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Schiit Owners Unite
Nov 16, 2013 at 11:52 AM Post #3,617 of 13,350
i bought a lyr amp early this year to power my new audeze headphones. schiit was one of the audeze rep recommendations. i liked the sound, but when i plugged my old standards into the lyr, a sennheiser hd595, these sounded like schit, no pun intended. they only sounded bad in the lyr. i had two audiophile friends over who confirmed it. jason of schiit was very nice, accepting the return, but after testing it, said he could find nothing wrong with the unit, and was at a loss to explain why the 595's would act that way in only the lyr. there was some sort of strange interaction between them.
much as i liked the amp, company, and owner, i am leery of another schiit product. sad too, as so many others really like the brand. would be very interested in any thoughts on why this happened. impedances of both headphones are close, and no other sources caused this difference.
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 12:02 PM Post #3,618 of 13,350
willard said:
i bought a lyr amp early this year to power my new audeze headphones. schiit was one of the audeze rep recommendations. i liked the sound, but when i plugged my old standards into the lyr, a sennheiser hd595, these sounded like schit, no pun intended. they only sounded bad in the lyr. i had two audiophile friends over who confirmed it. jason of schiit was very nice, accepting the return, but after testing it, said he could find nothing wrong with the unit, and was at a loss to explain why the 595's would act that way in only the lyr. there was some sort of strange interaction between them.
much as i liked the amp, company, and owner, i am leery of another schiit product. sad too, as so many others really like the brand. would be very interested in any thoughts on why this happened. impedances of both headphones are close, and no other sources caused this difference.
Click to expand...


wow, very strange, while i have experience with the 595, i have listened to the 600, and 650 with the lyr,
both sounded really good, especially the the 600
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 12:40 PM Post #3,619 of 13,350
Why would you use a 595 on a Lyr outside of testing it? Doesn't require much power to drive them. I'd be worried about damanging the drivers with that much power.

I have the 595s but I think they are a terrible headphone. Its crazy but my 590s were better, more so for gaming.
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 2:18 PM Post #3,622 of 13,350
sceleratus said:
  If anyone is on the fence about moving to a Gungnir. Do it.  A beautiful sound.
Click to expand...

 
Plus it works without having to be plugged-in. 
tongue.gif

 
Beautiful setup you have there!
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 3:02 PM Post #3,623 of 13,350
Brand new Bifrost / Lyr combo currently connected to a PC via TOSLINK.  I've been experimenting with A/B comparisons listening to original CD rips in 16b/44.1K WMAL and FLAC, and the same songs in HD format 24b/96k and 24b/192k FLAC.  I'm also doing some A/B headphone comparisons between my AKG 702 Anni and Sennheiser HD650s.
 
Absolutely LOVE the Bifrost/Lyr combo... it has opened a whole new world as far as digital HD audio is concerned.
 
I've posted some dirty details over at getmojo.org if you are interested.
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:26 PM Post #3,625 of 13,350
Hey guys/girls
 
Still having problems with the hum on the Bifrost/Lyr combo.  A couple of updates...
 
- Checked the wall sockets with a receptacle tester - no issues.
- Plugged the gear into different wall sockets - no difference.
- Tried different interconnects - No difference.
 
A couple of other things...
 - Tried my iPod hooked directly to the Lyr - no hum
 - Hum remains in Lyr as long as it is connected to the Bifrost, even when the Bifrost is switched off at the power
 - Hum stops if the Bifrost is unplugged from the wall.
 
Any thoughts?  I think the last item may be quite a telling element - appears that the problem must be in the Bifrost...
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:44 PM Post #3,626 of 13,350
Ugh...  could be you are picking up some bleed from the 60Hz AC to DC stage in the Bifrost power supply.  This is a complete guess, but it fits your symptoms.
 
Shielding or bypass cap problem?  In any case, I think you have definitely narrowed it down to the Bifrost.  Have you contacted Schiit customer support?
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:46 PM Post #3,627 of 13,350
tim79b said:
  Hey guys/girls
 
Still having problems with the hum on the Bifrost/Lyr combo.  A couple of updates...
 
- Checked the wall sockets with a receptacle tester - no issues.
- Plugged the gear into different wall sockets - no difference.
- Tried different interconnects - No difference.
 
A couple of other things...
 - Tried my iPod hooked directly to the Lyr - no hum
 - Hum remains in Lyr as long as it is connected to the Bifrost, even when the Bifrost is switched off at the power
 - Hum stops if the Bifrost is unplugged from the wall.
 
Any thoughts?  I think the last item may be quite a telling element - appears that the problem must be in the Bifrost...
Click to expand...

Classic ground loop.
What put it over the top for me is the hum remains when the Bifrost is powered off but connected to the Lyr.
The interconnect "completes the loop".
There are likely two mains grounds.  Or 2 different "earthed" things,  Copper Bar, pipes attached to the house wiring.  The Bifrost is sensitive to the very very low voltage contaminating one of the grounds.
The previous diagram shows this.   Just give it a look for a bit and look at the legend that identifies the parts and paths.
 
Super hard to trace down.  Might have a look in the bowels of your house at plumbing ties to ground.  I may be wrong,here.... Plumbing should have it's own path to ground and not tied into the electrical ground.   "Ground" is literally a solid copper stake driven a meter or so into the "earth / the ground" and tied to your main power panel.   If there's another path to "earth" on your house wiring there's your loop.  The rub is it's picking up stray voltage from an appliance, connection, whatever.   Not enough to short anything but sensitive audio gear can't take it.
 
If you or an electrician can't find it, then try a Hum-X type of device.   It's worth trying to fix rather than bandaid....  IMO
 
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:56 PM Post #3,629 of 13,350
sceleratus said:
  Classic ground loop.
What put it over the top for me is the hum remains when the Bifrost is powered off but connected to the Lyr.
The interconnect "completes the loop".
There are likely two mains grounds.  Or 2 different "earthed" things,  Copper Bar, pipes attached to the house wiring.  The Bifrost is sensitive to the very very low voltage contaminating one of the grounds.
The previous diagram shows this.   Just give it a look for a bit and look at the legend that identifies the parts and paths.
 
Super hard to trace down.  Might have a look in the bowels of your house at plumbing ties to ground.  I may be wrong,here.... Plumbing should have it's own path to ground and not tied into the electrical ground.   "Ground" is literally a solid copper stake driven a meter or so into the "earth / the ground" and tied to your main power panel.   If there's another path to "earth" on your house wiring there's your loop.  The rub is it's picking up stray voltage from an appliance, connection, whatever.   Not enough to short anything but sensitive audio gear can't take it.
 
If you or an electrician can't find it, then try a Hum-X type of device.   It's worth trying to fix rather than bandaid....  IMO
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info...
 
Killer is that I'm in an apartment block, so trying to get the cause fixed will be near to impossible....
 
Hum-x here I come I guess...
 
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