[FLTWS]

Live concerts don't sound better under the influence.

 

[yonson]

Schiit’s little amplifier punches way above its weight
The Audiophiliac comes away mightily impressed by the Schiit Aegir amp.
by Steve Guttenberg
MAY 4, 2019 6:57 AM PDT
https://www.cnet.com/news/schiits-little-amplifier-punches-way-above-its-weight/#ftag=COS-05-10aaa0j

"Schiit's on a roll: a revised version of their Ragnarok integrated amp and the first Schiit turntable are coming soon. Watch this space."

I'm patiently awaiting a comparison between Vidar and Aegir (Monoblock). Mainly curious if Aegir has a lower noise floor than Vidar which would be the main reason I would switch...

 

[rkw]

Schiit’s little amplifier punches way above its weight
The Audiophiliac comes away mightily impressed by the Schiit Aegir amp.
by Steve Guttenberg

"punches way above its weight"... so Aegir performs as well as much heavier amps?

 

[US Blues]

Live concerts don't sound better under the influence.

That depends on what is influencing you.

 

[EricDH]

and does it sound better than two years ago?

Obviously not. But multibit DACs normally need proper warm up and stabilization for maximum performance. Which can take between hours (many hours) and more than a week, depending on make/model (the main reason why I stopped bringing my Wadia CD player to CD player shoot outs. It never sounded at its best in the shootout, and back home it took more than a week to sound good again).

 

[Gimpinchair]

Some of you fellas wasted more energy arguing about this Schiit than my always-on Yggy 2 used last week when I was away on a biz trip.

For the record, my Yggy 2 sounds great even for NHL Playoffs. Any DAC that can make the sound of Doc Emerick's voice tolerable for a couple of hours is worth is weight in unobtanium.

Blasphemy!

 

[Xcalibur255]

@Xcalibur255 ... I think you're one of the first users that had the minerals to ask such an question! Nice. When a YouTube channel content-provider reviewed a Vali 2, that was one his 2016 musings! My preferred perception-time is Saturday morning, before I've over-caffinated myself, on an partially-empty stomach. Caffeine. Ethanol. Body hormones. Hell, my ear-fatigue. It changes my perception. Re: off-brand bedroom clock. Heh, interesting observation. When my tinnitus really acts up (after a week's worth of high pitched whines [teenaged-junior-scientists]), the most I can tolerate is "rain on a tent", by MyNoise dot net. I bypass my fancy toy (Valhalla) and plug-in straight to my Vali. When I'm feeling particularly twitchy, I switch to my solid-state Magni and listen to spoken-word podcasts (in the dark).
Booze.
Food.
Weed.
Fatigue.
My mood.
My music or (horror) podcast preferences change with what's going on in my body.
{{{edit... I'd never, EVER do stand up-philosophy [teaching], electronics repair or software troubleshooting while under the influence. Bad news! }}}

It's interesting you should mention caffeine, because I've noticed that has a clear effect on critical listening as well. I have always been deeply fascinated by how much our perception of sound varies and by just how many variables are acting upon those perceptions.

Tinnitus and barometric pressure are a couple of other major variables that can muck up a good listening session. My ears have never liked to equalize when pressure goes up or down and that leads to good and bad music listening days.

Lately I've been listening to ASMR tapping videos at very low volumes, partly because I like tapping sounds and partly because it seems to have a very positive focusing effect on my hearing. I find myself setting the volume on my headphone amp several clicks lower than I used to while still getting the same perceived loudness as before, which is a big win in my books.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Thanks to everybody for weighing in and for what turned into a pretty cool discussion. It kind of looks like this group is about 50/50 on the subject which is interesting. For sure it seems there are two camps when it comes to how we respond to alcohol and critical listening, which is good to know.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

It's interesting you should mention caffeine, because I've noticed that has a clear effect on critical listening as well. I have always been deeply fascinated by how much our perception of sound varies and by just how many variables are acting upon those perceptions.

Tinnitus and barometric pressure are a couple of other major variables that can muck up a good listening session. My ears have never liked to equalize when pressure goes up or down and that leads to good and bad music listening days.

Lately I've been listening to ASMR tapping videos at very low volumes, partly because I like tapping sounds and partly because it seems to have a very positive focusing effect on my hearing. I find myself setting the volume on my headphone amp several clicks lower than I used to while still getting the same perceived loudness as before, which is a big win in my books.

I was over-equalizing my inner ear while drift-diving the Saint Lawrence Seaway (nothing quite like pulling yourself along a submerged chain with freight tankers cruising kilometres away [sure as hell doesn't sound like it under water]). I've got some relief using noise generators (my two go-to links... here .... and here). Tinnitus is a bizarre phenomena.

Thanks to everybody for weighing in and for what turned into a pretty cool discussion. It kind of looks like this group is about 50/50 on the subject which is interesting. For sure it seems there are two camps when it comes to how we respond to alcohol and critical listening, which is good to know.

My spouse's teaching Theory Of Knowledge to her IB students. By the end of the course, they question their senses, perceptions, and hopefully, see 1-2 biasses. In my classes, by the end of grade 10 science, the students are muttering to each other... So I don't see Mister ScubaMan. I'm only seeing an image of my teacher. And that image can be manipulated. My smell can be manipulated. My hearing can be manipulated. My central nervous system's unreliable! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS... is this on the test, sir?

 

[Robert Padgett]

Thanks to everybody for weighing in and for what turned into a pretty cool discussion. It kind of looks like this group is about 50/50 on the subject which is interesting. For sure it seems there are two camps when it comes to how we respond to alcohol and critical listening, which is good to know.

Indeed...it was only after I quit drinking did I realize that I thought everybody was drinkers because I had not met and drunk coffee with those who didn't.
If the Music I am hearing tonight could be enhanced, I am not sure I could handle it sounding better And YMMV...

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

Tinnitus and barometric pressure are a couple of other major variables that can muck up a good listening session. My ears have never liked to equalize when pressure goes up or down and that leads to good and bad music listening days.

Amazing! I do sound reinforcement for a community church and have always been astounded at the number of variables, def barometric pressure, but also relative humidity making appreciable differences. (I can appreciate Baldr's preference for non-amplified venues)

I've honestly never thought to apply these observations to my home environment...

 

[Derrick Swart]

Obviously not. But multibit DACs normally need proper warm up and stabilization for maximum performance. Which can take between hours (many hours) and more than a week, depending on make/model (the main reason why I stopped bringing my Wadia CD player to CD player shoot outs. It never sounded at its best in the shootout, and back home it took more than a week to sound good again).

Was not a serious question...obviously...two years!!??!!

 

[EricDH]

Was not a serious question...obviously...two years!!??!!

Of course not. But it touches a bit on the cynicism of non-believers when they talk about how important multibit DAC owners find the correct warming up time. And then you easily get statements that the longer warming up the better, few hour, few days, few weeks, two years.

 

[johnjen]

I mean when you think about it (vs. hear it) weeks etc, for 'warm up' is a bit 'over the top', that is until you experience it for yourself.

Then it's, 'Schiit, they were right…!"

And my record thus far (and I hope, never to be repeated) was ≈ 850hrs before it stopped, changing for the better.
And granted past say 4-500hrs (≈2-3 weeks), we're talking very small changes that would only become apparent if you knew the music REALLY WELL before hand.

Still it is amazing how much change there can be between 'cold' and peak SQ.

JJ

 

[EricDH]

I mean when you think about it (vs. hear it) weeks etc, for 'warm up' is a bit 'over the top', that is until you experience it for yourself.

Then it's, 'Schiit, they were right…!"

And my record thus far (and I hope, never to be repeated) was ≈ 850hrs before it stopped, changing for the better.
And granted past say 4-500hrs (≈2-3 weeks), we're talking very small changes that would only become apparent if you knew the music REALLY WELL before hand.

Still it is amazing how much change there can be between 'cold' and peak SQ.

JJ

If I remember correctly, my Wadia 830 needed about a week or so. But it's very difficult to pinpoint to the endpoint of improvement of course.