[liamo]

My voltages regularly run at 122 -124 and can creep into 130’s, thus my regulators.

 

[tjl5709]

Quick technical question:

Regarding Multibit DACs, the consensus here is that they operate best if allowed to warm up "for a long time" or even "all the time". Can someone explain how the sound can continue to change/improve after a stable operating temperature has been maintained for, say, 30 or 60 minutes following a cold start?

Note, this question applies specifically to warmup, and excludes changes due to break-in (if any exist). Consider the unit in question has had adequate hours of use to have achieved long-term break-in.

I do not believe 30 to 60 minutes is sufficient to have a complete stable chassis in terms of temperature. From what I have read, the issue is related to when ALL internal components have reached a stable operating equilibrium. This is obviously going to be driven and related to the units environment and surroundings. Electrical resistance changes with temperature. If the unit has not completely stabilized from a temp standpoint, then the temp will continue to change with certain components within. Its this "changing" temp that appears to have an effect on the the internal resistance, which apparently impacts the sound.

All I know is when I plugged my new Yggy in, it did not sound good compared to my previous DAC. After a couple days. WOW.

For my ease, I just leave it on.................

 

[PurpleAngel]

My Schiit Fulla (bought 4/2020) stopped working, emailed Schiit twice about warranty repair or replacement, still have not heard back.

 

[Ableza]

My Schiit Fulla (bought 4/2020) stopped working, emailed Schiit twice about warranty repair or replacement, still have not heard back.

Did you use the online contact form? https://www.schiit.com/contact/help-support

 

[corndog71]

So this guy says in relation to restoring vintage tube gear:

“I highly advise against playing these units without proper restoration, since wall voltage is quite a bit higher than when these were new and this increases the voltages in the amp. There are many mods we do to Fisher gear to make them safer and run a little cooler on modern wall current.”

What the heck does he mean by “wall voltage is quite a bit higher”? Was 110V actually more like 100V in the 1970s and now it’s closer to 120V? This makes no sense to me.

Any guesses as to what he’s talking about?

https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/audio/g38768641/most-popular-vintage-receivers/
.

I live in a fairly new building and consistently measure 125 volts from my wall.

For my Dynaco style tube amps I built a bucking transformer box to reduce the AC and keep the voltage down to a less stressful level. If the main voltage is high so too will the internal voltages. Older style tube amps don’t have regulated power supplies. All this ends up doing is reducing the life of the tubes.

 

[Zachik]

For my Dynaco style tube amps I built a bucking transformer box to reduce the AC and keep the voltage down to a less stressful level.

LOVE it. Very cool.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

My Schiit Fulla (bought 4/2020) stopped working, emailed Schiit twice about warranty repair or replacement, still have not heard back.

Did you get an automated response that says something such as "Your request (00000) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email."

If you did and it's been more than a few days try again.
If you didn't, resend your email and keep an eye on your spam folder. Putting "orders@schiit.com" in you contact list should prevent it from going to spam.
I had an issue with my DAC in Dec/Jan and Schiit was very responsive.

 

[Ninhalem]

True about Meigs and that was a fun approach. Here's what I'm planning with additional options to run 2020, I should be okay for a few years.

Windows 10 Home Edition OR (Windows 11?)
Cooler Master NR200, White
Gigabyte Z690i Aorus Ultra, DDR5 OR Gigabyte Z690i Aorus Ultra, DDR4
Intel Core i7 12700K, 5.0GHz 12-Core DDR4 OR Intel Core i9 12900K, 5.2GHz 16-Core DDR5
EK 240MM AIO, Premium CPU Liquid Cooling
32GB DDR4, 3600MHz OR 64GB DDR4, 3600MHz
8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 OR 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 +$250.00
750 -Watt Platinum Rated Power Supply
5.1 Channel High Definition Integrated AudioSFX
2TB Samsung 980 Professional NVMe (Preferable to 2TB Western Digital?)
Wired High-Speed Internet Ready (10/100/1000) AND Integrated 802.11ac Wireless (WiFi) Card (Although I plan, as I am currently and have always been, to go hard wired)
20x DVD/CD Burner Drive (External USB)
I plan to use my current MS keyboard and Logitech Trackball, and Bose 2.1 PC speakers
I plan to use my current 40” Sony High-Def TV (1920 x 1080) and replace with 4 K monitor at a later date unless budget total and options picked provide for it.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (Customer Provided License)
Acronis True Image Backup and Recovery
3 Year Limited Warranty & Lifetime Technical Support
BUDGET: Around $5,000.00

Good setup but one word of caution: you might need more than a 750W power supply with the 30 series cards. They're known to have several severe power spikes that a 750W may not be able to handle even with the factor of safety built into premium power supplies.

 

[Erviv]

If it's an original Modi, I'd assume it's out of warranty. And since it's got only USB input and is only powered by that USB, there's not much to do except try it with different devices. If it doesn't show up on the RPi or Mac, then I'm guessing the USB receiver probably crapped out. Getting it repaired is probably not worth it if that's the case, and getting a new Modi for $99 is probably your best bet. It'll have better USB and also higher output voltage and better performance as well.

Yes it’s an original Modi. Agreed that repairing it, even if repairable, doesn’t make sense. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[ScottFree]

True about Meigs and that was a fun approach. Here's what I'm planning with additional options to run 2020, I should be okay for a few years.

Windows 10 Home Edition OR (Windows 11?)
Cooler Master NR200, White
Gigabyte Z690i Aorus Ultra, DDR5 OR Gigabyte Z690i Aorus Ultra, DDR4
Intel Core i7 12700K, 5.0GHz 12-Core DDR4 OR Intel Core i9 12900K, 5.2GHz 16-Core DDR5
EK 240MM AIO, Premium CPU Liquid Cooling
32GB DDR4, 3600MHz OR 64GB DDR4, 3600MHz
8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 OR 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 +$250.00
750 -Watt Platinum Rated Power Supply
5.1 Channel High Definition Integrated AudioSFX
2TB Samsung 980 Professional NVMe (Preferable to 2TB Western Digital?)
Wired High-Speed Internet Ready (10/100/1000) AND Integrated 802.11ac Wireless (WiFi) Card (Although I plan, as I am currently and have always been, to go hard wired)
20x DVD/CD Burner Drive (External USB)
I plan to use my current MS keyboard and Logitech Trackball, and Bose 2.1 PC speakers
I plan to use my current 40” Sony High-Def TV (1920 x 1080) and replace with 4 K monitor at a later date unless budget total and options picked provide for it.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (Customer Provided License)
Acronis True Image Backup and Recovery
3 Year Limited Warranty & Lifetime Technical Support
BUDGET: Around $5,000.00

Good setup but one word of caution: you might need more than a 750W power supply with the 30 series cards. They're known to have several severe power spikes that a 750W may not be able to handle even with the factor of safety built into premium power supplies.

Also the Intel processors do pull a LOT of power when they are in Turbo mode.

 

[dhcarquinez]

I do not believe 30 to 60 minutes is sufficient to have a complete stable chassis in terms of temperature. From what I have read, the issue is related to when ALL internal components have reached a stable operating equilibrium. This is obviously going to be driven and related to the units environment and surroundings. Electrical resistance changes with temperature. If the unit has not completely stabilized from a temp standpoint, then the temp will continue to change with certain components within. Its this "changing" temp that appears to have an effect on the the internal resistance, which apparently impacts the sound.

All I know is when I plugged my new Yggy in, it did not sound good compared to my previous DAC. After a couple days. WOW.

For my ease, I just leave it on.................

Thank you tjl5709 for your reply. Your observations apply to any solid state component. I have 2 responses:
- I expect an hour of operation would cause all internal components of my Bifrost 2 to reach operational equilibrium (temperature).
- I don't get to listen to my 2-channel system every day, so my normal process would be to turn all components on (Jot 1, BF2, Vidar x2) for an hour, then goof around on Spotify while doing chores around the house, followed by sitting down for dedicated listening.
If that's not enough "warm-up" to achieve optimal performance of my Bifrost multibit, I'd like to know why.

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

Thank you tjl5709 for your reply. Your observations apply to any solid state component. I have 2 responses:
- I expect an hour of operation would cause all internal components of my Bifrost 2 to reach operational equilibrium (temperature).
- I don't get to listen to my 2-channel system every day, so my normal process would be to turn all components on (Jot 1, BF2, Vidar x2) for an hour, then goof around on Spotify while doing chores around the house, followed by sitting down for dedicated listening.
If that's not enough "warm-up" to achieve optimal performance of my Bifrost multibit, I'd like to know why.

I too have noticed a long warm-up / break-in time for my Yggy GS, over several days, I felt the it achieved better and better performance. I never turn off my equipment, other than muting the output of the Freya S. Although that is my experience and perception, I'm at a loss to explain why.......

 

[Ableza]

Thank you tjl5709 for your reply. Your observations apply to any solid state component. I have 2 responses:
- I expect an hour of operation would cause all internal components of my Bifrost 2 to reach operational equilibrium (temperature).
- I don't get to listen to my 2-channel system every day, so my normal process would be to turn all components on (Jot 1, BF2, Vidar x2) for an hour, then goof around on Spotify while doing chores around the house, followed by sitting down for dedicated listening.
If that's not enough "warm-up" to achieve optimal performance of my Bifrost multibit, I'd like to know why.

Why? Hard to say. But the designer of Schilt's digital gear Mike Moffat has advised that if it was up to him the gear would not include a power switch at all so it could be left on all the time, thus making it always ready for use in a "non-ass-sounding" state. (paraphrasing, of course)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Did you use the online contact form? https://www.schiit.com/contact/help-support

Just filled it out, but it does not look like that section is about warranty stuff, more about trouble shooting.

 

[tincanear]

(revised)
@FLTWS for the gaming rig running FS2020 ONLY, look at the configurations of other FS2020 rigs / benchmarks to determine whether the GPU or CPU needs to be maxxed out (usually one of the two can be mid-cost-range, but still high-performance, without reducing frame rates / user experience) and whether 32GB DRAM is sufficient (half the cost of 64GB). I suspect the SSD speed may be critical as well. If you spend wisely, it may be possible to upgrade both machines. FS2020 was probably optimized for either the NVidia or the AMD Radeon GPU architectures, but not both-- best to find out which before spending the big bucks.

Personally, I would avoid the 12-th gen intel processors (with separate Performance +Energy-Efficient cores) as this is a vastly different architecture than the 11th gen units, and it will take a year or two for MS to fix the bugs and patch CPU microcode issues via Win11 updates.

On several non-gaming rigs in my house, per win10 benchmarks, the SSD is the limiting performance factor. One machine 9th-gen i5 with integrated graphics, 16GB DDR4, single 1080p display, entry-level M.2 SSD; another one running old AMD AM3 8-core (a few architectures prior to ZEN1) with Radeon HD 570 series ($150 at time of purchase, about $300 to get one now) lower-mid-range GPU, a single 4K display, Samy QVO 870 SSD.

On the AMD AM3 machine, the QVO 870 SSD replaced a WD black HDD (both still using a SATA type interface) and greatly improved the usability (cold boot time reduced from several minutes to about 15 sec, faster file saves, etc...). You might consider updating the HDD's on your existing machines to SSD if not done already (Samsung includes software to clone the existing windows boot drive, so need to re-install Windows 10, endless chain of windows updates, etc...)


(added, revised)
some quick web searches for 'FS2020 benchmarks' shows that the initial release DX11 version was CPU-limited, running a max of 4 cores (so going to 8 cores in i7 or 12 cores in i9 won't improve frame rates). A fast 3.9GHz/4.9GHz Turbo 11th-gen i5 11600KF or 11600K with on-board graphics disabled in bios) (both six cores) should be more than sufficient. With good cooling and careful application of the cooling system's thermal interface, these 125W TDP models should run without thermal throttling that the lower 65W TDP rated models might experience. DX12 was in beta Nov 2021, so should be in release soon if not already out.

IMO, if you are running multiple 1080p displays, then upper-mid-range GPU will also be adequate. for 27" and larger you could also consider higher resolution displays, (1440p or 4K=2160p) but these will increase the GPU requirements: vs a 1080p display, the 1440p needs 2x the GPU power, and 4K needs the 4x the GPU power for same frame rates.