Schiit - Valhalla 2

THE NEXT GENERATION OF VALHALLA, THE VALHALLA 2 IS THE ALL-NEW HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER AND PREAMP

Schiit started its journey in 2010 when two audio industry veterans decided it was time to shake things up. The two audiophiles are Jason Stoddard, formerly of Sumo, and Mike Moffat, formerly of Theta. Together, they have designed dozens of audio and A/V products. Schiit has long remained a favourite manufacturer of digital converters and headphone amplifiers among audiophiles. The Valhalla 2 is the all-tube amp from the brand designed to drive your headphones to their full potential. Schiit Valhalla 2 is essentially the reincarnation of Schiit Valhalla! with lower distortion and output impedance, higher output capability, and improved performance. The Schiit Valhalla 2 is a remarkable digital product that is an all-tube amplifier that will be a perfect match for your headphone arsenal. Schiit Valhalla 2 takes the headphone’s sound to all-new levels! You will hear that the sound has improved by becoming richer, warmer, and more precise after giving it a listen.

EXPERIENCE TUBE MAGIC WITH VALHALLA 2 FUSED WITH 6N6P and 6N1P TUBES TO DELIVER BRAIN MELTING AUDIO REPRODUCTION

The Valhalla 2 has four tube-two small 6N1P tubes and two long 6N6P tubes—so you can hear how your headphones differ in sound. Listening to your favourite pair of headphones with the Valhalla 2, a single-word description of the sound would be "grandiose." It's clear and clean, but the Valhalla 2 imparts a sense of beauty to the sound of well-recorded acoustic tracks. There's more substance to the audio; with the necessary holographic and full-bodied presentation. You won't notice any colouration in how the recording is reproduced; instead, you'll hear the audio with a sense of realism and accuracy that you've never heard before. Your music seems to be given life and made to come alive by the Valhalla 2. You're in for a surprise if you were anticipating syrupy, tubby, euphonically coloured tube sound. Valhalla 2 is incredibly accurate, impartial, and conclusive without being ostentatious or stilted. It keeps all the triode goodness of Valhalla and adds additional versatility with adjustable gain and preamp outputs. Use it with harder-to-drive headphones, IEMs, and as a tube preamp for your system or powered monitors!

METICULOUSLY DESIGNED AND BUILT IN CALIFORNIA, FUSED WITH GAIN SWITCH AND PRE-AMP OUTPUTS

Although the Valhalla 2's all-metal chassis resembles other Schiit products, it differs from older amps in that it includes preamplifier outputs, allowing it to be used with a stereo amp to power speakers or a pair of powered desktop speakers. Valhalla 2 is an all-tube design; with a single voltage gain stage, current source biassed front-end and optimised output stage, and a DC-coupled input. While most tube OTL (Output TransformerLess) amplifiers are only designed to accommodate 600 or 300-ohm headphones, Valhalla 2 goes above and beyond to support headphones you'd ever think to pair with a tube amp. The gain switch allows for improved output level and impedance control, allowing for better amplification. You can use Valhalla 2 with sensitive and low-impedance headphones and IEMs. Valhalla 2's build is smooth yet elegant with high-quality metal housing. All Schiit audio products are designed and made in California. Chassis, boards, transformers, assembly, and other components of the complete Valhalla 2 production are made primarily in the USA. The PCBs are produced nearby in NorCal, while the Schiit Transformers are constructed in California.

The Schiit Story

The story of Schiit Audio begins with two veteran audiophiles Jason Stoddard, formerly of Sumo, and Mike Moffat, formerly of Theta coming together to shake things up a bit. Both of them have extensive experience in developing lots of audio and A/V products including the Andromeda III, Cobalt 307, DS Pre and Angstrom 200. From power amplifiers, I/V conversion stages, D/A converters, relay-switched stepped attenuator volume controls in preamps to developing the first DTS home theatre surround processor on the market, Schiit Audio has developed a lot of audio products over the years.

Getting into Designing Headphones

Headphones are the need of the hour everyone who likes music uses a headphone. Therefore Schiit Audio moved to develop personal audio equipment while continuing to design a speaker-based system which includes the industry-leading preamps, amps and DACs. So right now Schiit Audio has a plethora of audio products ranging from personal audio to speaker-based systems. Schiit designs affordable audio products that bring happiness in your lives.

True Multibit DACs and Unique Digital Filter

Unlike ordinary DACs that use delta-sigma, NOS (new old stock) D/A chips, multibit chips, high-cost R2R ladders, Schiit uses unique DSP-based closed-form digital filter which improves the sonic performance of the multibit DAC. Therefore the Schiit's multibit technology brings all of it together using the current-production, medical/military grade D/A converters.

Innovation in Analog

Schiit has opted for an innovative approach for the analog side as well. Even the most affordable Schiit headphone amplifier is a miniature, fully discrete, DC coupled, current-feedback power amplifier. Schiit is credited for introducing Continuity output stage to solve the issue of transconductance droop which was common in Class AB amplifier design. Schiit has also developed balanced topologies like Nexus in Ragnarok 2 and a perfect combination of tube and solid-state with Coherence in Lyr 3.

Designed with High-End Materials for Durability

All the Schiit products are designed for solidity and durability. Even the smallest of the products are made of aluminium and steel while the larger products are made of high-end C core transformers, power supply filtering and low-noise control. All the products have to go through severe testing procedures including the latest APx555 audio analyzer and Avermetrics analyzers. Every product from Asgard and up goes through burn-in to address the issues faced during the initial period of usage. Schiit takes care of all the service and support requirements so that you can concentrate on great sound.

Handcrafted in the USA

Schiit believes that local control of all the aspects of production improves the delivering of the product. Therefore all the Schiit products are designed and made in the USA and most of the cost of the components are going to the US-based companies. Assembled in the USA means that Schiit's chassis guys are from San Fernando Valley, Schiit transformers are made in California, Schiit boards come from the east coast of the USA and all the designing, assembling and testing of Schiit products happen in Valencia, California.