[normie610]

I became obsessed with the Valkyria after hearing it at the SoCal CanJam. Annnnnd, hypothetically speaking, of course, I may have just done something financially irresponsible. Hope you have room for one more in this thread!

Welcome to the club!! Hypothetically speaking, it's gonna sound amazing with your HM-1....or hypothetically speaking, if HM-1 isn't a good match, you can also get another amp

 

[Hiker816]

Welcome to the club!! Hypothetically speaking, it's gonna sound amazing with your HM-1....or hypothetically speaking, if HM-1 isn't a good match, you can also get another amp

Ha! The size of the smoldering crater in my hypothetical wallet after this purchase will preclude any more amp purchases for a while. Hypothetically, anyway.

 

[mortcola]

Welcome VALKYRIA, let's start from the end: CHAPEAU!

From the very first notes it surprises for his sensational aptitude in reproducing all music in a essentially perfect way.

I would say it's like when you travel in a top class car, built with no compromises: the route is the same, it is the journey that is very different.

A bit like the pleasure you get in the back seat of a Rolls-Royce, at a constant speed of 250 km per hour (in Germany, where you can ), with the exclusive sensation of travelling at the right speed and fully enjoying the comfort and any views.

With HER in your ears, every instrument is exactly where you expect it to be: up, down, right, left, above, below, forward, back ... enveloping the listening discreetly and without flaws, all according to the registration.

And when I write each instrument, I mean also those that in other listenings were difficult to identify, in the background, hidden, and that instead with HER are very present, with the exact importance that those who recorded the piece wanted to give them.

Beyond three-dimensionality.

Beyond the scene and the stage.

And there are no "Huh but ....".

Each frequency is masterfully reproduced at any volume (even if the right volume "is that of the event" as Maestro Andrea Ricci says).

It is the headphones for music, whatever it may be.

I drive it with AUDION HP1 30TH Anniversary Edition amplifier with 300B EAT tubes upgrade (listen to believe ), DAC R7HE + digital interface di20HE (Audio-gd), signal cables and power supply from TIGLON (top TPL 2000): a combination that also impressed Andrea (and I'm proud of it!).

My humble opinion not as a technician but as an enthusiastic headphones lover:

CHAPEAU VALCHYRIA,

CHAPEAU ANDREA RICCI,

CHAPEAU SPIRIT TORINO!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x05pyyxxs2p0r1w/bb323ca7-bc49-4e29-b65b-43dd11e06b1c.jpg?dl=0

So, you noticed that too, huh?

I'be had a maddening few weeks with mine. I would go from wondering what was ....wrong, or off.... about them, then beaconing transfixed and habvin the longest "gotta hear what I can hear on THAT song....on THAT concerto...".

They would be less, sparkly, less - explicit, or so I thought than my Susvara, my Final D8000Pro (a gem which elicits some reactions I can't fathom - I think they're exquisite), my Abyss 1266 Phi TC Umbilicus Desideratum Cosmogonies or whatever the latest version of the weird, wonderful cans they are. And now the moments are few and far between when I have any urge to listen to anything but the Valkyria Titanium.

I am very close to believing I've found speakers which are so good, they have finally reached some 99.999999 Six Sigma fidelity. Maybe they've broken in, burned in, if Titanium, Ruby, and Unobtainium need to warm up. But what I now hear - through the May KTE and Bliss KTE, seems utterly revealing of what happened in the recording session or concert, as close as anything I've ever heard. So, the highs don't "sparkle" like on the others, not quite. But then, highs don't sparkle. They exist, they are high in our subjective spectrum, they each have their character. I hear more CHARACTER, more nano-nuances in the texture of every instrument.... meaning both extraordinary detail (I prefer "articulation" here to resolution, which feels like what it is, the depiction of units of data. What comes through, in a way I haven't experienced before from a home system, or anyplace other than during a live event or a day in the studio, is the beautiful communication that is music. There is a peculiar emphatic quality, maybe best understood as "fleshed out" in its more definitive sense, to the macrodynamic, to the whole impact of each musical element - each in very finely graded significance and explicitness. The grunt, weight, fingernail-inpoact and unmistakeable sustain and lyricism of Steve Hackett's guitar on much of "Surrender of Silence", a Hackett definitive guitar showcase (at the moment, "Held in the Shadows"). Before that, The Private Collection" of Charlie Haden on the first-rate Naim label's recording. A neatly layered, 3D musical event, in which gripping macrodynamicvs and palpable sound pressure exist side by side with an infinitely-fine-grained texture of every element of a multi-layered, busy production perfectly audible, down to the smallest ambient cues.

No Blurring.

A juicy and even generous midrange, but more evident in a kind of explicitness, a degree of insightful impact which ARE AS FAR FROM HI-FI AS I HAVE EXPERIENCED. That's it. they do not impress in any customary hi-fi way. They open a window to a remote musical event, all is revealed, and nothing stands out because everything is where it was... where it is.
So, guess what. Jack DeJohnette and Jon Christensen's ride cymbals on their genre-defining jazz drumming aren't as sizzle as they are on the others. And yet... the others don't reveal as much ABOUT the .... no, OF the sounds, the range of sounds coming from that wood stick on overtone rich tuned metal as the Valkyria does. Not to mention - as reported in the message above from fadivic - it is the illusion of being there which is so important, every sound localized, in a spatial and resonant relation, which opens the richness and fluidity of time, that neat little musical ingredient, the sounds in an audible relationship with the fleshly solidity of musicians and the positions of their instruments... and the impossible floating guitar and up in the rafters background vocal, the height, depth, and complex spatial relations are simply there, as convincing as certain hyper-real states of consciousness are real and transcendent at once. Very present and somehow numinous, as though you might be hearing something actually new, a new standard.

AAahh, now, Beethoven's 7th the epic Allegretto second movement, Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra on The NSO/Kennedy Center label. 32 bit,. 384 kHz recording. Power, tonal beauty.... the bowed contrabasses are off about 24 feet in the left arc, rear row, of the orchestra, but the growl of the bow, the perfectly articulated tone and timbre of that arco bass, and the unwavering, perfectly solid and organic space defined and inhabited by the players and the instruments. The pitch and harmonic envelope are spot-on, and very pleasing, affirmative. It FEELS GOOD.

I'm not bothering to compare hi-fi characteristics. I am sure there are a few tweaked frequency ranges. I have what I consider some highly convincing critiques of the positivist, measurement -based approach, as something admirable but ultimately tragically wrong-headed.... I am listening to uncompromised musical events right now, and have had some kcickass soundsystems to compare them to. I'm just not evaluating sound. I'm listening, and waxing euphorically poetic. Oh yeah - the technology: the dual turret drives, one behind reinforcing and perhaps priming and supporting the one just in front, controlled by a rotating array of unusually powerful magnets to control those complimentary drivers. I have a feeling there's a connection between that unusual tech and the preternatural dimensionality of the sound. Dynamic drivers, but capable of both uncommon power and unprecedented nuance, tonal and extra-musical detail almost to infinity. It's quite....transfixing. I need sleep.. soon.... now I just wanna listen. Go from Beethoven to jazz. Lessee.

 

[Halimj7]

Can anyone compare Pulsar with Utopia OG specifically in bass impact and bass quantity?

 

[simorag]

Here are two highlights of my long Xmas musical day

I could not force myself to take the Valkyria out of my head for almost the whole day (family obligations aside), but discs like these are so cogent that they urge you to sink into the performance head to toe, sense of time be damned ...

This recent recording of Iberia from Goerner is a full-body experience through the Valkyria, I actually had to play it with crossfeed on to bring the size of the piano to a manageable level and to obtain more focus, but the harmonics richness of the sound, the devastating dynamics, the bass register rendition were so captivating I could not stop listening until the end, and actually went straight into Hamelin version on Hyperion to renew the thrill

​

Speaking about massive scale performances, the 1973 Böhm / Vienna Philarmonic Bruckner "Romantic" Symphony is another miracle recording from the team who realized the legendary Solti Ring a few years before. It almost anticipates surround effects, yet it combines immense soundscape, credible image reconstruction and a near-perfect balance between the various sections of the orchestra - and Bruckner pushes strings, percussions and brass to the very limit in this composition.

The resulting sound is grand, impactful yet very transparent, almost fresh - a rare achievement with Bruckner, largely to the credit of Maestro Böhm. Dynamics swings are transcendental, so listen at high volume at your own risk

 

[principd]

Thanks Simorag , nelson is a real treat.
I have been listening to this in the past days , and really love it , especially all Minor parts. ! Enjoy

 

[principd]

I have grown very fond of this incredible artist and gentleman since the mid 90's. Today I had some great moments of rapture especially listening to this song.... And her voice ... And there are more

 

[Hiker816]

No one told me you need a screwdriver to open these things . . .

Oh my . . .

Whoa . . . just whoa.

 

[normie610]

No one told me you need a screwdriver to open these things . . .


Oh my . . .



Whoa . . . just whoa.

Welcome to the club!

 

[ThanatosVI]

No one told me you need a screwdriver to open these things . . .


Oh my . . .



Whoa . . . just whoa.

Welcome to the Spirit Torino Club.

While the Pulsar is the headphone with the most obvious flaws in my collection, over time it showed that I reach for them very often.

Luckily the Subbass rolloff can be fixed via EQ, while their unique traits can't be eq'ed into other headphones.

 

[simorag]

Percussions Galore!

The physical side of being exposed to music is very important for me, as it suscitates an immediate (as in non-mediated) connection between sounds and my body, bypassing the aesthetic - hence rational / analytical - step of experiencing sound waves.

This is why I love deep bass content, and all percussive instruments .

Percussions are the incarnation of the primal elements in music, such as pulse, physical excitement through loud sounds, even a certain form of channeled violence, and this somewhat tribal heritage is still well present in modern music, both popular and cultivated.

In the most sophisticated compositions, the visceral aspect of percussions is made more interesting not only through complex rhythms and accents, but also - and more importantly - by color, atmospheric suggestions, again insisting in the impressionistic part of the listener's experience as the connecting tissue of the more explicit, outspoken parts of the musical text.

However, there are cases of scores where percussions play the main character, and boy these can be a lot of fun!

Take the Bartók (who loved experimenting with the percussive side of music and used it in many situations, most famously in his piano concertos) disc below, for example. Composed in 1937, it was a daring attempt to exploiting all the capabilities of the percussion section as the protagonist within the context of a relatively classical form.

Percussions are used to create the sense of space, to reinforce the nocturnal breathing theme in the Adagio and - more idyomatically - to convey the folkloric themes in the Finale. This recording has the typical Living Stereo sound: big, atmospheric, organic, with impressive dynamics.

Another modern work where percussions are the star of the show is the Arcana from Varèse (1927). Here, the percussion section is especially varied, as it includes (according to Wikipedia): medium-sized gong, Chinese cymbal, high tam-tam, low tam-tam, bass drum, string drum, snare drum, side drum, suspended cymbal (with drum sticks), guiro, triangle, slapstick, two Chinese blocks, xylophone, glockenspiel, a rattle, three bells ... and two coconuts

The result is as exciting as hell, and in the spectacular recording below you can appreciate all the hues and all the dynamics in an unrestrained fashion.

Anaklasis (1960), from the Polish composer Penderecki, is a seriously disturbing piece, with a unique, ominous, gripping power driven mainly by the chaotic contrast between the scary string parts and the cataclysmic percussion section. The next composition on this disc is Penderecki most famous work, the Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, another bleak, anxious, shattering creation where percussions play a key role in most climatic parts

Percussive sounds are perhaps the epitome of the Valkyria strengths. They have weight, energy density, punch (even more than 'slam') like no other headphones I am aware of can deliver. And they also have color, finely brushed character differentiation and expand in space and time - depending on the recording - in a very realistic way, thus conveying a fairly credible reconstruction of the aural and physical experience in a concert hall, heapdhones limitations withstanding.

 

[simorag]

This is a minimalistic choral composition based on Andersen's famous story - here told in the form of a Passion, featuring four vocalists and some percussions.

It is as tender as solemn. It is one of those works that give you shivers and move you on the verge of tears in force of its calm, pure, powerful, repetitive structure, where time seems suspended.

The recording is spectacular, you feel you're in the venue with the singers and - while projected in a large space, aptly mapped by the percussions - the sound embrace creates a sense of intimacy and participation that adds immensely to the experience.

 

[Malcyg]

These are a very interesting headphone. Comments that some have made about the tuning remind me of my first audition with the SolP as they too seemed a bit wrong at first and lacking in detail however, after a bit of focussing the mind and ears, it became apparent that the detail is in fact all there and nicely done too and I grew to really appreciate owning them. Since my mind and ears were already acclimatised to a darker style of tuning, it only took me a few minutes to realise that the Valkyria were potentially quite special. I also own Utopia OG and Valkyria strike me as the hybrid offspring spawned from an illicit coupling of SolP and Utopia with the Hybrid ultimately besting both parents.

Everything has pretty much been said already on here about them, but my own observations for what they are worth are as follows:

Source is more important than amplification imo as these will reflect right back to you the quality of your source. Fortunately, they are fairly easy to drive and, importantly, also get decent results from and I found them to sound pretty good with everything I tried them with, which is very unusual for me as I am very demanding and intolerant of synergy flaws. In fact, they sound really pretty good straight out of a Chord Hugo2Go - I suspect they may be the best combo I’ve heard yet with H2Go and they tame that unit’s slight inherent brightness very nicely. It is admittedly though a slightly absurd combination for a (trans)portable combo, but it is a sound that many could live with and be happy. They sound better out of AIC-10 BAL as you might expect but, for me, that combo becomes a bit much, a bit too rich over prolonged listening - a bit like the Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter AND Custard that had me groaning on Christmas Day. My preferred pairing is with the Manley Absolute amp (see photo in my ID) which I can tailor and tune in very nicely. This wasn’t a complete surprise to me since that was also my favourite pairing with my SolP and, with Valkyria, I also find that I like to dial the bass back a bit and boost the treble.

I’d also have to say that whilst they do excel with acoustic instruments - I particularly like what they do with solo Cello and Classical and Acoustic Guitar - they are good with all kinds of music and should not get pigeonholed as just a classical/jazz set of phones. I don’t do EDM, Hip Hop, Metal - Death, Black, Sludge, Grunge or otherwise - but they go very well with rock, blues, pop, world and other styles of modern music. Just as with SolP, but in fact more so, I really like them for what they do with older rock and blues from the 60’s and 70’s. Stuff from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Rush, Yes etc can be quite hard edged, overly strident and, ultimately, very fatiguing to my ears/brain on the wrong chain. Valkyria have a wonderful way of making that music very listenable and enjoyable, especially when paired with my Absolute.

I have been on my own headphone journey over the past few years and I can see the Valkyria forming the perfect triumvirate alongside my Susvara and 1266 Phi TC. It is very expensive, no doubt. One could buy SolP, Utopia and a H2Go for the price, but the pricing is kind of on par with the ultimate 1266 package and the attached cable is very high quality, well matched to the phones as well as being very lightweight and flexible/easy to manage which is a nice bonus. Considering my own possible ultimate summit triumvirate, I could sell Utopia and LCD-5 and not even miss them with what Valkyria brings to the equation. Maybe also the SolP too, I’m not totally sure on that one yet but becoming increasingly convinced.

 

[Hiker816]

I've had the Valkyria for about three weeks (listening right now, in fact), and have been loving it. The sound, just wow. It's got plenty of detail, but absolutely incredible meat on the bones, and impressive timbre. Acoustic guitar and drums are ridiculous. I've found it to be very forward--it's in your face in a way that I love. Very intimate, like the musicians are playing just for me. Dynamics are great. It's sort of like Mike Tyson in that you can see the punch is coming, but it's still too fast to get out of the way and is incredibly powerful. (In contrast to the RAAL HPs, which are more like Bruce Lee--you've already been smacked in the face before you even realize he's winding up for a punch.) The Valkyria is great for anything with acoustic guitar, like Rodrigo y Gabriela, Syncatto, Al Di Meola, and Manuel Gardner Fernandez. Surprisingly, I've also found it to be great with technical metal that doesn't rely too much on distortion (Animals as Leaders, DT, Night Verses, Polyphia, etc.)

There are a couple weird things about it, though. I seem to be getting headaches fairly frequently with long listening sessions (and almost all of my listening sessions are long--3 to 8 hours). I don't always get headaches, so it may just be coincidental. But I wonder. Has anyone else had that problem? I'm still fiddling with the fit, and probably don't have it quite dialed-in yet. Perhaps that's the reason for the headaches. Any fit advice?

Finally, I'm getting occasional little electric or static shocks from the Valkyria. It's not constant, and I haven't yet figured out what triggers the shocks. It's not particularly strong or bothersome, but definitely noticeable. None of my other HPs do this, so I'm pretty sure the Valkyria is the culprit. Had anyone else noticed this? Any solutions?

 

[normie610]

There are a couple weird things about it, though. I seem to be getting headaches fairly frequently with long listening sessions (and almost all of my listening sessions are long--3 to 8 hours). I don't always get headaches, so it may just be coincidental. But I wonder. Has anyone else had that problem? I'm still fiddling with the fit, and probably don't have it quite dialed-in yet. Perhaps that's the reason for the headaches. Any fit advice?

Perhaps because it’s quite heavy. Fortunately I don’t have such problem, it sits comfortably on my head with no headache nor neck pain. On the contrary, my 1266 TC occasionally gives me neck pain. So perhaps try to adjust the sliding rods until you find a more comfortable position.

Finally, I'm getting occasional little electric or static shocks from the Valkyria. It's not constant, and I haven't yet figured out what triggers the shocks. It's not particularly strong or bothersome, but definitely noticeable. None of my other HPs do this, so I'm pretty sure the Valkyria is the culprit. Had anyone else noticed this? Any solutions?

i haven’t experienced any static shocks so far. Which amp do you use to drive Valkyria?