[Gavin C4]

My Valhalla2 arrived here today. I'm happier than a pig in Schiit. Unbelievable sound for $349.00. I've already rolled in some Reflektor NOS tubes that came out of my preamp Let the tube rolling begin. But honestly, its all about the music isn't it.

Enjoy your music. What dac are you pairing with your valhalla 2? Stacking a Schiit dac would loook nice

 

[Valve36]

Thanks. I don't have a dac yet. Right now I'm using a CD player. I mainly got it to use with my tube preamp which doesn't have a headphone output jack.

 

[Gavin C4]

Anyone using their Schiit stacks with IEMs at home? Lets say bitfrost multibit/asgard 2 or modi/magi 2. Is the combo better sounding than DAPs at a similar price range?

 

[ntbm3]

Anyone using their Schiit stacks with IEMs at home? Lets say bitfrost multibit/asgard 2 or modi/magi 2. Is the combo better sounding than DAPs at a similar price range?

I am using some JH16 ProV2 on my Bimby USB5/Asgard (original) and it honestly sound amazing. I prefer it over my HA-2(not by a lot) over all I have noticed more impactful bass, and a little bit of a DAC signature difference. The bimby being more smooth and improved separation.

One thing I do have trouble with is my original asgard does not have a high/low gain so I am living in the bottom of the volume pot and have problems with left/right channel levels when listen at lower volumes.

I think I am going to upgrade to a Jot or asgard II with the adjustable gain. Is the Jotemheim a big improvement over the Asgard II??

 

[vibin247]

Really enjoying the Valhalla 2 right now. Definitely getting the Bifrost DAC in the future. I never had a tube amp, but I most definitely love the power it cranks into my 'phones.

 

[Bikerider1001]

Really enjoying the Valhalla 2 right now. Definitely getting the Bifrost DAC in the future. I never had a tube amp, but I most definitely love the power it cranks into my 'phones.

What headphones are you using?

I have LCD-XC's and the Schiit site says "You may even like it with high-efficiency planars like LCD-X, LCD-XC, Oppo PM-1 and HE-400." But, Nick at Schiit told me, "The Valhalla 2 is a otl tube which is great for high impedance headphones but suffers in low impedance loads".

I am running the XC's through a Vali 2 and love it but I am looking for even more "tube" sound and power.

Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Paladin79]

I run the Valhalla 2 preamp out into a Bottlehead Crack OTL for more power and the tube sound. (which I prefer) The crack is only made for high impedance headphones. I have some modified Beyerdynamic drivers at 150 ohms that do quite well with either amp.

 

[vibin247]

What headphones are you using?

I have LCD-XC's and the Schiit site says "You may even like it with high-efficiency planars like LCD-X, LCD-XC, Oppo PM-1 and HE-400." But, Nick at Schiit told me, "The Valhalla 2 is a otl tube which is great for high impedance headphones but suffers in low impedance loads".

I am running the XC's through a Vali 2 and love it but I am looking for even more "tube" sound and power.

Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.

I honestly have no experience in using planar magnetic 'phones, but I'm sure the other Head-Fi'ers that own planars can give you advice. I specifically bought the Valhalla 2 for my Sennheiser HD-650 and other high impedance, dynamic 'phones, including the Beyerdynamic DT-990 250 ohm model I just recently purchased (for less than $170 new on Amazon, no less!) Plus, I never had a tube amp and always read great things about them. The gain switch on the back of the Valhalla 2, using tubes with lower signal gain (like the JJ E88CC), lowering preamp gain and using volume analysis on each audio track on jRiver Media Player helped me corral peaking when I sometimes use my ATH-MSR7s at home, which are a low impedance 'phone at 35 ohms. Perhaps the Lyr 2 or Mjolnir 2 would be your choice if you wanted to avoid impedance mismatching as much as possible, as they're both a hybrid design like your Vali 2 and can handle both low and high-impedance 'phones.

 

[notfitforpublic]

What headphones are you using?

I have LCD-XC's and the Schiit site says "You may even like it with high-efficiency planars like LCD-X, LCD-XC, Oppo PM-1 and HE-400." But, Nick at Schiit told me, "The Valhalla 2 is a otl tube which is great for high impedance headphones but suffers in low impedance loads".

I am running the XC's through a Vali 2 and love it but I am looking for even more "tube" sound and power.

Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.

Valhalla is not the best option for PM cans. The 400i I briefly had and the EL-8 I currently own don't do so well with it. A hybrid amp like the Lyr2 is a much better option.

 

[Defiant00]

I am using some JH16 ProV2 on my Bimby USB5/Asgard (original) and it honestly sound amazing. I prefer it over my HA-2(not by a lot) over all I have noticed more impactful bass, and a little bit of a DAC signature difference. The bimby being more smooth and improved separation.

One thing I do have trouble with is my original asgard does not have a high/low gain so I am living in the bottom of the volume pot and have problems with left/right channel levels when listen at lower volumes.

I think I am going to upgrade to a Jot or asgard II with the adjustable gain. Is the Jotemheim a big improvement over the Asgard II??

Personally I found the Jot just barely better/different than the Asgard 2 when using SE on both. Main thing I would mention for your overall query is that, at least with my Asgard 2 and the Jot that I tried, I was able to go much quieter without channel imbalance on the Asgard 2. If I had kept the Jot I probably would have had to pick up some attenuators to put between the DAC and amp to get a more usable volume range, even on low gain. As always, YMMV, I listen quietly, etc., but that was my experience.

 

[vibin247]

Thoroughly enjoying my new Bifrost 4490 I picked yesterday at The Schittr. It's loads better than the Audioengine D3 that I was using. The Straightwire RCA and USB cables that are made for Schiit are really great too.

 

[wilflare]

I'm thinking of getting a Schiit Jotenhiem (with the DAC option)

would it support my speakers (AegoM), Philips Fidelio X1, HD6XX and TF10s well?

my local distro only brings in the Silver unit... was hoping for Black (and a multibit option :/)

 

[Byronb]

I'm thinking of getting a Schiit Jotenhiem (with the DAC option)

would it support my speakers (AegoM), Philips Fidelio X1, HD6XX and TF10s well?

my local distro only brings in the Silver unit... was hoping for Black (and a multibit option :/)

Yes it will.

 

[captkirk]

I'm thinking of getting a Schiit Jotenhiem (with the DAC option)

would it support my speakers (AegoM), Philips Fidelio X1, HD6XX and TF10s well?

my local distro only brings in the Silver unit... was hoping for Black (and a multibit option :/)

I have the Jotunheim (No DAC) and the pairing with my HD6XX is impressive. Clear, precise and tonally neutral. Make sure you run balanced, not for the benefit of the amp but for the cans. The HD6XX loves the power.

I very much doubt a MB version will ever be available. Mike from Schiit has mentioned over in his blog that there's no physical way to make a MB version work in the Jot chassis. The Dac board wouldn't fit. Pick up a ModiMB (a super-solid Dac for the $$$).

Just my 2 cents...

 

[438555]

Using my new setup Mac Mini->USB 5 Bimby->Vali 2->Grado GS2000e and really enjoying it.
Also have the same DAC connected to Saga->Vidar->KLH 900B, which also sounds great. Just looking for "one more" upgrade on the speaker side...

(Moved my mimby to the side of the bed, fed by an airport express and feeding either a magni 2 uber or oppo HA-2 line input depending on the headphones)