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

[Jason Stoddard]

  I really think it's time for more affordable Schiit speaker amps (as opposed to Ragnarok). Emotiva has the only affordable option, and I think Schiit could do better. If they were able to make a 50W 2 channel in an asgard size chassis for around $200 it'd probably sell like hotcakes. 

 
 
Ha. No. 50W x 2 in an A2-sized chassis really won't happen.
 
1. Even with the biggest toroid that will fit, you're WAAAYY under-transformered. Think 100VA max in that size chassis. You really want 300VA for 50x2.
2. Fans or big heatsinks (besides the transformer problem, let's say you under-transformer it--even then, heat is a BIG problem.)
3. About 2x your target cost, even under-transformered, with fan noise as a bonus.
 
Sorry, that's reality.

 

[jeremy205100]

   
 
Ha. No. 50W x 2 in an A2-sized chassis really won't happen.
 
1. Even with the biggest toroid that will fit, you're WAAAYY under-transformered. Think 100VA max in that size chassis. You really want 300VA for 50x2.
2. Fans or big heatsinks (besides the transformer problem, let's say you under-transformer it--even then, heat is a BIG problem.)
3. About 2x your target cost, even under-transformered, with fan noise as a bonus.
 
Sorry, that's reality.

Thanks for the reply. While I fully admit to being completely ignorant about the technical aspects (not an engineer), I was basically just dreaming of a perfect product to suit my needs. Emotiva has something similar that I'm sure you are aware of. Granted, it has a much larger volume to work with, but it is 50W. And they sell it for $219. I looked it up just to jog my memory, and I can actually see what you're saying from their product visuals. I have never seen one in person so I thought it was much smaller until I looked at the dimensions. 
 
But good to know that it's not feasible. I'm also aware that you guys don't want to ship just another speaker amp, which is totally understandable. Part of the reason I like my Asgard 2 is that it performs just as good or better than the ones I tried in a local audio store that costed double the price. 
 
Anyway, I'm looking forward to whatever you have in store. 

 

[aamer23]

Schiits class A Mono block headphone power amps 

 

[aamer23]

just cause you can i'm sure its not needed or even mono block valve amps 

 

[catspaw]

Those headphones are like wearing a helmet .
 
On a more serious note:
Jason, Are you considering a 5.1 DAC/AMP in the future? (Obviously in the far future).
I know its well outside your Consumer base, but I use my audio gear mostly for gaming, so I was wondering if It is even going to be a possibility in the future or if I have to stick with lower quality gear for that. (like my Z-5500).
 
Also if you could comment whenever it is even possible to make a 5.1 dedicated dac (especially when it comes to things like EAX, Surround, etc).

 

[Rudiger]

  I've realized that I have been terrible at posting photo updates to go with the story, so let's fix that now.
 
(...)
   

 
Units waiting for listen-testing at the Schiithole.

 
What ??? But here you said : "Don’t use Schiity terms. We hate the word “user.” Same goes with “consumer” and “unit.” If you catch us using those, let us know, because we probably slipped into corp-speak mode for a moment, and we deserve a beating. (...)"
 

 

 

[davidsh]

@Jason Stoddard would a hard-core objectivist have a place in your corp?
 
What do you think about the hypothesis 'If it measures below our hearing threshold, it is inaudible'?

 

[Anavel0]

Ha. No. 50W x 2 in an A2-sized chassis really won't happen.

1. Even with the biggest toroid that will fit, you're WAAAYY under-transformered. Think 100VA max in that size chassis. You really want 300VA for 50x2.
2. Fans or big heatsinks (besides the transformer problem, let's say you under-transformer it--even then, heat is a BIG problem.)
3. About 2x your target cost, even under-transformered, with fan noise as a bonus.

Sorry, that's reality.

He didn't say never. Just not in Asgard size.

In all seriousness, though. I'd love a Schiit speaker amp, that isn't Ragnorok priced. I'm trying to piece together my first stereo system and their components get real expensive real quick.

 

[XVampireX]

   
Thank you!
 
It's funny. We do play around quite a bit with some off-the-wall stuff (which is how Vali happened), but, these days, we do have to ask a lot of questions (internally) about "what should we do next/what's a good new product for us/how does this differentiate from other stuff" that may seem to be limiting. Of course, we're still playing, but it's a lot harder to, say, play around with high-power speaker amps. For that, you have to start with the thermal design (heatsinking), which dictates chassis dimensions, which dictates transformer size and placement, which dictates internal layout...it's a lot harder to "build that on a sheet of plywood and see what we come up with." Which is another reason we haven't done much in that arena. 

 
Isn't the biggest thing that's differentiating you from others is price? And isn't it good enough?
I do understand that to get lower price you need to think about a design that can save you the money.
But that's what you are here for, to save us a lot of money and make kickass products.

 

[aamer23]

what I understand is that the Schiits Team are looking for that iPhone moment again, well most companies / people get 1 maybe 2 of those in a lifetime, you can wait 2 long before, the next attempt. try a few items out as Special Editions 500 pieces see which ones catch our imaginations and makes the opposition run for cover. Make it with the same degree of thought and sincerity you have already given us 

getting of my soap box now 

 

[aamer23]

It difficult to top the impact that Modi, Magni, Vali and Asgard, (these are products that pushed me to buy headphones). They have had a similar impact on the Head Fi Hi Fi market as Apple’s original iphone has had on the telecoms market, as this is revolution; now it is evolution small incremental improvements on the main established lines. And to try new things to see what will work as a new game changer product this is now difficult and may not have the same level of impact as the original products. Telecoms industry have tried to push smart watches as the new game changer and that has not worked as they have not found that unique selling point yet and so we have had a number non focused non unique uninspiring features that we feel we do not really need. So the question is what do we need and we may not even know that we need it 

 

[judmarc]

  Yes, as my screen name implies, I soldered the first thousand boards at Schiit. Yes, if you've read previous chapters, you've heard that Jason's wife was part of the story. Well, I've been reading this whole thread since the beginning and enjoying every magical minute of it.

 
As I've mentioned before in this and other threads, you sent me an email apologizing for a shipping mixup I wasn't even bothered by.  (We had a 3 or 4 day power outage that started the day my Bifrost was originally scheduled to arrive, so as it worked out it came just when our power was restored, and I saved money to boot.)  That would have been impressive enough - you bothering to apologize after I'd sent you an email thanking you, with smileys, for the mixup that wound up benefiting me.  But what *really* impressed me was that you sent it at something like 1:30 am.
 
Of course I hope Schiit's processes have now gotten to the point that all-nighters are less typical.  But it absolutely spoke volumes to me about your devotion to making great products and pleasing your customers.  If I didn't have that 1:30 am email, then Jason's posts in this thread would still be a great story.  But I wouldn't be able to nod and think, "I know exactly what you mean," when he writes about the amount of work put in by everyone at Schiit and why you all continue to do it.

 

[45longcolt]

Another vote for an ADC, please.
These have two uses - digitizing your LPs, tapes and whatnot, and recording new performances. Yeah, there are built-in and other extremely cheap options, but these tend to be garbage.
I suspect Schiit could make one that would capture pro-level sound yet be affordable for garage bands. For bonus points, include a jack for battery power to make it usable in the field.
But not until you get the Rag/Ygg delivered, OK?

 

[superjawes]

But not until you get the Rag/Ygg delivered, OK?

I think they should drop everything just to mess with the people waiting for those

 

[Matias]

Home studio audio interfaces? DAC + ADC + amp with USB input. 1 or 2 channel models. Additional phantom power for condenser mics.