[Paladin79]

Fascinating. Have the results been documented somewhere? I'd positively LOVE to take a look at all the different opinions and outcomes that this surely must have produced.

I no longer run the group, we change leaders every three years to give others a shot at it. Last I heard there was talk of publishing the results. I helped set this up to eliminate things like expectation bias and some of the hype that comes with overpriced tubes. It might be found that a $25 tube rated higher than one that costs over $1,000. (We have invested more than $50k to date in buying all of the tubes.)

Final testing has not occurred since we are trying not to put anyone at risk. Four pairs of Sennheiser HD800 headphones would be shared by the fifty participants. Music was recorded just for this testing and it is made to show off 25 different sonic qualities. I am a mere mortal compared to some of the folks working in the background to set this up. I just designed and built the amps and made the cables and probably only donated 200 tubes to the project. Power tubes used are a matched quad of Tung Sol 5998's, we also considered Chatham bottom getter 6as7g's but they are less available.

Note I used 6sn7 equivalent, 6sn7 is a US tube designation and other countries used their own alphanumeric systems. Equivalents also include single triode tubes that were probably the forerunner of the dual triode 6sn7. 6J5's and 7A4's and the like. We are using a point system that totals 100. For a tube to rate say a 97 or so, it will be determined to be great across the whole audio spectrum, not just a booming bass or mids that are to die for, or high frequencies that...... well you get the picture. Maybe five I really liked made the final 52 because seven other folks rated them high, just as I did.

Many have said you should do this or test this way or that etc. but this is what we are doing and anyone else can certainly set up any kind of testing they like. This has been a three year process just to locate and buy various tubes. Many have asked about being one of the fifty listeners but most backed away when they learned this could be a three or four day process. Even with those conditions we have a pretty hefty waiting list.

We have done similar things with DACS and other gear but nothing on this scale.

 

[rfernand]

I have no idea how it would now compare to my Yggy and I am really not interested in finding out, as I am very happy with what I have.

Glad to hear you’re happy!

My “loud” system is an Yggdrasil A2, Ragnarok 2, and bi-wired Klipsch Heresy IVs. It is lively, energetic, and the vocals are delightful. More importantly, it sounds ”organic” to me. Feels natural, so to speak.

The Vivaldi I auditioned was in a nice showroom connected to who knows what Wilson Audio sculptures and yes, it was glorious. It sounded organic, and felt natural to me

It took me a while to land on my preferred headphone setup (Gungnir + Mjolnir 2 + Unobtanium tubes) that, to my ears, is as pleasant as the Bartok was when I had the pleasure. The Gungnir is relatively recent, I had a Bifrost there that also had me very happy, but now I’m set.

My point being, to my ears, Schiit has gave me a lot of value for the money in my digital setups and I’m quite happy. Maybe I’m listening wrong and I lack class and refinement to discern what a few extra zeroes would buy me. Happy to learn by listening more.

Since I’m in confessional mode, my vinyl set goes through a Rega amp, which makes my BW speakers very happy and there’s a Mani in the middle. So not everything is Schiit for me, and that’s okay. Not everything plays well together with all things

The DcS Bartok uses much of the technology ( Ring DAC) from Vivaldi and I have heard from people whose views I respect, that it sounds amazing- but so it should, at £15k in the UK!

Schiit produces superbly engineered products, which sound fantastic, at reasonable prices.

I enjoy the devil-may-care lifestyle brand they’ve built as well

That is why I own an Yggy A2, a Freya S and a Lokius and will probably add an 'Urd'...

I’d beta test an Urd for free!

 

[macdonjh]

@macdonjh and you call yourself an audiophile

I can't believe I posted that in a public forum.

 

[ScottFree]

If Schiit stuff was not made in the U.S would you guys still choose it over topping, smsl, Gustard etc?

Personally I feel like Schiit is going after the "flavour" of the month.

AKM chips, ESS sabre , multibit, tubes..and kinda back and forth between what's best?

If you'd read Schiit Happened (blog/book) you'd learn and understand more about the philosophy of Schiit and why they don't go after the "flavor" of the month.

 

[macdonjh]

If we are going this route, McMaster-Carr goes to 500MCM, and at work we love to pull 750 MCM or 1000 MCM for stuff when you are talking 480VAC with heavy loading - and even then we have to pull multiple cables per phase since it doesn't go to 4000 or 5000 amps. Anything bigger I have seen swap to water-cooled copper or aluminum busbars.

It would be fun to see some big Wilson or Focal speakers triwired with 500 MCM cables.

It would be funny to see some Zu Audio wired that way.

I prefer the previous unit kcmils. Rolled off the tongue more easily.

 

[macdonjh]

Nobody likes a showoff!

Facebook and Pinterest disagree.

 

[filthy mechanical]

In my previous job we used multiple bus bars per phase. 50-100 volts at 4000-5000 amps. No one with a pacemaker could work in the area.
I don’t think it would be convenient for a portable headphone, maybe a desktop?

Yep, IIRC our pacemaker zone is like 6.5m from the air core reactor off axis, longer on axis. Busbar has a decent halo as well.

It would be fun to see some big Wilson or Focal speakers triwired with 500 MCM cables.

It would be funny to see some Zu Audio wired that way.

I prefer the previous unit kcmils. Rolled off the tongue more easily.

For worse, we typically truncate it - 250, 500, 750, thousand wire.

 

[bcowen]

I no longer run the group, we change leaders every three years to give others a shot at it. Last I heard there was talk of publishing the results. I helped set this up to eliminate things like expectation bias and some of the hype that comes with overpriced tubes. It might be found that a $25 tube rated higher than one that costs over $1,000. (We have invested more than $50k to date in buying all of the tubes.)

Final testing has not occurred since we are trying not to put anyone at risk. Four pairs of Sennheiser HD800 headphones would be shared by the fifty participants. Music was recorded just for this testing and it is made to show off 25 different sonic qualities. I am a mere mortal compared to some of the folks working in the background to set this up. I just designed and built the amps and made the cables and probably only donated 200 tubes to the project. Power tubes used are a matched quad of Tung Sol 5998's, we also considered Chatham bottom getter 6as7g's but they are less available.

Note I used 6sn7 equivalent, 6sn7 is a US tube designation and other countries used their own alphanumeric systems. Equivalents also include single triode tubes that were probably the forerunner of the dual triode 6sn7. 6J5's and 7A4's and the like. We are using a point system that totals 100. For a tube to rate say a 97 or so, it will be determined to be great across the whole audio spectrum, not just a booming bass or mids that are to die for, or high frequencies that...... well you get the picture. Maybe five I really liked made the final 52 because seven other folks rated them high, just as I did.

Many have said you should do this or test this way or that etc. but this is what we are doing and anyone else can certainly set up any kind of testing they like. This has been a three year process just to locate and buy various tubes. Many have asked about being one of the fifty listeners but most backed away when they learned this could be a three or four day process. Even with those conditions we have a pretty hefty waiting list.

We have done similar things with DACS and other gear but nothing on this scale.

I'm just patiently waiting until you do this with 300B's.

 

[Paladin79]

I'm just patiently waiting until you do this with 300B's.

Hell's kittens man, if we ever get through this one we are going to party like it was 2019. 6080, 6as7g, 5998's are supposed to be next but you should send any 300B's you can find to me, and wait till we get around to them.

You do not know my Ebay id right? If you happen to see someone from Bloomington Indiana selling 300B's down the road, it's not me.

 

[bcowen]

Hell's kittens man, if we ever get through this one we are going to party like it was 2019. 6080, 6as7g, 5998's are supposed to be next but you should send any 300B's you can find to me, and wait till we get around to them.

You do not know my Ebay id right? If you happen to see someone from Bloomington Indiana selling 300B's down the road, it's not me.

I can send you my Western Electrics, but the shipping will be expensive via Brinks.

 

[OldRoadToad]

I no longer run the group, we change leaders every three years to give others a shot at it. Last I heard there was talk of publishing the results. I helped set this up to eliminate things like expectation bias and some of the hype that comes with overpriced tubes. It might be found that a $25 tube rated higher than one that costs over $1,000. (We have invested more than $50k to date in buying all of the tubes.)

Final testing has not occurred since we are trying not to put anyone at risk. Four pairs of Sennheiser HD800 headphones would be shared by the fifty participants. Music was recorded just for this testing and it is made to show off 25 different sonic qualities. I am a mere mortal compared to some of the folks working in the background to set this up. I just designed and built the amps and made the cables and probably only donated 200 tubes to the project. Power tubes used are a matched quad of Tung Sol 5998's, we also considered Chatham bottom getter 6as7g's but they are less available.

Note I used 6sn7 equivalent, 6sn7 is a US tube designation and other countries used their own alphanumeric systems. Equivalents also include single triode tubes that were probably the forerunner of the dual triode 6sn7. 6J5's and 7A4's and the like. We are using a point system that totals 100. For a tube to rate say a 97 or so, it will be determined to be great across the whole audio spectrum, not just a booming bass or mids that are to die for, or high frequencies that...... well you get the picture. Maybe five I really liked made the final 52 because seven other folks rated them high, just as I did.

Many have said you should do this or test this way or that etc. but this is what we are doing and anyone else can certainly set up any kind of testing they like. This has been a three year process just to locate and buy various tubes. Many have asked about being one of the fifty listeners but most backed away when they learned this could be a three or four day process. Even with those conditions we have a pretty hefty waiting list.

We have done similar things with DACS and other gear but nothing on this scale.

It is said we have five senses - taste, smell, hearing, sight and touch. I think there are more and you most definitely have at least two of those not yet mentioned. And I consider these two of great importance.

Honor and humor. But wait! There's more! A sense of style. You, my friend, have that in spades! Your creations are stunning. I would imagine AudioGal is too (a bit o' humor there!) as she writes beautifully!

I think tubes are neato! I really do. I freely admit that I have admired them for decades for the way they make me feel about music. I think the "300B" (?) is one of the most loverly (a nod to "My Fair Lady"!). I have NO idea how it may or may not effect the "sound" of equipment and I also know that I have NEVER seen one in person. Not even at a show, but then I rarely go to shows. It just looks really cool.

I need to stop now before I upset the delicate balance of those missing one of the most important senses of all. You have it, but some times I wonder about my self.
Common sense.

ORT

 

[Odin412]

It would be really cool to have a setup at the Schiitr where you could listen to the three Yggdrasil DAC options, perhaps with a switch to select between the three. You could even label the switch A, B and C to enable an unbiased listening test - listen first, then ask to store person what the options mean.

 

[433521]

If Schiit stuff was not made in the U.S would you guys still choose it over topping, smsl, Gustard etc?

Personally I feel like Schiit is going after the "flavour" of the month.

AKM chips, ESS sabre , multibit, tubes..and kinda back and forth between what's best?

Nope. They say Schiit is best. No back and forth.

Which is kind of sad. What missed opportunities has the arrogance so rife here, missed?

We have done similar things with DACS and other gear but nothing on this scale.

Thank god. I'm beginning to understand how this massive 6sny shortage has come about. (btw, I don't know this "shortage" is real, I am just repeating the reason given for increasing prices. Anyone does a census?)

 

[ScottFree]

Nope. They say Schiit is best. No back and forth.

And that's no Schiit talkin, that's the truth

 

[VandyMan]

I think I'm reasonably competent at installing electronics. I have built several computers starting from parts. But installing the ES9028 DAC Module in my Jot-A is giving me headaches. First of all, it does not come with a parts list. There are two silver screws, but I can only see a place to attach one of them. I feel like it is missing an offset or longer screw so it can be attached to the board.

There are zero instructions, so one must guess at the order to install each part. I'm assuming that first the back piece gets attached to the board. I'm pretty sure that the back piece goes inside the case, as I don't see any other way.

Once that is done, there does not seem to be any way to move the card far enough back to get all the pins in. I'm coming up about 1 mm short for getting the back row of pins in. The lip of the case blocks me from getting an angle where I can try to install by tilting the card up.

I'd open a ticket with Schiit, but I never get any response from them, so I'm posting here.