Detail ability is phenomenal, and demand great recordings while putting up with average ones. Probably not as much raw resolution, but certainly more musicality and to my ears superior enjoyment with plenty of detail, just the right treble and enough bass punch! If the choice was there I'd stick with the Valhalla 2, with the T1's - they make an awesome combo. So how does the V2/T1 combo compare to my beloved SA5000/DAC1 combo. Then back to 24 bit Graceland by Paul Simon and I'm back in valve heaven. But I'm not very content with the recordings lack of detail, so back to some clearer sounds. The T1/V2 combo seems to be pushing through after all - even with this album. The bass impact in "of the girl" is awesome. it doesn't shine but it gets my attention. This disappointment continues as I listen on, but then track 4 "light years" lifts from the dull, lifeless sounds before it.
Nothing can save the dull congested sound of Breakerfall, the first track. well it has an improved visceral feel, so these too get the nod but I'm not hanging around on these lesser "recorded quality" albums.Īny failures: yep, I have a binaural recording in 16 bit of Pearl Jam. I'm a fan of violin and the 24 bit recording by Jascha Heifetz & Walter Hendl of Sielius, Prokofiev and Glazunov's violin concertos is way up there - brilliant! So what about some average recordings, in 16 bit, say Hotel Costes or AC/DC's Highway to Hell. Vocals such as in Jackson Brown's late for the sky are wonderful. I've been listening to 24 bit recordings and they are certainly specially improved to my ears. But no longer, valves have now carved a place in my audio experience that I may not easily move from.ĭeciding which music is best improved on the Valhalla 2 is a tough task. Its like the T1s just gained in PRAT (pace, rhythm and timing) with the result of more obvious emotion in the music. The Valhalla 2 plays with my emotions in a way beyond expectation. Treble is less enjoyable, probably because the sibilant qualities can get in the way with the T1s. Plug back into my beloved DAC1 everything sounds thinner. Yes its not burned in, but nevertheless I can offer an opinion - that wow factor is real and growing.
I've been sitting here for five hours now. suddenly every album I tried sounded better. When just out of the box and plugged in "WOW". I settled on the Schiit Valhalla 2 mainly because the reviews here emphasized the detail and value in this little amp. That is when I decided to bite the bullet and try a tube amp designed for headphones. But when those fatman tubes worked, they really did a good job. In fact, I was generally enjoying the DAC1 amp more on good recordings despite the sibilance. Everyone says valves tackle sibilant issues, right? So I plugged in and found some recordings were "better" despite the obvious lack of design for headphones with this amp (way too much power and quite a treble drop off). Not to be daunted I dusted of a 7 year old "Fatman" valve amp. Wasn't taken to the moon and back mind you, but I got the detail, enjoyed the bass to mids and perhaps found a sibilance with the treble which was a little fatiguing. They were "ok" but not near SA5000 level.īut, having a bit of time recently I was reading on Head-Fi a few respected views saying the Beyerdynamic T1 was a detailed enjoyable listen. I've never heard a headphone that could compare to the SA5000 so I was ready to give up after I ordered Sony's more recent offerings and found I really wasn't impressed. Sadly, no replacement pair to be had as they stopped making them two years ago.
When the SA5000 had their right side driver stop I was devastated - even more so when my own exploratory surgery finished them off. After experimenting with Alessandro Pros, I finally fell in love with my Sony SA5000 headphones some time back and they paired well with my Benchmark DAC1/amp.
Let me start by saying I've listened seriously to headphones for a decade. I don't start a lot of threads, but when I'm blown away like today. Well, you'll have guessed what I have to say is good.