[sludgeogre]

 
What I don't get is, given the long term and hard-earned reputations of both Mike and Jason for innovation and excellence in design, why didn't Stereophile reach out to the Schiit boys to get clarification on the implementation decisions of the Yggdrasil before disparaging it?  

Because the numbers aren't high like the other people's numbers, and everyone knows that in audio you gotta have the biggest numbers, lest your product be skipped because of some guy comparing spec sheets and choosing the biggest numbers. People have to keep in mind that they are pushing 24 bit and DSD all the time in their reviews. Just because they can't even hear the difference doesn't mean that they are psychologically prepared to listen to a device that actually admits that it is delivering 20 bits and not their precious 24 bits that they shelled out all of that extra cash for.
 
Atkinson thinks he's protecting his devoted high res readers that can't stand to purchase something that admits that it isn't playing 24 bits back to you, even though all of these ridiculous 32 bit DACS aren't being the least bit honest about what they're really delivering. It isn't important for the average buyer to actually understand the engineering or science behind what they're listening to or buying. They just want the spec sheets to have big numbers and make them feel fancy. I recently read a post at AVS by a guy returning an XMC-1 because it downsampled to 48 kHz. Dirac sounded great but dangit, those numbers better be high! Sigh.

 

[watchnerd]

  Because the numbers aren't high like the other people's numbers, and everyone knows that in audio you gotta have the biggest numbers, lest your product be skipped because of some guy comparing spec sheets and choosing the biggest numbers. People have to keep in mind that they are pushing 24 bit and DSD all the time in their reviews. Just because they can't even hear the difference doesn't mean that they are psychologically prepared to listen to a device that actually admits that it is delivering 20 bits and not their precious 24 bits that they shelled out all of that extra cash for.
 
Atkinson thinks he's protecting his devoted high res readers that can't stand to purchase something that admits that it isn't playing 24 bits back to you, even though all of these ridiculous 32 bit DACS aren't being the least bit honest about what they're really delivering. It isn't important for the average buyer to actually understand the engineering or science behind what they're listening to or buying. They just want the spec sheets to have big numbers and make them feel fancy. I recently read a post at AVS by a guy returning an XMC-1 because it downsampled to 48 kHz. Dirac sounded great but dangit, those numbers better be high! Sigh.

 
This is a great angle I hadn't heard before.
 
I think this is just as true, or maybe even more true, than the claims that Schiit is a threat to the economic interests of the advertisers. It's worse than that.  Schiit's DACs are a threat to the entire legitimacy of Stereophile's digital coverage.

 

[theveterans]

   
This is a great angle I hadn't heard before.
 
I think this is just as true, or maybe even more true, than the claims that Schiit is a threat to the economic interests of the advertisers. It's worse than that.  Schiit's DACs are a threat to the entire legitimacy of Stereophile's digital coverage.

 
Schiit looks minimalistic and Stereophile praises the cool looking equipment only.

 

[jsiegel14072]

   
Unacceptable! For all we know, Freya could be an empty box. Shame.
 

Brilliant, the manhattan project!  It is there as long as you believe it is there or until you open it at which time it will either exist or not exist.  Good thing listening doesn't require seeing!


Jason can double new products by shipping boxes!  wonder how sterophile will test that?

 

[7ryder]

  Because the numbers aren't high like the other people's numbers, and everyone knows that in audio you gotta have the biggest numbers, lest your product be skipped because of some guy comparing spec sheets and choosing the biggest numbers. People have to keep in mind that they are pushing 24 bit and DSD all the time in their reviews. Just because they can't even hear the difference doesn't mean that they are psychologically prepared to listen to a device that actually admits that it is delivering 20 bits and not their precious 24 bits that they shelled out all of that extra cash for.
 
Atkinson thinks he's protecting his devoted high res readers that can't stand to purchase something that admits that it isn't playing 24 bits back to you, even though all of these ridiculous 32 bit DACS aren't being the least bit honest about what they're really delivering. It isn't important for the average buyer to actually understand the engineering or science behind what they're listening to or buying. They just want the spec sheets to have big numbers and make them feel fancy. I recently read a post at AVS by a guy returning an XMC-1 because it downsampled to 48 kHz. Dirac sounded great but dangit, those numbers better be high! Sigh.

Well, in fairness to the guy over at AVS, if Emotiva's version of Dirac (LE or Full) does indeed downsample, then they don't say anything about this on their website - it is no where in the description of the product, it is not listed on their specs and it doesn't say anything about downsampling in the Dirac literature - it does state that it has Burr Brown 24/192 DSD1796 main zone DACs so as a potential buyer, one would assume that this is they type of performance you'd get especially if BluRay audio is important to you.

If I missed where it states that it does downsample, please point it out. However, assuming you are correct and Emotiva's Dirac versions do downsample...first of all, it is wrong not to state this and I'm surprised they are deceiving their customers this way. Secondly, I can't blame the guy for returning it because thought he was paying for a processor with bit perfect processing.
 
Now compare that to Schiit's transparency with Yggy's specs...no surprises here. 

 

[Ableza]

   
! For all we know, Freya could be an empty box

Well, the theoretically perfect preamp is a straight wire with gain...

 

[jrflanne]

True but I got a drop of Gallium on my Valhalla 2. Gallium does bad juju to Al. 

 

[45longcolt]

  True but I got a drop of Gallium on my Valhalla 2. Gallium does bad juju to Al. 

But gallium is an essential ingredient of Head-Fi. No, wait, that's just plain gall...

 

[paaj]

  Well, the theoretically perfect preamp is a straight wire with gain...

 
So the passive mode Freya is rubbish then?

 

[Ableza]

   
So the passive mode Freya is rubbish then?

​I don't know how Freya works in "passive" mode, but in general a "passive" preamp is a switcher and an attenuator, and the term "preamp" is a misnomer.

 

[SP Wild]

Here you go

I'll take two and forever leave this hobby.

 

[artur9]

  Here you go

Pardon my ignorance but what Freya is that?!

 

[bitstorm]

  Pardon my ignorance but what Freya is that?!

 
That is Vanessa Angel in the role of Anise in Stargate SG-1. I cannot make the connection to Freya, though.

 

[sludgeogre]

  Well, in fairness to the guy over at AVS, if Emotiva's version of Dirac (LE or Full) does indeed downsample, then they don't say anything about this on their website - it is no where in the description of the product, it is not listed on their specs and it doesn't say anything about downsampling in the Dirac literature - it does state that it has Burr Brown 24/192 DSD1796 main zone DACs so as a potential buyer, one would assume that this is they type of performance you'd get especially if BluRay audio is important to you.

If I missed where it states that it does downsample, please point it out. However, assuming you are correct and Emotiva's Dirac versions do downsample...first of all, it is wrong not to state this and I'm surprised they are deceiving their customers this way. Secondly, I can't blame the guy for returning it because thought he was paying for a processor with bit perfect processing.
 
Now compare that to Schiit's transparency with Yggy's specs...no surprises here. 

It is my understanding that the internal sample rate of Dirac is 48 kHz. The XMC-1 absolutely supports 24/192, but if you have room correction engaged it'll stop your speakers from getting much information above 24 kHz. All of the filters that Dirac makes generally have a roll off pretty sharply after that. It's just how Dirac optimizes your room. It actually makes sense, because most speakers don't go that high very well anyway, and it likely causes more problems with reflections than it adds with more frequency response. On headphones it's a different matter entirely. A reviewer measured what the XMC-1 was doing here: http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/receiver-processor/processors/emotiva-xmc-1-processor-review/

 

[Magnaryder]

That is Vanessa Angel in the role of Anise in Stargate SG-1. I cannot make the connection to Freya, though.

Freya was the symbiotic creature IIRC

ray