[KoshNaranek]

Im assuming that the Freya owners who are having hum issues all have good clean power sources(?)

I would add that Freya needs to be on its own shelf. It is sensitive to induced magnetic fields from other equipment.

 

[Noldir]

Coming out of PS Audio Power Port wall plugs, my ancient Adcom ACE power conditioner runs everything in my rig, so that's fairly basic "conditioning" compared to more modern devices…it works perfectly and makes me wonder how long that thing is gonna last. The Freya is essentially "ground-lifted" with a 2 prong power cord, the phono preamp and DAC use bespoke filtered and regulated power supplies instead of wall warts so that's a good thing, and both of the power amps, the main SE class A tube amp and a SS mosfet amp (used only occasionally for deck speakers) are both plugged into a PS Audio Humbuster III. The Freya doesn't show any sign of environmentally related hum, all of the tubes I've used (original Russian 6N8S, new Tung Sol 6SN7GTs, NOS RCAs and 2 NOS pairs of Sylvania Chrome Domes) in it were are quiet and non microphonic, and it performs flawlessly with the gain boost of the tubes working very well into the amps with very low level nearly inaudible "shushing" tube noise barely there and only when at max volume as previously described. The tube stage displays the increased detail tubes are famous for, and the whole thing is just clear as a bell in all modes.

How far away is the hiss for you in both the and jfet mode? The tube hiss is audible 6 feet from the Freya and in jfet mode about 6 inches. Trying to figure out if mine has excessive noise

 

[sam6550a]

My Freya was purchased in mid-2017, and I do have some hum related observations. My Freya experienced a low level of 60hz hum [meaning it is not from the power supply, or it should be 120hz], in the tube mode.By judicious troubleshooting, I found that:
1. The green/yellow mains ground is not connected in Freya [to break ground loops],
2. The signal ground is not connected to the chassis ground [at least at DC].
3. Touching the case while in tube mode made the hum greater.
4. The hum magnitude was affected by the volume control.
My fix was to add a lug and wire under a rear Freya cover screw, and terminate it at the shell [ground] of an RCA plug.
This plug is placed into one of the unused Freya RCA outputs. The only tube hum I hear now [other than turning up the gain and hearing the hum difference between tube rolling candidates] is from when I connect Gungnir [balanced] to Freya---then the very low level hum comes from Gungnir.

Why are Freya signal and chassis grounds isolated? I have no idea, but, in my situation, connecting them together solved my problem. Grounding problems are highly installation dependent-------your results may vary.You are playing an an arena where all of the EE computational skills are lacking--only experience counts.

 

[Noldir]

Just to put this out there: there was a running change from 14db to 8db made by Schiit and confirmed by them. So, new models have indeed lower gain. Just leaves the question (for me) how much is 8db of gain

Edit: a gain of 1.741101 (8db) instead of 2.639016 (14db)
Source: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-loudness.htm

 

[DrJam]

Just to put this out there: there was a running change from 14db to 8db made by Schiit and confirmed by them. So, new models have indeed lower gain. Just leaves the question (for me) how much is 8db of gain

Edit: a gain of 1.741101 (8db) instead of 2.639016 (14db)
Source: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-loudness.htm

Actually http://www.schiit.com/products/freya gives you the answer:
Gain: 2.5 (8dB)

This is voltage Gain, so 20*log10(2.5) = 8 dB. Or, in reverse: Gain = 10^(8/20) = 2.5 (approximately, of course)
For the older spec Freya like I have: Gain=5 => 14 dB.

 

[Noldir]

Actually http://www.schiit.com/products/freya gives you the answer:
Gain: 2.5 (8dB)

This is voltage Gain, so 20*log10(2.5) = 8 dB. Or, in reverse: Gain = 10^(8/20) = 2.5 (approximately, of course)
For the older spec Freya like I have: Gain=5 => 14 dB.

Should've mentioned my numbers are the perceived loudness.

Nice to see Schiit changed the webpage after my mail. Beginning of this week it was still 14db on the site

 

[dieslemat]

Interesting....

So its generally ok to get a Freya now that the “quirks” have been addressed?

Question on the recent buyers, are your Freya good in tube mode? Given that the gain was reduced already?

 

[Noldir]

Well, with stock tubes the hiss is noticeable from quite far (up to 6 feet) from the speakers. This is in an otherwise quiet room of course. Tube mode sounds good and is actually the first tube operated device that I actually like the sound of.

 

[Mondo Caliente]

Again, there is zero hum or hiss from the passive or FET mode and the only noise from the tube mode is barely there and only noticeable when cranked to maximum with my ear pressed onto the tweeter horn. Way below the threshold of being audible when music is playing, and satisfyingly quiet and beautiful sounding when in use. It was interesting that I actually heard anything because I hadn't pushed the high frequencies up with my Loki EQ before this recent test…with the EQ maxed I should have heard some noise in every mode but it's really as described. A great preamp in my book, whatever that means. I might have the thing somewhat isolated as it sits on its own shelf in the middle of my rack, and there are all sorts of signal and power cables running here and there behind it, but I suppose they're of relatively high quality maybe, or something...

 

[Jamiee]

Again, no real hum or hiss related issues with my July Freya other than what's been specifically tube related.

On the matter of gain..... two things.... 1. Yes I can confirm the tub gain is probably 8db over JFET Buffer --- not quite a doubling of the perceived volume. I was expecting 14db and was surprised when I didn't quite hear that much of a jump up... but this has now been explained.
2. My previous comments regarding a slightly lower than expected tube gain have turned out to be unfounded. As it turns out, I just discovered that the main volume control for my sound card was set -10db from 0. I think this happened when I installed the latest Windows drivers which coincidentally was very shortly after I got Freya setup.
.... Back at 0db and Freya is loud and proud!

 

[sam6550a]

Again, no real hum or hiss related issues with my July Freya other than what's been specifically tube related.

On the matter of gain..... two things.... 1. Yes I can confirm the tub gain is probably 8db over JFET Buffer --- not quite a doubling of the perceived volume. I was expecting 14db and was surprised when I didn't quite hear that much of a jump up... but this has now been explained.
2. My previous comments regarding a slightly lower than expected tube gain have turned out to be unfounded. As it turns out, I just discovered that the main volume control for my sound card was set -10db from 0. I think this happened when I installed the latest Windows drivers which coincidentally was very shortly after I got Freya setup.
.... Back at 0db and Freya is loud and proud!

Microsoft knows better than you do------just ask them.

 

[Noldir]

Does anyone know how many inserts the sockets on the Freya should last for?

 

[jseymour]

Does anyone know how many inserts the sockets on the Freya should last for?

Use socket savers and then it will not matter. As I have stated before, they also have the benefits of making the removal and insertion of tubes easier and moving the heat farther away from the PCB.

 

[Noldir]

Use socket savers and then it will not matter. As I have stated before, they also have the benefits of making the removal and insertion of tubes easier and moving the heat farther away from the PCB.

Fair enough. But can I assume then that the original sockets will last "a few thousand inserts"? Just as a socket saver?

 

[jseymour]

Fair enough. But can I assume then that the original sockets will last "a few thousand inserts"? Just as a socket saver?

Socket savers are fairly snug to the Freya tube holes on the chassis top, so they also limit lateral movement of the PCB mounted sockets. Assuming a few thousand insertions is 2,500, then it becomes 5,000 because you have to include the removal. I would not want to stress PCB mounted sockets that much. When I decided to buy a Freya, I also knew that I had to use socket savers.