[tincanear]

My 2 cents... don’t cheap out on the socket-saver (and 6SN7-6922 adapter?). I picked up my first adapters at tubedepot.com . Shipped easily to Canada. if you’re considering using an adapter, be prepared to trim pins... and avoid my frustration - - a tube sticking out at an 88.888888-degree angle.

i'm surprised that your house panthers even allow for an 88.88 degree angle or anything even close to orthogonal... unless they've grown tired of it by now

(added)
or you've trained your house panthers to be just as OCD as you, and they reseat the tubes after playing

 

[tincanear]

a true "audiopile" would perform warranty-voiding Vali 2+ enclosure modifications (see machine-shops-r-us, bicycle shop with Campy-seat-post-reamer-tool, diy drill press and Uni-bit step drill, etc) to fit the desired socket-savers / adapters.

(added)
note that there's no "h" in "audiopile"

 

[JohnnyOps]

Hey, dumb question... is there a reason why Modius has AES input but Bifrost 2 does not? I was thinking about getting/building a Pi2AES with Ropieee because I’ve heard great things about AES, but I just turned around my Bifrost2 and realized it doesn’t have the same inputs... is this a generational thing? They are both using Unison, but the Bifrost 2 is modular... not enough room on the back?

also, has anyone else experimented with AES / SPDIF vs Unison? Any strong feelings about differences heard?

thanks!

 

[tincanear]

Hey, dumb question... is there a reason why Modius has AES input but Bifrost 2 does not? I was thinking about getting/building a Pi2AES with Ropieee because I’ve heard great things about AES, but I just turned around my Bifrost2 and realized it doesn’t have the same inputs... is this a generational thing? They are both using Unison, but the Bifrost 2 is modular... not enough room on the back?

also, has anyone else experimented with AES / SPDIF vs Unison? Any strong feelings about differences heard?

thanks!

AFAIK not enough room on the bifrost 2 (3-pin XLR is kinda bulky). doesn't the Pi2AES board have a coaxial 75 ohm output as well? Both the BNC and RCA style interfaces are 75 ohm (e.g. RG-59 cabling) versions, so cable could be RCA to RCA or BNC to RCA depending on the source's connector type.

(added)
also many users on the Yggy thread(s) have compared Unison and S/PDIF interfaces. Mike (baldr) himself claims Unison USB is better than S/PDIF (and S/PDIF better than regular non-Unison USB).
Cheap to try out yourself, with your own source, gear and ears using generic cabling to see if there's an obvious difference to you.

 

[darkarn]

To be honest, this is my first time hearing of the term "statement product"

As far as I know, I just see products as erm, products. All I do is to figure out which ones fit my usage, get it, and move on with my life

 

[wout31]

Has anyone else experimented with AES / SPDIF vs Unison? Any strong feelings about differences heard?
thanks!

Yes tried that.
AES out from RME sound card in PC
AES out from RPi HAT
Played my music with that for a long time, Then Unison USB™ came along. I swapped the USB card in my Yggdrasil and after a few comparison sessions stayed with Unison.
I agree with @Baldr that it sounds more fluent, more lively, more natural than SPDIF.

 

[Les Strat]

Yes tried that.
AES out from RME sound card in PC
AES out from RPi HAT
Played my music with that for a long time, Then Unison USB™ came along. I swapped the USB card in my Yggdrasil and after a few comparison sessions stayed with Unison.
I agree with @Baldr that it sounds more fluent, more lively, more natural than SPDIF.

My digital source does not have a USB output, so I have not been able to use the Union USB input on my Yggy.
I recently borrowed a streamer which had USB, RCA and AES outputs. I preferred AES to USB with that device, when connected to my Yggy.
On my current set up, where my options are BNC, RCA, AES (and Toslink) my preference is S/PDIF via BNC.
If I do get a Schiit CD Transport, I will finally be able to do a proper comparison between Unison USB and S/PDIF options..

 

[Derrick Swart]

My digital source does not have a USB output, so I have not been able to use the Union USB input on my Yggy.
I recently borrowed a streamer which had USB, RCA and AES outputs. I preferred AES to USB with that device, when connected to my Yggy.
On my current set up, where my options are BNC, RCA, AES (and Toslink) my preference is S/PDIF via BNC.
If I do get a Schiit CD Transport, I will finally be able to do a proper comparison between Unison USB and S/PDIF options..

Because of SQ preferences or practical reasons?
How large are these differences if I may ask?

 

[macdonjh]

It's funny how people can use an ethical trap door like this.
How does one know the statement be thru or not.
Many people here waste enormous "markup" funds on their cars or even borrow money to buy one.
Why condemn the ones who would like to do that on a Schiit product?
Whatever float your boat yes?
If it existed and I had the money (which I have not), I would gladly pay for a two piece, solid aluminium, chrome dusted, fairy ejaculate covered Yggdrasil.

I could live without that last option...

 

[dieslemat]

To be honest, this is my first time hearing of the term "statement product"

As far as I know, I just see products as erm, products. All I do is to figure out which ones fit my usage, get it, and move on with my life

Well that’s a statement

 

[bcowen]

a true "audiopile" would perform warranty-voiding Vali 2+ enclosure modifications (see machine-shops-r-us, bicycle shop with Campy-seat-post-reamer-tool, diy drill press and Uni-bit step drill, etc) to fit the desired socket-savers / adapters.

(added)
note that there's no "h" in "audiopile"

Why go to all that trouble? Just remove the cover, install the desired adapter, and then cover the remaining opening with duct tape. Easy.

Note that there's no "k" in "duct"

 

[bifcake]

To be honest, this is my first time hearing of the term "statement product"

As far as I know, I just see products as erm, products. All I do is to figure out which ones fit my usage, get it, and move on with my life

From the Bifcake dictionary :

Statement product - a product whose price far exceeds its value (a.k.a. Bling). The supposed value of said products are usually expressed in meaningless terms such as "pride of ownership", "flagship", and the like in order to help separate the person from his money. As expressed in terms of Schiit - statement products contain a dangerously high amounts of Bullschiit with a very low The Schiit to Bullschiit ratio.

 

[Mikem53]

To be honest, this is my first time hearing of the term "statement product"

As far as I know, I just see products as erm, products. All I do is to figure out which ones fit my usage, get it, and move on with my life

Sony SCD1, statement product to kick off SACD,
Pass Labs, XS series. Flagship statement
Levinson “Cello” statement product to differentiate from ML lineup..
etc, ...
not that difficult to understand..

 

[valiant66]

Note that there's no "k" in "duct"

.

 

[Les Strat]

Because of SQ preferences or practical reasons?
How large are these differences if I may ask?

@Derrick Swart SQ preferences only.
Using the borrowed streamer, I thought AES sounded a lot better than USB and probably enough for me to tell them apart in a blind test.
With my own digital source, I prefer BNC to AES. The difference isn't huge, but BNC just has a 'fuller' more natural sound to my ears. In comparison, AES sounds 'thin'.
This difference could be to do with the design of the BNC and AES outputs from my particular device.
It is all subjective stuff of course, and the differences are not huge.
I am almost hoping that Unison USB from Mike's new CD Transport will not sound significantly better than BNC, otherwise I'll have to unbox all my CDs and ditch my streamer!