Not hifi, but definitely heat sink scaring. The vertical pipe with the heat sink is a one way heat pipe full of CO2. The much smaller heat sinks on the side of the enclosure are about 25 lbs each. I’ve wiped blood off all of them at one point or another. For scale, the smaller heat sinks are 12”...

No, the FV has performed well since purchase. I did have a problem earlier that turned out to be operator error so this will be its first trip back to the Schiitr.

I suspect so. Well- support contacted. I guess I need to move the Woo back home from the office

Well, lost audio on my FV tonight. Looks like something gave up the ghost. Good thing Schiit does a decent length warranty.

Very close tastes. I had the Elex and gave it away. Was a dumb move and I still miss it. I Never got a chance to try it on the FV but I bet it pairs extremely well. Re the LCD-X: I bought it mostly because I missed the planar sound and needed something that was efficient enough for my FV...

I also was quite amazed at how well my HD6XX performed on the FV. That said, I still prefer most of my other (much more expensive) headphones.

I’ve been a big tool fan for a long time, but only recently added it to my evaluation tracks. I guess I’m a bit of a Tool evangelist at the moment. :) Another track I love for evaluating gear- a live recording of Goose playing Arcadia. Not as high quality recording as CCT, but still pretty...

No MIB but still a cool track. One of my favorites for gear evaluation: Chocolate Chip Trip by Tool As always, have to become very familiar with the track before it’s really helpful for evaluating.

You may want to take a hard look at your amp if you get the Caldera. The Caldera has a 60 ohm impedance and may sound a little compressed with the OTL WA2. Having never owned the WA2, I don’t know how well it powers moderate impedance headphones, but in this case, I recommend trying before...

Swapping in a Yggy may or may not be worth it. You’re definitely at the point where synergy is more important. Depending on your tube choices, I could see preferring any of the above. I say, if you love the way it sounds now, why change? I bought the Yggy (and MJ3) because I sold some knives I...

I assume you’re referring to the current Bifrost 2/64. It’s a top notch DAC. Some people like the 2 a little better compared to the 2/64, but both are excellent. I have a 2 and a Yggy LIM- the LIM is a little less thick sounding and is more detailed / clear than the BF2. Comparing the Bifrost 2...

I may need to expand the streaming services I subscribe to. I like the idea of owning something, even if streaming is a much better option for someone as disorganized as I am.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers made an album? Man- how did I not know this? Loved the comics in High School, though my favorite parents didn’t get the humor.

Sounds nice. It snowed here yesterday- I am feeling the need to move somewhere warmer.

I don’t think dark is quite the right term. Freq response wise, the GSX Mini, MJ3, and pretty much any SS amp or DAC is going to be dead flat in the audible range. What I think you’re describing as dark I’d describe as smoothed. I’d also describe The LIM as smoothing the sound more than the...

BF2 doesn’t really sound warmer, though it sounds richer / thicker / meatier than a strictly neutral DAC. I switched from the BF2 to a Yggdrasil LIM and there’s definitely a little less thickness to the sound. Have no idea if the MIB keeps the BF2 thickness.

I think everyone should at least spend a day listening to a quality tube amp. They do sound good, especially amps in the $1500 up range.

Could it be you’re really used to tubes? For me, SS can be a lot drier, typically not as colored, and not as “alive” / organic sounding. Generally more detailed and clear though. I can definitely see SS sounding a bit flat if coming from a tube amp. Spend some time listening so your brain can adapt

Beautiful. I’ve been thinking I need a bigger heat treat oven for the steel. Unless I go carbon steel I’m limited to about 10 inches total steel length- see below for carbon steel example. Handle in progress:

Undoubtedly true. In my fairly limited experience programming, I’ve come to the opinion that data structures change, but everything else eventually boils down to the same set of instructions. I will say that taking programming classes was a humbling experience. By far the most time intensive...

Love beautiful wood. One of my side hobbies is knife making- I usually make the handles out of wood with a tung oil finish- takes a lot of work to get a nice high gloss finish.

My home office set-up. Not much in the way of audio gear- too many meetings

First engineering job out of college- management figured I should know Autocad. I was lucky enough to graduate when the debut of 286s and 386s made CAD practical on desktop PCs. I still work every day with CAD/CAM but I use a lot more programs than ACAD now.

I remember taking a course in Lisp. The instructor was obsessed with recursion and would give the students mind bending programming homework that could make people psychotic. It wasn’t until years later when I started writing functions within Autocad that I realized you could use it to do...

Going from a BF2, I’m pretty pleased with the LIM- It’s the best sounding DAC I’ve heard and I now get why Yggys have such a dedicated fanbase. I’m not too worried about any tradeoffs compared to the OG or MIB, they’re all going to sound better than the BF2, which is no slouch of a DAC itself...