[buke9]

Mojo and Tungsten Wow. I think this was more Wow. I have joined the drop and will be splitting time on the Yggy and the Mojo myself. Still waiting for the Liquid Ambiance ( hate the name but sounds damn good).

 

[Shetzu]

That's fair. I wanted to know what DACs people plan to pair with the CTH, but I guess it is mostly going to be guesswork, when it comes to how well they would match...

I think a better and more focused / on-topic question would be:
For the people that already auditioned the CTH - which DACs have you used? (and what do you think about the match?)

I guess we all have to wait for awhile til we get our own CTH amps delivered. Maybe, many have not been able to audition it. You have been lucky to audition it.

 

[Fox2twenty]

Check out the top two drops, lol.

 

[Shetzu]

Check out the top two drops, lol.

I could not understand your pun

 

[Fox2twenty]

Not really a pun

 

[Fox2twenty]

I'm sure you understand now.

 

[Shetzu]

I'm sure you understand now.

You mean the long wait. Yeah for the price it's worth it I guess

 

[Fox2twenty]

You mean the long wait. Yeah for the price it's worth it I guess

I hope it is a rotating drop... I really want this amp and the 4xx.. Can't afford to right now.. Cest LA vie

 

[Shetzu]

I hope it is a rotating drop... I really want this amp and the 4xx.. Can't afford to right now.. Cest LA vie

My wishes are with you hope you can get both of them.at least you can try for one item

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I like the idea of this drop, but the six month wait is profoundly disappointing. If I wanted an amp like this today, it would be a Vali Lyr question. So much of this hobby consists of the proverbial drunk purchases you shouldn't have made that the ability to wake up every morning for half a year and consider and opt for the cheaper Vali (ships in 1-3 business days) saps much of the justifiable excitement. I heard it at the SF Meet and, yes I own more expensive gear, but it did not leave an impression on me. Whether it justifies its price (i'm inclined to say it does), justifying the wait is the much larger hurdle, and it seems to come up short on that count.

When I drunkpurchased my new espresso machine, it was thrilling to see that it would arrive via fedex in three days. It is such a good espresso machine. I am not the least bit over the portafilter. (Imagine a gumby plus one LISST for the price of a Mjolnir 2, $50 off. Yeah.)

Right at $250, the Modi Multibit (Mimby) is very popular here and on other forums. From some folks who have heard the CTH and posted on audio forums, the recommendation I have seen is that the CTH pairs best with darker or warmer DACs (such as the Mimby), rather than a colder, or more treble emphasized DAC (such as a Sabre DAC chip).

I hate Sabre DAC. It is the most sibilant, harsh, DAC I can recall having had the displeasure of auditioning. It ruined the Ether E for me. It qualifies, as Mike Moffatt might put it, as thoroughgoing hemorrhoidal ass.

Mojo Cons:
The USB input isn't galvanically isolated from the computer's USB output (but workarounds are available)

you mean electromagnetically and electrostatically isolated? Galvanic isolation is a meaningless buzzword.

 

[Shetzu]

I like the idea of this drop, but the six month wait is profoundly disappointing. If I wanted an amp like this today, it would be a Vali Lyr question. So much of this hobby consists of the proverbial drunk purchases you shouldn't have made that the ability to wake up every morning for half a year and consider and opt for the cheaper Vali (ships in 1-3 business days) saps much of the justifiable excitement. I heard it at the SF Meet and, yes I own more expensive gear, but it did not leave an impression on me. Whether it justifies its price (i'm inclined to say it does), justifying the wait is the much larger hurdle, and it seems to come up short on that count.

When I drunkpurchased my new espresso machine, it was thrilling to see that it would arrive via fedex in three days. It is such a good espresso machine. I am not the least bit over the portafilter. (Imagine a gumby plus one LISST for the price of a Mjolnir 2, $50 off. Yeah.)



I hate Sabre DAC. It is the most sibilant, harsh, DAC I can recall having had the displeasure of auditioning. It ruined the Ether E for me. It qualifies, as Mike Moffatt might put it, as thoroughgoing hemorrhoidal ass.


you mean electromagnetically and electrostatically isolated? Galvanic isolation is a meaningless buzzword.

Yeah agree with you that a 6 month wait is disappointing. For $250 I still feel it is worth it or a gift for a family member who wants to get into audiophile community. Many youngsters are are realising the potential of good HD music and equipment. Considering these factors it is worth a wait. My existing gear too is way up for this amp but i have had something else in my mind for purchasing this hybrid. First was to get a feel of Tube sound and second if tubes suit me I may target something good in tube amps for my gear .

Perhaps Massdrop has a motive to delay this order. First is to get numbers in customers and get better distributor discounts on bulk order. Second the manufacturing may take time.

 

[Zachik]

Perhaps Massdrop has a motive to delay this order. First is to get numbers in customers and get better distributor discounts on bulk order. Second the manufacturing may take time.

I had the pleasure to chat with @CEE TEE on that subject. According to him, the biggest issue is the lead times on some of the components.
Since the alternative IMHO is use "compatible" components (and compromise sound quality) - I would rather wait... as hard as it is...

 

[Hansotek]

you mean electromagnetically and electrostatically isolated? Galvanic isolation is a meaningless buzzword.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+galvanic+isolation?

 

[Shetzu]

I had the pleasure to chat with @CEE TEE on that subject. According to him, the biggest issue is the lead times on some of the components.
Since the alternative IMHO is use "compatible" components (and compromise sound quality) - I would rather wait... as hard as it is...

Cool. 'Tsk for the update

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+galvanic+isolation?

Let me quote the Steve Jobs of digital audio at length, as I think his words carry more weight than my own:

RE USB galvanic isolation:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/766347/schiit-yggdrasil-impressions-thread/1890#post_12354184

Galvanic Isolation?? What is Galvanic Isolation?? Oh, a Buzzword?? What is a Buzzword?? OK, OK, I am an ancient audio guy. Back in the day, we didn’t have any such term as “buzzword”. There were feature lists on audio gear, i.e., does it have a mute button, usually describing black/white, there or not existing functions of the product. Simple. Not confusing.

Well, it along the way we at Schiit have said we were and were not galvanically isolated. Seems like I need to clear this up.

The Background:
I entered a 21^st century digital audio with computer based digital audio barfing out of USB ports. This means the audio is even more mutilated into packets of data beyond the already sampled data of digital audio. The much older process of converting the digital data to S/PDIF is far, far, simpler and inherently isolates the digital audio source from the digital audio target, either with optical links, or in the case of coax, with transformer coupling. The keyword is inherent isolation; the definitions of transformer and optical coupling are unambiguous.

The Engineering Problem:
Computers are analogous to a host with a desired data which needs to be extracted through “open running sores” of added, unnecessary, dissonant, and multiple sources of interference to digital audio signals. This does not mean that these unfortunate degradations are not insurmountable. It is an exercise in engineering which requires new work and learning curve. I shall not deal with a non existent solution as soon as I handle a few definitions:

Galvanic Isolation – I googled it - here are several definitions.
1. A design technique that separates electrical circuits to eliminate stray currents.
2. A principle of isolating functional sections of electrical systems to prevent current flow; no direct conduction path is permitted.
3. above to the fact that the output power circuit is electrically and physically isolated from the input power circuit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah – I can see similarities. There are also significant differences. Now the most examples of Schiit USB have USB bus powered USB sections which were isolated from the separate power of the DAC itself. The grounds had series inductors to isolate the electrical USB groud slop from the DAC ground. There went the stray clock currents. At the time, seemed to be galvanically isolated to me. As I revisit it today, I realize that per #3 above, it is not electrically and physically isolated. The more I look up “Galvanic Isolation”, the more I realize the definitions are redundant or circular. Yet it is a Buzzword of significant value to many customers.

So What is a Buzzword? Again, from Google: A word or phrase, often an item of jargon, that is fashionable at a particular time or in a particular context. Fashionable?? Is that like a Kardashian’s state of (un)dress?? What to say to impress your colleagues with your command of current audio parlance?? A Buzzword is a waste of ink.

I have the accurate classification for Galvanic Isolation. It is a factoid - now there’s a word one hears used frequently in the media, always incorrectly. Since a humanoid is something which resembles someone human but really isn’t, and an asteroid is something which resembles a star but really isn’t, a factoid is something which resembles a fact but what really is the product of imagination.

Now I never mention anything about nonexistent products I am not working on, but it might be prudent for me to make a real isolator usable with anyone’s gear. Just for clarification. Meanwhile, galvanic isolation is seven wasted syllables which waste air which could be used for much better purposes.

I must apologize if I elevated "galvanic isolation" to the lofty area of a buzzword. I maintain that its circular and lack of rigorous definition lowers it to a true factoid, that is it resembles a fact but is anything but. Not to be pugilistic - one of my pet peeves is the employ of vague in an engineering sense parlance as valuable. It even snagged me until I thought and researched it through.

Amen. "Galvanic Isoation" needs qualifiers and additional descriptors. "Transformer coupled" is specific.

(snip)

Rant: I HATE the term "galvanic isolation". I don't give a flying phuc that it has a wiki page. It is a factoid. What is a factoid? Well, a humanoid is a something which looks human, but really isn't. A factoid is something is appears a fact, but really is not/vague. /Rant

Galvanic is an adjectivoid (Something which resembles an adjective but really deescribes nothing) in any use other than describing the use of zinc plating of steel trash cans or rain gutters. An empty suit descriptor which has morphed into a buzzword/bulletpoint with neither buzz nor meaning.


I stand amazed at the frequency of its use.

(snip)
Galvanic isolation as an adjectivoid. That is, it sound like it describes something; it describes nothing. It does not specify if it is isolated at DC, AC, what frequencies, etc. etc. A waste of written/spoken space. Kinda like marketing an antivenin without any spec on which snake, scorpion, or spider for which it is effective.

Further, even if it is isolated at DC and all AC frequencies, it is useless as a model to predict interference in USB inputs. There are also electrostatic and electromagnetic modes of isolation, which no one ever specifies. Our lab performance has the former in greater than one kilovolt and the latter in the high nanoamp region.

Not forbidden - it's like the word "irregardless" or "onliest".

Now, I admit I am a product of ancient engineering school, but I was taught that if a circuit out and in are not free of mutual electrostatic and electromagnetic energy they ain't isolated. High dv/dt emfs routinely found in "Galvanically Isolated" USB signals can jump right across where they aren't desired. Kinda like the made with white meat (thanks Jase) descriptor on chicken nuggets from a famous purveyor of burgers. White maggot meat? Or were some white parts from segmented creatures with compound eyes placed on the machine with the Nugget pressings from softened bone? Galvanically Isolated - like a rubber made from screen door material.

The situation is that the Eitr is isolated – electrostatically and electromagnetically. NOT some totally meaningless term such as trash can plating "galvanic" isolation such as some deekhead wrote a wiki about which has nothing to do with isolation cited in proper undergrad and grad school textbooks. Because of that, there is no, none, nada electrical connection between the input and output USB and coax, respectively. (In fact, there is double isolation – two rubbers just to be through.) What still exists, however, is capacitance. This is the stuff that gives you a shock in the winter when you walk across the carpet and touch the grounded doorknob. Even when there is no shock building up, the capacitance still is there.
(snip)