[TWerk]

   
I recently got my brand new DT-770's delivered same day, on a Sunday no less.  Once my rebate comes in, my final out of pocket will be $130, taxes, shipping, etc.  They're $229 now.
 
 
Some of us have until January 31st to return the Modi / Magni combo to Amazon.  Essentially we're only paying $100 to go from version 1 to version 2 Uber for the combo, not $300.  $249 (Asgard) + $519 (Bifrost Uber) is a whole lot more $$$ than the entry level stack.  If I upgrade again, I'll probably go straight to end game (Yggodrasil and Ragnorak) and call it a day rather than mess around with mid-level stuff.

 
But, the end game is a WHOLE LOT more money than the mid-tier!
 
Rag alone is 1699, ygg is 2299.
 
$4,000 is a very expensive day to call. So is $1,000 on a mid-level stack of schiit.
 
Also, please upgrade the phones MASSIVELY before you even consider to spend $4,000 on your end game rig.

 

[Kapazza]

   
But, the end game is a LOT more money than the mid-tier ($1000)!
 
Rag alone is 1699, ygg is 2299.
 
$4,000 is a very expensive day, to call.

 
True.  But I'm either going to dip my toes in (entry level) or just dive in (end game).  No point in standing in the water waist deep.  That's just silly. 

 

[TWerk]

   
True.  But I'm either going to dip my toes in (entry level) or just dive in (end game).  No point in standing in the water waist deep.  That's just silly. 

 
I totally disagree. Especially with diminishing returns giving you less and less return as you go up the ladder. The mid-tier represents a good trade off with your wallet and great performance.
 
Not only that, but it depends completely on the headphone you need to power. For the great majority of dynamic driver headphones (which are most headphones on the market anyways), they don't need tons of power to drive.
 
I think a $4,000 setup is way overkill when you can get most of the way there for FAR LESS.
 
Heck, I think my Ultrasones pair well with my Matrix M-stage for $200.
 
Spending 20 times that would really make very little sense to me. There are other places to spend your money.

 

[TWerk]

Furthermore, everything is relative. Your $4,000 "end-game" stack will likely not be end game in 5 years from now.
 
There will be newer products and technologies that deliver more for less money. This seems to be the trend at least.

 

[rovopio]

   
I think the specs of each IEM need to be taken into account as well. Some models may fare better. Also, were you using low or high gain?

 
low gain. i posted on previous pages back. low gain, very low volume, so low that the sound is off-centered. now i just decrease the windows OS volume on the taskbar from 100 to 30%, only then i can put the magni 2 uber at 8 o'clock.
 
tried high gain just for kicks, felt like im on a rock concert front row.

 

[MrEleventy]

True.  But I'm either going to dip my toes in (entry level) or just dive in (end game).  No point in standing in the water waist deep.  That's just silly. 

You should talk the grizzlybeast then. He dipped his toes into entry, shot for end game... and then sold everything to comeback to mid-tier.

Sometimes, there's more fun in the journey than the destination... from my own experience at least.

 

[DougD]

  Furthermore, everything is relative. Your $4,000 "end-game" stack will likely not be end game in 5 years from now.
 
There will be newer products and technologies that deliver more for less money. This seems to be the trend at least.

Agree 100% with that.
 
And moreover, with the introduction of the iFi iDSD micro, the Schiit Modi 2 Uber, the Schiit Fulla, the pending Oppo HA-2, and probably some others that I'm not thinking of off-hand, it appears we're at an inflection point where some disruptively priced products are going to totally shake up the price/value relationships we've been seeing in DACs for a while.
 
Staying two years behind TOTL state-of-the-art is a great place to be for the value-oriented audio/music-phile.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Maybe chat with @rb2013. He's had upwards of a 60k rig. Now he uses a lyr with 75 swpg HG tubes, with a tube dac, with hd-800. Says it's his best rig to date. I'm pretty happy with my measly setup. Is there an "end game"? Sure. But at what expense? There's great sound to be had for less.

True.  But I'm either going to dip my toes in (entry level) or just dive in (end game).  No point in standing in the water waist deep.  That's just silly. 

 

[Kapazza]

   
I totally disagree. Especially with diminishing returns giving you less and less return as you go up the ladder. The mid-tier represents a good trade off with your wallet and great performance.
 
Not only that, but it depends completely on the headphone you need to power. For the great majority of dynamic driver headphones (which are most headphones on the market anyways), they don't need tons of power to drive.
 
I think a $4,000 setup is way overkill when you can get most of the way there for FAR LESS.
 
Heck, I think my Ultrasones pair well with my Matrix M-stage for $200.
 
Spending 20 times that would really make very little sense to me. There are other places to spend your money.

 

  Furthermore, everything is relative. Your $4,000 "end-game" stack will likely not be end game in 5 years from now.
 
There will be newer products and technologies that deliver more for less money. This seems to be the trend at least.
 

 
I'm a big fan of buying used, using until I'm ready to upgrade, then selling for more than I paid.  I do it often with cars, musical instruments, consumer electronics, etc.  I would never pay full retail for that combo. Actually, five years from now, I'd probably have already sold and "upgraded" at least five times.  It's the best of both worlds when you can keep your equity while utilizing.
 
But I do see your point completely.  Mid tier is definitely the way to go for a lot of people.
 

I'm pretty happy with my measly setup. Is there an "end game"? Sure. But at what expense? There's great sound to be had for less.

 
I'm very happy with my current setup, too.  Happy enough to use it for quite some time before thinking about upgrading.

 

[Guidostrunk]

I'm with you there. I always buy "outdated" gear. Lol. I save on average , around 30% of retail. It amazes me how quickly people dump gear that's only a few months old. Makes for some great shopping for folks like me though.

I'm a big fan of buying used, using until I'm ready to upgrade, then selling for more than I paid.  I do it often with cars, musical instruments, consumer electronics, etc.  I would never pay full retail for that combo. Actually, five years from now, I'd probably have already sold and "upgraded" at least five times.  It's the best of both worlds when you can keep your equity while utilizing.

But I do see your point completely.  Mid tier is definitely the way to go for a lot of people.

 

[RSVRMAN]

   
low gain. i posted on previous pages back. low gain, very low volume, so low that the sound is off-centered. now i just decrease the windows OS volume on the taskbar from 100 to 30%, only then i can put the magni 2 uber at 8 o'clock.
 
tried high gain just for kicks, felt like im on a rock concert front row.

So does the Magni 2 Uber have a higher low gain setting than the standard Magni 2? 
 
With my Magni 2 Im regularly at 11:00 and it seems quite quiet to me. The fulla was the same as high gain on the magni 2. Moving the volume pot 1 degree resulted in ear bleeding. From 6:00-6:01.

 

[rovopio]

  So does the Magni 2 Uber have a higher low gain setting than the standard Magni 2? 
 
With my Magni 2 Im regularly at 11:00 and it seems quite quiet to me. The fulla was the same as high gain on the magni 2. Moving the volume pot 1 degree resulted in ear bleeding. From 6:00-6:01.

 
does the short needle even move at 6.01?
 
idk, according to the spec... magni 2 uber put out 1.8W RMS per channel maximum for 16 ohm. my ma-900 is 16 ohm. it really is louder than i can handle, at the lowest balanced volume. lower than that it's off-centered... because it's too low i guess?

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

Any feedback on Philips Fidelio X2 w/ Mangi 2 + Modi 2 would be great.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I recently got my brand new DT-770's delivered same day, on a Sunday no less.  Once my rebate comes in, my final out of pocket will be $130, taxes, shipping, etc.  They're $229 now.

 
You must be one of the lucky few in a qualifying city.
 

  But, the end game is a WHOLE LOT more money than the mid-tier!
 
Rag alone is 1699, ygg is 2299.
 
$4,000 is a very expensive day to call. So is $1,000 on a mid-level stack of schiit.
 
Also, please upgrade the phones MASSIVELY before you even consider to spend $4,000 on your end game rig.

 
Here's the thing: according to someone I hold in very high regard (as well as many others), the Ragnarok and Yggdrasil actually outperform many amps and DACs costing ten times more! So in summit-fi territory, it could still be considered a great value by many. Of course, summit-fi still throws value out the window as a whole. By the time I get those two, I'll be spending $20K+ on the entire system. Those of us willing to go the distance tend to do a lot of research. I don't think anyone on this site would go to the trouble of getting TOTL gear without making sure every piece in the system was of higher caliber, especially the headphones.
 

You should talk the @grizzlybeast then. He dipped his toes into entry, shot for end game... and then sold everything to comeback to mid-tier.

Sometimes, there's more fun in the journey than the destination... from my own experience at least.

Maybe chat with @rb2013. He's had upwards of a 60k rig. Now he uses a lyr with 75 swpg HG tubes, with a tube dac, with hd-800. Says it's his best rig to date. I'm pretty happy with my measly setup. Is there an "end game"? Sure. But at what expense? There's great sound to be had for less.

 
Even though I'm interested in high-end stuff, I still want to add more affordable things to my collection, as long as they bring enough unique things to the table.

 

[MrEleventy]

You must be one of the lucky few in a qualifying city.


Here's the thing: according to someone I hold in very high regard (as well as many others), the Ragnarok and Yggdrasil actually outperform many amps and DACs costing ten times more! So in summit-fi territory, it could still be considered a great value by many. Of course, summit-fi still throws value out the window as a whole. By the time I get those two, I'll be spending $20K+ on the entire system. Those of us willing to go the distance tend to do a lot of research. I don't think anyone on this site would go to the trouble of getting TOTL gear without making sure every piece in the system was of higher caliber, especially the headphones.


Even though I'm interested in high-end stuff, I still want to add more affordable things to my collection, as long as they bring enough unique things to the table.

+1; I climbed the Beyer ladder to the T1s but I've dabbled in mid-fi of other companies like the Senns, AKG, Denon, and more recently ATH.