[yonson]

You can order those from an outfit that makes plastics to form on a vacuum table.
Here's a short film on how it works:

Wow, that's pretty cool! You could actually make a cover that's hemispherical to cover everything and emboss SOL in it...

 

[bobbmd]

Hi everyone. Hopefully Jason might be able to answer if not already....what would the DAC and headphone amp in the Rag2 be comparible too? Bifrost? Jort?

thanks

@bdmez: IMHO(purely subjectionist) that Ragnarok 2 of mine is one SCHIITLOAD of a headphone amp second to none just ask Jerry and the boys they never sounded so clear, separated, black and distinguished(even my archives.org download of their first time ever performed songs '66-'95 all 162 of 'em)
bobbmd

 

[bobbmd]

@bdmez: IMHO(purely subjectionist) that Ragnarok 2 of mine is one SCHIITLOAD of a headphone amp second to none just ask Jerry and the boys they never sounded so clear, separated, black and distinguished(even my archives.org download of their first time ever performed songs '66-'95 all 162 of 'em)
bobbmd

sorry @bdmez my Rggy 2 is 'just the amp' my DAC is Yggdrasil GS not the DAC that is in 'fully loaded' Ragnarok 2- probably
'not as good'(whatever that means when talking about Schiit products) but it's all subjective bobbmd

 

[TS0711]

I have an original VPI Aries that was tweeked to the max and I had to kick start the platter as well. It might have been the fishing line I used but in never found it to be an issue. Count me in for a Sol with an extra arm. Properly setup i'm sure I could make a Denon 301 mk2 cartridge sing like nobodies business. I can't wait!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

@Jason Stoddard , actually I think that your blind setup is great, much better than most studies I saw. Two reasons:

• Letting people choose their own music is critical. I'm not aware of a single "serious" study that does that (though by all means I can be proven wrong here). For the lack of a better analogy, the first time we listen to a piece of music we tend to focus on the song itself, much like the first time we watch a movie we focus on the main narrative and action, at the expense of details. When we rewatch the movie we can get more critical about details, e.g., how the movie was shot, what lenses were used, what kind of lighting, etc. Same with music IMO - the amps and DACs changes are for the most part rather subtle to the untrained.
  
  Obviously, it is much more expensive to give each study participant their own custom experience, than it is to do a "one size fits all".
  
  
  
• A/B testing, as opposed to A/B/C. It is incredibly harder to distinguish between 3 things that are close together, than 2. This applies to pretty much all our senses, not just hearing. Malcolm Gladwell describes a two cola vs three cola experiment in "Blink" - essentially regular Cola drinkers can relatively easily tell Coke from Pepsi. But add a third cola to the mix and their discernment disappears.
  
  (Note that the above does not constitute in any way an encouragement to drink cola)
  
  My personal conclusion is that people who are biased against audiophiles, consciously or unconsciously, will insist A/B/C testing

As ad-hoc as these blind listening events are, I did get several one of the things I wanted in the setup:

1. The ability to choose any kind of music. We let people choose whatever they wanted. That's why everything was set up thru Roon and people could pick from Tidal and Qobuz. Like you said, listening to stuff you really know is key. If I had been limited to the audiophile track that came up when I tried the first station with the HD6XX, I would have had almost no chance of telling anything apart. As it was, I got all the guesses wrong, but at least I did hear some differences when I picked music I was familiar with.

2. No time pressure. We let people listen as long as they wanted. Why should there be a time limit? People listen for hours, not seconds or minutes. Let's make this realistic. If you could tell in seconds, great, but if it took longer, does it matter? If someone is standing next to you with a stopwatch, how relaxed are you gonna feel? Actually, you probably just wouldn't bother with the test at all, right?

3. No 'you must discriminate!" pressure. All we asked was "which one do you prefer?" If you wanted, you could guess the amp. Or you could say they all sounded the same. No pressure. And, most of all, no A/B/X, where you have to guess which X is. I'm sure some sciency type will tell me how this is the Right And Proper Method To Produce Relevant Results (and they may be right), but I think putting someone on the spot after listening to a short clip through a couple of different options is gonna tweak their stress response to the point where many won't know whether to Schiit or go blind. Again, lots of people are just gonna say **** it, this ain't fun, and opt out.

Personally, I'm more interested in (a) how big the differences are, (b) if people hear a difference, and (c) if they prefer one sonically. Based on very limited data from these flawed, limited events, it looks like (a) the differences are small, but (b) most people hear some differences, but also (c) there's not a clear consensus on what's best.

In other words, the audio world isn't black and white; it's gray. It's not right or wrong; it's a continuum. What matters to someone might not matter to someone else. What one person might call a "small difference" might be much larger to someone else. These listening events also don't take into account the "integration effect" posited by Mike Moffat (and others) that small differences over a longer period of time may be much more meaningful than fast switching might indicate, even if people are allowed to choose their own music, spend as much time as they want listening, and aren't pressured to discriminate.

One thing's for sure: blind listening is very interesting, and we are absolutely going to continue it. If someone wants to do a scientifically rigorous session, I extend my offer to provide equipment and a place to do it in; until then we'll be focused on our (perhaps) flawed events based on our own beliefs.

I really need to turn this into an entire chapter.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

100% sure.

What he said. I hadn't even considered that the knob might be interfering with the housing, but the grittiness feels different.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

My Bifrost clicks as well. I'm not worried about it.

Mine will click when the format of the source content changes, e.g. from 16-bit / 44.1 kHz., and sometimes when I power the computer down (Bifrost left on). It seems like it's more prevalent to click on power down if I had disabled the speakers and routed all sounds through the Bifrost, even though the speakers were re-enabled long before power-down. Like Jedi said, I'm not worried about it. If the clicking were nonstop, that's a different story.

 

[PioBeer]

@Jason Stoddard - For the new phono I would like to see it built specifically for MM as good as that type can get with no option to do MC on the unit itself. I don't know the electrical theory but from what I've heard it is hard to build a truly great MM/MC all in one that excels at both formats. For the MC crowd may I suggest a world class Schiit SUT (step up transformer) to purchase in parallel with the Mm unit. This would give you the best for each scenario (of course the MC guys will have to fork over more dough for the SUT, but they are used to that )

Also the MM unit needs tube option and a second to none SN ratio. Thanks Jason!

 

[FLTWS]

...
In other words, the audio world isn't black and white; it's gray. It's not right or wrong; it's a continuum. What matters to someone might not matter to someone else. What one person might call a "small difference" might be much larger to someone else. These listening events also don't take into account the "integration effect" posited by Mike Moffat (and others) that small differences over a longer period of time may be much more meaningful than fast switching might indicate, even if people are allowed to choose their own music, spend as much time as they want listening, and aren't pressured to discriminate.
...

The heart of the matter and the truth of the listening.

 

[Derrick Swart]

The heart of the matter and the truth of the listening.

and let's not forget:

sound is better than no sound

 

[Mike-WI]

It's that day:
"Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 in January 2015, with extended support running till 14 January 2020"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4057281/windows-7-support-ended-on-january-14-2020

 

[garbulky]

If we have to change the motor, we have to change the pod. Which means we have to change the motor board. Which means we have to change the sorbothane isolator for the new pod. And the motor will be a lot more expensive. Also, a new custom motor is like 20 weeks lead time, plus lead time for the pod. Plus the cost for all this. So, if we have to change the motor, Sol won't be coming back.

Sounds tough, but change the motor, raise the price, I mean it's going up anyway, right? Whoever is buying this wants to buy a great turntable at a price that's expensive to them but comparatively a bit of a bargain. Even at a grand that's a lot of money, even though it's a bargain for what they are getting. So nobody is "cheaping out" on buying this turntable. They are buying it for the quality.

Who wants to buy an expensive turntable whose motor is too weak to start by itself? Don't build great products on shaky or awkward foundations. Everytime people push start that motor, they are going to be wondering how long their Schiit is going to last (even if it's not a valid reasoning). Your turntable has the looks and build to drive the sales. You don't want the motor to be that one thing which is embarassing.

 

[scottbrown5271]

Sounds tough, but change the motor, raise the price, I mean it's going up anyway, right? Whoever is buying this wants to buy a great turntable at a price that's expensive to them but comparatively a bit of a bargain. Even at a grand that's a lot of money, even though it's a bargain for what they are getting. So nobody is "cheaping out" on buying this turntable. They are buying it for the quality.

Who wants to buy an expensive turntable whose motor is too weak to start by itself? Don't build great products on shaky or awkward foundations. Everytime people push start that motor, they are going to be wondering how long their Schiit is going to last (even if it's not a valid reasoning). Your turntable has the looks and build to drive the sales. You don't want the motor to be that one thing which is embarassing.

That would be me. There is a certain elegance to a design that is perfectly mechanically balanced in speed, torque, etc. So what if it needs a nudge, you are up off the couch anyway... These things are fussy and fiddly in the extreme compared to Spotify. And that is exactly what some of us are looking for.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Belt drive and a low torque turntable motor are a design choice, normally chosen to reduce motor vibration from reaching the platter. It's not a "problem" with the motor.

JC

 

[GearMe]

Sounds tough, but change the motor, raise the price, I mean it's going up anyway, right? Whoever is buying this wants to buy a great turntable at a price that's expensive to them but comparatively a bit of a bargain. Even at a grand that's a lot of money, even though it's a bargain for what they are getting. So nobody is "cheaping out" on buying this turntable. They are buying it for the quality.

Who wants to buy an expensive turntable whose motor is too weak to start by itself? Don't build great products on shaky or awkward foundations. Everytime people push start that motor, they are going to be wondering how long their Schiit is going to last (even if it's not a valid reasoning). Your turntable has the looks and build to drive the sales. You don't want the motor to be that one thing which is embarassing.

Haven't cared about turntables in a looooonnnnnggg time! That said, I'd agree with your analysis.

If I were interested in turntables. I'd be looking for a high-value, high-quality product and...

I'd either be choosing a well thought of 'inexpensive' manual turntable in the $300-500 range (Rega, Pro-Ject, U-Turn, Music Hall, etc.) to occasionally play albums that I've never been able to replace when I made the switch to digital.

or...I'd be looking to go "all-in" (relatively) and would expect that cost to be north of $2K. So even $1500 for the turntable plus $500-1000 for the cartridge would be 'reasonable'.

EDIT: just looked at my old brands -- Linn & Thorens; seems that I should up my "all-in" number to north of $5K

So glad I dropped the needle ...ugh! To each his own but it's a high-maintenance, lower fidelity format -- imo