Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up

[Ripper2860]

Wow. If this is true, I'm packing up the truck now and heading down there this afternoon. You're welcome! But please have dinner ready when I get there.

Too late. Pre-emptive strike!! I'm in a U-Haul heading North and just crossed the Red River. Should be there shortly. My inflatable mattress should fit nicely in your audio room and smoker will look awesome on your back patio. I'm sure the wives and dogs will become fast friends.


** Far better than living under the bridge since my involuntary retirement. Thankfully I have a new HP amp, cause the overpass speaker acoustics SUCK.

 

[bcowen]

Too late. Pre-emptive strike!! I'm in a U-Haul heading North and just crossed the Red River. Should be there shortly. My inflatable mattress should fit nicely in your audio room and smoker will look awesome on your back patio.

I'm surprised the OK border patrol let you in. You must be wearing your favorite Texas Barbie costume as a disguise. Pretty clever....for you.

 

[bagwell359]

Being on the "blind AB" testing side of the audiophile crew I agree that there is too much nervosa created by marketing/opinions/gotta keep up with Jonses, so I support Jason's recent comment.

However the rapidity of developments/releases by Schiit starting with Mimir/Valhalla 3 thru the Singular upgrades of Yggy/Gungnir and the Byggy over the next 1/4 year while the best of all worlds from lots of viewpoints could drive me (careful adopter) to nervosa about my "eclipsed" Gungnir 2 bought on Valentines Day 2025. Is there good and bad nervosa?

It's the velocity of the changes that's the issue - for me and I imagine a few others based on comments. At one time I had the best Pass amp, best Magnepan speaker, best ProAc speaker, best ARC pre-amp etc. and I lived thru those getting upstaged - but the velocity was slower.

Change over takes us all. Per Jimi Hendrix "90 miles an hour girl, is the speed I drive". You go Schiit! We will figure out how to respond in our own way.

Add: As for all the releases they make a year being a defense - we are not talking Sys and the small desktop amps, but equipment that costs a fairly large amount.

 

[riffrafff]

Bad Religion

Badfinger.

 

[Ripper2860]

I'm surprised the OK border patrol let you in. You must be wearing your favorite Texas Barbie costume as a disguise. Pretty clever....for you.

Well, you know what they say in OK -- if you can't be handy at least be cute.


** Makes me wonder how the heck you ever got in.

 

[Adam Balm]

Badfinger.

Day After Day.
A perfect pop masterpiece.

 

[dstrimbu]

Don't be put off by the first track... (I love Jack White, he's just a bit low-fi and this is supposed to be a hi-fi playlist)

"100 Tracks in 192khz to Test your Speakers"

https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/32020986

 

[Rebel Chris]

It's the velocity of the changes that's the issue - for me and I imagine a few others based on comments.

Take a deep breath....things will always change and the current speed is something of this time.

I'm happy Jason says digital sound/ DAC technology can be improved.

 

[dstrimbu]

Man, Jeff Buckley was a genius...

https://open.qobuz.com/track/27606072

 

[Ableza]

Day After Day.
A perfect pop masterpiece.

Bad Brains

 

[DACattack]

@sixergixer This multi-post is just for you. Off the ship from the cruise (man, those things are surreal) and after a stormy day Wednesday in the North Atlantic and debarking yesterday, the ground finally feels stable again.

Just Studio for now. The more I do downloads, though, the more tasty Sublime gets. Some killer discounts on albums!

I've been using Sublime and the discounts on downloads are awesome. Since I don't have a functional CD player currently, it's been a godsend. Listened to Jason's AMA last night, and a scaled down Urd would be a fabulous addition to the two-channel setup. Nevertheless the inexpensive FLAC downloads from Qobuz via Sublime are hard to beat and worth the additional subscription expense.

This is the rosewood head shell I built @DACattack for his refurbished turntable. 2 grams of weight were needed.

Wow, Tom! It truly looks awesome. Can't wait to listen to it. (And I enjoyed your "Dirty Old Town" quiz. Rod's first solo record is perhaps my favorite of his, and once I saw Bettye's inclusion among the hints I suspected what song it was.)

I need to replace the rectifier tube in my tube buffer... are there any audible differences across different brands of rectifiers?

Just to weigh in, it's my personal opinion that rectifiers can make a difference in sound, sometimes dramatically. But I think amplifier circuit used makes a significant difference here. In my relatively limited listening experience, I've nevertheless noticed that with some amps it is easy to hear a difference with rectifiers; for others it is much more negligible and opaque. But a classic NOS rectifier, like Mullard, can be a very sweet upgrade in certain tube amps.

FWIW, replacing generic Chinese 5AR4's with some NOS RCA

I had a similar experience once I replaced a Sovtek 5AR4 with a 1950s RCA JAN 5R4GY DD-getter. Along with some Brimars and Fotons that @Ripper2860 pointed me towards, and, of course @Paladin79's Melzs, it is among the nicest tubes I've encountered so far. Now I just need to unearth some Telefunkens for that Stjärna. Ha!

This deserves the "French kiss" from several pages back

LOL. Happy to have started an inappropriate linguistic trend here. (Or not. That's probably @Ripper2860's domain anyway.)

I never really listened to Thin Lizzy. Lol

Phil Lynott could be a surprisingly lyrical and nuanced songwriter at times, and you'll find some gems in their catalog if you ever care to delve further.

It's the velocity of the changes that's the issue - for me and I imagine a few others based on comments. At one time I had the best Pass amp, best Magnepan speaker, best ProAc speaker, best ARC pre-amp etc. and I lived thru those getting upstaged - but the velocity was slower.

Ah, the chase for the "best" -- like anything it is a nebulous and perpetual pursuit, isn't it? Which is why I have that Ellington quote in my sig. Often as a reminder solely to myself not to be too tempted by the summit and be content with what I have and can afford. But I certainly hear you that the velocity of changes is often disorienting. (PS: Have you gotten your forkbearded Kara and Wotan in place yet?) That said, it sounds like the digital frontier is getting to be a very exciting place in Schiit-land and I'm very curious about it all.

Lastly, @Ableza Very sorry to hear about the rather ignoble end to your gig, but I'm glad you at least were given some severance. I hope you will feel less disoriented soon and this will open many unexpected and fruitful avenues for you.

 

[Ripper2860]

Being on the "blind AB" testing side of the audiophile crew I agree that there is too much nervosa created by marketing/opinions/gotta keep up with Jonses, so I support Jason's recent comment.

However the rapidity of developments/releases by Schiit starting with Mimir/Valhalla 3 thru the Singular upgrades of Yggy/Gungnir and the Byggy over the next 1/4 year while the best of all worlds from lots of viewpoints could drive me (careful adopter) to nervosa about my "eclipsed" Gungnir 2 bought on Valentines Day 2025. Is there good and bad nervosa?

It's the velocity of the changes that's the issue - for me and I imagine a few others based on comments. At one time I had the best Pass amp, best Magnepan speaker, best ProAc speaker, best ARC pre-amp etc. and I lived thru those getting upstaged - but the velocity was slower.

Change over takes us all. Per Jimi Hendrix "90 miles an hour girl, is the speed I drive". You go Schiit! We will figure out how to respond in our own way.

Engage Warp Factor 10!!

 

[Paladin79]

@sixergixer This multi-post is just for you. Off the ship from the cruise (man, those things are surreal) and after a stormy day Wednesday in the North Atlantic and debarking yesterday, the ground finally feels stable again.

I've been using Sublime and the discounts on downloads are awesome. Since I don't have a functional CD player currently, it's been a godsend. Listened to Jason's AMA last night, and a scaled down Urd would be a fabulous addition to the two-channel setup. Nevertheless the inexpensive FLAC downloads from Qobuz via Sublime are hard to beat and worth the additional subscription expense.

Wow, Tom! It truly looks awesome. Can't wait to listen to it. (And I enjoyed your "Dirty Old Town" quiz. Rod's first solo record is perhaps my favorite of his, and once I saw Bettye's inclusion among the hints I suspected what song it was.)

Just to weigh in, it's my personal opinion that rectifiers can make a difference in sound, sometimes dramatically. But I think amplifier circuit used makes a significant difference here. In my relatively limited listening experience, I've nevertheless noticed that with some amps it is easy to hear a difference with rectifiers; for others it is much more negligible and opaque. But a classic NOS rectifier, like Mullard, can be a very sweet upgrade in certain tube amps.

I had a similar experience once I replaced a Sovtek 5AR4 with a 1950s RCA JAN 5R4GY DD-getter. Along with some Brimars and Fotons that @Ripper2860 pointed me towards, and, of course @Paladin79's Melzs, it is among the nicest tubes I've encountered so far. Now I just need to unearth some Telefunkens for that Stjärna. Ha!

LOL. Happy to have started an inappropriate linguistic trend here. (Or not. That's probably @Ripper2860's domain anyway.)

Phil Lynott could be a surprisingly lyrical and nuanced songwriter at times, and you'll find some gems in their catalog if you ever care to delve further.

Ah, the chase for the "best" -- like anything it is a nebulous and perpetual pursuit, isn't it? Which is why I have that Ellington quote in my sig. Often as a reminder solely to myself not to be too tempted by the summit and be content with what I have and can afford. But I certainly hear you that the velocity of changes is often disorienting. (PS: Have you gotten your forkbearded Kara and Wotan in place yet?) That said, it sounds like the digital frontier is getting to be a very exciting place in Schiit-land and I'm very curious about it all.

Lastly, @Ableza Very sorry to hear about the rather ignoble end to your gig, but I'm glad you at least were given some severance. I hope you will feel less disoriented soon and this will open many unexpected and fruitful avenues for you.

I get the impression you may be home now, this weekend I hope to prep the turntable and Melz for shipment to you.

 

[DACattack]

I get the impression you may be home now, this weekend I hope to prep the turntable and Melz for shipment to you.

Nearly. Still in NYC with family for another night, but fly out for home tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll be back home tomorrow night. I'll send a PM once we're settled.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Being on the "blind AB" testing side of the audiophile crew I agree that there is too much nervosa created by marketing/opinions/gotta keep up with Jonses, so I support Jason's recent comment.

However the rapidity of developments/releases by Schiit starting with Mimir/Valhalla 3 thru the Singular upgrades of Yggy/Gungnir and the Byggy over the next 1/4 year while the best of all worlds from lots of viewpoints could drive me (careful adopter) to nervosa about my "eclipsed" Gungnir 2 bought on Valentines Day 2025. Is there good and bad nervosa?

It's the velocity of the changes that's the issue - for me and I imagine a few others based on comments. At one time I had the best Pass amp, best Magnepan speaker, best ProAc speaker, best ARC pre-amp etc. and I lived thru those getting upstaged - but the velocity was slower.

Change over takes us all. Per Jimi Hendrix "90 miles an hour girl, is the speed I drive". You go Schiit! We will figure out how to respond in our own way.

It's OK when we do it.

(Kidding)

To address your concerns seriously, my anti-nervosa comments have a goal: helping to make this thread a friendly, non-scary place for new audiophiles.

Firehose discussions of every wire, fuse, filter, magic dingus, power supply, resampler, strategies on how to use 40 bands of parametric EQ just for the bass alone, reasons we should all be doing active crossovers in the analog domain or the digital domain, the need for 27 stages of ethernet decrapification, why you should get your own power pole and rewire your whole house listening-room first, the need to buy car-priced products before a car or food, and so on are great reasons for newer audiophiles to nope all the way out of this crazy place.

So, relax. Fiddling isn't necessary. Upgrading isn't necessary. Upgrading may not even be upgrading. Like I keep saying, Magni Unity is all you need. Sit back, pick some great music, and enjoy.