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The best Schiit amp for 300 ohm headphones like your Sennheisers...

Posted by EdAInWestOC (A) on July 30, 2018 at 18:45:39

In Reply to: Schiit Stuff - Config Options posted by tvr2500m on July 26, 2018 at 10:43:11:

Is the Valhalla 2...by far. You will get the tubed magic of the Bottlehead Crack in a US made product with full warranty support.

The problem is that your HiFi Man HE-400i headphones are the exact opposite type headphones. They run best when matched to an amp that mates well with low impedance headphones (HE-400i - 35 ohms).

The Schiit Modi Multibit DAC is a no brainer choice for the money. You have to spend much more to better its performance. My Schiit headphone setup is as follows:

1) Schiit Wyrd (USB signal cleaner)
2) Schiit Modi Multibit DAC
3) Schiit Loki Tone Controls
4) Schiit Lyr 2 Amp
5) USB Cables - Pangea Silver USB
6) Analog ICs - Kimber 0.5m Hero Cu w/WBT connectors

To drive both headphones you might consider the Schiit Lyr3 with its Multibit DAC module. The Lyr 3 Multibit DAC module is essentially the same circuitry as the Modi Multibit DAC. If purchased for use in the USA you are talking about $699 USD for the Lyr3 with the multibit DAC module and a Russian NOS 6N8S tube.

The Lyr 3 can drive both the HiFi Man HE-400i and your Sennheiser Massdrop cans. I do not own the Lyr 3 so I cannot personally comment on the sound quality but according to the specs you will be able to drive your current headphones and any headphone that will ever be marketed.

The Lyr 3 is a powerful amp capable of lots of power for both low impedance (6.0 watts at 32 ohms) and high impedance loads (900mW at 300 ohms). You may not be able to find a better solution, assuming the Lyr 3 is everything I have read it to be.

My Lyr 2 is excellent. I use it every day to drive a pair of Focal Clears or my HiFi Man HE-400S. My HE-400S get little use now I have my Focal Clears. I am using my Lyr 2 w/Philips 7DJ8 tubes.

I also own the Schiit Magni 3 and have boxed it back up due to poor sound quality. If you own an excellent set of headphones, like your Sennheiser Massdrop cans, the Magni 3 may be not up to the excellent sound quality you are looking for.

I tried driving my Focal Clears with the Magni 3 and the high frequencies were too stringent sounding for my tastes. The setup was exactly the same as above but the Lyr 2 was replaced by the Magni 3. I tried to listen to the Magni 3 for 2 months but it never got better.

The Focal Clears revealed old fashioned SS type high frequency issues. I replaced the Magni 3 with the Lyr 2 and the sound quality issue went away. It was back to beautiful music.

I also owned the older Magni 2 Uber and the Magni 3 is better than the Magni 2 Uber but its not up to driving high quality cans.

Ed
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof

Edits: 07/30/18

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