[RickB]

Want to improve the sound of your Schiit? Easy, just move to a place with more modern electrical wiring, even inadvertently.

Hey, worked for me.

 

[OldRoadToad]

IF you think about it, it is great that we can choose Reel to Reel, cassette, CD, Vinyl, Streaming, YouTube, Concerts, 8 track, BETA, Mini Disc, VHS, BluRay, DVD, etc.. as a means of enjoying music.

Listen and enjoy in any format which suits you!

Exactly, my friend. Well said, indeed! No matter the format, the reward is the same. Music and the memories associated with them. I think it is around 10 or so years since I bought a record player and began to buy records again. Vinyl, CDs, Cassettes or whatever the format the end result is the same. Memories.

Today I was in the garage and played the soundtrack from "That Thing You Do" on CD. Then I listened to my Mel Carter station on Pandora and later on it was "Perfectly Frank" on SiriusXM. Never once did I strain to detect "faults". If we have to strain to hear something perhaps the fault lies in us.

ORT

 

[Tarkus1984]

Hey guys,

I'm eyeing a used Modi Multibit (OG) from a local online marketplace. I understand there are two versions of the Mimby and I'd like to ask for advice on how to tell which version this one is. As you can see from the picture below, the seller has covered the serial number. Is there any reason why someone would want to do that?

If this is a Mimby v1, is there any way to upgrade it to v2? In any case, I'm assuming v2 is the one to get, is this correct?

any tips you can share before I pull the trigger will be greatly appreciated.

 

[StimpyWan]

Sometimes I don't like the way certain albums are mastered for digital, so I reach for the record. Or if I'm extra lazy I queue up a rip of the record through my Schiit DAC.

Years ago, I bought a Wang Chung cassette, for the song "Dance Hall Days". Well, I was playing it in my car, and the last song on the tape just abruptly ends! Cut off, mid note. I took the tape back, complained about how it ended, and exchanged it for the CD. The CD did the same thing! Crappy mastering, that carried through all formats, I guess...!

 

[StimpyWan]

Hey guys,

I'm eyeing a used Modi Multibit (OG) from a local online marketplace. I understand there are two versions of the Mimby and I'd like to ask for advice on how to tell which version this one is. As you can see from the picture below, the seller has covered the serial number. Is there any reason why someone would want to do that?

If this is a Mimby v1, is there any way to upgrade it to v2? In any case, I'm assuming v2 is the one to get, is this correct?

any tips you can share before I pull the trigger will be greatly appreciated.

Modi MultiBit 2 is labeled "ASSY IN USA". USB-C as well. Must be Modi MB OG. Still worth a buy...!

 

[zexk]

Hey guys,

I'm eyeing a used Modi Multibit (OG) from a local online marketplace. I understand there are two versions of the Mimby and I'd like to ask for advice on how to tell which version this one is. As you can see from the picture below, the seller has covered the serial number. Is there any reason why someone would want to do that?

If this is a Mimby v1, is there any way to upgrade it to v2? In any case, I'm assuming v2 is the one to get, is this correct?

any tips you can share before I pull the trigger will be greatly appreciated.

Look at the top cover. If it's a brushed finish then it's v1. v2 has anodized finish.

 

[valiant66]

Ah, the good old BASF blanks ... as an 80's teen I can relate to this, and spending way too many hours working through the FM dial poised to hit record as the DJ queued up the song I was waiting for.
Cannot count how many "dedication requests" I made to local DJs trying to get the song I was looking for played so that I could record it to tape.

My kids just stare at me blankly when I tell them stories like this ...

I had a whole system for recording John Peel on the BBC. I had a tape deck set to record at power on, a timer set to turn on at the right time, and that way I could record if I was away studying or whatever.

I then had a schwak of tapes and a second tape deck. I would dub all the reggae tracks to one tape, punk to another, etc. and meticulously transcribe artist/song info onto the sleeves.

Good times!
.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Please allow me to introduce the newest addition to my permanent collection of Schiit:

This OG Asgard (Yep, OG. As in: non-2, non-3, just plain Asgard!) is a recent eBay find. Was listed as "mint condition but not working, parts only." And since the OG Asgard has a relatively simple topology (and should thus be relatively easy for me to diagnose) and is entirely through-hole (and thus it's relatively easy to replace components) I thought to myself: Neat, an amp I can screw around with and practice on! And so I clicked "buy now."

Two days later, the box arrives at my door.
I open it up…
Inside the generic USPS box, I am greeted by a manual that looks so pristine, it might just as well have been printed last week. The power chord still has all the tags and labels on it. And what's that in the little plastic ziplock bag, next to that ¼" to 3.5mm adapter? Wait, are those the original stick-on feet, still unused?

Then I lift the amp out of the box, flanked on both sides by what looks like the original foam, neatly wrapped inside its original plastic sleeve. The plastic sleeve was clearly opened before, but with so much care that the Schiit seal/sticker still looked almost brand new, too.

I take the amp out of the sleeve — and can barely believe my eyes. The thing looks brand new. No, seriously, not a single scratch, not one ding, no glue residue where any stick-on feet may have been—nothing! Not a single mark or any indication of use anywhere to be found.

Wow, someone must have really treasured this thing. Too bad that it eventually broke and they had to part ways with it.

Maybe I can already get a rough idea why it broke. If the prior owner let the magic smoke out, I should at least see some "schiit stains," or maybe a blown or bloated cap or something?

So I open the thing up for a quick first glance.

Nothing.

Other than what looks like ten years worth of dust, of course. But that's nothing a few strategically applied puffs of canned air can't fix.

But the rest? Looks absolutely pristine. No blown or even just slightly bloated caps, no schiit stains, no scorched resistors or diodes, no…
…wait…
…what's that…
…
…no, that can't possibly be it, can it?

Right there, next to the power socket, it stares me right in the face: The fuse, one end still squarely where it belongs, but the other end popped straight up and out of its holder!?
And so I take the fuse out entirely, bend the two prongs of the fuse holder's one pole that got a bit loose back together again to give it back it's original clamping force, and snap the fuse back into place.

Well, let's see if this fixed it…

So I grab my trusty variac, plug everything in, switch everything on — and slooooowly raise the voltage.
20V…
40V…
60V…no magic smoke yet!
80V…
*click* — There's the relay for the muting circuit! So I guess the amp is still able to put itself into what it thinks should be proper operating conditions.
100V…
120V…
Hm. Gets a little toasty around the transistors. But that's par for the course with class A, so I take this as a good sign. Still no smoke, either!

OK, then. So far, so good.
I switch everything back off.

Next step: Signal generator and scope.
Let's put a sine wave in at one end and see what comes out the other.
Hm… Both channels look perfectly clean. And both show the same gain characteristics.
Neat!

Well, let's try an actual audio signal. So into my "cheap ass schiit" test chain it goes.

Hm. Sounds good to me…
Well, "good" within the limits of the relatively "meh" components that I use for that test chain.

Should I dare try this thing with my main headphone chain? Let's try Gumby first, but still just the cheap headphones I don't care about.

Works just fine.

So, up the ladder of "dearness" I go with my headphones, one by one…
Still perfectly fine.

And so now here we are: A basically "brand new" OG Asgard has joined my collection of Schiit. Sounds magnificent, too!

I just hope the original owner doesn't read this thread. I'd rather he didn't know that he parted with a perfectly good amp that he clearly treasured for a long, long time.


A question for @Jason Stoddard: With a serial number in the 950s, how old would you guess might this OG Asgard be? I don't assume it's one of the VERY early ones that were built at your house, though, right?

 

[valiant66]

Q-tips and rubbing alcohol were always close by for routine maintenance of the cassette deck. I loved that deck, I think it was a TEAC, it had some of the first digital VU meters I had seen. Space Age!

Mine was a Teac too!
.

 

[valiant66]

DItto to recording from LP onto tape. My tapes were the Maxell metal tapes. We experimented with dbx encoding on those.

Eventually upgraded to a Nakamichi RX-202 for playback. The tape flipping of that thing was mesmerizing.

dbx was my go-to also. Less quality loss when dubbing from cassette to cassette.

I also used dbx for recording live music.
.

 

[valiant66]

I don't think it would mar the finish, but I'm really not sure how the Beatles graphics are incorporated on your TT. I'd hate to say it wouldn't and then have it do so.

I do have a Mapleshade anti-ststic brush that works quite well and requires no mounting...

https://shop.mapleshadestore.com/Mapleshade-Static-Draining-Brush_p_1180.html

I have a Zerostat.
.

 

[Plautus001]

Please allow me to introduce the newest addition to my permanent collection of Schiit:



This OG Asgard (Yep, OG. As in: non-2, non-3, just plain Asgard!) is a recent eBay find. Was listed as "mint condition but not working, parts only." And since the OG Asgard has a relatively simple topology (and should thus be relatively easy for me to diagnose) and is entirely through-hole (and thus it's relatively easy to replace components) I thought to myself: Neat, an amp I can screw around with and practice on! And so I clicked "buy now."

Two days later, the box arrives at my door.
I open it up…
Inside the generic USPS box, I am greeted by a manual that looks so pristine, it might just as well have been printed last week. The power chord still has all the tags and labels on it. And what's that in the little plastic ziplock bag, next to that ¼" to 3.5mm adapter? Wait, are those the original stick-on feet, still unused?

Then I lift the amp out of the box, flanked on both sides by what looks like the original foam, neatly wrapped inside its original plastic sleeve. The plastic sleeve was clearly opened before, but with so much care that the Schiit seal/sticker still looked almost brand new, too.

I take the amp out of the sleeve — and can barely believe my eyes. The thing looks brand new. No, seriously, not a single scratch, not one ding, no glue residue where any stick-on feet may have been—nothing! Not a single mark or any indication of use anywhere to be found.

Wow, someone must have really treasured this thing. Too bad that it eventually broke and they had to part ways with it.

Maybe I can already get a rough idea why it broke. If the prior owner let the magic smoke out, I should at least see some "schiit stains," or maybe a blown or bloated cap or something?

So I open the thing up for a quick first glance.

Nothing.

Other than what looks like ten years worth of dust, of course. But that's nothing a few of strategically applied puffs of canned air can't fix.

But the rest? Looks absolutely pristine. No blown or even just slightly bloated caps, no schiit stains, no scorched resistors or diodes, no…
…wait…
…what's that…
…
…no, that can't possibly be it, can it?

Right there, next to the power socket, it stares me right in the face: The fuse, one end still squarely where it belongs, but the other end popped straight up and out of its holder!?
And so I take the fuse out entirely, bend the two prongs of the fuse holder's one pole that got a bit loose back together again to give it back it's original clamping force, and snap the fuse back into place.

Well, let's see if this fixed it…

So I grab my trusty variac, plug everything in, switch everything on — and slooooowly raise the voltage.
20V…
40V…
60V…no magic smoke yet!
80V…
*click* — There's the relay for the muting circuit! So I guess the amp is still able to put itself into what it thinks should be proper operating conditions.
100V…
120V…
Hm. Gets a little toasty around the transistors. But that's par for the course with class A, so I take this as a good sign. Still no smoke, either!

OK, then. So far, so good.
I switch everything back off.

Next step: Signal generator and scope.
Let's put a sine wave in at one end and see what comes out the other.
Hm… Both channels look perfectly clean. And both show the same gain characteristics.
Neat!

Well, let's try an actual audio signal. So into my "cheap ass schiit" test chain it goes.

Hm. Sounds good to me…
Well, "good" within the limits of the relatively "meh" components that I use for that test chain.

Should I dare try this thing with my main headphone chain? Let's try Gumby first, but still just the cheap headphones I don't care about.

Works just fine.

So, up the ladder of "dearness" I go with my headphones, one by one…
Still perfectly fine.

And so now here we are: A basically "brand new" OG Asgard has joined my collection of Schiit. Sounds magnificent, too!


A question for @Jason Stoddard: With a serial number in the 950s, how old would you guess might this OG Asgard be? I don't assume it's one of the VERY early ones that were built at your house, though, right?

Damn you, now I want to hook my Asgard OG back up!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Please allow me to introduce the newest addition to my permanent collection of Schiit:





A question for @Jason Stoddard: With a serial number in the 950s, how old would you guess might this OG Asgard be? I don't assume it's one of the VERY early ones that were built at your house, though, right?

Absolutely a garage build. We built well over a thousand of them in the garage.

 

[valiant66]

I found a slightly older post on AudioKarma, concerning MC carts that are suitable for light to medium weight arms like my LMT. This could be helpful for other users falling into the rabbit hole. The carts:

Audio Technica OC 9 II
Denon DL 301 MK II
Dynavector 10X5
Sumiko Blue Point Special EVO

Hana cartridges were mentioned too, but no particular models.

I run a Sumiko Blue Point.
.

 

[adias]

My Sumiko Blue Point tracks perfectly on a not so light SME II tonearm.