Hmm, lots of good discussion here. So let's talk a bit more about some of the things presented here. It might give you a better idea of how we develop products, and some of the things we take into consideration when doing so.
Two notes, first:
1. This does not indicate any new products that we're going to come out with; it's only discussion.
2. Sorry if I didn't include your idea--this is a top-of-mind thing, so it won't be all-inclusive.
So, on to the discussion.
Passive pre with stepped attenuator. Hmm. This is a great example of a well-presented business case. It hits all the high points: that we already have the technology, that the competition is limited and pricey, and that we don't already supply an attenuator for balanced systems. We've talked about this, but more in the context of putting a 4-gang pot in a box. Which, in a Bifrost-sized box (necessary for the balanced connectors, etc) could easily come out being $199--a big step up from the Sys. Swap the pot for relays, a microprocessor and programming, and add a couple of inputs, and the necessary wall-wart to run the micro and relays, and you could look at $299. Aaannd--might you want a simple buffer option? Or even a gain stage option? Making it modular makes it customizable--but also dictates that you have a good power supply to run the active stages. Add more money...
Add a remote control...this is where things get sticky. There are two choices here.
a. The first is to use a standard IR remote (which needs to be sourced) and register the control codes for it. Not a giant deal, but tedious, and could easily add another $100. And the remotes are usually the first thing to break. Or be lost. Or whatever. And most look like ass. Machined aluminum remote? Price keeps going up.
b.The second choice is to use, say, a Bluetooth receiver and do an app to run it. More complexity, more software, more compatibility issues with 8000 version of Android, and the interminable back and forth with Apple. Again, not impossible, but it does add complexity.
Headphone stands. Yep, looked into it. Sketched some up. Got costs. They're surprisingly pricey. Think retail more like $40-50, not $20. Plus, they're big and unwieldy to ship. So, without going to Chinese metal and licensing Tardis technology from Dr. Who, I don't think this is going to happen. There are plenty of attractive entries on the market out there, including ones that are adjustable, etc. So, we abandoned this as something that was too expensive and me-too--valuable only in context of ego.
ADC. Hmm...interesting idea, not sure how big the market is outside of the pro space, not sure about what the price points are. This one would require more investigation as to what's out there, what the performance is like, what people really need, and how big the market is. I do know that, with the commonly available ADC chips, the options on this side would be relatively limited unless you wanted to get into the megadollar realm—and I'm talking prices that would probably get into 5 figures.
DAP. Already talked about this. Nope. Too complex software-wise, don't know what we'd do to differentiate, huge software and support costs, devices prone to breakage because they're being carried around, and the danger of Apple deciding to step into high-res. Not us.
Portables. Ha, we've talked a lot about this one. The problem is finding a key and meaningful differentiator. The problem with most portables these days (in our view) is that they use one or more switching supplies (either deriving a negative rail off of a larger 7.4V-11V battery, or deriving both rails off a 3.7V battery.) Switching supplies are pretty yucky in terms of high-frequency noise, especially in a small box. I'm not saying it's impossible to get good audio band measurements, but the out of band noise may not be so great. Doing a portable with two 7.4V batteries and no switcher would be interesting, but it makes charging it a royal PITA—you're talking a linear charger, some complex charge management tricks, and complex switching so you could have some hope of listening to it while charging.
Media server/player. Yep, we've experimented with a number of headless servers/players, mainly so we can get rid of the "6000 computers on a desk" at trade shows. The comments on apps apply here as well, as do the challenges of a rapidly changing hardware environment. It's also a complex, kinda bleeding-edge product that would have significant impact on our customer support needs. There are a lot of questions to be answered about sound quality as well. However, there may be a business case kinda in-line with the stepped-attenuator preamp—limited competition, high prices. No promises here, just blue-skying.
Of course, two final notes:
1. The real win is finding a product that people are not asking for at all—they don't know they want it until they see it. This is the hardest one to crack. Think about smartphones before the iPhone—they were a set design, small keyboard, stylus (or not), etc. iPhone changed everything. I knew instantly when they showed the "swipe to unlock" that I'd be getting rid of my Treo as soon as they were available. But before then, I wouldn't have considered a phone without a keyboard. Or consider the iPad--who knew that throwing away functionality that was present on the ink-enabled Windows tablets of the day would result in an explosive product category? Direct input from any amount of customers, expert consultants, etc. will never result in a breakthrough product like these.
2. I've been asked many times, "How do you come up with products in the absence of input from customers (as in, crowdsourcing, etc.). The answer is simple: we don't. We're aware of the discussion on the forums, we're aware of what people are asking for, we know the market pretty well, and we get plenty of direct requests. With that input, we make decisions about what is relevant (such as, say, gain switching) and what isn't (like seventeen colors and 50 options) based on what we know about manufacturability and inventory impact. If our decisions are right, we win. If we don't, well, hey, nobody's perfect, and there's nobody forcing you to buy it.
I guess what I'm saying is that we do pay attention, and we experiment with quite a few things, but many of them may never become a real product. Reliability and support are things that can't be afterthoughts, so we tend to weigh those pretty heavily when developing new products. For example, our DACs do work with Android, using USB OTG and Audio Player Pro. However, many devices will need an external powered hub. And some still have unacceptable glitches. For this reason, we waited a long time before we announced this compatibility, and even then, we couched it in very measured terms—as in, "we haven't tested everything, but here's what we know."
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Should be easy enough to do. Lots of components to choose from, maybe add SACD as an upgrade. Not many places make a Schiit price level, but good, CD player. (Only Little Dot comes to mind.)
