[ejk1]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to think it over today, but I'm pretty sure I'm done with the Freya N. I may try Freya S/+ in the future if I get a second Aegir. At this point I may just sell these seperates, get a Ragnarok or Rogue Sphinx, and call it a day.

Good choice on the Sphinx, love mine also

 

[mch12000]

i like schiit n have mostly their stuff but i e had to go theough exchanges n replacements too. The remote i got with the Freya N is bad where the buttons are pressed in on one side and the interior metal is so sharp it cuts me if i try to use the left side buttons. Have asked a couple times for exchange for just the remote in the past week to no response yet.

It took Schiit a couple of days to reply to my first email. Since then, they have been pretty responsive.

 

[mch12000]

Good choice on the Sphinx, love mine also

Nice setup!! Maybe I'll get a Willsenton R8. Lot's of great options out there.

 

[Noteless]

Thanks. I will look around for that. Maybe I will unbox it and try it through my headamp. I went to the Shiitr yesterday to try their Freya, and make sure I wasn't losing my mind, (The demo unit doesn't pop) and Will said "Schiit gear doesn't pop. At all. Return it."

I’ve been a couple times… n id argue it does.. maybe its a freya N thing but it only happens on fast turns. Ill say i just turned my knob really quick back n forth n got no feedback. I swore it happened to me with with the stock tubes. I cleaned them n hasn’t happened since n especially not with other tubes. Could just sadly be something that small n dumb. Its like a ground loop/ hum anomoly- could be the dumbest little thing

 

[Borat]

I just tried running the volume up and down on my Freya N and I am able to get it to do a similar small pop at around 12 o'clock like yours.

But mine is so soft and only on the left channel so this does not bother me. It is not even as audible as the normal relay clicking from the Freya N itself. Also mine only happens in tube mode and not in passive or active SS gain mode.

I might try it with another speaker because the speakers I have hooked up right now are not very efficient so I may hear a louder pop with another set.

Something to note is that 12 o'clock is around the point on the knob where the volume jumps up more in gain versus the previous steps and I think this is by design. The relay volume knob is not a linear ramp up in volume the whole way. So I'm not even sure if this is a defect per se.

 

[Borat]

i like schiit n have mostly their stuff but i e had to go theough exchanges n replacements too. The remote i got with the Freya N is bad where the buttons are pressed in on one side and the interior metal is so sharp it cuts me if i try to use the left side buttons. Have asked a couple times for exchange for just the remote in the past week to no response yet.

My remote came in fine, but I accidentally dropped it and it fell onto my alarm clock causing the remote plate to become dislodged. At this point the remote will not lay flush inside of the aluminum casing and it will be depressed on one side and have sharp edges on the other side as you described.

Try popping off the plate off using a safety pin as if you were going to change the batteries (instructions are in the manual) and re-align the plate. It is connected by a strong magnet that you just have to line up correctly.

 

[mch12000]

Yeah I wish I could find it but I could've sworn in one of Schiit's manuals or faq's for a product with a relay stepped attenuator they said that hearing pops through speakers was "normal" on changing volume.

I think I read that it has to do with the preamp, amp, and speakers as a system, and is related to residual DC at the speaker outputs. Would be interesting to see if it happened when you hooked the freya up to a headamp or another amp.

FWIW my system pops when I change the volume on the freya N but it seems a bit different than the popping in your video.

I just hooked the freya up to my headamp, and the popping is still there, but not as strong as with speakers. I also tried 2 different power amps yesterday. But man does it sound good through the Vali 2! I just got lost in the music for half an hour. I wish I could ignore the popping.

 

[Noteless]

I just tried running the volume up and down on my Freya N and I am able to get it to do a similar small pop at around 12 o'clock like yours.

But mine is so soft and only on the left channel so this does not bother me. It is not even as audible as the normal relay clicking from the Freya N itself. Also mine only happens in tube mode and not in passive or active SS gain mode.

I might try it with another speaker because the speakers I have hooked up right now are not very efficient so I may hear a louder pop with another set.

Something to note is that 12 o'clock is around the point on the knob where the volume jumps up more in gain versus the previous steps and I think this is by design. The relay volume knob is not a linear ramp up in volume the whole way. So I'm not even sure if this is a defect per se.

I believe this to be true as well. I think the attenuators/relay is not for most. I don’t love it either but again $599 for mostly a freya+ to pair with my vidar 2 / another vidar was the trade off

 

[Noteless]

My remote came in fine, but I accidentally dropped it and it fell onto my alarm clock causing the remote plate to become dislodged. At this point the remote will not lay flush inside of the aluminum casing and it will be depressed on one side and have sharp edges on the other side as you described.

Pop the plate off using a safety pin as if you were going to change the batteries (instructions are in the manual) and re-align the plate.

That’s exactly what mines like, i did pop it off to do so but id didn’t fix it, still pressed in n sharp

 

[Borat]

That’s exactly what mines like, i did pop it off to do so but id didn’t fix it, still pressed in n sharp

I see. Sorry that happened. I'm sure they will take care of you, or at least I would hope so.

 

[theeclone]

I just hooked the freya up to my headamp, and the popping is still there, but not as strong as with speakers. I also tried 2 different power amps yesterday. But man does it sound good through the Vali 2! I just got lost in the music for half an hour. I wish I could ignore the popping.

Damn. Only other thing I can think of is low frequency noise sneaking its way into your system, possibly from the power. I believe each time the volume changes it dims/mutes the volume briefly. If a very low frequency wave is quickly muted I could see that causing noise. And all positions on the volume knob are not created equal in terms of how they're implemented, so I could see one spot, like 12 o'clock being most problematic in this regard.

Just grasping at straws here but if you have a way to experiment with grounding or choosing another outlet/power conditioner you might give it a go.

 

[mlgerardi]

I don't think it's the Aegir. I tried multiple combinations of preamps into Aegir and they all worked flawlessly. Also tried different amps with the Freya N, and the popping was still present. Here's a video clip I recorded of the popping...

That’s a bizarre sound. If your basic troubleshooting (unplug sources, swap interconnets, swap tubes) yields no change, this sounds like a return to Schiit for service.

 

[Noteless]

I’m wondering if you ever changed the tubes or tried cleaning/ resetting them. Like how hard do you put them in?

 

[Borat]

Yeah I would try using different tubes or changing the tube positions to see if that changes anything.

I bought a pair of RCA "Clear Top" 6cg7 tubes and put them in the gain section and was getting a pretty loud high pitched hum on my right channel that was very noticeable during quiet passages.

I swapped in a different set of RCA Clear tops and the hum went away, only to be replaced with a very soft low frequency hum on the left channel, which I can't hear unless I put my ear next to my speaker so I don't care.

I've had a couple of tube amps now and just expect that there is going to be some noise floor that I otherwise wouldn't have with solid state, but I feel the tradeoff is worth it because I like tubes.

 

[Noteless]

Yeah I would try using different tubes or changing the tube positions to see if that changes anything.

I bought a pair of RCA "Clear Top" 6cg7 tubes and put them in the gain section and was getting a pretty loud high pitched hum on my right channel that was very noticeable during quiet passages.

I swapped in a different set of RCA Clear tops and the hum went away, only to be replaced with a very soft low frequency hum on the left channel, which I can't hear unless I put my ear next to my speaker so I don't care.

I've had a couple of tube amps now and just expect that there is going to be some noise floor that I otherwise wouldn't have with solid state, but I feel the tradeoff is worth it because I like tubes.

Dang that’s bad luck! I got 4 RCAs too but they had no issue