[Trerit]

Basically, I would like to get an idea as to what i should look for and what I should listen to if I have the chance...

 
When I just bought the Magni 2u and Modi 2u stack last year I read about the HE-400i and went to the only place i could find where they actually had them. 
I then listened to the HD700 and liked the highs a lot better but found it lacking in the lows and lower mids compared to the HE-400i.
Went with the HE-400i's and been loving them but always been thinking about the highs of the HD700 (going a bit on memory as this was over a year ago.)
From a headphone point of view i would like something with the highs of the HE-700 and with the lows of the HE-400i. Budget, probably a thousand dollars. maybe more. 

As for amp i just got the KEF LS50 speakers and accidentally got a Black Schiit Ragnarok to drive them.
I’m quite happy in the amp department

I have only listened to 2 dacs in my life, Chord mojo borrowed at hifi store to audition headphones, and Schiit Modi 2U which i currently use at home. I like the Modi 2U better but I cannot explain why, perhaps because it’s in shiny metal and because I own it? have not compared them side to side.. 
The Ragnarok is balanced so should I look for some balanced DAC's? budget is probably a thousand dollars or more..


All help is welcome

 

[akg fanboy]

Your ragnarok can drive the kefs? Wow, I didn't know headphone amps had enough power as they usually recommend 50-100w @8ohm.
 
I think the closest to the hd700 highs and he400i bass that you will get is the hifiman he6 which is known for its powerful and deep bass extension and sparkly highs. Do you think the treble on the he400i is lacking compared to the hd700? My he560 has deep bass with great but neutral treble extension.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

HE-6 is a good recommendation and will keep you happy for a very long time. I'm on the record having a pretty contemptuous opinion of HD700—HD800 is so, so much more fine, and with a couple mods and some EQ has much tighter, more extended bass (not that I need it for classical) though a smidgen less impactful. The highs, too, are more transparent and less sibilant. HE-560 would be the logical upgrade from HE400, as well as the old HE-500, though the new HE1000 should be on your radar (its signature is less tactile and more laid back). LCD-X is worth auditioning, though you may dislike the highs. Try N90Q, if you can. It does best plugged straight into your USB port, which wastes the mighty ragnarok some, but is worth it nonetheless.
 
Get Yggy if you can. Otherwise, Gumby is mighty.

 

[Trerit]

  Your ragnarok can drive the kefs? Wow, I didn't know headphone amps had enough power as they usually recommend 50-100w @8ohm.
 
I think the closest to the hd700 highs and he400i bass that you will get is the hifiman he6 which is known for its powerful and deep bass extension and sparkly highs. Do you think the treble on the he400i is lacking compared to the hd700? My he560 has deep bass with great but neutral treble extension.

 
"Maximum Power, 8 ohms: 60W RMS per channel" My living room isnt the largest of things so i don't need anymore power. Usually have the Rag at max gain setting, 2 o'clock position when listening through the LS50's.
HE6 is on my to listen list.  I used ATH-CK10's(iem) for a year and their treble is the best i have heard, might be why I feel its lacking.

  HE-6 is a good recommendation and will keep you happy for a very long time. I'm on the record having a pretty contemptuous opinion of HD700—HD800 is so, so much more fine, and with a couple mods and some EQ has much tighter, more extended bass (not that I need it for classical) though a smidgen less impactful. The highs, too, are more transparent and less sibilant. HE-560 would be the logical upgrade from HE400, as well as the old HE-500, though the new HE1000 should be on your radar (its signature is less tactile and more laid back). LCD-X is worth auditioning, though you may dislike the highs. Try N90Q, if you can. It does best plugged straight into your USB port, which wastes the mighty ragnarok some, but is worth it nonetheless.
 
Get Yggy if you can. Otherwise, Gumby is mighty.

I do like open for comfort reasons. Its also easier to speak with open headphones on (skype etc) so I will still listen to the N90Q but i will probably not end up buying it
So check out HE1000, LCD-X, HE-6, Maybe the HE-560.

Gumby is the only DAC i have thought about so far, does it have any rivals at its pricerange?`im thinking the multibit version.
 

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

It has no rivals in any price range except Yggy, and then the parade car-priced DACs.
 
Elear and Utopia would be worth hearing, ditto Ether Flow.

 

[Trerit]

So I decided I will get the Yggy as an x-mas gift to myself... hahaha... my wallet cries..
I was reading in the Yggdrasil impressions thread saw this

  If you can spare the money and if you're even remotely thinking of upgrading to the yggy from the gungnir in the future, just save your time and money and go for the Yggy. 

 
set my pricerange for next years new headphones to 1400usd (at the moment, just doubled the amount i was wanting to spend on a dac soooo)

 

[SeaWo|f]

Before you pull the trigger on the yggy it would be a good idea to check out the "life after yggy" thread in the high-end audio forum. The author compares a very large number of dacs directly to yggy. His conclusion was to add a holo audio spring dac lvl 3 to his collection $2700 and keep the yggy. He has a list for quick reference with a simple + or - vs yggy along with price and a link to his detailed comparison.

I have a black rag would like a black yggy to match not sure if they are ever going to have them again though. Spring dac comes in black so it doesn't doesn't clash with my office decor.

 

[Trerit]

Nice one! Never heard of it. How come i have never heard of this DAC? All I see everywhere is "schiit yggy, best DAC"

However, yggdrasil is upgradeable, hopefully that means that in 5 years i can pour 500bucks on it and its no longer outdated!(I have no clue what it realy means)

 

[Trerit]

  Nice one! Never heard of it. How come i have never heard of this DAC? All I see everywhere is "schiit yggy, best DAC"

However, yggdrasil is upgradeable, hopefully that means that in 5 years i can pour 500bucks on it and its no longer outdated!(I have no clue what it realy means)

From schiits site, "This means that any part of Yggdrasil can be updated as standards change. Better USB? Sure. Better SPDIF? Sure. More processing power? Sure. Different DAC and analog section? Sure. This is one DAC you won't be throwing away when things change."

 

[SeaWo|f]

  That is one of the good things they do for their customers. It has yet to be relevant on the real high end stuff, so we will have to see.
  The thing is once you get into this kind of top shelf gear you cant simply go on price, price/performance ratio is just out. And simply declaring something "the best dac" really doesn't make a great deal of sense. Many of these products are on the same level and it comes down to the way that they present the music, how it matches with your other gear and how you respond to/listen to music. The best dac for you might not be the best dac for me. Granted HP and amp have a greater effect on presentation... but IMO at these price points even how the dac presents the music is relevant despite the difference being smaller, relatively speaking, because you are putting in every last bit of change in your pocket to tune the setup to be exactly how you want to listen to your music. So hopefully you have had the time to develop that understanding, and if you have the opportunity nothing beats demoing gear. If that is not possible read as many things as you can comparing the gear you want and find the common threads because that consensus is about as good as you can do without listening yourself.

 

[Trerit]

I have the understanding of what I want to listen to, what I perceive as better for me or not. I just lack the listening repertoire, I have tried only a handfull of cans, 2 dacs, and 3 headphone amps. I also only have an opportunity to audition gear around 1-2 times a year.
I haven't thought about this until now but if I get an yggdrasil I have a "common setup" that I could easily find in a major city to audition cans with that match what I have home. I would hate to auditon some cans that sound brilliant in a store only to find out that it was indeed the DAC coloring the sound..

I still havent hit the buy button on the yggy, and still thinking about the Spring dac to match my black Rangarok.

 

[Trerit]

So after 4 days of thinking, googling, reading, checking used DAC's and DAC's for sale I ended up ordering an Yggdrasil from Schiit...
I should probably have had more experience listening to more DAC's to truly appreciate a 2300buck piece of gear but...
As long as I can hear an improvement over my Modi 2U I will be keeping it (15day return policy from Schiit).
I will however try to listen to more DAC's when I have the chance. And I will go headphone shopping sometime next year.

On my to buy list so far is a Isotek EVO 3 Sirius Power Cleaner
I have a problem that I can hear when the compressor of the fridge turns on and of through my headphones. (small click/pop). Even if its gone once I get the Yggdrasil, I still don't feel its good that my fridge turning on and of would have an audible impact. If any one knows of anything in the same price range or lower than the Sirius give me a shout
 
As for headphones, these are the ones I will try to listen to next time I'm in town. Store 2 has Yggdrasil/Ragnarok combo so thats kinda cool. The prices that are listed is what I have to pay to get them in my country. I do feel that 2000usd is above my budget but I will listen to them nonetheless as I might end up saving a bit longer just to get them if I feel it is worth it.

Brand	Model	Price USD	Location	Comment
Hifiman	HE6	NA	NA	could not find them an store.
Hifiman	HE1000	$           3,923	Store1/Store2	expensive
Audeze	LCD-X	$           2,639	Store1/Store2	expensive ish
MrSpeakers	Ether Flow	$           2,399	Store1	tiny bit expensive.
Grado	GS2000E	$           2,027	Store1	On budget!
Sennheiser	HD-800S	$           1,799	Store1/Store2
Audeze	LCD-2	$           1,559	Store1/Store2
MrSpeakers	Ether	$           1,439	Store1
Focal	Elear	$           1,319	Store1/Store2
Hifiman	HE560	$              935	Store1/Store2	Cheapo!

 

[buke9]

So after 4 days of thinking, googling, reading, checking used DAC's and DAC's for sale I ended up ordering an Yggdrasil from Schiit...

I should probably have had more experience listening to more DAC's to truly appreciate a 2300buck piece of gear but...

As long as I can hear an improvement over my Modi 2U I will be keeping it (15day return policy from Schiit).
I will however try to listen to more DAC's when I have the chance. And I will go headphone shopping sometime next year.


On my to buy list so far is a Isotek EVO 3 Sirius Power Cleaner
I have a problem that I can hear when the compressor of the fridge turns on and of through my headphones. (small click/pop). Even if its gone once I get the Yggdrasil, I still don't feel its good that my fridge turning on and of would have an audible impact. If any one knows of anything in the same price range or lower than the Sirius give me a shout

As for headphones, these are the ones I will try to listen to next time I'm in town. Store 2 has Yggdrasil/Ragnarok combo so thats kinda cool. The prices that are listed is what I have to pay to get them in my country. I do feel that 2000usd is above my budget but I will listen to them nonetheless as I might end up saving a bit longer just to get them if I feel it is worth it.

Brand	Model	Price USD	Location	Comment
Hifiman	HE6	NA	NA	could not find them an store.
Hifiman	HE1000	$           3,923	Store1/Store2	expensive
Audeze	LCD-X	$           2,639	Store1/Store2	expensive ish
MrSpeakers	Ether Flow	$           2,399	Store1	tiny bit expensive.
Grado	GS2000E	$           2,027	Store1	On budget!
Sennheiser	HD-800S	$           1,799	Store1/Store2
Audeze	LCD-2	$           1,559	Store1/Store2
MrSpeakers	Ether	$           1,439	Store1
Focal	Elear	$           1,319	Store1/Store2
Hifiman	HE560	$              935	Store1/Store2	Cheapo!

The Yggy is going to take about a week to settle in it likes not to be turned off . If you turn it off for any length of time expect about 12 to 24 hours before it warms back up again. It might sound a little crazy but it does make a difference. After she's good and warmed up I think you'll be happy I know I am.