[BobSmith8901]

So, here are two thoughts that crossed my mind while perusing the posts of recent weeks:

1.) With all that talk about brushed and sanded surface finishes, I'm surprised that no one has pointed out yet that it's not just a question of sanded or brushed, but also of HOW sanded and HOW brushed, and even of color! Has anyone noticed yet that no two products really seem to share the exact same finish?
Although my two Aegirs and my Freya+ are both brushed, the Aegirs have an ever so slight bit more gloss to them. The brushing on my Mjolnir seems to go a tad deeper into the metal than that of my Gumby, and the brushing of both of them looks ever so slightly "less refined" than that of the Aegirs and Freya (although I like the "less refined" more, it looks more industrial, which I generally appreciate).
The surface grain of my Lokius seems ever so slightly rougher than that of my Modius, and specifically with the Modius I can't quite decide if it's sanded or actually super finely brushed. And I think the finest grain I have seen yet is on my Loki (non-Plus). And Bifrost? Well, that thing is outright golden; and I don't (just) mean its sound! (Meaning: The Bifrost's aluminum has a slightly more yellow-ish tint to it than the other Schiit. Together with that slight tint, the Bifrost's surface finish feels almost too smooth, considering that it's grainy. It's almost like there's a super fine coat of some form of lacquer or transparent paint on it.)
(For what it's worth: As far as I can tell, all products that use the thinner sheet metal come in matte, all those that use the thicker metal come in brushed. Exceptions: Bifrost and Asgard; they use thick metal but come in matte. If it weren't for those two, I would be tempted to think that the different surface finishes may be a result of the thickness of the metal, meaning that the process of bending the thicker metal might be too destructive to the matte finish, so they go with brushed for those. Or they prefer brushed themselves, but go with matte with the thinner metals because those tend to be products with (even) slimmer margins? Maybe the matte finish is cheaper to produce and/or leads to fewer rejects? I have no idea, I don't know the first thing about manufacturing. Obviously. )

2.) Ever since the first Lokius units shipped out, I wondered if there's someone at Schiit perusing this thread (and other boards), thinking: "How come that nobody noticed that Lokius' vent holes aren't just perfectly aligned with the knobs, but that the holes are also designed to look like six EQ bars?"
Well, maybe I just missed it, but I have yet to see anyone mention this. But every time I look at one of my Lokiuses, I have to smile, because I love the look of those holes. Maybe they know their customers and thought: "The second we put this thing out there, we'll for sure get emails asking `Why does this tone control not come with EQ bars?!`, and now we can reply: `But it DOES!`"
Whoever at Schiit came up with that idea deserves a doughnut.

Here's the thing, though: Those EQ bars, the levels they show. Are they just random, or is that a snapshot of someone's favorite passage of their favorite song!?
Or… are those bars a hint, pointing out knob positions for us to reach pure audio bliss?! But if so, what would be "100%"?! The highest of the six bars? The far corner of the sheet metal? Or as far in from the far corner as the bottom end of the bars are to the near corner? So many questions!

(Where are those illuminati and tin foil hat emojis when one needs them!)

"And I think the finest grain I have seen yet is on my Loki (non-Plus)..."

My experience is similar with my Loki original (bought new on Amazon.com in late 2020)--running my hand across the top of it it feels nice and smooth and satiny. There are only barely visible brush markings but they can't be felt.

My Modi 2U is almost as smooth with light brush marks. Magni 2U on the other hand is much coarser with distinct brush markings.

Interestingly, the Magni and Loki share a more golden tint, whereas the Modi is more bright aluminum in appearance.

The Magni and Modi date back to 2015 and are still going strong as well as the Loki. A nice inexpensive grouping of Schiit with great synergy and the Magni will drive anything on high gain.

 

[FLTWS]

I was checking / updating my audio hardware inventory spredsheet, turns out I've got more Loki types than you could shake an Alberich at. (see my sig).

My 2 silver Loki Mini's (and just arrived today silver Lokius) do have a brushed type finish although it is very fine as befitting their diminutive size compared to my Yggdrasil's (and Ragnarok 1 as I remember it) or it just seems that way. My Mini +'s and Lokius #1 are in the black finish. That light brushing on the aluminum may also affect how it appears color-wise, possibly, as it reflects colors of the ambient light from the surroundings and compared to Schiit’s TOTL offerings. These new fang'ld LED lights seem to play hell with colors. The knobs on the silver Lokius are shiny compared to the casework.

 

[RickB]

Credit where credit it due.

I received a new Vali 2+ a few weeks ago. It came with a fairly substantial scratch on the volume knob. At first, I thought it wouldn't bother me because, let's face it, everything I've ever received from Schiit has always had at least one cosmetic blemish, so I decided to try to not let it bother me. Well, it did. It did to the point I finally emailed Schiit and asked it if was a reasonable request to be sent a new knob I could install myself. Before I even got a personal reply, I had a shipping notification. A few minutes later, a personal email. So, there you have it. Very happy with the outcome. Now it makes me wonder if I should have emailed earlier with my other six pieces of Schiit that all had blemishes....

There should be a listing for this in the DSM, this affliction you and I both suffer from. It's not OCD, exactly. At least as far as I can tell, I don't have OCD, I don't have to do rituals or count things or whatever to relieve emotional stress. It's just always bugged me when things come with scratches and marks, and it bugs me even more when my clumsiness causes the scratches and marks.

But this is definitely a thing and should have its own entry in the DSM!

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

There should be a listing for this in the DSM, this affliction you and I both suffer from. It's not OCD, exactly. At least as far as I can tell, I don't have OCD, I don't have to do rituals or count things or whatever to relieve emotional stress. It's just always bugged me when things come with scratches and marks, and it bugs me even more when my clumsiness causes the scratches and marks.

But this is definitely a thing and should have its own entry in the DSM!

It's called perfectionism. Everyone around here is befallen by it, or we would all be listening to 96kHz MP3s via phone speakers or AirPods.
Perfectionism might be debilitating, at times, but it is also the reason for Schiit's continued success in this market.

But all kidding aside:
I will remain an avid Schiit customer for as long as they keep their priorities the way they are right now; 90% effort put into perfecting the circuit, 10% into making it look nice. I'd MUCH rather have that than your usual overpriced audio gear where 90% of the effort went into a shiny case and the circuit itself doesn't even sound all that good.
Does my own perfectionism get triggered by the fact that the metal seems to be slightly different from product to product, or that the prints on the metal never seem to be the same shade or size? Sure. But as long as I can rely on getting killer sound for a killer price, I'm fine with that.

Also, as mentioned before, I'm a total sucker for industrial-looking gear. That certainly helps.

Of all my Schiit gear, only two things were less than perfect: One of the feet of my Mjolnir 2 is slightly too short, so the whole thing wobbles ever so slightly, and one of my two Lokius has one knob where the keyed plastic insert that slides onto the shaft of the potentiometer isn't perfectly aligned but off by a two or three degrees, so the mark on the knob doesn't perfectly point up when the potentiometer is set to neutral.
Not once, however, have I received Schiit gear with an outright blemish. I don't buy my gear in black, though, always silver. Maybe that's the reason.

 

[EricDH]

It's called perfectionism. Everyone around here is befallen by it, or we would all be listening to 96kHz MP3s via phone speakers or AirPods.
Perfectionism might be debilitating, at times, but it is also the reason for Schiit's continued success in this market.

But all kidding aside:
I will remain an avid Schiit customer for as long as they keep their priorities the way they are right now; 90% effort put into perfecting the circuit, 10% into making it look nice. I'd MUCH rather have that than your usual overpriced audio gear where 90% of the effort went into a shiny case and the circuit itself doesn't even sound all that good.
Does my own perfectionism get triggered by the fact that the metal seems to be slightly different from product to product, or that the prints on the metal never seem to be the same shade or size? Sure. But as long as I can rely on getting killer sound for a killer price, I'm fine with that.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[zstokes]

It's called perfectionism. Everyone around here is befallen by it, or we would all be listening to 96kHz MP3s via phone speakers or AirPods.
Perfectionism might be debilitating, at times, but it is also the reason for Schiit's continued success in this market.

But all kidding aside:
I will remain an avid Schiit customer for as long as they keep their priorities the way they are right now; 90% effort put into perfecting the circuit, 10% into making it look nice. I'd MUCH rather have that than your usual overpriced audio gear where 90% of the effort went into a shiny case and the circuit itself doesn't even sound all that good.
Does my own perfectionism get triggered by the fact that the metal seems to be slightly different from product to product, or that the prints on the metal never seem to be the same shade or size? Sure. But as long as I can rely on getting killer sound for a killer price, I'm fine with that.

Also, as mentioned before, I'm a total sucker for industrial-looking gear. That certainly helps.

Of all my Schiit gear, only two things were less than perfect: One of the feet of my Mjolnir 2 is slightly too short, so the whole thing wobbles ever so slightly, and one of my two Lokius has one knob where the keyed plastic insert that slides onto the shaft of the potentiometer isn't perfectly aligned but off by a two or three degrees, so the mark on the knob doesn't perfectly point up when the potentiometer is set to neutral.
Not once, however, have I received Schiit gear with an outright blemish. I don't buy my gear in black, though, always silver. Maybe that's the reason.

This is an excellent post.

I too, like industrial design. But the moment I saw the Meze Empyreans, I knew that I would have to save a fund to buy them someday. Like another poster here, I suspect a Lyr 3, a Bifrost 2 and these cans will be the end of the road for my headphone listening. It’s a lot of money to be willing to be wrong, but that’s my personal choice. And the chase is fun as well.

 

[Ableza]

"Perfectionism" in audio is a fool's pursuit. As I have posted before a friend of mine once said: "All audio is a series of compromises. The key is to decide which compromises you are willing to live with."

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

"Perfectionism" in audio is a fool's pursuit. As I have posted before a friend of mine once said: "All audio is a series of compromises. The key is to decide which compromises you are willing to live with."

Perfectionism as a goal? I agree.
Perfectionism as a benchmark? Perfectly fine.
Perfectionism as an obsession? Go and get help.
Perfectionism as a fun hobby? Nothing wrong with that.

Just as with Schiit's gear, nothing is ever all that black and white, there are a ton of different shades of silver in between.

 

[Ableza]

Perfectionism as a goal? I agree.
Perfectionism as a benchmark? Perfectly fine.
Perfectionism as an obsession? Go and get help.
Perfectionism as a fun hobby? Nothing wrong with that.

As I implied, perfectionism is impossible. If you wish to be continually disappointed then make it your goal or your benchmark or your hobby. Me, I prefer to find satisfaction not to pursue impossible dreams, and to enjoy the music.

 

[US Blues]

"Perfectionism" in audio is a fool's pursuit. As I have posted before a friend of mine once said: "All audio is a series of compromises. The key is to decide which compromises you are willing to live with."

Exactly. John Coltrane is not standing in my living room playing India. We're going for a tantalizing reproduction of the original.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

I was checking / updating my audio hardware inventory spredsheet, turns out I've got more Loki types than you could shake an Alberich at. (see my sig).

My 2 silver Loki Mini's (and just arrived today silver Lokius) do have a brushed type finish although it is very fine as befitting their diminutive size compared to my Yggdrasil's (and Ragnarok 1 as I remember it) or it just seems that way. My Mini +'s and Lokius #1 are in the black finish. That light brushing on the aluminum may also affect how it appears color-wise, possibly, as it reflects colors of the ambient light from the surroundings and compared to Schiit’s TOTL offerings. These new fang'ld LED lights seem to play hell with colors. The knobs on the silver Lokius are shiny compared to the casework.

Christ on a Cracker! I thought I was the only lunatic who had an inventory spreadsheet. Nice! Re: knobs. Oh, and oversized, weighted, neurotically balanced knobs on all current and future audio products!

Schiit's Corpus Christi site could start up a cottage industry of supplying such add-ons for their kit. No?

 

[Alexnova]

Gungnir DS no longer available for purchase. Only MB model on Schiit's site. New Gungnir model soon?

 

[tincanear]

Gungnir DS no longer available for purchase. Only MB model on Schiit's site. New Gungnir model soon?

new Gungnir d/s model unlikely soon (if ever) --
1) there's a lot of other manufacturers making $1K+ d/s dac offerings.
2) those looking d/s vs multibit are usually making that decision based on specs alone (e.g. S/N, THD) where d/s generally has better numbers (which IMO don't necessarily translate to better, more natural sounding hardware), and Modius has pretty decent specifications.
3) supply of AK4399 has probably run out, leaving only the AK4493 (not in production due to the 2019 AKM factory fire) that Modius uses.
4) engineering resources at Schiit are focused on ESS design to replace the depleting stock of AKM 4490 parts used on Fulla, Hel, Modi, D/S DAC Modules, (Texas facility designed for production of smaller form-factor products needs to be kept fed)
5) IF there is a Gungnir D/S replacement for AK4399, it will likely be a 2nd gen ESS implementation with power supply and analog stage enhancements.

 

[CarlosAudio51]

Yeah, the writing was on the wall when Jason talked about the ESS versions of the Schiit DS DACs (either on this thread or YouTube). He'd mention that Schiit was working on the ESS versions of Fulla, Hel, Modi, Modius, and the DS amp module. No mention at all of Gungnir DS. I figured it was gonna be phased out when the AKM chips ran out.

 

[EricDH]

Gungnir DS no longer available for purchase. Only MB model on Schiit's site. New Gungnir model soon?

If you spend that kind of money, why would you go for DS anyway? Unless you base your purchase on measurements, I don't see the point.