Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up
Jul 26, 2017 at 8:19 PM Post #22,771 of 154,809
Another quick Vidar impressions update:

Have had Vidar turned-on continuously for about 48 hours now. It has played music at about mid-volume (Saga) for about 16 hours total and will play probably for another 3 hours today.

I've sat down to listen for about 3 hours total, broken up over 5-6 times at varying lengths (max 1 hour).

Initially I found the sound to be powerful but smooth, maybe a little too smooth. It was a bit rolled off at either ends of the frequency spectrum. I'm thinking this is pretty typical for a new amp that hasn't been broken in fully. Now however it's starting to open up and has a bit more punch in the highs and lows but still smooth in a good way. The mid-range is also very nice and smooth and detailed.

I still feel like it needs some more breaking in time for sure, and I won't be comparing it to my 2 integrateds until after I feel it's been sufficiently broken in.

More to come...

Vidar burn-in update:

50 hours of music at/above mid-volume (Saga). See previous posts for other equipment.

Ok, I'm starting to hear some Crazy Schiit© now...

I haven't really compared this much to my Hegel and Exposure Integrateds yet, but I'm hearing things I never have before I think.

Dynamic.
PRAT.
Smooth.
Warm.
Ballsy.
S o u n d s t a g e
Imaging

And more...all sounds pretty amazing. The dynamics (high and low level) as well as soundstage and imaging really took me by surprise in my recent listening session. Not much direct comparison yet with other amps, but pretty impressed.
 
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Jul 26, 2017 at 8:35 PM Post #22,772 of 154,809
One word - mastering. His CD is likely from the later (subpar) remasters. First (original) vinyl and CD pressings of DSotM and The Wall sound equally good on my Schiit/vinyl setups.
But I prefer my vinyl lately...and I can't point exactly why. There is something in it.
There is even more to the mastering issue that that.
I use a set group of test tracks to compare audio equipment for subtle differences, and both Dark Side of the Moon and Kind of Blue tracks are included. So, I've heard all the various versions of both of them, and my take is as follows:

I have long preferred the original mid-80s CD of DSotM to any subsequent issue.* But then I heard a vinyl rip of an original 1973 UK vinyl pressing by a vinyl ripping fanatic that calls himself "pbthal". Suddenly, it sounded like I remembered hearing it in the 70s. I compared the 1973 UK vinyl rip with vinyl rips of the original MFSL vinyl pressings, and the 73 is still better.

So, what I figured out is that DSotM was such a huge hit in the 1970s that - even if they only used the original two-track master to make copies for each country - US, Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, etc. etc. - the original master tapes wore and lost magnetism prior to the first CD and prior to the first audiophile vinyl.

Kind of Blue is the opposite. The original pressings all had 1/4 tone speed errors (a web search will provide details). But they did the sessions with a "safety copy" running in parallel, and when they unearthed the safeties in the 1990s, they were not only correct speed, but they were also in better shape due to being stored properly and never played.

Again, I've compared all the versions, and I currently prefer the "50th Anniversary CD" (before getting a Schiit Multibit, I preferred the 2007 SACD, but the Schiit does 16-bit, 44.1k so well that I can now hear a more natural sound on the 50th Ann CD.)

In general, when I compare vinyl rips of the same recent material to DSD/SACD and to PCM, my personal finding is that both vinyl and SACD add a very subtle noise that is pleasing to the ear, and thus sounds "better". This is called "euphonic" - a term often used to describe tube sound in the same way. So, I think that mastering makes far more difference, and for many 60s and 70s albums, the original master tapes deteriorated years ago (e.g. upon receiving the master tape for Close to the Edge, Steve Hoffman declared it dead).

(Please don't ask about a source for the vinyl rips - not only is it against the Forum rules, but my original sources are no longer online any more anyway. But I'm sure it is all out there on the Internet somewhere.)

And a big YMMV on all the above. :D

---
* Actually, for DSotM, the definitive version is the Alan Parsons Quad Mix. In the early and mid-70s, Pink Floyd toured with a Quad sound system with giant speaker stacks at the rear of the auditorium. There are certain sounds in DSotM that make no sense - they just seem silly - until you hear the quad mix where they move around the room. Unfortunately, the DSotM SACD used a new mix that was ambient surround. And Parsons was heavily involved in DSotM as an album, so hearing another engineer's later version is not the same. The 2011 "Immersion Blu-Ray" has the original Alan Parsons Quad Mix. Having said all that, I rarely bother to sit in the living room sweet spot with the surround speakers and listen to Quad albums, and so I am usually listening to the Stereo Mix...
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 8:42 PM Post #22,774 of 154,809
Our two year old daughter has been fine keeping away from anything we tell her not to touch. Our nearly one year old son, not so much. Must be a boy/girl thing. I was just thinking today about replacing my stand-mount bookshelf speakers with a sound bar(!) because I am worried he is going to pull one of them down and hurt himself. Now you have me worried about the turntable, too!

How about hanging them from the ceiling or dipoles mounted on the wall. I mean, I have a soundbar but it's just there for the wife and to keep the thieves from looking for the good stuff.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 8:45 PM Post #22,775 of 154,809
The A-S2100 sounds great at 80db or above but the Freya/Vidar sounds excellent at all volume levels.
Whenever I make an improvement to my system (better source, better amp, etc) I found that the range of volume levels that sound good improves. I can play softer/quieter and it sounds good or I can play it louder and it's not irritating. It's one of the things that fuels my upgrade-itis.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 8:50 PM Post #22,776 of 154,809
Whenever I make an improvement to my system (better source, better amp, etc) I found that the range of volume levels that sound good improves. I can play softer/quieter and it sounds good or I can play it louder and it's not irritating. It's one of the things that fuels my upgrade-itis.

You pretty much just nailed exactly what I was thinking about the Vidar as I listen to it... beautiful at low volume, but also devastatingly good at high vols...I'm basically a bit gobsmacked by the sounds this thing is putting out right now...
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 8:51 PM Post #22,777 of 154,809
I am trying to figure out the best way to setup a music server that doesn't cost a fortune.
I used an Intel NUC for a while (Beebox). That works great and is less than $200. But the dedicated SMS-200 or MicroRendu are better. I had the SMS-200.

Since Sonore has an upgrade for the MicroRendu maybe the used market will be flooded with the units people are upgrading from.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 9:59 PM Post #22,778 of 154,809
tomato and tomAto. My experience was a huge difference going from a Atom Based Silent PC to taking the PC away and using the mR. I'm not saying a PC can't do the Job, but a system with Gumby can be better.

Perhaps we should just stop using HUGE words to describe something subtle at best...?
 
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Jul 26, 2017 at 9:59 PM Post #22,779 of 154,809
Which model Maggies? I used one (the pre-production unit they showed at Axpona) with the .7 for a few days at the LA Audio Show and it was an excellent pairing. For many people, the best combo we had in our room. Even the folks from Magnepan that checked our our setup were impressed by it. Plenty of power for the 12.5X19.5 foot room we were in.

Anything up to the 1.7, the top of my budget. I have never used Maggies with less than 100 wpc.

On paper, I can see what you are describing would absolutely be true...would love to have heard it!

But the bottom, line, no sweat for the Vidar?
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 10:06 PM Post #22,780 of 154,809
* Actually, for DSotM, the definitive version is the Alan Parsons Quad Mix.

I have them all, including the Quad Mix, MFSL and pbthal's rips... (you can tell I'm a fan..), but my absolute favorite is BlackTriangle CD (Japan). It's definitely up there with the best vinyl.
 
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Jul 26, 2017 at 10:22 PM Post #22,781 of 154,809
Jason, are you out there? This Eitr thing slams the competition. So does Vidar. So you have been, well, quiet, with the Schiitr Show we're all waiting for. Jil?? I'm thinkin' we might be treated to a Royal Flush!!:L3000:
Carry on.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 10:37 PM Post #22,782 of 154,809
Anything up to the 1.7, the top of my budget. I have never used Maggies with less than 100 wpc.

On paper, I can see what you are describing would absolutely be true...would love to have heard it!

But the bottom, line, no sweat for the Vidar?

No sweat at all, and we played them pretty loudly at times. Had to keep the crowd happy. Magnepan's recommendation for an amp is basically a class a/b amp that actually doubles its output into 4 ohms over it's 8 ohm rating.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 11:11 PM Post #22,783 of 154,809
No sweat at all, and we played them pretty loudly at times. Had to keep the crowd happy. Magnepan's recommendation for an amp is basically a class a/b amp that actually doubles its output into 4 ohms over it's 8 ohm rating.
Superb. I ask because IF my memory serves me, Jason was hesitant to say that the Vidar would be a great
match for Maggis...probably because he did not know for sure...

Getting reports from the field is the only way to be sure I guess. I love Maggies, and the only fly
in the ointment they present is the requirement of a REAL amp, no toys, with real watts. The Vidar,
and the .7 seem to be a a ridiculous steal. Around $1800 for a speaker/amp combo that absolutely
turns the price to performance ratio on it's head.
 
Jul 26, 2017 at 11:38 PM Post #22,784 of 154,809
Vidar burn-in update:

50 hours of music at/above mid-volume (Saga). See previous posts for other equipment.

Ok, I'm starting to hear some Crazy Schiit© now...

I haven't really compared this much to my Hegel and Exposure Integrateds yet, but I'm hearing things I never have before I think.

Dynamic.
PRAT.
Smooth.
Warm.
Ballsy.
S o u n d s t a g e
Imaging

And more...all sounds pretty amazing. The dynamics (high and low level) as well as soundstage and imaging really took me by surprise in my recent listening session. Not much direct comparison yet with other amps, but pretty impressed.
Vidar burn-in update:

50 hours of music at/above mid-volume (Saga). See previous posts for other equipment.

Ok, I'm starting to hear some Crazy Schiit© now...

I haven't really compared this much to my Hegel and Exposure Integrateds yet, but I'm hearing things I never have before I think.

Dynamic.
PRAT.
Smooth.
Warm.
Ballsy.
S o u n d s t a g e
Imaging

And more...all sounds pretty amazing. The dynamics (high and low level) as well as soundstage and imaging really took me by surprise in my recent listening session. Not much direct comparison yet with other amps, but pretty impressed.
Thanks for the Vidar update. Were you the one with a Hegel h80. If so I'd be very interested in that comparison as I'm testing one this weekend. Going a bit crazy trying to match an amp up with my Spatial M3's. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and go full Schitt...
 
Jul 27, 2017 at 12:34 AM Post #22,785 of 154,809
Superb. I ask because IF my memory serves me, Jason was hesitant to say that the Vidar would be a great
match for Maggis...probably because he did not know for sure...

Getting reports from the field is the only way to be sure I guess. I love Maggies, and the only fly
in the ointment they present is the requirement of a REAL amp, no toys, with real watts. The Vidar,
and the .7 seem to be a a ridiculous steal. Around $1800 for a speaker/amp combo that absolutely
turns the price to performance ratio on it's head.

I believe he was talking about a pair of mono Vidars due to their not being officially specified for 4 ohm loads when driven as mono blocks. Though I would think you would have to play them crazy loud for it to an issue. Anyway, a single Vidar has no issues with the 4 ohm load.
 

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