Thanks for such a quick reply and for the recommendations! I didn’t know I was treble sensitive at all until I set up the magnius, thankfully It’s still only after long listening sessions that it crops up.
I am leaning towards the gsx over the phonitor at the moment, but what other amps in this price range would you suggest I look at?
If you wanted to try something out, if you get the chance, try and asgard 3 imo and see what you think.
Considering what headphones you have and you are in the 2k ish range, a used pass hpa-1 is a possibility if you get lucky and happen to find one (a really good balance of technicality and refinement, neutral more crafted sound that’s a bit smoother leaning), a violectric v280 or 281 paired with a soekris dac like a 1541 or 2541 is always a nice combo (neutral, controlled, impactful, refined, and technical without being harsh with a slight bit of warmth). Also a bryston bda-1 is pretty great if you wanted something a bit warmer richer leaning but still pretty clean. If you wanted to lean fully verite you might actually find the zmf pendant (warmer smoother thicker, more bodied while still being decently technical) to work surprisingly well with your lcd 3 along with your verite but not so great with your focal imo. You actually could go for a lta mz2 with the lps psu (more neutral clean but also very organic at the same time) which would handle all your headphones really well. I’m not sure if these can be found used yet but a cayin ha-6a would work well with the headphones you have for the most part (warmer smoother fuller impactful but still technical)
Thank you again for the detailed list of recommendations! I have a lot more rabbit holes to fall down now. I’ll keep an eye on the used market for sure, but I’m tempted to pick up a Pendant as a second amp. I don’t think I can fit two expensive amps into the budget though!
just discovering this thread, im really considering upgrading from the monoprice thx desktop to the Holo PCM, and then if needed go gsx down the road, @M0N is this really better than the Bifrost? Is this your dac/amp of choice at this pricepoint?
In some aspects yes, in others no, the holo is more detailed, more spatially accurate, quicker with better separation and extension, but the bifrost does have better impact and tonal density, but overall imo the cyan is a more capable dac than the bifrost, timbre might be a tie but slightly to the bf2
As a dac/amp combo, the amp in there is surprisingly solid but overall I don’t know if it’s really much better than an asgard 3 for example. As a combo unit it’s good but it’s very dac focused more than amp, so if you plan to grab the cyan now and a nicer amp down the line it could make sense
Hmm my plan for amp was the gsx, i know youve rec’d it in the past with the Bifrost, now im torn, would you rec the spring 2 with the gsx as an absolute upgrade? i can sell the Moog lol
Spring 2 with gsx is a really excellent pairing imo, that is prob my favorite pairing with the gsx for the price
ok sold thank you
Which version of the spring 2?
Preferably the KTE but the base L2 (or L1) is still really solid and worth considering
It does look great. I watched a review on that dac awhile ago.
I’m not sure if these can be found used yet but a cayin ha-6a would work well with the headphones you have for the most part (warmer smoother fuller impactful but still technical)
Thoughts on this amp and price? I’ve only seen a midfiguy review where he reviewed it favorably but had some real hum / noise floor issues with many of his dynamic headphones via the balanced output. Did you experience a noise floor issue with the one you listened too? Have you heard both this and the HA300 as the big brother typically goes for around $3k uses where this is $1k cheaper so not sure if this will perform near the same level.
she is a sexy amp
Hum can often be indicative of an environmental issue.
Doesn’t really help you much if it hums in your environment, and some amps seem more predisposed to it than others. I never resolved the hum on my pendant on the high impedance out into more sensitive dynamics. And my case was not isolated.
But the person who bought my pendant, doesn’t hear it, different environment.
And FWIW i tried everything short of a power regenerator (which i didn’t have at the time) to resolve it.
FWIW a KT88 based amp even triode strapped will be dryer than a 300B amp. And potentially very dry in ultra linear mode, though the rest of the circuit has a significant impact here.
Solid overall sound wise, sig depends on the tubes but I prefer kt88 which is more neutral with a bit of warmth but great punch and dynamics with good clarity and stage, great power and control while being decently organic.
It does have a slight noise floor with more sensitive headphones, but when I have demoed it I did not experience hum
They don’t preform at the same level, and they also go for a different signature. The ha300 focuses on density, organics, and is pretty controlled and refined, the ha-6a focuses more on something a bit more neutral, punchy, and more a macro focus. Overall technicalities end up going to the ha300 pretty easily imo.
Thx I’ll pass on this one @ $2k and wait for the HA-300 @ $3k to pop up on classifieds. About every 6 months one will pop up on headfit or US audio.
Really really enjoying my Soekris 1321. Came from a Modi 3 > Topping E30 > Soekris, so this is not only a jump up in price, but also it just feels like it has more flavor, depth and warmth to it. As someone that basically only listens to music for enjoyment purposes, I feel like it will be difficult to go back to a delta-sigma dac after using R2R.
With that said, how does something like a Topping D90 or SMSL M400 compare to stuff like Denafrips Ares 2 or Soekris dacs? Because the D-S dacs I have been using are cheaper I am curious if more expensive options would change my mind, or if I just genuinely should stick to R2R from here on out
The Delta Sigma DACs seem to kind of run out of gas in terms of performance after the $200 mark. R2R owns quite a bit of the quality. M0N can comment but later on there are some REALLY good Delta Sigma DACs a few can recommend. way over the $1k mark. The only exception is the Allo Revolution I believe. Personally I went all ladder dacs and never looked back.
Got an Yggdrasil recently for my desktop… the goal was to make some desktop space by trying to check out an all in one solution DAC/Amp. I wanted to upgrade from a Liquid Platinum fed by a Holo Cyan. I had an opportunity for a Burson Conductor 3X Ref and I jumped at it and immediately regretted due to the poor DAC implementation. The amp is wonderful but the DAC is a disservice. (I was warned and I went in eye wide open so it wasn’t a surprise).
So what do I get to replace my Holo Cyan? An Yggdrasil… remember I wanted to gain some desk space. LOL
After a few weeks with the Yggy though, I have to say I love it. It’s not as technically perfect as the Cyan, and the natural timbre of the Cyan is still pretty damned fantastic. The Yggy doesn’t fall too short and more than makes up for the timbre and technical differences.
The sound of the Yggdrasil is very wide, very tall and it had DEPTH… on a two speaker desktop, depth. The sound signature is a bit different, not night and day but there’s clearly more warmth and smoothness while maintaining great detail. Not as good as the Cyan, but I’m just enamored by the stage on this thing. I might be tempted to even try it on my main system where I have the Lampi Amber 3, a DAC that stages insanely well. I’m getting a lot of that same holographic feel and did I mention depth? I’m not noticing the stage height and instrument placement that I get in my main system with the Lampi but it’s not an apples to apples comparison so I may try to put the Yggy in the living room just for giggles.
Very happy with the Yggy, not so happy that I have even less desk space than when I started. But hey, we suffer for our hobby.
Talking here about the Analogue 2 Unisom USB version. Comparing the inputs, I’m feeding the Yggy BNC from a Pi2AES. (definitely sounds better than USB) But the Unisom USB doesn’t improve much when I put a DDC between my PC and the DAC. The connection is USB for Windows sound and BNC for music listening.
Thanks for sharing, that was cool to read and nice that the Ygdra cam through and saved the day.
I had one for about a month… The DAC isn’t great but I didn’t think it was a disaster. IMO you should take a $100 L and sell it on headif.
The move to make is wait for a Soloist 3XP to pop up on the classifieds. After the pre-buy initial wave I stuck pretty close to the thread as was seeing them being sold for ~$850 or $900 with extra op amps. Didn’t end up buying the Soloist but at that price it’s a killer amp IMO.