Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up
Dec 13, 2016 at 2:01 AM Post #14,896 of 145,691
And that's a tiny fraction compared to those that are not DSD-native.

In any case, I'm with Schiit on this one -- it's a flat-lined format with no significant growth potential.  Even Sony's dedicated HW + streaming HAP-Z1ES didn't kickstart it.


Well, let's not even get into Sony's ********. Agree on that. :)

But with 1500 cafefully ripped SACDs, and another 750 to go, no flatlining here.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 2:06 AM Post #14,897 of 145,691
I don't disagree, but we are talking really early on. At one point, USB caught up and then some. I think one of the major issues was that USB sources sucked.

Virtually evey DAC maker has been offering async USB as a standard input for years. I thought it was odd Schiit chose to make it an add on option at the beginning,

But I don't begrudge your convictions, as the audio press overhyped USB, like everything else.


There's no problem with offering something as a option. There's certainly a demographic out there that will never have a need for USB.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 2:39 AM Post #14,899 of 145,691
I want a [REDACTED] for the silly season.......
L3000.gif

 
Dec 13, 2016 at 4:22 AM Post #14,900 of 145,691
   I also
think their resistance of DSD is rather stubborn. I have ripped over 1000 SACDs to my server and a DAC without DSD decoding
is non starter for me. And ripping SACDs is amazingly easy now with the new method.  

Given that Schiit decided to focus on multibit PCM DACs with a proprietary exact upsampling filter for the great majority of us who have oodles of PCM material and constantly getting more (no DSD out there for any of the new music I buy every month), it makes total engineering and product sense to not provide DSD. The instrumentation DAC chips they use are PCM native, so DSD input would require a conversion from DSD to PCM anyway, which AFAIK is lossy. In contrast, delta-sigma DAC chips are by design DSD native, so no lossy conversions are required for DSD. If DSD is your thing, there are plenty of DSD-native DACs out there at all price points. This is not a mistake on Schiit's part, it's a rational product and engineering choice to give the best quality for the vast collection of lossless (PCM) content out there.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 4:58 AM Post #14,901 of 145,691
I'd guess that a lot of tribal knowledge about tube manufacture has been lost since we as a society declared them obsolete.

Sure, but until recently, planar magnetic tech was also moribund.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 6:26 AM Post #14,902 of 145,691
Freyja!

Freyja!
Lovely goddess of war,
Warring godess of love;

Vanadis! - Valkyrie and Dis,
Deadly goddess of life,
Life-giving goddess of death;

Gullveig! - Gefion!
Greedy goddess of giving,
Giving goddess of receiving;

Hail to you, Freyja,
Sorrowing goddess of ecstasy,
Searching goddess - show us the way.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:13 AM Post #14,904 of 145,691
I'd also love some VU meters (the ones on the SPL Phonitor series would look good on Schiit), but I suspect it would blow up the volume and case work economics.


Agreed! If it adds 30%+ to the price or effects sound quality I would keep it off otherwise I personally don't mind paying an extra $100ish bucks or so for that feature. That's just me.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:26 AM Post #14,905 of 145,691
  Given that Schiit decided to focus on multibit PCM DACs with a proprietary exact upsampling filter for the great majority of us who have oodles of PCM material and constantly getting more (no DSD out there for any of the new music I buy every month), it makes total engineering and product sense to not provide DSD. The instrumentation DAC chips they use are PCM native, so DSD input would require a conversion from DSD to PCM anyway, which AFAIK is lossy. In contrast, delta-sigma DAC chips are by design DSD native, so no lossy conversions are required for DSD. If DSD is your thing, there are plenty of DSD-native DACs out there at all price points. This is not a mistake on Schiit's part, it's a rational product and engineering choice to give the best quality for the vast collection of lossless (PCM) content out there.

I totally respect the choices Schiit made. And to cater to the relatively few like me would be bad business. 
 
I will point out that Bryston was in the exact same situation. Their customers were constantly badgering them about DSD. They
bypassed it with the BDA-2.  They were in no rush to stamp "DSD Ready"  on the front panel for marketing purposes.
 
They have a proprietary upsampling option and did not want to do away with that for DSD, nor
convert DSD to PCM. Solution? The BDA-3 has two separate signal paths for PCM and DSD, with 
DSD via USB.
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:31 AM Post #14,907 of 145,691
Freyja!

Freyja!
Lovely goddess of war,
Warring godess of love;

Vanadis! - Valkyrie and Dis,
Deadly goddess of life,
Life-giving goddess of death;

Gullveig! - Gefion!
Greedy goddess of giving,
Giving goddess of receiving;

Hail to you, Freyja,
Sorrowing goddess of ecstasy,
Searching goddess - show us the way.

All Hail Freya.....All Hail Freya.....
gs1000.gif

 
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:36 AM Post #14,908 of 145,691
Okay, time to reel it in. The DSD discussion has been done to death, over and over again. Our opinion is well-known. Other opinions are well-known. We get it. Move on.
 
(Though I have to say, MQA is the only format that makes me feel slightly warm towards DSD. At least with DSD, you have a choice. MQA is nothing less than an attempt at a complete takeover of the high-end industry, IMO. Again, other people have different opinions. We get it. Move on.)
 
Schiit Audio Stay updated on Schiit Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/Schiit/ http://www.schiit.com/
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:36 AM Post #14,909 of 145,691
Given that Schiit decided to focus on multibit PCM DACs with a proprietary exact upsampling filter for the great majority of us who have oodles of PCM material and constantly getting more (no DSD out there for any of the new music I buy every month), it makes total engineering and product sense to not provide DSD. The instrumentation DAC chips they use are PCM native, so DSD input would require a conversion from DSD to PCM anyway, which AFAIK is lossy. In contrast, delta-sigma DAC chips are by design DSD native, so no lossy conversions are required for DSD. If DSD is your thing, there are plenty of DSD-native DACs out there at all price points. This is not a mistake on Schiit's part, it's a rational product and engineering choice to give the best quality for the vast collection of lossless (PCM) content out there.


I personally agree. I was originally leaning toward the Ayer DSD DAC because it sounded real good with the Vandys BUT after reading Schiit's FAQ on Yggy I looked for a lot of the content that I like on DSD and discovered that most of it doesn't exist. Most of my 2-channel pals keep talking with me about DSD and some have some content but the ones that do have very little of it unless they searched it out specifically because it's DSD.

I'm good with lossless CD and Tidal in combination. The next step I think is turntable which at this point is not for me. I think a lot of people were sucked into the DSD marketing with some exceptions who actually do like the content. I do think Yggy sales would go up if it offered DSD but not necessarily because the buyers would use the DSD functionality, they would want it just in case they did at some point plus they want the bells and whistles to tell their friends "yes it is a newest best DSD DAC ".

I personally am very good not paying for DSD because I don't think I will ever use it Plus I love the way my Yggy sounds. Also Yggy is upgradable so if DSD gets bigger than Schiit can always pivot. Just my $.02
 
Dec 13, 2016 at 10:39 AM Post #14,910 of 145,691
Re vinyl, it is interesting to note that they are starting to make new record presses, so this may go beyond bearded hipsters at Whole Foods buying a vinyl-covered portable turntable with a plastic arm at the feature island by the checkout stands.
 
Let that sink in: they're manufacturing new record presses.
 
Schiit Audio Stay updated on Schiit Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/Schiit/ http://www.schiit.com/

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