Schiit Valhalla 2 arrived!

[Puma Cat]

My Schiit Valhalla 2 arrived the Friday before last; I had part of one evening to listen to it before traveling to the the UK all last week for work. Had more time to listen to it over the weekend, and I will post my more detailed impressions in the next day or so, but suffice it to say that this is a superb headphone amplifier for high Z (impedance) headphones like the Senn HD-series or Beyers. And it costs a whopping $349.

The Valhalla 2 is a triode based amplifier that is output transformer-less, something said to be ideal for these high Z headphones.

Very very impressed with Schiit Audio. Once again, these guys provide incredible performance per dollar for their products.

Pics and more detailed impressions to come.

Hint: Did some tube rolling already and...Whoa!

[antipop]

Nice !

I've finally read the whole thread on head-fi and I'm amazed by what those guys are doing.

I can't wait to see what they'll come up with next.

[Yamaki]

What tubes did you roll???

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by antipop

Nice !

I've finally read the whole thread on head-fi and I'm amazed by what those guys are doing.

I can't wait to see what they'll come up with next.

Yes, that "book" by Jason was very illuminating both from an audio industry and business development perspective. And very funny in places, too.

It's also clear that Jason and Mike are VERY smart guys, too.

[US Blues]

Originally Posted by antipop

Nice !

I've finally read the whole thread on head-fi and I'm amazed by what those guys are doing.

I can't wait to see what they'll come up with next.

Up next from Schiit is a DAC called "Yggdrasil," which will preserve the all the original source data, while also interpolating time and frequency correct upsampling information. Mike Moffat, the designer, introduced the first stand-alone DAC ever made, and he has called this the DAC he's been wanting to build for 20+ years. The projected retail price is $2299, due in April.

There is another thread on head-fi regarding the Yggdrasil and Ragnarok amp, in it you'll find little tidbits that Mike wrote about his vision and design of the DAC.

[antipop]

Originally Posted by US Blues

Up next from Schiit is a DAC called "Yggdrasil," which will preserve the all the original source data, while also interpolating time and frequency correct upsampling information. Mike Moffat, the designer, introduced the first stand-alone DAC ever made, and he has called this the DAC he's been wanting to build for 20+ years. The projected retail price is $2299, due in April.

There is another thread on head-fi regarding the Yggdrasil and Ragnarok amp, in it you'll find little tidbits that Mike wrote about his vision and design of the DAC.

I've read about Yggdrasil and it looks fantastic on paper. It may be the DAC for my brother as I've gone the PS Audio DS way.

In the thread, Jason mentionned new and unexpected products.

[antipop]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Yes, that "book" by Jason was very illuminating both from an audio industry and business development perspective. And very funny in places, too.

It's also clear that Jason and Mike are VERY smart guys, too.

It gave me a lot of insight on the audio business and on how they work. Since, I have a lot of respect for what they are doing and I'll be sure to follow them in the future.

I've even recommended non-audiophile friends to read it because the business side is also interesting and well written. Anyone looking to launch a company should read this.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Yamaki

What tubes did you roll???

Hi Michael,
I rolled Amperex 7308 Orange Label PQ tubes into the 6N1P slots.

Ooh, la la...

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by US Blues

Up next from Schiit is a DAC called "Yggdrasil," which will preserve the all the original source data, while also interpolating time and frequency correct upsampling information. Mike Moffat, the designer, introduced the first stand-alone DAC ever made, and he has called this the DAC he's been wanting to build for 20+ years. The projected retail price is $2299, due in April.

There is another thread on head-fi regarding the Yggdrasil and Ragnarok amp, in it you'll find little tidbits that Mike wrote about his vision and design of the DAC.

Yes, Yggdrasil looks extremely promising. A review of a prototype version I read about at that pyrate headphone site mentioned that they thought it could fully compete with DACs costing $10,000 and more. Yggdrasil is an R2R design like Theta's DACs, no delta-sigma DAC "issues". Might be a major contender, regardless of it's rather low price for a "statement" DAC.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by antipop

I've read about Yggdrasil and it looks fantastic on paper. It may be the DAC for my brother as I've gone the PS Audio DS way.

In the thread, Jason mentionned new and unexpected products.

Yep, see my post above; a review of a prototype by Purrin at the other headphone forum sounded extremely promising.