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

[StanD]

  Well that scenario would seem to fit the description, except for the part where the focus got better afterwards and continued to improve…
 
But no, I didn't have a cold.
 
Which does raise an interesting point…
I have noticed that there seems to be a 'threshold' where once reached, the cumulative effects of removing 'choke points' becomes more and more involved, more and more obvious and more and more beneficial…
By that I mean, the net results of these changes become more extensive and with the lessening of these choke points the cumulative effects are greater and much more noticeable.
 
For me the threshold was reached when I made power cables (bottlehead power cable kit) and then replaced the duplex receptacle with a 'treated' unit.  This then led to experimenting with cryo treatments and then to cooking the cables, etc., etc.
 
IOW once I found and improved those first major choke points and heard not only a change but a decided improvement in SQ, the race was on. So once my systems threshold was 'crossed', THEN I could pursue ancilliary avenues of experimentation, because now I could hear changes.
Which has led me to fuses and a dedicated ac power run just for my audio system etc.
 
And all of my experimentation has been aimed at ac power delivery improvements.  The what, and why, and how, of them.
And currently I am taking measurements of my ac power ditribution system within my home and will be correlating them with the SQ of my system.
 
The next question then becomes will any of this information apply to anyone else?
And the answer is, it depends.
 
All of this is a DIY approach to learning about what does and doesn't improve the SQ of our systems.
If there is insufficient curiosity to explore these aspects of our audio systems then clearly the answer would be no.
 
But for me the answer is clearly yes.  And the resultant improvements are wonderous, which provides the impetus to continue to explore these avenues of discovery.
 
YMMV
 
JJ :thumb

Your AC power's voltage levels at home are low? Or noisy? How are you measuring this?

 

[johnjen]

  Your AC power's voltage levels at home are low? Or noisy? How are you measuring this?

I have had an rms line voltage monitor within eyesight for years, which I monitor quite frequently.
I also have several other DVM's (including a fluke 8060A and a fluke 289) and an ac line voltage monitoring 'circuit analyzer', which reports my current line voltage as 121.5vac ±0.5volt
 
I rarely see it go below 118vac, and most of the time it's 121 to 124vac.
 
We in the PNW have quite stable and reliable power, more so than other areas of the country.
It's stable enough that I leave my audio system on 24/7 to help log burn in hours, and except for storms etc. I rarely shut it all down.
 
And since my home was built in the 40's using the then standard post and piller ac power distribution system, I have added several 'modern' dedicated home runs for the computer and audio systems to run on.
 
As you might imagine I've been looking into all of this for a while now and my current series of experiments are aimed squarely at this very issue as it applies to my audio system.  The results thus far are 'interesting'.
 
JJ  :thumb

 

[StanD]

  I have had an rms line voltage monitor within eyesight for years, which I monitor quite frequently.
I also have several other DVM's (including a fluke 8060A and a fluke 289) and an ac line voltage monitoring 'circuit analyzer', which reports my current line voltage as 121.5vac ±0.5volt
 
I rarely see it go below 118vac, and most of the time it's 121 to 124vac.
 
We in the PNW have quite stable and reliable power, more so than other areas of the country.
It's stable enough that I leave my audio system on 24/7 to help log burn in hours, and except for storms etc. I rarely shut it all down.
 
And since my home was built in the 40's using the then standard post and piller ac power distribution system, I have added several 'modern' dedicated home runs for the computer and audio systems to run on.
 
As you might imagine I've been looking into all of this for a while now and my current series of experiments are aimed squarely at this very issue as it applies to my audio system.  The results thus far are 'interesting'.
 
JJ  :thumb

Your voltage looks fine. How about noise and EMI?

 

[johnjen]

Noise and emi require equipment I don't have.
If anyone does have any recommendations for equipment that works well for these types of measurements, and actually has said equipment, well there might just be some further data we can document… :thumb
 
But since I'm using the Mojo and The Rok amps which are rather sensitive to both of those and that I don't hear any problems, tends to indicate they aren't a 'big' problem.
 
Well except when the stove is on and I hear short zizzts when the burner kicks in.
This tends to tell me that the power is 'clean', but it would be good to explore those and other aspects like monitoring the power factor etc. in more depth and in real time.
 
And my latest experiments into ASCC (Available Short-Circuit Current) are starting to point at relationships that could prove to be helpful as well.
 
So the more the merrier interms of data gathering as far as I'm concerned.
 
JJ

 

[StanD]

  Noise and emi require equipment I don't have.
If anyone does have any recommendations for equipment that works well for these types of measurements, and actually has said equipment, well there might just be some further data we can document… :thumb
 
But since I'm using the Mojo and The Rok amps which are rather sensitive to both of those and that I don't hear any problems, tends to indicate they aren't a 'big' problem.
 
Well except when the stove is on and I hear short zizzts when the burner kicks in.
This tends to tell me that the power is 'clean', but it would be good to explore those and other aspects like monitoring the power factor etc. in more depth and in real time.
 
And my latest experiments into ASCC (Available Short-Circuit Current) are starting to point at relationships that could prove to be helpful as well.
 
So the more the merrier interms of 2015-01-04at gathering as far as I'm concerned.
 
JJ

I'll guess that it's an electric stove. Those lovely zizzts could be carried by the powerline or as RF emissions picked up by cables or directly by your audio gear. Lucky for me I prefer cooking on a gas stove and am so equipped. 

 

[johnjen]

Yeah, electric stove, but fortunately it's contributions are intermittant, only occurs around meal times and lasts but a fraction of a second. 
 
And the way I have my dedicated power feed set up, I have a Shunyata Defender power filter 'upstream' from my amp and dac which helps suck up such electrial noises.
Even so the stove does makes its presence known during diner time…
 
JJ

 

[StanD]

  Yeah, electric stove, but fortunately it's contributions are intermittant, only occurs around meal times and lasts but a fraction of a second. 
 
And the way I have my dedicated power feed set up, I have a Shunyata Defender power filter 'upstream' from my amp and dac which helps suck up such electrial noises.
Even so the stove does makes its presence known during diner time…
 
JJ

Consider it to be the dinner bell for audiophiles, kinda like making lemonaide out of lemons.

 

[johnjen]

  Consider it to be the dinner bell for audiophiles, kinda like making lemonaide out of lemons.

Sorta like ringing the diner bell when the feed bag is ready? 
 
JJ  

 

[drez]

At risk of exacerbating off topic:
 
I have experienced burn in but it has never made me change my mind about a purchase or whether or not to send something back after an evaluation.  The good equipment sounded good from the start, and the bad equipment never improved enough to make me change my mind.

 

[johnjen]

  At risk of exacerbating off topic:
 
I have experienced burn in but it has never made me change my mind about a purchase or whether or not to send something back after an evaluation.  The good equipment sounded good from the start, and the bad equipment never improved enough to make me change my mind.

While not meaning to further 

 
Others have noticed (as have I) that usually you can get a handle on the 'suitablity' of a piece of gear within the first few hrs of operation, be it good or bad.
 
But what I've come to know is, to fully realize just how much of a change (good or bad), usually takes many more hours.
 
JJ

 

[jeremy205100]

  At risk of exacerbating off topic:
 
I have experienced burn in but it has never made me change my mind about a purchase or whether or not to send something back after an evaluation.  The good equipment sounded good from the start, and the bad equipment never improved enough to make me change my mind.

I agree with this. When I was choosing between headphones, the DT 990 600 Ohm and the AKG K701, I liked the 990s from the start. But when I decided to keep them they changed (improved) in sound over the next two weeks as I burned them in.

 

[Rem0o]

  At risk of exacerbating off topic:
 
I have experienced burn in but it has never made me change my mind about a purchase or whether or not to send something back after an evaluation.  The good equipment sounded good from the start, and the bad equipment never improved enough to make me change my mind.
 

 
Tell me, the first time you tasted wine, beer or coffee when you were young, did you like it? What about now?

   Some stuff needs time, time for your tastes to develop. I think this analogy applies to headphones.

 

[johnjen]

Speaking for myself, I took to coffee almost instantly and still don't care much for wine nor beer.
Sorta doesn't fit but I do see your point.
 
However, in my case I'm tracking changes for hundreds if not thousands of hours and for me it's not a matter of liking the results (I've allready made that determination) but how much changes and specifically in what ways.  
And some of these changes are repeating a pattern of changes made prior to this 'go round'.
For instance my audio 'toilet dump' episode(s) have been repeated, to varying degrees, 3-4 times now.
And thankfully it hasn't been everytime.  
It's almost painful to have to wait for the lack of focus to clear up, especially now that I know that it will.
 
JJ

 

[kapanak]

   
So what will we expect to see? Less products, but more significant introductions. In fact, I think I can safely say that all of our planned intros will be “one and only” products that will really surprise you.
 
It’ll start with Yggdrasil, of course. Q1 is the target. With any luck, it’ll be mid-Q1. But we’ll see. I don’t think we need a beta test in this case, either, so when they’re available, they’re available.
 
And that leaves three mysteries.
 
Mystery 1. Expect to wrap your mind around a couple of new concepts with this one. It’s really hard to say anything more about this…but consider that one component of it will be compatible with some of our other products.
 
Mystery 2. I’ve said I’ve been working on a new balanced topology, and that will be incorporated into one of the planned mystery products. It does not replace anything we’re currently selling, but it does take us in some surprising new directions. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
 
Mystery 3. And expect something that nobody is expecting from us. I can’t say more.
 
And, of course, there are a couple of wild cards, too…we’ll see what happens with those as we get further along in development.
 

 
If I had to guess, other than Yggdrasil, we'll see a streamer (similar to Auralic Aries or maybe not so similar, but same concept), as well as a high end integrated amp/DAC or just a high end DAC/Amp that has a balanced output, kind of a trickle down version of Ragnarok and Yggdrasil combined. I would actually guess they are working on headphones, but that would be a VERY wild guess.

 

[crazychile]

I sold high end audio during the late 80s through the late 90's. To me, electronics break in was usually subtle, possibly even imagined. Speakers were a different story due to their electro-mechanical nature. I can think of several pairs of speakers that initially sounded pretty awful but then balanced out after some time to sound pretty good. Funny how later when reviews would come out the reviewer usually made similar comments. Generally <50 hrs and you could get a pretty good idea of how they were really going to sound even though they might improve slightly with more play. These were the early days of aluminum dome tweeters, and most sounded like breaking glass/maimed animals until they mellowed out a bit. I'm pretty sure that wasn't imagined. I can think of a few silver cables back then that sounded pretty bad initially also.