[ThanatosVI]

Hey all,

I'm back in California for a while, so I figured I'd give you an update.

First, we are producing speaker amps like crazy--you'll be seeing the backorders shrink for Aegir, Vidar, and Ragnarok 2 over the next week or so as we get caught up, and the intent is to eventually get to 1-3 day shipping for all speaker power amps. This would be a first for us--these products have almost always been 7-10 days.

Second, we're building black Freya+es and seeing if anyone wants one to help clear those backorders (lots of silver orders, silver tops we are still waiting for.)

Third, we're increasing capacity again, adding additional runs at new Utah PCB assembly houses to help meet demand.

All of this stuff should help get us out of the deep backorders, get us shipping more consistently, and allow us to fully open some channels (distributors, Amazon). But again, this takes time, and it also requires no surprises in planning. There have been a lot of surprises lately, though things seem to be getting better as far as the supply chain goes.

Finally, I must announce the imminent demise of Mjolnir 2. As in, it will be dropped from the product line with no planned successor.

"Why? Why are you doing such a terrible thing?" you might ask. "I always liked Mjolnir 2!"

So did I. I still have one at home.

But there's several problems with Mjolnir 2, not least of which is that the performance of Jotunheim 2 is now so good--in a smaller, more convenient amp. Also, Mjolnir 2 uses complex transformers that are hard to get right, have long lead times, and can be variable. So it's going away.

"Will you ever do something like Mjolnir 2 again?" you ask.

As of now, we don't have a Mjolnir 3 on the books. I've played with ideas, including ones you expect (tube hybrid with Nexus and Continuity, which did not work because the tubes can't match precisely enough, and a differential operational point servo "fought" the other operational point servos, resulting in unreliable start-up) and some you probably didn't (back to solid state with relay volume and two card slots, or a differential version of Coherence, both of which weren't all that exciting).

And, here's the thing: Mjolnir 2 is huge. Any Mjolnir 3 would either be (a) the same size, not desktop friendly, or (b) a weird size that doesn't match everything we make. I'd love to go back in time and make all the "large midsize" gear not as wide, but I don't have a direct line to any rogue Time Lords. So that means we're stuck with a size that may make sense in a rack, but not so much on a desk. That's probably one reason why Mjolnir 2 was, ahem, less popular than it might have been.

So, say farewell to Mjolnir 2. If you already have one, don't worry--we'll still service and repair them for the foreseeable future (hell, we're still repairing 10+ year old Asgards to this day). And if you want one, you have a small window to pick one up before they go away. Though honestly, after living with Jotunheim 2, it's really hard to justify. But then again, I'm cheap...and I like my desk space.

Any plans on a pure tube amp (no hybrid) with e.g. KT88 tube families?
Or even if there are no concrete plans, are you "playing" around with ideas like that?

 

[Ableza]

Farewell Mjolnir 2, the best sounding Schiit amp I ever owned. We hardly knew ye.

 

[Rensek]

It would be cool if the Schiitr had a space/wall/area that featured all of Schiits past products, and allowed people to listen to them. An interactive museum of Schiit.

Would be a nice way to show the company history.

 

[Mike-WI]

Any plans on a pure tube amp (no hybrid) with e.g. KT88 tube families?
Or even if there are no concrete plans, are you "playing" around with ideas like that?

Have you seen this?

Folkvangr 10 tube headphone amp
2021 Apr 17
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-5018#post-16302515

 

[Mike-WI]

It would be cool if the Schiitr had a space/wall/area that featured all of Schiits past products, and allowed people to listen to them. An interactive museum of Schiit.

Would be a nice way to show the company history.

Petrified Schiit at the Schiitr

 

[Les Strat]

Ah. Just before the page change I posted my happy post on Qobuz FINALLY being available in Denmark. In my superstoked frame of mind I just ran along with your post naturally being about how great that is.

What else could anyone post about?

Also, I really, really, really dislike the Lightning app.

So do I.
Auditioned one and sent it back.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Have you seen this?

Folkvangr 10 tube headphone amp
2021 Apr 17
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-5018#post-16302515

No I didn't, thx for sharing

 

[433521]

Burn it down, start over.

That's kind of what I am afraid of.

Though I prefer Frank Zappa's solution to yours.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

That's kind of what I am afraid of.

Though I prefer Frank Zappa's solution to yours.

use it for raising dental floss?

JC

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

So do I.
Auditioned one and sent it back.

Your perseverance in pateticness is commendable.

 

[Billheiser]

Off to left field again. How do you add to a local church's sanctuary where they host musical performances.

The church supports a couple of musicians by sharing their space for performances streamed via youtube.

We're thinking about donating to the church some soundproofing or w/e they need most to improve the utility of the space for musicians.

Maybe with the hope of one day doing a direct to lathe recording just because, if not me, who?

The sanctuary is about a 35' high ceiling, and about the size of half a football rectangle. Without the end zone.

Is this a terrible idea?

It's a GREAT idea. The practicality and cost will be the modifiers.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

Seems an awful lot like a Valhalla 2 on steroids!!

Better start stashing up now. Once I get started, the few that are left will be starting at $200 each.

I'm looking at my Valhalla 2 with new-found appreciation.

So just to comment on the latest Schiit livestream.

Am I the only one who found Dave's utterly charming uselessness utterly endearing?

You have to admire a company that will put a gent who is clearly and extremely introverted, front and center in a fairly high profile global video...

I've read the Schiit Happened book, and Dave has obviously been a key player, and one of Schiits's oldest employees, in the growth of this company...but wow, just wow...

I'm still struggling to figure out whether moves like this are a sign of Schiit's authenticity, or whether these guys are playing a next level game of internet manipulation. I favor the former, but can't discount the later.

Dave...I love you man, keep being you.

I knew a lot of "Daves" when I was working. Those were the guys I always listened to.

I teach many Daves. Wait time. Lots and lots of wait time. I usually give the little junior Baldr's in the class a big snarl of of electrical wiring and sent the off to the "time out" table. Or, a de-energized (and de-capped) game console... a bunch of tools and have them trace the wiring. Daves have a lot to say... at their own pace. The Baldrs need stuff to fiddle about on!

I've bought B-stock and C-stock products and have absolutely no complaints about what I received. The C-stock Mjolnir had a couple very, very, very minor blemishes in the grained aluminum that I had to look for very carefully. The C-stock Valhalla had nothing wrong that I could find.

Schiit is super picky and appears to have a very high standard for their fit and finish. I appreciate their obsessive level of attention to detail.

Good Schiit, Man!

I'm also pretty confident that my next B-stock or C-stock toy won't have god awful grooves and chewmarks.

Exactly!

There's a lot of stuff on line, but if you want to sit in a nice chair and read a good book on the subject, try this one.

Edit, the seventh edition will be available 08/27/2021

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Handb...words=acoustics&qid=1618850705&s=books&sr=1-2

Yeahhhhh. In my continuing quest to get even busier after I retire from the teaching gig. I'm going learn how to do this in our upcoming build. And learn more about audio mastering (from Bob Katz's book, Audio Mastering - the art and the science, 3rd edition).

 

[hearditontheX]

And by the way I follow that thread but it's mostly burred in coffee and opera talk.

Mike has started posting agian.

 

[macdonjh]

Well no one says you HAVE to upgrade... but I see your point if you are talking about upgrading the analog board. It's all part of buying products from a small company.

I think the idea is that the different analog boards need different firmware, which currently requires a trip back to Schiit. Bifrost 2 has an SD card slot that can be used to upgrade the firmware. I think that's the feature that they call 'Autonomy'. Not strictly necessary, but a nifty feature IMHO.

Aside from firmware upgrade, Autonomy is about being able to upgrade the cards easily by yourself without needing a trip back to Schiit; the upgrades work like replacing a graphic card of your computer

I've never seen the innards of an Yggdrasil. Do the upgradable boards simply unplug and plug in? If that's the case, I don't mind opening the box to do something like that. Simple. Firmware upgrades are a different matter if it requires reflashing a chip, or removing an existing chip and installing another. Unless the chip in question is in a plug-in socket. That's no problem to me, either. I agree, though, the features listed recently for Autonomy are great.

I think the scalability of Yggdrasil is one reason Gungnir is having a hard time. If I decide to up my DAC game, I'll have a hard time deciding between Gungnir multi-bit and Yggdrasil GS. If Schiit continues to recycle A1 boards, keep the GS version available, it's hard to imaging Gungnir getting much development time. But that's me and I am smitten by the multi-bit sound I have in my Bifrost. The Gungnir delta-sigma is a fly in my reasoning ointment.

 

[macdonjh]

I've bought B-stock and C-stock products and have absolutely no complaints about what I received. The C-stock Mjolnir had a couple very, very, very minor blemishes in the grained aluminum that I had to look for very carefully. The C-stock Valhalla had nothing wrong that I could find.

Schiit is super picky and appears to have a very high standard for their fit and finish. I appreciate their obsessive level of attention to detail.

Good Schiit, Man!

I guess Schiit changed their policies and grading. I bought the Gungnir MB when it first came out and there were several blemishes on the A stock. Other reports around the interwebs said I wasn't alone. This still kinda burns me to to this day. I also bought a Modius when they first came out last year, and it also had a nice factory-installed scratch on the metal case.

@hodgjy's experience is interesting, in a frustrating way. I haven't had that experience. As I posted a few days ago, my Aegir is B-stock. There were no obvious flaws and I didn't go looking for any, even out of curiosity. I don't want to know what separates my amp from A-stock, other than I got it less than a week after I ordered it.