[A Jedi]

It's ok, you can get closer. Maybe...

https://scitechdaily.com/rattlesnake-rattles-use-acoustic-trick-to-fool-human-ears/

 

[ghfiii]

You could troll the internet for a Saga S

Hey, I resemble that remark

remember that gag?

 

[classfolkphile]

So the Asgard 3 is more than worth it at $249. It was a steal at $199. (And no, I'm not sending Schiit an extra $50 - it didn't come with a brushed finish. )

I think black looks good (I had a Magni Heresy here for an audition). But silver looks much better, particularly the brushed versions.

And yes 8 Track tapes were horrible but I have a very fond memory of driving up to Boston from LI in a friend's Mercury Cougar with an 8 track tape of the just released Jeff Beck Group's "Truth". It was about all we played up and back. Particularly memorable because I had recently heard them at the Commack Arena (ice skating rink) in their debut US tour. I hadn't heard of them or of the opening act before then. We went to this concert because a friend of a friend was traveling with the headliners (yes, as a groupie) and she corralled a bunch of us to go see them. The headliners were the Savoy Brown Blues Band. The opening act was Mountain with Leslie West. Both were great but the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart blew the ceiling off of the place.

God, am I dating myself.

 

[tincanear]

God, am I dating myself.

so... Table for one, Sir?

 

[golfbravobravo]

Did to our proximity to the last metric holdout, we speak both Imperial and metric up here.
.

Not the last. There are three.

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

so... Table for one, Sir?

 

[Timster]

Good way to start the weekend ...

 

[bcowen]

Fair warning: the following post contains content about Schiit gear, music...

Although it pains me greatly** to do so, I'm gonna have to report you to the mods.


**not greatly really, more like a little. Or less.

 

[Plautus001]

Although it pains me greatly** to do so, I'm gonna have to report you to the mods.


**not greatly really, more like a little. Or less.

So how little? Like North Carolina BBQ?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

A few answers:

• Custom product for some bizarre laptop? Ah, no. We actually considered doing something for Google's modular phone. About the same level of crazy, and we decided in the end it's not a great idea. Not us. Not happening.
• Solid state preamps: first articles came in for Freya S today, and they passed all tests. Give us 2-3 weeks and we'll be shipping those again. For a while. No guarantees on future availability. We're still waiting on Sagas of both flavors. Remember that spooling up new PCB assembly firms is like matting the gas on a 1978 Porsche Turbo...wait...wait...wait...wait...ZOOM! We're still on like the third or fourth "wait."
• Brushed vs powder finish: if we raise prices--likely significantly--on the brushed products to reduce the order rate, that would work fine, at least on the larger products. But we'll see what we come up with. This is still in evaluation. We'll see what happens.
• Refinishing brushed: trololololol...no. There is no refinishing an anodized aluminum piece. At least not successfully, to a consumer-level finish. "Refinishing," means "powder-coat it black."

Again, things are crazy busy around here. I'm still trying to catch up. I can say something new is coming next week, but it's not a product.

Then, in the next few weeks...it's gonna get nuts. I think. I hope. We'll see.

 

[Odin412]

Then, in the next few weeks...it's gonna get nuts. I think. I hope. We'll see.

Anticipation level: Up. Way up. Bank account balance: Likely going down.

 

[ghfiii]

squeee

Solid state preamps: first articles came in for Freya S today, and they passed all tests. Give us 2-3 weeks and we'll be shipping those again. For a while. No guarantees on future availability.

 

[CarlosAudio51]

Likely going down.

More like "definitely going down." Hold on to your wallets people.

 

[macdonjh]

Unfortunately it's not as simple as that (if you were so implying). We build ruggedized laser systems and the laser heads are built out of machined 6061 aluminum that has both a random orbital sand and is grained and then black anodized. "Fixing" anodization problems can be a complete PITA because you have to strip the anodize and then refinish the part before reanodization. It becomes quite costly. Even specifying something "simple" like black anodize can result in color variations from run to run, unless you fully specify the process or have good communication with your vendor so they know what you are expecting. We also tried powder coating instead of anodize and it can be as tough as anodize, and depending on the look you're going for, could be perfectly acceptable.

Personally, I would happily pay a premium for the choice of either clear or black anodized finishes. My druthers would be black because it mostly matches my mood and my furnishings. But, colors would still be minor compared to how the equipment performs!

A few answers:

• Custom product for some bizarre laptop? Ah, no. We actually considered doing something for Google's modular phone. About the same level of crazy, and we decided in the end it's not a great idea. Not us. Not happening.
• Solid state preamps: first articles came in for Freya S today, and they passed all tests. Give us 2-3 weeks and we'll be shipping those again. For a while. No guarantees on future availability. We're still waiting on Sagas of both flavors. Remember that spooling up new PCB assembly firms is like matting the gas on a 1978 Porsche Turbo...wait...wait...wait...wait...ZOOM! We're still on like the third or fourth "wait."
• Brushed vs powder finish: if we raise prices--likely significantly--on the brushed products to reduce the order rate, that would work fine, at least on the larger products. But we'll see what we come up with. This is still in evaluation. We'll see what happens.
• Refinishing brushed: trololololol...no. There is no refinishing an anodized aluminum piece. At least not successfully, to a consumer-level finish. "Refinishing," means "powder-coat it black."

Again, things are crazy busy around here. I'm still trying to catch up. I can say something new is coming next week, but it's not a product.

Then, in the next few weeks...it's gonna get nuts. I think. I hope. We'll see.

Thank you @Jason Stoddard.

I understand it being time consuming and expensive to re-anodize a part. I didn't mean that. I meant perhaps a damaged, natural, brushed piece could be "repaired" and then anodized. But perhaps that's not practical, either.

Since we're voting, I prefer natural silver and black anodizing to painting or powder coating. I realize this quiz will have as much effect on Schiit's business as the the most recent quiz in Cosmopolitan.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Thank you @Jason Stoddard.

I understand it being time consuming and expensive to re-anodize a part. I didn't mean that. I meant perhaps a damaged, natural, brushed piece could be "repaired" and then anodized. But perhaps that's not practical, either.

Since we're voting, I prefer natural silver and black anodizing to painting or powder coating. I realize this quiz will have as much effect on Schiit's business as the the most recent quiz in Cosmopolitan.

Let me be totally clear: I have never seen an anodized part that was successfully stripped and re-anodized without (a) some very weird color shifts, (b) unacceptable grain, (c) super obvious visible problems--like the panels being actually thinner, or coined at the edges. Never. Nada. None. Doesn't happen. Once an anodized part is damaged, the only viable repair is powder coat. Which I happen to like. Which another principal at another large consumer electronics firm liked--to the point where he wondered why we didn't just do everything black. Which is also used by other companies on products that cost many multiples of ours. So there is that.

And unanodized parts? We never see those. We order parts finished, because anything else is madness, a forest of finger-pointing and recrimination. The problem we're having is that the mill-finish aluminum we use on the smaller products is getting impossible to find (at least the stuff without marks on it--yes, marks on virgin aluminum, yes, the world is not perfect, we are not all Apple with cities overseas dedicated to smelting/forging/machining/reusing scraps/perfecting whatever automated process they use to make MacBooks and such look almost all alike...but not quite, LOL). The non-mill-finish postgrained finish has been problematic since inception, and never quite matches in grain/color/shininess/etc due to the natural variation of clear anodize, the phase of the moon, the ambient temperature, whether or not the anodizer has sacrificed a chicken before starting the process, etc, etc.

So what does this all mean?

Black powder always works. Black always matches. Black can be refinished if we bone it up.

Grain and clear anodize is variable, painful, and subject to the vagaries of mills. And we haven't been able to make it consistent in 11 years.

So it's either gonna be:

a. perpetual backorder for silver, because we can't make as much as we like
b. price rise on silver, so if people still want it, it's worth it to make more
c. a sprayed silver finish that's acceptable, like black

To date, I have seen no silver I'm totally happy with. I have other samples, so we'll see. There have been no decisions made. But you can take black anodize off the table. We're looking at more consistent finishes, not less. And black anodize is worse than clear.

As I said, we'll see what happens. My personal preference is silver, so whatever solution we come up with has to make me happy. Which bodes well for the availability of brushed product--even if it ends up being more rare, or more expensive.