As promised from my
review video, here are some additional thoughts on Liric 2’s signal chain pairings.
A few notes to set this up…
Clearly it’s unusual for me to make a supplemental post like this in addition to a 45 minute review video on YouTube. I was quite positive about the Liric 2 in the YouTube review based on what it’s capable of, but it needs to be understood that not everyone will obtain the same results because of how reactive it is to signal chains. So, this post exists for that reason and because Liric 2 is so new there is going to be almost no information about signal chain synergies for it out there yet. Also this approach means the review video didn’t turn into an hour and 45 minutes haha…that would be pushing it even on the scale of my typical verbose bloviations.
The descriptions below are the combinations I was able to hear because I have these amps and DACs on hand during the review. I will NOT be able to answer any questions of nature “Will Liric 2 sound good with ____?” It’s too variable and too difficult to predict. In my notes below you’ll see that I was surprised by some of the pairings, both pleasantly and unpleasantly. It would be irresponsible of me to take guesses on pairings I haven’t heard.
On with the show!
Mobile/Transportable Devices
The Cayin N6ii w/ E02 module and Chord Mojo 2 both have plenty of power to drive Liric 2 and also synergize with it well. I enjoyed the level of detail presentation and overall tonality from both devices. The Mojo 2 adds some dynamic impact that the N6ii doesn’t quite have. But I consider both of these good matches.
The Chord Hugo 2 has plenty of power but I personally didn’t like the synergy. I think it pushed the mid-range forward a bit too much and threw off the otherwise strong tonal balance in the mids of the Liric 2. This happened whether the the Hugo 2 was powering the Liric 2 directly or if it was used as a dac with one of the amps I name below in between. For whatever reason, this just didn’t work for. Odd given that the Mojo 2 - made by same designer - was pretty good. However, for fans of mid-range forward presentations this may still work well.
DACs
It’s a little more difficult to separate these out from the amps. The only DAC I had to check that consistently didn’t work well with Liric 2 is the Hugo 2. The Schiit Bifrost 2/64, Musician Pegasus II, Ferrum WANDLA (w/ Hypsos), and Berkeley Alpha Series 2 all had examples of sounding good and also sounding less good, based on whatever amp was being used. I used the Geshelli J2S 4493 w/ Sparkos 2502 op-amps very briefly with the Vio HPA-V281. But let’s talk about…
Amps (in order of increasing price)
Nitsch Pietus Maximus - A warmer and smoother presentation, as is this amp’s nature. The detail level of the Liric 2 were more on the relaxed side, but the dynamic impact, particularly in the low subbass came forward a bit more than average (ie average for Liric 2 on the gear that I have to test with). Pietus Maximus will definitely help if you like a more detail relaxed sound and overall velvety presentation but still like some bass impact.
Lake People G111mk2 - This amp, as it does generally, made Liric 2 a bit more active and lively sounding but didn’t hit quite as hard as Pietus Maximus in the subbass. The Lake People also smoothed out the treble tonality more than the Pietus Maximus did, and pushed the detail presentation forward just a hair. This latter point aided in a slightly improved sense of holography due to the slightly more forward details - at least as compared to Pietus Maximus.
In general I think the G111mk2 vs Pietus Maximus for Liric 2 is basically a tossup. If you like smoother and more relaxed, PM. If you want just a bit more detail presence, G111mk2.
Erzetich Perfidus - I normally really like this little amp. It drives Focal Utopia (OG) and Fostex TH900 series beautifully, so I had high hopes. But those hopes were dashed. Liric 2 didn’t respond well sounding VERY mid-forward, shouty/honky/hollow on this amp. It was also too smooth and too detail relaxed for me.
ZMF Homage - My early sense on this amp is that it’s a grown-up version of the JDS Labs Atom and Element amps (it’s a collab with JDS Labs), meaning very clean, clear, quiet, yet still reasonably smooth. Liric 2 responded quite well to this presentation. The detail presentation was among the better I heard in the group of amps I had to listen to. It wasn’t overly dynamic or punchy; not poor but not as forward as some others. The spatial holography was also very good here and the treble tonality was nice and smooth. Good match.
Schiit Mjolnir 3 - The slight upper-mid/lower treble forwardness of Mjolnir 3 helped bring the detail presentation a little more forward on Liric 2. The dynamics here are also strong as they generally are with any headphone on the Mjolnir 3. This was the first amp I listened to the Liric 2 on when it arrived and I had a lot of fun with it and Liric 2 together that first night (with the Berkeley Alpha S2 as the dac). After listening to the other amps here, I realized that this match is decent, but there is better for the price. The Homage matched a little better, but better yet was the…
Violectric HPA-V222 - The synergy here might have been the best of the lot save the LTA MZ3 (about which more later). I predicted that the warmer and smoother nature of the Vio V200 series sound would not be a great match and was very pleasantly surprised. The detail presentation here was arguably the best of this whole amp set, striking a great balance of presence without losing the Liric 2’s non-fatiguing nature. The spatial holography was also on point. And the dynamics were also fun and engaging without being overdone. I don’t know what about this pairing made this happen. But my goodness I’m glad it did. Based on the combination of synergy and price, I strongly recommend this amp for Liric 2.
Headamp GS-X Mini - the Mini is an unpredictable beast. It will sound great when you think it shouldn’t and horrible when you think it should. I thought that Liric 2 would match well to it and no, definitely not. The mid-range came way forward and uncomfortably entered shouty/honky/hollow territory, much like Liric 2 had done on Perfidus. The detail retrieval also stepped back even more than usual and the spatial holography mostly collapsed. I DO NOT recommend this pairing, needless to say. And oof there was some bad sibilance on this one too.
Goldenwave Prelude - This was another surprising result. This was not as bad a pairing with Liric 2 as Perfidus or GS-X Mini, but it wasn’t great. The detail presentation and dynamics both took steps back and the spatial holography was also mushy and too undefined for my liking. Liric 2 is the first headphone I’ve heard that didn’t sound at least good on this amp. Sometimes these things happen.
Violectric HPA-V281 - After I finished the review video I went back and tried this one and it was GREAT. Take what I said about the V222 pairing above and add a bit more technical proficiency and dynamic impact. I even tried the Hugo 2 as a DAC here and the 281 helped correct some of the Hugo 2’s midforwardness with Liric 2; not a complete cure, but it helped. Arguably the V281 is the best pairing of the lot.
Ferrum Oor (w/ Hypsos) - This was another strong pairing with an overall result very similar to what the Homage was doing with maybe just a hair more detail. The dynamics weren’t overly impressive but the spatial holography, timbre, and overall tonality were all excellent. However, I wouldn’t recommend buying this amp with Hypsos just for Liric 2 as the combo is over $3000 and the Liric 2 is $2000. But if you already have the Oor to drive your demanding open-back cans and you’re looking to add a closed back to your collection, then yeah, you’re in good shape with Oor + Liric 2.
LTA MZ3 - This was the only amp to better the V222 with detail retrieval, spatial holography, tonality, and timbre. However, it was not quite up to the V222’s level with dynamics. But, here again we’re talking about a $3700 amp with a $2000 headphone. That pairing doesn’t make a lot of sense if that’s going to be your go-to chain.
Final Thoughts
To sum this up I think the ZMF Homage and for sure the Violectric HPA-V222 strike the best balance of being price appropriate for the Liric 2 and also synergizing well with it. I think the V222 is the stronger of the two but the Homage is not far behind. I really like the combos of Schiit Bifrost 2/64 -> V222 -> Liric 2 and Musician Pegasus II -> ZMF Homage -> Liric 2. The HPA-V281 is also amazing. If you find one used it could be a could match price-wise. Up to you whether you want to try to get your hands on one of the limited edition rerelease units at $2800.
Once again a special thanks to Meze Audio for asking me to do a pre-release review. Given how critical I’ve been of their work in the past I was really surprised at their request and it took guts on their part. Respect!
Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Cheers all, and the obligatory: Enjoy the music!
