This is very true, and after reading a bit more in-depth on it too I shouldn’t have said anything about the old design being ‘wrong’… just different and maybe a bit outdated. Like Jason stated on his update about the Lyr 3 that times had changed and a revision was needed. Sounds like Lyr (old and new) still enjoys a good reputation either way.
I’m not sure that anything is actually wrong with my unit anyway as the hum is pretty innocuous - it’s below the noise floor in recordings with high impedance cans usually - I can mainly hear it when paused or source turned low etc - it is just there in the background and more noticably with sensitive headphones. That’s when I’ll actually hear it in quieter parts of songs. I’m not completely surprised as there is no gain setting and the power output is pretty insane. I don’t really need to be using say my Clears or Sundaras on this but I would like to get a bit of the tube sound with them just for fun.
So, just hoping to hear from anyone who may have tried both the old Lyr 1 vs. the new versions/other hybrids to see if I’m not the only one picking up hum on more sensitive/lower impedance cans.
I’m fine with the sound on my HD600s & DT880’s otherwise. I may want to do some tube rolling too to see if that makes much difference… so far I’ve just been breaking in these new EH 6922s for the past little while. Like I said the stock tubes were shot and hummed like crazy, these are very quiet in comparison; not microphonic at all.
Finding myself hooked on the tube glow though, and may be adding more tubes to my life soon…!
I hope you can get it figured out - hum can be infuriating, especially when you can’t figure out what’s causing it - like mosquitos that buzz you in the night but that disappear the moment you turn the light on. I missed that you’d already switched out the old tube for a new one.
It might be worth trying to move around your Lyr - or other nearby components - to see if EMI or grounding issues might be responsible for the hum. I’m not sure if tube hybrid amps are as susceptible to these sources of hum, but my transformer-coupled output tube amp can get pretty uppity if other components are placed too close to it. Then again, what you write about the power output and lack of switchable gain may explain everything. Good luck!
Lyr 3 people, I am thinking about a supplementary amp.
Main headphone consideration is the Utopia, with a VO arriving soon, but the U is more finicky with source I think.
Would the Lyr 3, using a micro iDSD BL as a DAC, fit the bill as a contender amp? This would be more for a casual listening post that I can move more easily around the house than my primary setup of BF2-Starlett. Main requirements would be balanced tonality (essentially avoiding screeching out the treble) and adequate soundstage while preserving as much as possible the Utopia speed/dynamics. I could tolerate some detail loss, Im not looking to replicate the BF2-Starlett combo. The BL is an OK dac/amp combo for the Utopia but the soundstage is just narrow.
I have no issue buying an upgraded tube for the Lyr 3 if it gets me what Im looking for.
I am a BF2-Lyr3 person but I wonder if the Asgard 3 is what you need, especially if you’re going to move it around. @bpcarb has an Asgard 3 and has spent a lot of time with a Starlett, and I believe he regards it as complementary.
I can’t speak to the A3 and Utopia pairing, but I could see it providing an enjoyable and balanced listen, and also being more mobile than a tube hybrid. Another more mobile option is the JDS Labs Element 2.
@MRHifiReviews did a recent video review on the Utopia that might be informative. I believe he owns a Lyr 3.
I have no treble issues at all with my desktop stuff or the BL with the U so either they are warm enough to attenuate the treble or Im not sensitive to brightness per se.
Do you recall as to how you found the staging?
When I say moving around I mean just easier to move from spot to spot occasionally, I dont fancy myself carrying it under my arm as I wander through the house, so the tube nature of the amp isnt really an impediment to that. The A3 may be a reasonable pairing, I havent looked into that one as much. Its supposedly a little more laid back like the Lyr3 in comparison to other Schiit amps but I dont know much about the headstage it throws.
Interesting, but the product description has too many similarities to my Black Label.
A couple of questions, if I may? Are you referring to the Lyr 3 here, and did you use the Airist as the DAC? I’m sorry to ask but I’ve got the Clear and the Airist and I’m plotting and scheming my way to getting the Lyr 3. (I’m not just trying to copy your setup, I promise! )
Listening to my BF2 > A3 > Eikon, the stage is good (more so for width and height versus depth) and not lacking to my ear, keeping in mind it’s solid state.
The Lyr 3 will likely deliver better stage, and your desired tonality, especially if equipped with the right tube.
The Lyr just takes the edge off of the Clear (which I consider a neutral-bright headphone), while adding those fun and natural sounding tube harmonics. It’s a really nice listen, imo.
Your Ebony’s will sound good on the Lyr 3 as well (I’m partial to efficient, low impedance headphones).
That’s great to hear - thank you for the confirmation and for the impressions. I’m on the same page as you about the Clear being neutral-bright, and out of my MCTH, which is an excellent pairing, the top end can be a bit bright in a kind of hard, glassy, or crystalline way.
That’s good to hear about the Ebony’s, too. I’ve seen someone else on another forum state that the Lyr 3 has a good, firm grip on the Fostex driver. I’ve also seen plenty of praise for the Lyr’s ability to drive the LCD2-C, so it’s looking increasingly as though I’ll have no choice but to get the Lyr 3. I have a hunch that it’ll be at that sweet spot where you can get a synergistic pairing with the Clear while also getting the right amount of performance out of these cans without spending too much money.
Now I’m wondering if the Bifrost 2 + Lyr 3 would = an overly warm sound from the Clear?! I do really like my Airist, though!
I’m listening to Heir by Public Memory that was mentioned in this thread through a Bifrost 2 + Lyr 3 + Stellia (which I believe is warmer than the Clear). There are a lot of metallic clanking sounds going on throughout, along with a superb gloomy bass synth that underpins the song. I would say that combination of equipment is rich and warm, with smooth treble, but still lots of detail, but I think that is more the sound of the Stellia coming through than the DAC and amp, which I always thought of as a slightly warmer than neutral solid state sound with a little bit of tube color before I got the Stellia
If you replace the Stellia with a Clear in that lineup, I suspect you’re back to neutral and detailed, but with a little of what @ValentineLuke described as taking the edge off, depending on what tube you select.
Thank you! That sounds good - as does the song you shared, which I’ve added to my bandcamp purchase list. (It vaguely reminds me of Pantha du Prince’s The Splendour, although that’s a different genre).
What you’re describing for the Lyr 3 combination sounds great. It’s good to hear the Stellia work well for you with that setup. Sweet!
I ask about the Bifrost 2 pairing, in part, because of my cunning plan for world headphone domination - in the dark hours of deepest night, I lie awake scheming about getting a Raal SR1a/Jot R or a Vérité/Pendant some day - and when I’m not working to perfect my safe-cracking and tunneling-under-bank-vault skills, I wonder if the BF2 would work as a complementary DAC for either of those setups. One DAC to rule them all?!
One day in the near future, I will have a Verite Open and Pendant. I feel like both of those would have been finished by now if I would just stop interrupting Zach with questions.
I plan on the Bifrost 2 being my “one DAC to rule them all”, feeding both the Lyr 3 and Pendant via a Schiit Sys switch.
And then I’m hopefully done with buying headphones, DACs and amps for a while. Although I don’t have a planar yet, and the Rosson RAD-0 looks cool. The SR1a is awesome too. And I’m sure ZMF will have a new limited edition next year.
Several of us have that combo, but I don’t own any Focals at all. the BF2/Lyr3 is my main setup and I’ve not found it particularly colored for any of my headphones. It seems relatively neutral. Perhaps it is slightly warmer with the Grado RS1e than using say the iFi xDSD as both DAC and AMP. I find that a synergistic pairing.
I’ll shut up now, until I get some higher-end phones.
I agree with you. I was a bit hesitant to say it was neutral because a lot of people seem to associate that with the THX sound, whereas the BF2-Lyr3 is more “almost neutral with a bit of musical character” to me.
Yes, exactly. You can have a hint of tube harmonics without being overly warm. It is, after all a hybrid, and not an OTL, or even a tube amp with a transformer in the output. I find the xDSD to be very neutral, and what the hell does that mean? I want to use the word “clinical” but so much of this terminology is BS. It’s hard to find the right words for it.
In DACs, the BF2 is a very clean and revealing DAC, without having what I can describe as a slight edginess of some of the ESS implementations I’ve heard, and with better spacial reference than the Burr-Brown implementations I own.
)
