Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up

[jseymour]

For any stand alone Qobuz users, try a free 30 day trail of Audirvana Studio. It makes Qobuz sound even better.

 

[tincanear]

I'm with @dstrimbu! Today would be a great day for an URD.

a few pages back, Jason had mentioned that first article PCB's (e.g. pre-production samples) had come back from the board house, but unfortunately they were not working (unable to be programmed) no processor programming= no workie

here's a subset of the possible delays to volume production:
at the very least a few days for Dave to figure things out to get those working.
could be a pcb fab problem--if easily reworkable (cut & jumper a trace or two max) then production PCB assy could be scheduled at the PCB fab house, but extra post-assembly rework tech scheduling needed; elseif the PCB fabs (unstuffed boards) need to be scrapped entirely (PITA to cut & jump traces on fine-pitch PQFP aka millipede leg surgery then a few weeks for new fabs, then re-queue at the board house to get the assy (solder paste, pick & place, reflow) done;
could be a parts stuffing problem-- wrong part reels and/or ref locations specified during setup of pick and place machines, or incorrect parts specified or bought & need to be re-ordered;
sometimes parts get installed backwards (or rotated to three of four possible incorrect orientations) but results are usually easy to spot on power up (flames, smoke, burnt fingers, FLIR lights up)
each new PCB board rev. (electrically operating or not, should be fit checked against production chassis, drive mechanics, etc.-- i have seen problems when there shouldn't be...)

TL/DR: the talented Schitt team will definitely get this sorted out-- IMHO think July 1st or later for URD product release. guessing that MJ3 might even be for sale before URD...

 

[adias]

For any stand alone Qobuz users, try a free 30 day trail of Audirvana Studio. It makes Qobuz sound even better.

That points out to the need for a direct, clean, digital pipeline, and I agree, but... it applies to any digital stream. IMHO there are other music providers capable of offering unaltered redbook files, not only Quobuz.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Tidal vs. Qobuz - what the schiit?
(I wrote this last night, pretty late, and saved a draft. Edited for clarity this morning.)

How can Qobuz sound so much [different?/better!] than Tidal? It's kinda freaking me out, because there is a marked difference, and I favor Qobuz. I was an early adopter of Tidal, and I haven't cancelled my subscription yet, but I must say that Qobuz just hits my ears in all the right places... <g>

To be clear, I'm not comparing Qobuz's FLAC content with @OldRoadToad 's favorite Tidal format, MQA... Tidal is moving to deprecate MQA, and a lot of songs on the service have already been converted to 44.1/16 or /24 FLAC. In every case, I am comparing FLAC to FLAC, and I'm matching bit rates / bit depths. I have strived to match levels to within 0.5 db. BTW, it seems that Qobuz is about 1-2db 'louder' than Tidal on my system, YMMV.

I used Soundiiz (thank you, Qobuz, for the free access pass!) to convert my playlists, albums and artist lists from Tidal to Qobuz. It's a brilliant application, btw. I'd have bought a license if had I needed to...

Key conclusions, 72 hours in: Qobuz is a totally different experience than Tidal, in terms of apparent dynamic range, and overall "punch". The pace of music streamed from Qobuz just ffllllooooows... IMHO as good or even possibly better than local Redbook playback with a stable transport feeding Yggy.

As I've recently made a major upgrade to my analog playback chain, I might say that music streamed from Qobuz by my AURALiC Aries G1, and delivered to Yggy via AES/EBU is so damned close to 'analog' that I'm wondering why I keep spending money on analog... #fetish #firstworldproblems I'm upstairs in my office, listening to the downstairs system and I keep waiting to hear the "...tick...tick...tick" of a stylus in a lead-out groove. Bowie's "Lazarus", anyone? Oh, my goodness. Never heard an internet stream sound like this before. The echo that hovers just below his voice in parts of the vocal? I've never heard it before, and now I'm hearing that effect while sitting in another room, on another floor of the house... it's nuts. Simply nuts.

All of this would be for naught if I didn't have a Yggdrasil. I feel compelled to re-state, re-enforce, and re-confirm that it is a spectacular piece of kit, and certainly one of the best deals in audio today. I (recently) spent an afternoon listening to a friend's system that sports a DAC that costs (almost) 20x more, and honestly? It's not markedly better in any audible way. I want to upgrade my Yggy to the new case style, but I may just make the (executive) decision to buy a new one and hold on to my OG (w/A2 and Unison) machine. I always knew that Yggy is special, since I first heard what it can do with CD playback over digital coax. I think that Mike once said that 44.1/16 is really all you need. Well, Yggy is the embodiment of that ethic. I am still so very impressed with this DAC, and I feel no need to replace it at any time in the near future. /end_schiit_ad

The AURALiC is also a wonderful piece of gear, but I could never figure out why CD playback (and bit-perfect 44.1/16 rips, stored on a 0.5TB thumb-drive, connected to the USB Storage port) often sounded audibly 'better' than Tidal streams... and then I tried Qobuz. I'm frustrated that I didn't try it, sooner.

More to come, as I'm still trying to wrap my ears around the differences.

p.s. - (last night, I was) listening to Lara Fabian covering Sarah McLaughlin's "In the Arms of an Angel" at CD quality, on Qobuz via the AURALIC. It sounds clearer and more spacious in presentation than the same album played on CD locally. So weird... can't explain this phenomena.

p.p.s. - another conundrum: 44.1/16 data, upsampled by the AURALiC- via any of the four available digital filters - does not sound as good/smooth/pleasing as a native hi-rez stream from Qobuz, sent via AES/EBU 'digital' to Yggy. Bits are bits, my a**.

Thanks for listening,

/ds

Yyyyyep…

 

[Jason Stoddard]

a few pages back, Jason had mentioned that first article PCB's (e.g. pre-production samples) had come back from the board house, but unfortunately they were not working (unable to be programmed) no processor programming= no workie

here's a subset of the possible delays to volume production:
at the very least a few days for Dave to figure things out to get those working.

Yep, done.

could be a pcb fab problem--if easily reworkable (cut & jumper a trace or two max) then production PCB assy could be scheduled at the PCB fab house, but extra post-assembly rework tech scheduling needed; elseif the PCB fabs (unstuffed boards) need to be scrapped entirely (PITA to cut & jump traces on fine-pitch PQFP aka millipede leg surgery then a few weeks for new fabs, then re-queue at the board house to get the assy (solder paste, pick & place, reflow) done;

Nope.

could be a parts stuffing problem-- wrong part reels and/or ref locations specified during setup of pick and place machines, or incorrect parts specified or bought & need to be re-ordered;
sometimes parts get installed backwards (or rotated to three of four possible incorrect orientations) but results are usually easy to spot on power up (flames, smoke, burnt fingers, FLIR lights up)
each new PCB board rev. (electrically operating or not, should be fit checked against production chassis, drive mechanics, etc.-- i have seen problems when there shouldn't be...)

Nope.

It ended up being an internal error. The boards programmed fine. But we are tweaking the code a bit to maximize compatibility with Android devices. Yeah, I know, not exactly the biggest deal in the world (Linux, Mac, Windows, all in front of Android, given Android's fragmentation). Also just waiting for capacity. First article does not mean the entire boardhouse goes on hold waiting breathlessly for us.

TL/DR: the talented Schitt team will definitely get this sorted out-- IMHO think July 1st or later for URD product release.

Before July 1 highly probable.

guessing that MJ3 might even be for sale before URD...

Very doubtful.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

I really have no idea (sorry) but are you able to swap tubes between sockets? My guess would be it's simply a bad tube.

Never had an issue like that with my clock that has been on nearly 24/7 for the last ~20 years. I got two extra full sets of nixies when I bought it 'cause I had no idea how long they'd last, but the original tubes just keep on truckin'. Not sure what size your nixies are, but I'd be happy to send you one if they match up.

Thank you very much for the offer! Mine are, however oriented ninety degrees to what you have so you view the tubes from the end. They are IN-4's and I have another set to hopefully show up Saturday from eBay. I think I've found another rabbit hole to poke my toe into!

Oh, and yes, I did swap tubes. The problem initially showed itself on the units hours digit. Since was originally the '6' that was the problem, swapping it with the tens tube seemed a no-brainer. Then the '2' started acting up. The digits roll every 30 seconds in each tube so I think that tube is showing other issues behind the scenes. After talking with a friend at work, he was wondering if there wasn't a pot somewhere on one of the PCBs to adjust the boost voltage circuit. I'll go in this weekend and snoop around some more for a pot and see if I can measure the voltage being supplied. Since it also has a decatron to show the seconds, I'm going to see what happens if I pull that tube from the circuit. Maybe it's loading down an already weak HV supply??? Ah, the joys of playing with unknown design high voltage circuits...it brings back such tingly memories!!

 

[dstrimbu]

I can never try to articulate like you (or @ArmchairPhilosopher) but I really like Qobuz.

We're just windy, that's all. Thank you!

I've tried almost all the other streaming services, and Qobuz just sounds the best, IMO.

Agreed. I am going to stop wasting time trying to compare Tidal to Qobuz and just enjoy Qobuz! Also, Tidal is $240 a year, paid monthly and Qobuz is $129, paid yearly. Not a ton of savings but enough to get a couple of nice bottles of adult beverage(s)...

And if I recall correctly, my honest opinion is that Tidal boosts the bass. I have no proof or scientific evidence...just my ears. And that would make sense since they seemed to push the Rap, Hip-Hop, etc. at you all the time.

Yes, there is something about the frequency balance of a Tidal stream vs a Qobuz stream. I listened in the car via CarPlay first, then the office system (LS50s) and then the main system downstairs... when I got to the main system, I stored Loki Max's EQ settings in a preset and started tweaking. First move was to boost 20Hz about 3 db and 120Hz about 1.5-2 db... so your ears apparently align with mine. <g> Also agree on the "featured music" page of Tidal, it rarely highlighted anything that I wanted to listen to...

But all in all? Qobuz is the Schiit, methinks!

 

[emorrison33]

Also agree on the "featured music" page of Tidal, it rarely highlighted anything that I wanted to listen to...

Qobuz has the "My Weekly Q" which I like. Based on my past weeks listening, it's a playlist of suggestions. Not sure if it will show up right away with a new user though. Qobuz is fairly new to the USA (it's available in other countries), so they are still working on things and adding things all the time.

 

[OldRoadToad]

We're just windy, that's all. Thank you!


Agreed. I am going to stop wasting time trying to compare Tidal to Qobuz and just enjoy Qobuz! Also, Tidal is $240 a year, paid monthly and Qobuz is $129, paid yearly. Not a ton of savings but enough to get a couple of nice bottles of adult beverage(s)...


Yes, there is something about the frequency balance of a Tidal stream vs a Qobuz stream. I listened in the car via CarPlay first, then the office system (LS50s) and then the main system downstairs... when I got to the main system, I stored Loki Max's EQ settings in a preset and started tweaking. First move was to boost 20Hz about 3 db and 120Hz about 1.5-2 db... so your ears apparently align with mine. <g> Also agree on the "featured music" page of Tidal, it rarely highlighted anything that I wanted to listen to...

But all in all? Qobuz is the Schiit, methinks!

I just can not read or say the name..."Qobuz", LOLOLOL!! Good lawd that is so freakin' funny to me. Some where...out there...some one...just named their newborn kid "Qobuz". LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL...Can't b..b..b...breathe...LOL! Oh wait! It's "French". That explains it all.
I am certain it is a fine music service. I'll be in purgatoire.

Le ORTe'

 

[JanMc]

Lyr3, at the office, listening to:
KOTO - Return of the Dragon
(with Bifrost2 OG down under)
Rockin’!

You really need to put a better tube in your Lyr. Makes a pretty significant difference.

 

[Rensek]

Jason, given its arriving after Urd, do you expect MJ3 to be available in June, or is July more likely?

 

[Ableza]

To everyone pushing for new products now now now, I say

 

[Rensek]

Hah, yeah, not trying to push, just curious, excited, planning. It could be August/September and the curiosity remains.

But point taken, I will stop asking "dad are we there yet" and "how much longer till we are there"

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Jason, given its arriving after Urd, do you expect MJ3 to be available in June, or is July more likely?

July, unless the metal gets here a lot faster than I expect.

 

[corndog71]

Yep, done.

Nope.

Nope.

It ended up being an internal error. The boards programmed fine. But we are tweaking the code a bit to maximize compatibility with Android devices. Yeah, I know, not exactly the biggest deal in the world (Linux, Mac, Windows, all in front of Android, given Android's fragmentation). Also just waiting for capacity. First article does not mean the entire boardhouse goes on hold waiting breathlessly for us.


Before July 1 highly probable.

Very doubtful.

All of this should be another reminder that when it comes to new products, best not to say anything until release day.