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

[bcowen]

So. I'm torn. I would have loved to have got tickets for my wife. But, not keen on being the only 45 year old man without his daughter in a stadium of 70,000.

I'm sure there are lots of 45 year old men there with women young enough to be their daughter. Plausible explainability.

 

[MoveStonks]

Came across this USB B-A cable from pangea audio that splits the data signal and the cables for power into 2 separately sheided cables (1x B to 2x A)... I find this interesting because it means you can plug in only the data cables; leaving the 2 conductors for power completely unplugged.

Since Unison isn't Bus-powered, will this cable work to connect PC and Bifrost 2/64 (leaving the USB power unplugged)?

Seems like an interesting experiment, but thought I would ask if it would even function before buying one to try it out. Thanks!

 

[artur9]

https://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/902/index.html
It's easy to miss, at the bottom of page 1. :

"The amp did justice to "difficult" instruments, catching both the timbre and, more important, the distinctively unnuanced playing style brought to the baroque violin by Marianne Rorez in Affetti Musicali's 1998 two-disc set of Biber's Mysterien Sonaten (Winter & Winter 910 029-2), a peerlessly beautiful recording in every way. The A3.2 also seemed to capture just the right "hooty" sound of the organ continuo, not to mention the characteristic hall sound."

There's another mention of this CD, which I am listening to at the moment via HiFi Rose's RoseTube.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/moscode-401hr-power-amplifier-page-2

One of my favorite such tests is a recording of Biber's Mysteriensonaten, by Marianne Rônez and Affretti Musicali (CD, Basic Edition 910 029-2), that Art Dudley kindly sent me a few years ago. It's essentially a series of violin sonatas backed by bass continuo (mostly chamber organ, but sometimes theorbo or viola da gamba). Hardly a dynamic treasure chest, you'd probably imagine—and, with some systems, you'd be right. But get yourself a fat pipe to pump the info through and it's compelling stuff. Rônez uses her bow to great effect, coaxing an astonishing panoply of tones and consonances from her violin, and her continuo players are masters at supporting and pushing her along. It's a rich and compelling experience—at least, that's what the 401HR told me.

Rich and compelling is right. Discogs says it was recorded at 20 bits, with no processing, and mastered at 24b.

 

[tincanear]

Came across this USB B-A cable from pangea audio that splits the data signal and the cables for power into 2 separately sheided cables (1x B to 2x A)... I find this interesting because it means you can plug in only the data cables; leaving the 2 conductors for power completely unplugged.

Since Unison isn't Bus-powered, will this cable work to connect PC and Bifrost 2/64 (leaving the USB power unplugged)?

Seems like an interesting experiment, but thought I would ask if it would even function before buying one to try it out. Thanks!

Is there a particular issue with your setup that you are trying to address? what is your configuration?

IMO, this cable should be used with caution. if both the power and ground wires are both isolated at the USB receiver end, situations might arise where the input-common-mode range for the differential digital data pair(s) is exceeded as the driving source and the receiver no longer share a common reference (ground). Tying the USB source and receiver grounds together might help keep the digital data pair(s) within common-mode range, but will not address the problem of common-impedance ground noise/ ground current loop. USB noise (relative to your downstream analog ground) can be on the USB ground line, the +5V USB pwr, or is often a combination of the two. RANE has several whitepapers (tech-notes) discussing grounding, audio equipment interconnection, etc.

(added/ revised)
you can try the cable with an external (clean???) 5V power supply and see if the DAC is recognized by the USB digital source, and music plays. otherwise the USB grounds on the cable may need to be tied together. sequencing of the USB source device and the 5V power supply may also be a factor.

Best solution: Unison and the older Gen V CM6631-based USB Interface Boards for Bifrost OG, Bifrost 2, Gungnir, and Yggdrasil variants draw 5V power from the USB connector but electromagnetically isolate the digital signals from the rest of the DAC.

 

[MoveStonks]

Is there a particular issue with your setup that you are trying to address? what is your configuration?

IMO, this cable should be used with caution. if both the power and ground wires are both isolated at the USB receiver end, situations might arise where the input-common-mode range for the differential digital data pair(s) is exceeded as the driving source and the receiver no longer share a common reference (ground). Tying the USB source and receiver grounds together might help keep the digital data pair(s) within common-mode range, but will not address the problem of common-impedance ground noise/ ground current loop. USB noise (relative to your downstream analog ground) can be on the USB ground line, the +5V USB pwr, or is often a combination of the two. RANE has several whitepapers (tech-notes) discussing grounding, audio equipment interconnection, etc.

Unison and the older Gen V CM6631-based USB Interface Boards for Bifrost OG, Bifrost 2, Gungnir, and Yggdrasil variants draw 5V power from the USB connector (for the Unison front-end circuitry as do the Gen V USB interface boards using CM6xxx USB receivers), but electromagnetically isolate the digital signals from the rest of the DAC.

no problem i am trying to solve... saw it today in the audio advice catalog that still shows up in my mailbox and I had never seen such a thing. Thanks!

 

[Mkilbride]

I'm interested in the Hel2, but I hear it has insanely bad QC issues. Thoughts?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

I'm interested in the Hel2, but I hear it has insanely bad QC issues. Thoughts?

Early Hel 2s suffered from USB-C connector issues, which caused excessive field failures. The connectors have been changed for quite a while now, and we are servicing earlier Hels with board swaps to new connectors. All Hel 2s go through the same extensive testing as all of our products, including 100% listening and instrumented tests of all functions. Hopefully that clears things up.

 

[mystaiced]

Came across this USB B-A cable from pangea audio that splits the data signal and the cables for power into 2 separately sheided cables (1x B to 2x A)... I find this interesting because it means you can plug in only the data cables; leaving the 2 conductors for power completely unplugged.

Since Unison isn't Bus-powered, will this cable work to connect PC and Bifrost 2/64 (leaving the USB power unplugged)?

Seems like an interesting experiment, but thought I would ask if it would even function before buying one to try it out. Thanks!

Is there a particular issue with your setup that you are trying to address? what is your configuration?

IMO, this cable should be used with caution. if both the power and ground wires are both isolated at the USB receiver end, situations might arise where the input-common-mode range for the differential digital data pair(s) is exceeded as the driving source and the receiver no longer share a common reference (ground). Tying the USB source and receiver grounds together might help keep the digital data pair(s) within common-mode range, but will not address the problem of common-impedance ground noise/ ground current loop. USB noise (relative to your downstream analog ground) can be on the USB ground line, the +5V USB pwr, or is often a combination of the two. RANE has several whitepapers (tech-notes) discussing grounding, audio equipment interconnection, etc.

(added/ revised)
you can try the cable with an external (clean???) 5V power supply and see if the DAC is recognized by the USB digital source, and music plays. otherwise the USB grounds on the cable may need to be tied together. sequencing of the USB source device and the 5V power supply may also be a factor.

Best solution: Unison and the older Gen V CM6631-based USB Interface Boards for Bifrost OG, Bifrost 2, Gungnir, and Yggdrasil variants draw 5V power from the USB connector but electromagnetically isolate the digital signals from the rest of the DAC.

no problem i am trying to solve... saw it today in the audio advice catalog that still shows up in my mailbox and I had never seen such a thing. Thanks!

Seems like this cable is a solution looking for a problem. My motto is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

 

[Mkilbride]

Early Hel 2s suffered from USB-C connector issues, which caused excessive field failures. The connectors have been changed for quite a while now, and we are servicing earlier Hels with board swaps to new connectors. All Hel 2s go through the same extensive testing as all of our products, including 100% listening and instrumented tests of all functions. Hopefully that clears things up.

Oh excuse me, I meant to say the Hel2E. Amazon reviews are terrible; Head-Fi reviews are terrible, reddit reviews are terrible, and Audioscience reviews are terrible.

Now I know people with problems are the ones posting, not the people without, but everywhere I look it seems nuts. Also referenced are awful RMA support, which for dropping 200$+20$ shipping is scary.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Oh excuse me, I meant to say the Hel2E. Amazon reviews are terrible; Head-Fi reviews are terrible, reddit reviews are terrible, and Audioscience reviews are terrible.

Now I know people with problems are the ones posting, not the people without, but everywhere I look it seems nuts. Also referenced are awful RMA support, which for dropping 200$+20$ shipping is scary.

I'll have a look into this, but as far as I know, the latest runs have been good, and we've been (a) swapping older boards, as mentioned, and (b) providing full refunds in intractable cases. I'll see if there's something I'm missing.

 

[adydula]

Oh excuse me, I meant to say the Hel2E. Amazon reviews are terrible; Head-Fi reviews are terrible, reddit reviews are terrible, and Audioscience reviews are terrible.

Now I know people with problems are the ones posting, not the people without, but everywhere I look it seems nuts. Also referenced are awful RMA support, which for dropping 200$+20$ shipping is scary.

I can see your new here, so WELCOME!
Schiit has some of the best customer service.
Thousands of us in this thread have experienced nothing but stellar support.
One of the founders Jason "Schiit" Stoddard frequents here often...
Many times he has helped folks out with issues and they get resolved.
Jason has admitted they are not perfect, but over the years they have improved things all around an order of magnitude from our perspective.

Many folks rather than contact Schiit directly just complain. Searching this thread you will find folks complaining and not contacting Schiit directly.
But some things do slip thru the cracks like in any company.

I hope your experience with Schiit is as good as many of ours is with many products.
Again Welcome to the Schiit family if you decide to buy a Hel or any other Schiit product.

Note: I have over the years and a few issues that were resolved via customer service, repair and more often a new unit.

Alex
:>)

 

[adydula]

I'll have a look into this, but as far as I know, the latest runs have been good, and we've been (a) swapping older boards, as mentioned, and (b) providing full refunds in intractable cases. I'll see if there's something I'm missing.

Great real time example of a Company that is listening!!
:>)

oh and Good Morning Jason from NC!

 

[HWB3]

Yes, and Happy Father's Day to everyone lucky enough to be one.

 

[Mkilbride]

I can see your new here, so WELCOME!
Schiit has some of the best customer service.
Thousands of us in this thread have experienced nothing but stellar support.
One of the founders Jason "Schiit" Stoddard frequents here often...
Many times he has helped folks out with issues and they get resolved.
Jason has admitted they are not perfect, but over the years they have improved things all around an order of magnitude from our perspective.

Many folks rather than contact Schiit directly just complain. Searching this thread you will find folks complaining and not contacting Schiit directly.
But some things do slip thru the cracks like in any company.

I hope your experience with Schiit is as good as many of ours is with many products.
Again Welcome to the Schiit family if you decide to buy a Hel or any other Schiit product.

Note: I have over the years and a few issues that were resolved via customer service, repair and more often a new unit.

Alex
:>)

Nice reply, but technically I've been here longer than you. *Technically*.

Anyways, I'm going to look around more. I wish I could give the Hel2 a try via Amazon, sadly however it's almost 70$ more expensive on Amazon. I'm mainly just trying for something to connect to the PS5. My Fiio A5 Amp is great, more than enough for my needs, but passing the audio through HDMI to the PS5 sounds weird via my AVR. I'm trying to see if it's related.

Picking up a Soundblaster G6 via Amazon to try it out with my PS5. The Hel2 was the other option, but is twice as expensive and not nearly as easy to return.

 

[bcowen]

Yes, and Happy Father's Day to everyone lucky enough to be one.

....until they became teenagers.

Seriously, Happy Father's Day to all.