[Clemmaster]

I confirm the pot works like an analog pot. No steps, blocked at both ends.

The controller updates the volume as a "continuous" change (you can the relays switching like crazy).
When you press the gain button, it takes some time for the change to be taken into account. If you turn the volume knob during that time, nothing happens.
Once the gain is validated by the controller (~1 or 2 seconds), the volume control will start.

 

[Clemmaster]

As for the sound, we're in for a TREAT!

No hype, this is a fact.
And yes, even with the HE-6 \o/.

More to come after proper listening time and comparison.
Very, very promising so far. Let's wait a bit and see if my mind changes.

 

[Khragon]

Don't forget to let us know how it work as a speaker amp too.. I'm interested in buying the Rag for both uses.  Thanks.

 

[atubbs]

  Don't forget to let us know how it work as a speaker amp too.. I'm interested in buying the Rag for both uses.  Thanks.

 
Yeah, I'm anxious to hear about this as well. I think this will reduce my office equipment by two pieces if it works out. With two balanced inputs, I no longer need a switch (DAC and Phono Pre). With speaker output, I no longer need a power amp. The challenging part for me is going to be whether the sound is good enough/better than a GS-X mk1.5 and whether the power stage is good enough/better than a Bryston power amp. I remain cautiously optimistic/excited but am interested in hearing some critical thoughts on it in terms of being a flagship headamp and integrated amp.

 

[keemniloc]

I've spent a few hours with the Ragnarok now: MacBook via Bifrost Uber optical, to LCD-X balanced (they're new to me, which may color my impressions of the amp) or to PSB Alpha B1s. Redneck cables. No blind tests yet, but I'll give some early impressions of both the sound and the experience of the amp.
 
First, the sound through the Audezes. Relative to my last home amp (NVA AP10P, original design) and current work amp (Meridian Explorer) the detail and realism are awesome. For musicians whose sound I know well in person, it's the first time I've heard reproductions coming close to the original. I especially love the noise -- you hear plucked strings, bow changes, surface noise, not just representations of them.
 
My speakers are for daytime use, which means dancing and singing kids in a large living area with occasional improvised accompaniment on piano. As I mentioned, Redneck cables and mid-fi speakers. It's not an acoustically-treated shrine to audiophilia. Sounds great though! I had the weird experience of my daughter sparring with Bill Evans, and it sounded like there were two pianos in the room. This setup is missing a couple of octaves at the bottom and the detail of the Audezes, but it's honest: instruments sound like themselves, which I can't say about some of the more exotic equipment I've heard. The Schiit isn't as loud (EDIT: across most of the dial) as my Cambridge Audio Azur integrated, which really just means I'm using more of the dial. Which brings me to a pleasant surprise...
 
The marketing for this amp left me worried about smoking equipment and permanent hearing loss, but it's actually a great amp for quiet listening. I leave it on the lowest gain setting for the Audezes, and have fine control for quiet to moderate levels (9-12 o'clock for most classical recordings, 8-11 o'clock for everything else). For my speakers, high gain from 9-1. I've never been able to use this much of the dial before. With my NVA, I'm trying to find the tiny gap between silence and deafening noise. The Meridian (whose volume is controlled from the computer) remains on the lowest tick or two, even for my HD600s.
 
Now, the experience. The Schiit looks beautiful, weighs a ton, runs warm (not hot, at least in this mild, late summer weather), controls feel good. My one complaint: switching between speakers and headphones is awkward because there's no dedicated control. You hold down the input selector button for a couple of seconds to cycle through speaker, headphone, and speaker+headphone output settings. I have no idea why someone would want to play back through headphones and speakers at the same time. Because there is no visual cue for the output settings, I'm actually tempted to leave the amp in headphone+speaker mode and just unplug the headphones or positive speaker leads as needed. Any reason this might be unsafe?

 

[DVass13]

So again I got home late last night (around 11:30pm) and decided to lose a little bit of sleep to play around with the Rag and see if I could fix the supposed problem. To my surprise, I found the Geek Out 720 that I had picked up sitting on my doorstep. I had just received a shipping confirmation earlier in the day so I figured I still had another few days to wait for it. I removed the Fiio X3 from the chain and put the GO in and magically the noise was gone. Actually, it wasn't magic. I was perplexed how the X3 could sound bad from the Rag but good from the BHA so I plugged it back in and the noise came back. I tried plugging it into different USB ports again to see if there was any difference. There was none. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, I swapped out the USB cable connecting my computer to the X3 and no more noise. I'm not sure why, but it was the cable that seemed to be causing the issue. I've never experienced anything like this, but after swapping out the USB cable a few times, I found it was consistently the culprit. I'll go back and edit some of my previous posts so as not to create undue doubt about the Rag.
 
Unfortunately, it was rather late by the time I was able to work everything out. I hope to do some good A/B comparisons with the BHA over the weekend and maybe even stop by a local audio store to try the Rag with some high-end (or at least much higher end than what I have) speaker setups.

 

[twinkle]

  I would have thought that blow by blow accounts on the beta testing given here will keep the rest of us feeling involved and part of the process 

You could do both then, this way you'd give the designer a choice to answer you directly or through a monitored thread? ok I'll shut up now

 

[David Aldrich]

  I'm curious: The volume is set in discrete steps, but from Jason's descriptions of how it works with A/D interpretation of the pot level by the digital volume controller, it sounds like the volume knob moves continuously like any other volume knob rather than in tactile "notches".
 
Can you confirm that, and if so, is it weird or off-putting in use to be turning a knob whose tactile response type doesn't match its function?

 
From the manual.
 
 
Quote:

  SCENE 3
Ragnarok’s volume control works just like 
a real volume control—that is, it stops at 
minimum and maximum volume, rather 
than spinning endlessly. If you turn it up 
while Ragnarok is self-checking, expect a 
big blare of sound when it activates!

 

[goldendarko]

I thought I was the only one put off by the output selector. I wish that it would just tell u what mode it's in, I was getting no music for a minute with my audezes until I realized it was in speaker output mode. Anyway, really enjoying the headphone amp section, it is a very engaging experience that reproduces the sounds of instruments as accurately as I've ever heard, especially pianos which can sound poor on lesser equipment. I plan to try the ragnarok with my kef ls50s today so I will report back on that later tonight.

 

[Clemmaster]

Will try to hook up the Ragnarok to my Focal 1007Be this weekend, too.

 

[bearFNF]

I have no idea why someone would want to play back through headphones and speakers at the same time.

I plan to use this mode to drive my HD800 and my Stax if the volume works out. We'll see. This could also be used to augment the headphones with properly placed corners/center etc speakers.

 

[marcoarment]

I plan to use this mode to drive my HD800 and my Stax if the volume works out. We'll see. This could also be used to augment the headphones with properly placed corners/center etc speakers.

 
How are you transforming for the Stax? (The Woo WEE apparently has shared input grounds, so it's not compatible with the Rag's balanced-only speaker terminals.)

 

[goldendarko]

Speaking of driving the speakers at the same time, I just tried that out and it works out surprisingly well, though the volume was a little light through my speakers (KEF LS50's), but my wife liked that idea because she thought it could be background music for her and more critical listening for me with the headphones. Also, in case anyone didn't know, because I did not until I tried it myself just now, but the Ragnarok can actually drive 2 pairs of headphones at the same time, provided one is balanced and one single ended. I was actually looking at getting a Studio Six amp for the main reason of being able to drive 2 headphones at the same time so both my wife and I could listen together, but this drove both my LCD-3F's and Alpha Dogs at the same time and both still sounded exceptional, so this thing definitely has juice to spare.

 

[goldendarko]

Oh, and for those who were asking about it's abilities to drive speakers I will say I am very impressed at this point. I didn't think it would be enough power for my speakers because they are rated at 85dB sensitivity, so I believed they needed a ton of power, which is why I bought the 220 watt amp from Peachtree Audio, which puts out 220 watts @ 8 ohms, so being that the Rok only does 60 watts at 8 ohms, I really thought it would sound underpowered, but doesn't seem that way at all, and I'm only having to go to about 2pm on the volume dial to get a good rocking level. So really unless you've got some seriously inefficient speakers I think this thing should drive them fine.

 

[aamer23]

you do have point, however, just read the Schiit Blurb on the web page for some of their products like the Loki (no marketing double dutch) and then you get the impression the Schiit's customer base are pretty robust people and they also trust the company so if they say they have fixed I would believe them and buy it