[bochawa]

bochawa, can you possibly give us a description of what you heard from the Rag 2? Decay, transients, speed, clairty, etc. "Sounds better" doesn't tell us much.

Jason dubbed the Nexus topology as their “holy grail” circuit, so I'm super curious its implementation in Rag 2.

Sorry, I can't be much help to you under the show conditions. It was more of a general feel that the Lyr 3 combo sounded more natural, detailed, and pleasing than the Ragnarok 2. I wasn't taking notes or trying to do a comparison with the same music and headphones. I can say that both units were connected via the USB add-on cards - no external DACs.

 

[wout31]

The Lyr 3 is slightly better than the Rag 1 at microdetail and microdynamics. It has more clarity too, even more than the Jot. The Lyr 3 comes pretty close to Rag 1 macro but lacks in speed.

Not just detail but microdetail ??
Not just dynamics but microdynamics ??
Speed in sound?? Is that "Jack of speed" by Steely Dan from the album "Two against nature" or the first album by ColdPlay?
I wonder what do you hear when you hear "a lack of speed"?
I see all these terms a lot in so called High End reviews but I have no idea how I can hear those things or what they mean.

 

[Alexnova]

The new light pipes Schiit is using on the Rag 2 look great.

 

[rkw]

btw - edit - his daughter has an album too, right?

Ravi Shankar's daughter Anoushka has many albums and several Grammy nominations. She is probably the best known sitar player today, and had performed and recorded together with her father.


I enjoy this performance by Anoushka Shankar with one of my favorite violinists, Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

 

[Zorlac]

@Jason Stoddard

I would like to get my Yggy upgraded with Analog 2...If I send it in, will I be able to get on the Unison beta team assuming I pay for Unison as well?

Will Unison be an end-user upgrade, or will we have to again send in our devices?

 

[Porteroso]

Not just detail but microdetail ??
Not just dynamics but microdynamics ??
Speed in sound?? Is that "Jack of speed" by Steely Dan from the album "Two against nature" or the first album by ColdPlay?
I wonder what do you hear when you hear "a lack of speed"?
I see all these terms a lot in so called High End reviews but I have no idea how I can hear those things or what they mean.

I assume "speed" would mostly refer to the attack, or articulation of sounds, which more or less has to do with dynamics, and is far more dependent upon the speaker/headphone than the amp, certainly. Basically, how fast can whatever membrane is being vibrated make the correct sound, without anything before or after the intended sound.

Very interesting that someone thought the Lyr 3 was better than Rag1. If you paid attention to the Schiit threads, Rag 1 was end game for so many people, and they were so vocal about it. If it was really that good, and Lyr3's Continuity/Coherence are really pulling that much quality sound out of 1 tube, more power to schiit.

 

[saddleup]

Speaking of Ravi Shankar daughters Norah Jones does pretty well for herself also.

 

[Alexnova]

Very interesting that someone thought the Lyr 3 was better than Rag1. If you paid attention to the Schiit threads, Rag 1 was end game for so many people, and they were so vocal about it. If it was really that good, and Lyr3's Continuity/Coherence are really pulling that much quality sound out of 1 tube, more power to schiit.

Yeah Schiit knocked it out of the park with the Lyr 3. I wasn't a fan of the original Lyr or Lyr 2, but would highly recommend the 3.

The Rag was due for an update in light of the Jot/Lyr 3.

 

[Alexnova]

Not just detail but microdetail ??
Not just dynamics but microdynamics ??
Speed in sound?? Is that "Jack of speed" by Steely Dan from the album "Two against nature" or the first album by ColdPlay?
I wonder what do you hear when you hear "a lack of speed"?
I see all these terms a lot in so called High End reviews but I have no idea how I can hear those things or what they mean.

I'll keep this brief since it's Jason's thread and about Schiit stuff.

Clarity is essentially a lack of fogginess or veil. It's not concealing music in a blurry way. An analogy I would use is a cheap LCD vs. higher-end OLED TV in black levels. An LCD has more of a "grayish" shade vs. the OLED which can display inky blacks. A lack of clarity also would sound like a speaker wrapped with a towel or having a foggy window.

Microdynamics is basically how music scales in volume by degrees. This is an important element in how immersive and engaging a piece of music is. The more effortless this volume scaling is, the greater the immersion. Music that sounds dull and lifeless lacks microdynamics.

Microdetail is the ability to retrieve sound information at a lower level which sustains and produces the overall sound thus enhancing resolution. Stuff like the most minor vibrations from instruments that form a cohesive structure to the entire instrument itself. This opens up music to a more "organic" way that is much more pleasing and fulfilling. When your gear lacks the ability to resolve music in such a way, you tend to want to "sharpen" the music either with a pair of brighter sounding headphones (Grado's sharpened treble is a perfect example) or some kind of filtering overlay. Neither are going to work. Single ended triode tube amps with high impendence cans are able to do this better over solid state. Very few audiophiles are going to hear microdetail because having the right gear costs a lot of money.

Speed is part of the transient response. A good example would be a pair of electrostatic headphones like STAX which are excellent at precisely defining sounds in fast passages, however they lack in attack (absent of a tactile bass for example).

 

[sam6550a]

@Jason Stoddard

I would like to get my Yggy upgraded with Analog 2...If I send it in, will I be able to get on the Unison beta team assuming I pay for Unison as well?

Will Unison be an end-user upgrade, or will we have to again send in our devices?

Suggest that you ask Schiit directly. No one here could possibly know the answer.

 

[KoshNaranek]

Alright, here's my plan.... as a 49-year old 2-3rd generation Canadian (mum's a Saskatchewan Heinz-57 Euroblend + dad's a WW2 Estonian war refugee):

I'm starting off with Ravi Shankar. His "best of album". a 2-disc, ADD-Sony BMG Columia Legacy Records disc; co-produced & mastered by Darcy M. Proper; tape research (digging it up in India) by Darren Salmieri & Mike Kull; compilation produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Steve Berkowitz. Result = ... ... ... ... poof... mind blown.

I've heard a rumour... Mr. Shankar was at a European or US-recital hall... he was tuning up his sitar. The audience went bonkers. He thanked the audience... and asked the hall to be patient before the REAL music began.



btw - edit - his daughter has an album too, right?

This is the other cover for the same album

When George Harrison heard the EMI engineers mastering it, he took a few of his friends to India and decided to study with Ravi Shankar

 

[Misanthrope4]

Because he is a busy man running a room and booth at AXPONA this weekend. He said if he didn't have time before he would do it when he got back. Maybe if you registered to comment it would be helpful if you read a few of Jasons post's before hand which already answered your question.

I see that my reply to your rather snobbish commentary has been removed.

Are you his secretary or his mother, that you should tell me that he is "busy"?

I ask a simple question because I see the manufacturer of the products that I have purchased and believed in, frequents this forum.

Instead I get "advice", as to how I should behave if I expect to rise in the Fan Boy Hierarchy?

Of course your messages remain, because you are "In the Club".

I am NOT interested in being your friend, or being in your "Club".

Now I respectfully await the pics of the internals of the AEGIR amplifier from MR. JASON STODDARD, at his convenience.

THANK YOU.

 

[exdmd]

@Jason Stoddard

I would like to get my Yggy upgraded with Analog 2...If I send it in, will I be able to get on the Unison beta team assuming I pay for Unison as well?

Will Unison be an end-user upgrade, or will we have to again send in our devices?

Suggest that you ask Schiit directly. No one here could possibly know the answer.

You had to be invited to be a beta tester and competent to install the USB board yourself. The beta Unison USB upgrade just required replacing the Gen 5 USB board on the Bifrost or Yggdrasil. When the Gen 5 board replaced the earlier Gen 3 you could send your DAC in to Schiit for replacement or if you are a competent tech you could buy the board and install it yourself. Probably expect the same when the Unison USB is released.

 

[NoahFence]

Aegir or Vidar?
Some background. My applications don’t take a lot of power, I doubt that either amp gets out of class A operation. At symphony by choice I set in front rows of the balcony, I give space to let the music blend. I care about getting the full richness of the sound, the timbre that I hear live. This means that sound stage precision and the details of attack are less than people would hear in the front row. And so if you have greater power needs or like being up close, you preferences will differ. Given that ...

Vidar has a closer presentation, with more detail, a more precise sound stage but less ambience, sharper attacks, more ‘front-row’. But for me:

Wow! the Aegir is something else! After 100 hours of burn in (sorry 50 hours was not enough), it brings what I want! My system for this is
source>eitr>Gumby 1>'headDesk’ preamp>aegir>Sequerra speakers (‘flat to 40’)
where ‘headDesk’ is a Headroom Desktop unit from the days of Tyll Hertzen, used solely as a pre-amp. With that foreign element in the chain, I am hearing music very much like I hear it live. My listen tests are with a by now very familiar set of tracks that include
some drum solo (cymbals too of course)
Bach organ
a lovely rendition of Brother James’ Air (Jazz)
Janet Baker singing some Elgar Sea Pictures
3rd movement of Beethoven’s 6th symphony
and (gasp!) a fair amount of chamber music.
I’m hearing the richness of sound that I hear with this music live. It’s not syrupy, no excessive detail, the attacks are not as sharp as e.g. with Vidar. (And I like my Vidar, only now not quite so much.)

For me this is an extraordinary power amp at a fantastic price. YMMV of course because your preferences, ears and equipment are different than mine.
But now it’s late...and I just want to listen to the music!

 

[Jheal]

I see that my reply to your rather snobbish commentary has been removed.

Are you his secretary or his mother, that you should tell me that he is "busy"?

I ask a simple question because I see the manufacturer of the products that I have purchased and believed in, frequents this forum.

Instead I get "advice", as to how I should behave if I expect to rise in the Fan Boy Hierarchy?

Of course your messages remain, because you are "In the Club".

I am NOT interested in being your friend, or being in your "Club".

Now I respectfully await the pics of the internals of the AEGIR amplifier from MR. JASON STODDARD, at his convenience.

THANK YOU.

As you’re so impatient, why don’t you reply to Jason’s post about this as that will tag him so he’ll be notified about your enquiry? To save you the hassle of searching for his post about this I’ve tried to be helpful (as were the others who you clearly ignored) and his post can be found here —> https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-3030#post-14873340 Or you could always email Schiit support directly. Again I’ll try to be helpful and try to save you time looking for the details yourself. They can be found at info@schiit.com.