[Alcophone]

I bought a Loki Mini the day they came out and would most likely buy the Loki maxi with or without balanced connectors since they are not my flavor of fu-fu dust. Granted that xlr are physically better connectors so I do use them but not because they are balanced. What intrigues me is that Schiit has built a better pathway to DAC/AMP combos which obviates the need to think about balanced connectors and pretty much blocks the user from adding a Loki of any flavor as someone noted earlier. I know Schiit has given users more choice and lowered costs with add-in boards but will it undercut sales of Loki?

No doubt have the $1249 Gungnir Multibit and $2399 Yggdrasil undercut sales of the $149 Loki. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not sure I understand what you're driving at--I'll admit I can be slow. I would think people with Gumby's and Yggy's who aren't all swept up in balanced hype could use a Loki Mini. I do. Just take the SE output from Gumby and run it to the SE input on the amp of your choice. No problem. My point was simply that if you have a Jot with a DAC board or any other DAC or amp combined in one box, there is no way with Schiit's present line-up to get Loki Mini between the DAC and the amp, neither SE or balanced. Thus the new modular boards that allow users to put DACs and amps together make it harder to use Loki Minis. Have I missed something?

Hah, sorry, I think I'm the slow one here, I misunderstood your point. Somehow (and I'm really not quite sure how) I thought you were saying that Schiit has a "better pathway" in the form of their balanced offerings, and that the customers who have them can't have the Loki because it's not balanced, which undercuts Loki sales. And my point was that the balanced folks are probably the minority, because the only two serious products that sort of lock you into balanced if you want to get the most out of them are the two top of the line DACs (starting at over a kilobuck), and so shouldn't affect Loki sales significantly.

But you're making an entirely different point here, namely that the DAC modules block people from using Loki in any form, and I can definitely see that quite a few people would have gotten a Loki already if they could actually use it. That's probably true, no argument here. I would add Eitr to that as well - at least when I use my phone as the source, I don't quite trust USB, and gen 5 USB would sooth my USB nervosa a bit (in ways a Wyrd can't). But Eitr is useless with a USB-only DAC module.

I got the DAC module in one of my Jotunheims in case I ever want to sell it, which is probably easier if it's usable all by itself. But now I'd have to tell people it's the "old" 4490 one. Who wants that!?

On another level, Schiit products are like potato chips, you can't eat just one. They sell one another until you hit the end of the line, Valhalla. I keep waiting for that product.

I figured, so I thought I'll be smart and skip straight ahead to Yggdrasil and Jotunheim (some actually seem to prefer it over Ragnarok)
But now I'm still wondering how much of the Yggy goodness the cheaper multibit DACs would provide... and whether Ragnarok wouldn't be better still... and what that class A sound of the Asgard 2 is like... and whether Lyr 3 with those Russian tubes might best Jotunheim, when the Lyr 2 failed to do so when I tried it... and whether I shouldn't get a Mimby + Magni 3 as a bedroom setup...
So yeah... it doesn't end!

 

[AudioBear]

Lol. I am on the same treadmill. I hadn’t given much thought to people buying Yggys and then buying down the line ti see how good they are but I’ll bet it happens.

Real 1st world problems....

 

[jimmers]

hmmmmm, is that two parallel 75Ω resistances, 37.5Ω -- lol spdif has a high tolerance to just work, how well is the question

They are special 150 Ohm cables.
(not)

Seriously I just fuxed it up so I could compare two DACs with the same input, didn't seem to change Bimby performance any so I just left it as it was.
When I finished comparing the DACs I should have changed back to a single connection but it slipped by.
Might do it now and connect the other DAC to USB as I have never tested it with that input

 

[MWSVette]

I use these instead of Y splitters;

https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-a...ywords=audioquest+male+to+female+rca+splitter

Clean and neat cuts down on cable clutter....

 

[W4lt]

how about a Mjolnir 3 with two 6SN7-tubes?

 

[hagenhays]

I use these instead of Y splitters;

https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-a...ywords=audioquest+male+to+female+rca+splitter

Clean and neat cuts down on cable clutter....

Thats what i used...it didnt sound the same as direct rca out. I even made sure the other device was turned off. There was a hum and lower output of sound. I messed with it for hrs!!!
I couldn't figure it out.

 

[sam6550a]

The user forgot to use proper punctuation. The actual quote from their website is "Yep, Schiit is our name, and it's pronounced, well, like "hey man, that's some really good Schiit!" And now that we have your attention..."

The part about stoners was the user saying that Schiit, themselves, sound like a bunch of stoners because of this line.

The "really good Schiit" could also describe the performance of the products offered on the website. It may have nothing to do with dope or other counterculture products.

 

[hagenhays]

Ok I'm dumb....I just tried the splitter again, and voila it seems to work fine. I had to push pretty hard on the rca cable to get it down on the adapter (adapter easily went into my multibit dac).
Only thing I can think of was that I underestimated the torque needed to get them securely fastened. I pulled them out just a touch and re-lived the sound of my 1st attempts of an ungrounded phono sound....guess that was it.
I was seriously going to throw these away!!!--i believe same audioquest dongle.
I will take a pic.
Thanks!!

Ps...Im In for an ASGARD 3!

 

[MWSVette]

The user forgot to use proper punctuation. The actual quote from their website is "Yep, Schiit is our name, and it's pronounced, well, like "hey man, that's some really good Schiit!" And now that we have your attention..."

The part about stoners was the user saying that Schiit, themselves, sound like a bunch of stoners because of this line.

Why proper punctuation and grammar is very important...

 

[hagenhays]

 

[433521]

ORT

Not to mention, a Tory. Time for a Boston Chord Party.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Ok I'm dumb....I just tried the splitter again, and voila it seems to work fine. I had to push pretty hard on the rca cable to get it down on the adapter (adapter easily went into my multibit dac).
Only thing I can think of was that I underestimated the torque needed to get them securely fastened. I pulled them out just a touch and re-lived the sound of my 1st attempts of an ungrounded phono sound....guess that was it.
I was seriously going to throw these away!!!--i believe same audioquest dongle.
I will take a pic.
Thanks!!

When I recently bought a pair of 8" powered subs for my Lair of the Toad movie room (that does read idiotic, does it not? LOL!) both subs had HORRID hummmmming. No matter what I did, they hummed. Some times loud, some times Loud, LOud, LOUd and LOUD! Every thing hooked up well and I could not figger it out. Until...

In a fit of toadish anger when disconnecting the RCA jacks I squeezed the Schiit out of the outer "clamp" which I ASSumed was the "ground" (I am an electronical dope) of one of the RCA jacks between my fingers. When I went to push it back on I noticed it fit much "better". I did the same to all the other RCA jacks and no more hum. Every thing was new in the box so it was not like any part was old and loose. Go figger.

Yeah... Maybe I discoverized a new way to connect stuff, i.e., by being stoooopidly aggressive (Toad, SQUISH!). But no more humming.

ORT

 

[OldRoadToad]

A solution to a problem that currently vexes me?! HUZZAH!!!!
Thank you!

ORT

 

[JoeKickass]

...I squeezed the Schiit out of the outer "clamp" which I ASSumed was the "ground" (I am an electronical dope) of one of the RCA jacks between my fingers. When I went to push it back on I noticed it fit much "better". I did the same to all the other RCA jacks and no more hum...

Yup, you can get years more life out of old connectors with the squeezing method, just be careful not to bend too much or the clamp "fingers" can break off!

I can vouch for the longevity of these RCA's with a better designed connector, they use internal leaf springs that last much longer:
https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

 

[RCBinTN]

Yup, you can get years more life out of old connectors with the squeezing method, just be careful not to bend too much or the clamp "fingers" can break off!

I can vouch for the longevity of these RCA's with a better designed connector, they use internal leaf springs that last much longer:
https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

Those look like great connectors. Here's a valuable quote (re: the connectors) from the BlueJeans website...

"These plugs are gold-plated on all jack-contact surfaces, and employ a set of leaf-spring style grippers on the outer RCA ring which apply just the right amount of force to the jack to grip it firmly without overtightening."

Seems to fit with the current discussion, eh @MWSVette?
Cheers,
RCB