mostly concerned about performance and convenience. My room gets fairly hot as it is because my desktop pushes a lot of heat out and its just not a very big room. So another component in there throwing a bunch of heat is less than ideal. Plus with the size of it, not to mention the heat, I'm a bit limited to where where I can put it. The Magni I can put just about anywhere. Well I guess that about answers my own question.

My biggest concern was performance, is the Asgard a big step up from the Magni, I guess through reading here and reading other threads, yes its better but how much is debatable and for me at least I don't think I'm willing to deal with all the comes with the Asgard, let alone the hundred extra bucks, for the extra bit of performance it would provide.

I do wish Schitt would make a full SS amp with the power or at least close to the power of the Lyr for those that dont want to deal with tubes.