Well I just got this amp. Sounds great with my Focal Radiance and Denon 9200. Relaxed and airy are my initial impressions. I should have just gotten this amp instead of dumping money on hybrid tube amps because these work just fine with my lower impedance headphones.
Schiit Valhalla 2 impressions
- Thread starter TonyTripleA
- Start date
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
Indeed! The Valhalla II output impedance is 3.5 ohms at low gain setting / 14.0 ohms at high gain setting. Great /
results when using the Audeze LCD-X (2016, no EQ, 15 ohms).Excellent! Now I just have to resist the temptation to tube swap, they really sound fine as is.Indeed! The Valhalla II output impedance is 3.5 ohms at low gain setting / 14.0 ohms at high gain setting. Great /
The Valhalla also responds well to power cords. The Pangea AC14SE and AC14XL are both great upgrades.
I'm comparing the Valhalla 2, Lyr 3 and Jot 2 connected to my Mac via the Bifrost 2. To be honest there is not a big difference between the three amps. Even when using upgraded tubes. If I really want that "tube sound" it seems like a need to look at other options. Perhaps a Bottlehead Crack or Darkvoice. I am just hesitant to sell the tube amps as I don't want to give up the tubes in the process. Tubes are fairly pricey these days. All three are great amps but it would be great to really know what "tube sound" really sounds like.
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
The Mac is your limiting factor.
How so? I thought Apple was supposed to be great with audio.
exchez
Head-Fier
I also didn't find a big difference between the Valhalla 2 and the Jot 2. And like you I also use a Bifrost 2 as my DAC with a Macbook or Allo Usbridge. When I got a WA2 I finally understood what "tube sound" meant. Here are some suggestions:
- The Vali 2+ gets you a decent amount of tube sound at a great price and takes a wide variety of tubes
- The Feliks Echo takes the same tubes as the Valhalla, but I've never used one so I can't tell you how tubey it sounds
- Pretty much everyone loves the Bottlehead Crack so can't go wrong there
- The WA3 will def give you some tube sound and they pop up every now and then on the classifieds for a good price
- I've never listened to a Darkvoice, but I have a kneejerk dislike of them. Something from deep inside me says don't buy that dumb amp
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jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
• The Mac is not built for the reproduction of music as its primary function. I can say that with a CD transport, CDs, a R2R DAC, I definitely hear: differences between Lyr3 and Valhalla2, differences in each of the two when rolling tubes. In Lyr3, for example, Ken-Rad VT231 vs Sylvania 6SN7. In Valhalla2, 12AT7s / ECC81s vs 6922s / 7308s.
• @exchez has good suggestions for ‘tubey’ h/p/a. Note that the ‘tubeness’ can be altered by tube roll. In very general terms for example, if one wanted to roll ‘warm’ —> ‘cool’, one might look at RCA —> Siemens.
• One h/p/a that you might consider is the Xduoo TA-26. It has a configuration similar to that of the DarkVoice but without the problems of the DarkVoice.
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Just my cents from a very laid back perspective without ANY technical background what so ever.
When I hear via headphones (Grado GS1000i) , it feels quite warmer than my previous setup that was going through an old home theater solid state amp. So despite not a huge difference, it does give me a bit of tube feeling (at least feels "different" than solid amp).
I am currently feeding the Valhalla to a power amp which is also tube based, EL-34's, and the speakers also sound warmer than going through the Sony receiver. Despite not being crazy high end speakers, I am totally hooked to the "vibe" of tubes. I do not listen to loud music, so I guess the lack of Watts doesn't bother me.
From a source perspective, my old Macmini struggles with 192k/16-bit files, so we usually end up playing from the Raspberry Pi to a Windows PC... playdirect, no decoding, and it sounds pretty sweet!
When I hear via headphones (Grado GS1000i) , it feels quite warmer than my previous setup that was going through an old home theater solid state amp. So despite not a huge difference, it does give me a bit of tube feeling (at least feels "different" than solid amp).
I am currently feeding the Valhalla to a power amp which is also tube based, EL-34's, and the speakers also sound warmer than going through the Sony receiver. Despite not being crazy high end speakers, I am totally hooked to the "vibe" of tubes. I do not listen to loud music, so I guess the lack of Watts doesn't bother me.
From a source perspective, my old Macmini struggles with 192k/16-bit files, so we usually end up playing from the Raspberry Pi to a Windows PC... playdirect, no decoding, and it sounds pretty sweet!
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
I like your setup in the avatar! Thumbs upJust my cents from a very laid back perspective without ANY technical background what so ever.
When I hear via headphones (Grado GS1000i) , it feels quite warmer than my previous setup that was going through an old home theater solid state amp. So despite not a huge difference, it does give me a bit of tube feeling (at least feels "different" than solid amp).
I am currently feeding the Valhalla to a power amp which is also tube based, EL-34's, and the speakers also sound warmer than going through the Sony receiver. Despite not being crazy high end speakers, I am totally hooked to the "vibe" of tubes. I do not listen to loud music, so I guess the lack of Watts doesn't bother me.
From a source perspective, my old Macmini struggles with 192k/16-bit files, so we usually end up playing from the Raspberry Pi to a Windows PC... playdirect, no decoding, and it sounds pretty sweet!
for using adapters / socket savers / tube risers in Valhalla 2. A great way to moderate the temperature.superultramega
New Head-Fier
If he’s using a DAC the computer shouldn’t matter right?
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
The DAC needs to receive signals / transmissions free of error and spurious ‘noise’ prior to their conversion to analogue. The less a DAC has to ‘correct’, the better. In digital audio (as in analogue audio), the quality of the source and of the transmission path (coax / toslink / usb) matters.
superultramega
New Head-Fier
You may be correct but I believe the computer will have a very minimal impact on the final sound quality. If a computer made a significant difference wouldn’t the modem and wiring to the modem also matter?
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
Indeed, as well as the quality of the power line / dedicated circuit…
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