[FLTWS]

Yes and no. I use the visible mark to see whether a recording has low or high dynamics. So maybe next time I don't cranck it up too far to fast on a heavy compressed recording. For the rest you are right of course.
I prefer to have the correct sound level right from the start, so I don't have to correct it during playback.

Back when a star burst pattern of some sort sat on the face plate behind the knob it was easy to hit repeat settings for a given recording or returing to a precise spot when turning down the volume during A/B comparison listening. The starburst pattern may still be fairly common on pro audio gear.

 

[valiant66]

"Integration with home theater via true bypass capability"
...
"Home Theater Integration, $0. Okay, all you "home theater bypass" guys. All of our preamps offer true home theater bypass. Just plug in your processor's front channels to any input, select Passive mode, and turn the volume all the way up. Presto! 1:1 home theater bypass, with only a relay in the signal path."
https://www.schiit.com/guides/choosing-amps-preamps

And then you forget it's set to max (you can't easily tell by looking at all the tiny markings), or the spouse comes home and doesn't think to check the volume, and switch to another input and blast max volume to the speakers and discover your woofer cones embedded in the opposite wall and tiny wafts of smoke coming from what used to be your tweeters.

No thanks. Too much opportunity for inadvertent damage to downstream gear.

The thing about actual true bypass capability is that the volume control does not affect that output. So you can leave the volume control at its usual comfortable position (in my case it's usually around 10:30/11:00) for the other inputs, and then control the output of just that set of connectors with an upstream device - usually a HT receiver, but it could be anything, including a DAC with built-in volume control.

Right now I've put the Museatex PA-6i and STR-55 and Bitstream DAC into storage and am using old Emotiva gear (UMC-200 & UPA-700) for two-channel and HT listening. The Emotiva stuff is good - no question about it - but the the Museatex stuff is better*. It is easier to listen longer with less fatigue. But it's only 2-channel. I was OK with that for a while, but recently decided to binge all the Star Wars movies, and the inventors of surround/THX really put a lot of effort into the surround sound: I wanted to experience that. So the Emotiva came out and became the system. But it's ...wearying... ?? to listen to music on it over long periods of time.

In an ideal world, if the PA-6i had HT bypass, I could leave it in the chain and just use the Emotiva for movie watching, and use the Museatex gear for everything else. Or I could sell the Museatex and replace it with a Schiit stack of some kind, if it had the HT bypass.

But they don't.

*Here's another thing: comfortable listening level for the STR-55 (rated 55W into 8 ohms, 4 ohm rating not given) is about 11:00 on the dial for the PA-6i, or around 36.5-37.5 (out of 70) for the UMC-200. But when I put in the UPA-700 (rated 80W into 8 ohm, 100W into 4, 2 channels driven), the comfortable listening level is around 47.5-48.5. In other words, the "weaker" 55W amp plays louder than the 80W amp. Weird.
FWIW my main speakers are Totem Mani-2 Signatures, nominal impedance 4 ohms, sensitivity: 85dB/W/m.
.

 

[valiant66]

Since so many other suggestions for new products have been made I figured why not chuck one of mine out there. Okay, I know nothing about electronics but it seems to me Schiit amplifiers could be fitted with a connection on the back where one could attach wired stereo VU meters via a 3 foot cord for easy placement. Of course they would be called Toad Stools. I look forward to the next ten years with a new giddiness.

It wouldn't be necessary to have a special connection - you already have the analogue out, either balanced XLR or single ended RCA. Just add a VU meter box to either, inline on on the spare pair if you're not using them for bass.

Here's one for you:

https://www.retrosonicproaudio.com/product/retrosonic-pro-audio-r2vu-dual-analog-vu-meter

PS: It won't happen, but I do like the name.
.

EDIT. PPS: For those of you with small stacks, this is only one inch wider than a Magni (also 1/8 the price of the rack-sized pro model above):

https://www.doukaudio.com/douk-audi...vel-indicator-for-amplifier-preamp-p0204.html

 

[valiant66]

@Jason Stoddard Hi, Jason. And any other Schiit staff that may lurk around here. I have a request...

I missed out on the Jil back in the day, and I just missed out on the Saga S. I've been saving up for some new Schiit gear, and was going to get the Saga, a Modi Multibit, and a couple of other bits and pieces, but wanted to order them all at the same time to save on shipping up here to Canada.

I actually have enough saved for just the Saga, and if I had known it was going to go out of stock, I would have pulled the trigger and damn the shipping.

So here's my request: when gear is getting towards the end, can you please mark it as "Low stock" or "End of Life" or something along those lines so that those of us in similar situations can pick up the piece we've been waffling over before it goes out of production.

Thanks!

 

[EricDH]

or, on the higher tiered (more expensive models) have a color changing power led that tracks the volume pot setting, which would still maintain the minimalist design aesthetic. yes, I know that some competitor's products known for "bells and whistles" have this feature.

That would make them a Chord Electronics imitator.

 

[rkw]

Back when a star burst pattern of some sort sat on the face plate behind the knob it was easy to hit repeat settings for a given recording or returing to a precise spot when turning down the volume during A/B comparison listening. The starburst pattern may still be fairly common on pro audio gear.

But your example... isn't the starburst pattern pointless if the knob has no mark on it?

 

[Zojokkeli]

Coloured LEDs on volume wheel would look tacky and out of place on Schiit products. Like the whole RGB-fad in PC gaming.

Chord has a charming solution that suits them, but I don’t really see it working well for others.

 

[Pete Schiller]

@Jason Stoddard Hi, Jason. And any other Schiit staff that may lurk around here. I have a request...

I missed out on the Jil back in the day, and I just missed out on the Saga S. I've been saving up for some new Schiit gear, and was going to get the Saga, a Modi Multibit, and a couple of other bits and pieces, but wanted to order them all at the same time to save on shipping up here to Canada.

I actually have enough saved for just the Saga, and if I had known it was going to go out of stock, I would have pulled the trigger and damn the shipping.

So here's my request: when gear is getting towards the end, can you please mark it as "Low stock" or "End of Life" or something along those lines so that those of us in similar situations can pick up the piece we've been waffling over before it goes out of production.

Thanks!

Unless you really want nothing to do with tubes, the Saga OG was a very good preamp, in fact I believe Jason may have said that he preferred its sound to Freya OG. They come up for sale and the Saga S will come up for sale used as well.

Also, regarding shipping, it's not alway cheaper to lump the items into a single shipment, at least for shipping large items within the US.
Shipping a single Aegir from California to Maine was around $40. Having two packaged and shipped together was $95-100. I placed two orders, each for a single Aegir.

 

[FLTWS]

But your example... isn't the starburst pattern pointless if the knob has no mark on it?

There is a mark its just close to the faceplate and can't be easily seen from the angle the picture is taken from.

Its actually right on the pattern making it easy to get very close to the spot one wants.

 

[FLTWS]

Double post.

 

[valiant66]

Unless you really want nothing to do with tubes, the Saga OG was a very good preamp, in fact I believe Jason may have said that he preferred its sound to Freya OG. They come up for sale and the Saga S will come up for sale used as well.

Also, regarding shipping, it's not alway cheaper to lump the items into a single shipment, at least for shipping large items within the US.
Shipping a single Aegir from California to Maine was around $40. Having two packaged and shipped together was $95-100. I placed two orders, each for a single Aegir.

Thanks for the recommendation, but it's hard to stack things on top of tube gear...

Shipping up to Canada has the added expense of a customs broker getting involved (often between $10 and $25 "handling fee"), so bundling items results in just a single added expense. It's thus usually cheaper to bundle. I wasn't going to be ordering anything as heavy as an Aegir, but if I do I'll keep that in mind...

.

 

[valiant66]

Coloured LEDs on volume wheel would look tacky and out of place on Schiit products. Like the whole RGB-fad in PC gaming.

If I read the OP correctly, I think they meant a white led shining through a dot on the volume knob.

It actually makes sense as both a power-on indicator and a volume reference.

In the old days Schiit had a policy of one device one job, but now that they're relaxing that policy, maybe they'd be ok with an LED doing double duty.
.

 

[Zojokkeli]

If I read the OP correctly, I think they meant a white led shining through a dot on the volume knob.

That sounds pretty good, actually.

 

[Les Strat]

@Jason Stoddard Hi, Jason. And any other Schiit staff that may lurk around here. I have a request...

I missed out on the Jil back in the day, and I just missed out on the Saga S. I've been saving up for some new Schiit gear, and was going to get the Saga, a Modi Multibit, and a couple of other bits and pieces, but wanted to order them all at the same time to save on shipping up here to Canada.

I actually have enough saved for just the Saga, and if I had known it was going to go out of stock, I would have pulled the trigger and damn the shipping.

So here's my request: when gear is getting towards the end, can you please mark it as "Low stock" or "End of Life" or something along those lines so that those of us in similar situations can pick up the piece we've been waffling over before it goes out of production.

Thanks!

Just received an email from Schiit saying that my Freya S shipped from US today

 

[KoshNaranek]

@Jason Stoddard Hi, Jason. And any other Schiit staff that may lurk around here. I have a request...

I missed out on the Jil back in the day, and I just missed out on the Saga S. I've been saving up for some new Schiit gear, and was going to get the Saga, a Modi Multibit, and a couple of other bits and pieces, but wanted to order them all at the same time to save on shipping up here to Canada.

I actually have enough saved for just the Saga, and if I had known it was going to go out of stock, I would have pulled the trigger and damn the shipping.

So here's my request: when gear is getting towards the end, can you please mark it as "Low stock" or "End of Life" or something along those lines so that those of us in similar situations can pick up the piece we've been waffling over before it goes out of production.

Thanks!

I would suggest that Alex or his designee just post it this thread. Two reasons for this:
1. Easier than modifying the website.
2. Secondary benefit to being such avid followers of this thread. Hey, we have to take all the perks we can get!