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

[FrivolsListener]

  I'm waiting for Jason to talk about all the stillborn concepts that did not even make it to the prototype stage.   

 
He can call them Unobtanium Mk1, Mk2. ....etc because nobody can get a sample to try.    

 
I would suspect that the [REDACTED] has well and truly passed the prototype stage.  

 
I'm'a guess that he doesn't want to give the competition ideas, especially if his concepts were at the "not yet" or "too big for us, now" stage.

 

[valiant66]

 
I'm'a guess that he doesn't want to give the competition ideas, especially if his concepts were at the "not yet" or "too big for us, now" stage.

 
It's not about giving the competition ideas, there was a long chapter(s) in the book about the lessons learned about not pre-announcing products. Jason does his best not to, although we still seem to have heard about [REDACTED], the Manhattan project, and the Gadget. Even so, we have no real idea of what any of those are…
 
[And for those late to this thread, Jason's chapters are all linked in the first post, which makes it easy to read the book without having to read all the comments and getting embroiled in supercars, WAF, switchgate or myriad other sidetracks]
 
.

 

[Peaceofmind]

I'm going to take another guess what I think the Manhattan Project is. It's a digital possessor (connected before the DAC) that convert or retune the standard pitch (A=440Hz) digital files to the more natural earthly sounding scale (A=432Hz), making any DAC sound better.

 

[johnjen]

I can attest to the efficacy of implementing this.
I use 'pitch control' inside the DSP studio inside Media Center to reduce the pitch by -0.01818181818

Very effective and subtle but noticeable.

I like it.

JJ

 

[mikoss]

Wow interesting info... Never heard of that phenomenon before.

Honestly, I would hope something that can be done by a simple software plugin wouldn't be their new physical product. This is kind of akin to how I feel about the physical phase polarity switch...

The 432hz point also reminds me of the "Vero Full Range Cable" which uses capacitors and resistors to adjust the articulation poles. I would enjoy trying them out...

As for Schiit, anything to make the sound better, or easier to set up/play would be great.

 

[tonykaz]

I'm delighted Schiit isn't moving !
 
Today, the New York Times is Front Page Reporting about Carrier Air Conditioning in Indiana moving to Monterey Mexico. Phew, then it hit me, hard. 
 
The 15 guys at Schiit don't have to worry about this sort of thing and I continue to be Proud of Schiit. 
 
The Video at the Carrier Facility where Company Officials are making the Announcement to the workers is a heart-breaking experience. 
 
I've taken some shots at Schiit Management, over the last year or two but I'm Proud of em Today! 
 
I'm keeping Schiit as my No.1 
 
Nice going Sir Jason and Professor Moffat
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[Armaegis]

  I'm waiting for Jason to talk about all the stillborn concepts that did not even make it to the prototype stage.   

 
He can call them Unobtanium Mk1, Mk2. ....etc because nobody can get a sample to try.    

 
I would suspect that the [REDACTED] has well and truly passed the prototype stage.  

 
 
He could ebay the prototypes to generate funds for upcoming research projects.
 
 

I can attest to the efficacy of implementing this.
I use 'pitch control' inside the DSP studio inside Media Center to reduce the pitch by -0.01818181818

Very effective and subtle but noticeable.

I like it.

JJ

 
It's not about the pitch, it's the girth...

 

[valiant66]

Hmm.
 
This is perhaps off topic, but…
 
I just got some HD tracks (24/192) in flac format, and I ran them through Max to convert them to Apple Lossless and put them in iTunes. When I listened, I heard a sort of low-level crackling distortion. At first I attributed it to something in the conversion / replay chain, so I fired up Vox instead, which plays flac files directly. The distortion was still there, so it wasn't Max's conversion or iTunes playback.
 
I then remembered I had set up my Mac to output the same signal on USB and optical Toslink (you use Audio MIDI Setup to create a multi-output device then select it in playback), so I toggled the input on my Modi 2 Uber. Lo and behold the distortion went away!
 
I've tried this on a number of different HD tracks, and it's consistent and repeatable: playing hi-res tracks through the optical out results in distortion: playing the same track through USB = no distortion.
 
Is this normal? Does anyone have any idea what causes this?

 

[Torq]

One of two likely causes:

1. Your Mac (which model, specifically?) has an optical transciever that's not up to 24/192.

2. Your optical cable isn't up to the job.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

The TOSLINK specification tops out at 96 kHz.  Some will work at higher bit rates but not all.
 
edit:  typo

 

[Torq]

That's true of the original TOSLINK specification and the standard Toshiba transceivers. Current specifications start at 16 Mbps (more than necessary for 24/192) and too out around 125 Mbs, the which is 10x the bandwidth needed for 2-channel 24/192.

You won't see that in consumer applications, but it's a component spec, not the standard, that yields the limit.

 

[valiant66]

One of two likely causes:

1. Your Mac (which model, specifically?) has an optical transciever that's not up to 24/192.

2. Your optical cable isn't up to the job.

 
 

  The TOSLINK specification tops out at 96 kHz.  Some will work at higher bit rates but not all.
 
edit:  typo

 
It's an older Mac Pro. That's probably the issue. It's no big deal, I'll just leave it on the USB input when playing HD tracks.

 

[Torq]

It's an older Mac Pro. That's probably the issue. It's no big deal, I'll just leave it on the USB input when playing HD tracks.

Unless it's a pre-2008 Mac Pro then it's most likely the cable. From 2008 on the Mac Pro optical transceivers have all been 24/192.

A properly specced optical cable for 24/192 is less than $30 and should easily outperform USB.

 

[ScottFree]

Booted up the iPad and the new issue alert came up for Hifi+ in the UK (134). Not sure if it's out yet since they release the digital copies a few days before print but they have a review of the Rag/Yggy combo in the mag. Haven't read it so I don't know what they say.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jimmers]

Booted up the iPad and the new issue alert came up for Hifi+ in the UK (134). Not sure if it's out yet since they release the digital copies a few days before print but they have a review of the Rag/Yggy combo in the mag. Haven't read it so I don't know what they say.

hi-fi+ review is 5 pages including pictures, Yggy on the cover.
 
Reviewer Chris Martens summing up: 
"Rarely have I been as favourably impressed by a DAC and headphone amplifier as I have been by the Yggdrasil and Ragnarok ... both offer performance at or near the best levels possible, regardless of price ... both deserve the heartiest of recommendations. "