[ThanatosVI]

For Pulsar, I’m using this one, a pre production model from Spirit Torino.

How is the Pulsar Ha200 pairing?

 

[nrbatista]

After 1w use, it's still early to submit a definitive opinion. In any case, it's crystal clear the HA 200 drives Pulsar extremely well (Pulsar is not hard to drive, anyway), and so far I don't lack/miss/or feel anything in excess with what I'm hearing, it's a very balanced and engaging combo altogether!

I would say that the HA200 doesn't add or take anything to the Pulsar's sound signature, compared with my Lotoo LPGT Ti, which is my reference for neutrality. Now, I have not heard Pulsar out of any other desktop amplifier to be able to compare apples to apples.

 

[Barone Birra]

Centauri, the new Planar Magnetic from Spirit....
https://www.spirittorino.com/collections/headphones/products/centauri?variant=43755015536897

 

[chesebert]

Not sure it's just a matter of being able to afford it, but rather of being worth it. I had a good listening session with the HE-1 and frankly, I was underwhelmed. For me, Valkyria/Riviera beats it hands down, in every aspect. Can't say about the Shangri-La though, never listened to.

I’m guessing you probably listened to the built in dac in the HE-1, which is like entry-fi quality.

 

[simorag]

Last week I purchased a used Valkyria from a fellow Head-Fi member. It is still early days, but I wanted to share some initial impressions.

Most of my limited audio knowledge has come from reading posts and reviews on Head-Fi. I find it very helpful when a person posting or doing a review provides background on their experience and what gear they have or had. I’ll provide a brief overview of my experience as I think it will help frame how I hear the Valkyria and what I am comparing it with.

I bought my first headphone amp Corda Opera in 2010 and a pair of Grado headphones. I didn’t use them all that much and within a year I moved to a two-channel system. About two years ago I purchased a Sony DMP-Z1 and Focal Utopia. I loved them and was bitten by the headphone bug,,,,,, hard. I jumped down the rabbit whole headfirst and two years later still haven’t come up for air.

I am blessed to have a sizable budget for hobbies, but I work a lot (hence the budget) and wish I had more time for music. The combination of the budget, time constraints, and my nature has resulted in me purchasing a ridiculous amount of gear. I read something about a piece of gear and think “oh, I bet that would sound great” then I buy it. I realize this is not an ideal way to discover what gear I actually like the most because I’m never spending enough time with anything. I do greatly enjoy comparing gear though. I have a couple Oriolus Audio Switcher’s that enable testing multiple headphones/IEM’s with a DAP or multiple DAP’s with one headphone or IEM. When using a desktop system, I will often have two or three full size headphones and switch back and forth listing to them on the same song. I know this is not the best way to test gear but it is something I enjoy doing. However, I’m at a stage where I want to transition from being a gear junkie to diving more into the music and explore genres I’m not familiar with.

My current gear:

Headphones: 1266 TC, Utopia 2022, Meze Elite, Sony MDR-Z1R, Susvara, ZMF Caldera. Valkryia.

IEM’s: Oriolus Traillii, UM Mason FS.

Headphone Cables: Three Danacable Nirvana’s, JPS Labs Superconductor, Eletech Aeneid.

DAP’s: A&K SP3000, Hiby RS8, Sony NW-WM1ZM2, LP6 TI 7th Anniversary.

Desktop: Mola Mola's Tambaqui, DCS full Lina stack, Auris Audio Headonia, Woo Audio WA23 Luna, HeadAmp GS-X MK2, Sony TA-ZH1ES, Zähl HM1 Reference Desktop Headphone Amplifier on order for April delivery.

I like to purchase used gear and find when selling it within a reasonable amount of time the sell price can be very close to the buy price. The list of gear I’ve had and sold is probably a bit larger than the list of gear I currently own.

That background was much longer than I thought it would be, so on to the Valkyria.

I am not an audiophile, perhaps an audiophile in the making, but I don’t have the language or experience to explain things in the way many more experienced people on this thread can. I’ll do my best.

Aesthetics: I care very little about the aesthetics of headphones, they are on my head and I can’t see them. I can understand how some people would think the Valkyria is ugly and some think it is beautiful.

Comfort: This is an area that is almost as important to me as SQ. If a headphone isn’t comfortable, I can’t enjoy it. I loved the sound of the Diana TC but could never find a comfortable fit, so they didn’t work for me. I find the Valkyria very comfortable but with two caveats. The previous owner had a padded leather headband sewn on, I have only worn the Valkyria with this headband and can’t comment on comfort with it in stock form. The second thing is when I move my head the pads make noise as they slightly move on my ears. I’m finding this distracting and wondering if anyone else is experiencing this and if there are other pads I could try that would work better. There is very little clamping force on my ears and so this “looseness” seems to add to the issue. I welcome any advice on this. All in all I find the Valkyria quite comfortable and can wear them for a couple of hours without issue.

Price/Value: My view on price/value is it is completely subjective. If you can’t afford something or think it is overpriced, then that is what you believe. If you can afford something and think it is worth it, then you are right for you.

Sound Quality: This is where my level of experience is going to somewhat limit my ability to describe the sound of the Valkyria. I can’t explain the technical aspects of the sound but will attempt to convey the experience. I try not to gush too much about gear, but boy oh boy, the Valkyria is amazing and unlike any headphone I have tried.

Prior to hearing the Valkyria I thought the 1266 TC was the most different from all the other headphones, not necessarily better, but different. The physical design of the 1266 and the openness of the earpads creates bass and a soundstage that is noticeably different from the other TOTL headphones. The difference (and this case I do mean better) between the Valkyria and all other headphones (including the 1266) is profound to me.

When listing to other headphones I will often be paying attention to a particular part of the song “wow that base is so tight and amazing” – “boy this headphone has remarkable detail in the treble” – “listen to that separation of instruments” – “holy cow the sound stage just got so wide” etc.

With the Valkyria, I am immediately sucked into the music, the song, the singer, the instruments,,,, holistically. I’ll start listing to a song and within seconds I close my eyes and experience the music, the sound is so cohesive, with most songs there is no single thing that is grabbing my attention and causing me to “think” something about it. I simply and quickly find myself “in” the music. The Valkyria causes me to “experience” the music instead of “think” about the headphone. However, there are two areas where the Valkyria does grab my attention (both have been mentioned in this thread) the piano and especially the vocals.

Regarding vocals, there are some songs where I feel like the singer is in the room having a conversation with me or singing in front of me and to me. On some live songs the singer will talk a bit before beginning to sing, it sounds like they are right with me and talking to me. Last night I listened to the Counting Crows August and Everything After. I have a personal and emotional attachment to this album and couldn’t even guess at how many times I have heard it. Last night I “experienced” that album in a brand-new way and it was incredible. It was as if Adam Duritz said “hey, how about we come by and play this album, just for you” and then stood in front of me and sang to me.

I wrote that I try not to gush, I think I failed at that. If someone said I could only ever listen to one headphone again I wouldn’t have to think about it for one second, to me the Valkyria stands apart from all the rest.

This post ended up far longer than I intended. If someone said “You have 3 seconds, tell me what it is like to listen to music through the Valkyria”

“I’m there, it is real.”

Such a beautiful feedback, thank you for sharing!

About not being an audiophile and (thus) enjoying the Valkyria. I totally agree on the wholeness of the music suckering experience being the most seductive part of the V. presentation.

Instead of stimulating the rational, analytical side of listening (hence igniting audiophile tendencies) it pulls the emotional strings in such an authentic, immediate, physical fashion, as live music exposure does, thus reaching our mélomane self directly.

The character of the V. reminds me the child-like, shameless expressivity of several Mahler compositions. Take for example the 1st, especially this recording. It touches all areas of human emotions, from the noblest, elevating ones to the most trivial humor, the darkest despair, the unfettered joy, in such a seamless and honest way that their contiguity in the same piece of music seems the most natural thing in the world (it wasn't at the time).

With the Valkyria it is like that in a way, you are just drawn into the emotional message of the music without the need of asking permission, or have to concentrate, or expect an aesthetic idealistic portrayal of it, because high and low, clean and dirty, serious and funny, perfect and imperfect are equally interesting and attractive, as they are in reality.

 

[jeffhawke]

After 1w use, it's still early to submit a definitive opinion. In any case, it's crystal clear the HA 200 drives Pulsar extremely well (Pulsar is not hard to drive, anyway), and so far I don't lack/miss/or feel anything in excess with what I'm hearing, it's a very balanced and engaging combo altogether!

I would say that the HA200 doesn't add or take anything to the Pulsar's sound signature, compared with my Lotoo LPGT Ti, which is my reference for neutrality. Now, I have not heard Pulsar out of any other desktop amplifier to be able to compare apples to apples.

Nothing beats Pulsar+LPGT Ti as a mobile combo, imho, it's the absolute best.

 

[jeffhawke]

I’m guessing you probably listened to the built in dac in the HE-1, which is like entry-fi quality.

I've had two listening sessions, one in a HiFi store and one at a show, the first one lasting much longer, and in a much better listening environment. Honestly, I was concentrating more on the sound than on the equipment, so I'm not really sure if it was internal or external DAC. However, it doesn't make much sense to have such an expensive piece of equipment connected to a cheap source.

 

[chesebert]

I've had two listening sessions, one in a HiFi store and one at a show, the first one lasting much longer, and in a much better listening environment. Honestly, I was concentrating more on the sound than on the equipment, so I'm not really sure if it was internal or external DAC. However, it doesn't make much sense to have such an expensive piece of equipment connected to a cheap source.

To be clear, the HE-1 comes with its own internal DAC (although you can use an external one). The internal dac is what dealers like to demo HE-1 with (don't know why they would do that), and the internal dac is not great.

 

[paradoxper]

To be clear, the HE-1 comes with its own internal DAC (although you can use an external one). The internal dac is what dealers like to demo HE-1 with (don't know why they would do that), and the internal dac is not great.

Because the design decision is intended as a closed system.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Well.. after a week of listening I decided to let it go (already in Classifieds, hurry up ).

I'm glad I had a chance to listen to these cans in my system. Otherwise I'd be curious for the rest of my life Valkyria is indeed very special, but I still prefer Abyss for majority of my listening. I can clearly see why you guys like Spirit's flagship so much, but TC with its "raw and powerful" sound suits me better. Valkyria will be missed, but I decided that I don't need multiple cans at home.

 

[moosemp]

Well.. after a week of listening I decided to let it go (already in Classifieds, hurry up ).

I'm glad I have a chance to listen to these cans in my system. Otherwise I'd be curious for the rest of my life Valkyria is indeed very special, but I still prefer Abyss for majority of my listening. I can clearly see why you guys like Spirit's flagship so much, but TC with its "raw and powerful" sound suits me better. Valkyria will be missed, but I decided that I don't need multiple cans at home.

Oh, no

 

[kwilkins]

P.S.: You can easily adjust the clamp force of the headband by twisting it in a certain way. If you email Andrea at Spirit he will send you a short video that explains how, It's really super simple.

Thanks for the tip, I have emailed Andrea for the video.

I too love Genesis. I've seen them six times in concert but was 10 years old for the Lambs tour, so I missed that one.

 

[jeffhawke]

Thanks for the tip, I have emailed Andrea for the video.

I too love Genesis. I've seen them six times in concert but was 10 years old for the Lambs tour, so I missed that one.

Try to find a live recording of one of the concerts you attended, and see if the Valkyria recreates the feeling

 

[nrbatista]

“Duke’s Big 4”, with Duke Ellington, Joe Pass, Louie Bellson, and Ray Brown, it’s such a great album by all standards, and Pulsar perfectly recreates the performance in all its glory!

 

[devilboy]

Heard the Valkyria yesterday at the Florida Expo in Tampa.
Good Lord...
I have the Susvara being shipped soon so I'm curious to hear the difference.
Has anyone heard both?