[tincanear]

Skoll!

Sure looks pretty in my rig. Only problem is it doesn't output any audio on either set of outputs, with or without the separate SUT, on any output level . In the highest output level w balanced out, I can get the 60hz hornets nest sound, but that's about it!

Was listening earlier today on the mani 2 and all was well. Completely possible that something in the chain got affected by my crawling around behind the rack and plugging/unplugging things, but for the moment I'm at a loss. My DAC, which is also plugged into the freya N is passing audio through the system.

Gonna swap the mani 2 back in and if that works, take it from there.

If anybody has any ideas not already covered by the above-described scenarios I tried, they would be appreciated!

double check that TT inputs connected to the RCA pair closest to the power input (reversed vs most Schiit products where input is leftmost when facing the back panel)
front panel lights show the balanced XLR input is selected... try selecting the RCA input via remote & see if the relays click...

if that doesn't work, try increasing the gain setting to see if that changes anything...

how about other functions such as LPF on/ off, do the relays click when using the IR remote?

@Jason Stoddard on Skoll, what are the default input (xlr vs rca), gain and loading settings after power-up and the (Cylon turn-on de-thumping thingy) has completed? does Skoll store the settings in NVRAM / FLASH? despite it being a balanced capable phono pre, should it default to SE (RCA) since that's what most TT interfaces use?

 

[theeclone]

double check that TT inputs connected to the RCA pair closest to the power input (reversed vs most Schiit products where input is leftmost when facing the back panel)
front panel lights show the balanced XLR input is selected... try selecting the RCA input via remote & see if the relays click...

if that doesn't work, try increasing the gain setting to see if that changes anything...

how about other functions such as LPF on/ off, do the relays click when using the IR remote?

I'm a dummy. I don't know how but I misred the input symbol hieroglyphics. Thought I was on SE in but was in XLR in. At one point I had cycled between them with no effect, when I was using XLR outs. Does the Skoll not convert SE to XLR perhaps?

Anyway, all is well w SE out now, thanks!

A noticeable improvement from a cold start!

 

[theeclone]

Does the Skoll convert SE inputs to balanced and route the signal to both the SE & XLR outputs? Wasn't totally sure based on the manual.

Edit: just confirmed it does! Again, could've swore I tried cycling thru the inputs at one point but my brain probably isn't working at full tilt today.

Got both the XLR and RCA outs running to the freya N. Really fun to be able to compare both outputs and cycle thru gain settings and loading from the couch.

Well done!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

From the Schiit Modius FAQ page:
Well, I’m gonna get me a fancy-shmantzy linear power supply, what do you think about that?
We think you’re a little strange, because the output of that fancy power supply is going into a switcher, anyway.

I recently moved my SOtM sMS-200 Neo to the desktop system, feeding a Modius DAC. The sMS is powered from a Zero-Zone 50W linear power supply. I hear an improvement when I disconnect the Modius switch mode supply, leaving the USB connection to power the DAC. My question is, does the USB 5V power also go through the Modius power switcher?

Yep, everything goes through the switcher. That's the only way to get positive and negative rails from a DC input.

double check that TT inputs connected to the RCA pair closest to the power input (reversed vs most Schiit products where input is leftmost when facing the back panel)
front panel lights show the balanced XLR input is selected... try selecting the RCA input via remote & see if the relays click...

if that doesn't work, try increasing the gain setting to see if that changes anything...

how about other functions such as LPF on/ off, do the relays click when using the IR remote?

@Jason Stoddard on Skoll, what are the default input (xlr vs rca), gain and loading settings after power-up and the (Cylon turn-on de-thumping thingy) has completed? does Skoll store the settings in NVRAM / FLASH? despite it being a balanced capable phono pre, should it default to SE (RCA) since that's what most TT interfaces use?

Default I think is XLR/40dB/47k/50p. And yep, it stores your settings in flash memory once you've set it.

 

[Vtsailor]

Good evening all,
I’m listening to Mozart’s Requiem via Mac mini, Bifrost, Freya S and Acura’s A100 electronics and Focal 726 Chorus speakers. My question is, what are the symptoms of failing caps in my 30 year old Acurus power amp? Recently it seems that the music doesn’t have the presence or drive I remember. I am thinking of asking Santa for some new toys, I don’t think I can swing a pair of Tyrs but perhaps one or two Vidars…
Thank you!

 

[adias]

Yep, everything goes through the switcher. That's the only way to get positive and negative rails from a DC input.



Default I think is XLR/40dB/47k/50p. And yep, it stores your settings in flash memory once you've set it.

It seems that you missed my question above:

Phase preservation question for @Jason Stoddard :

Do Schiit Audio amps, namely:

Mani 2
Freya S
Kara
Vidar 2
Tyr

preserve or invert signal phase?

For all inputs? SE, balanced, or combinations thereof?

I bet they do given that Yggi product offer phase inversion, a nice feature that can be used for inverted phase recordings. I recall Doug Sax direct to disc LPs with phase information.

 

[theeclone]

Omg the Skoll continues to wow me. I actually said "WOW!" After the end of the last record.

Due to the ability to tweak so easily from my couch with the freya n and skoll remotes, I was really able to dial in the loading and gain staging. I'm now back to using the SUT, but playing with the loading direct into the skoll using the remote was eye opening.

It seems my Hana EL cart actually likes to be loaded down quite a bit if you want a more organic sound from it. I've now got the SUT as low as it will go impedance-wise, lowest capacitive loading & 2nd highest gain setting on the skoll, and it's a *chef's kiss*.

And I don't know what you did to those XLR outputs Jason but I don't think I can go back to listening to the RCA outs! Which means I need to reconfigure my setup a bit, but it's worth it. Less veiled, and the mids are much more involving on the XLR outs.

This is shaping up to be a mighty fine weekend!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

It seems that you missed my question above:

Phase preservation question for @Jason Stoddard :

Do Schiit Audio amps, namely:

Mani 2
Freya S
Kara
Vidar 2
Tyr

preserve or invert signal phase?

For all inputs? SE, balanced, or combinations thereof?

I bet they do given that Yggi product offer phase inversion, a nice feature that can be used for inverted phase recordings. I recall Doug Sax direct to disc LPs with phase information.

Nothing we do inverts phase.

 

[Les Strat]

Omg the Skoll continues to wow me. I actually said "WOW!" After the end of the last record.

Due to the ability to tweak so easily from my couch with the freya n and skoll remotes, I was really able to dial in the loading and gain staging. I'm now back to using the SUT, but playing with the loading direct into the skoll using the remote was eye opening.

It seems my Hana EL cart actually likes to be loaded down quite a bit if you want a more organic sound from it. I've now got the SUT as low as it will go impedance-wise, lowest capacitive loading & 2nd highest gain setting on the skoll, and it's a *chef's kiss*.

And I don't know what you did to those XLR outputs Jason but I don't think I can go back to listening to the RCA outs! Which means I need to reconfigure my setup a bit, but it's worth it. Less veiled, and the mids are much more involving on the XLR outs.

This is shaping up to be a mighty fine weekend!

Thanks for the excellent report on Skoll @theeclone

I am delighted to hear how much you like the Skoll and your findings were particularly pertinent as I’ll explain…

A few months ago, I bought a Vertere phono stage and a Hana ML cartridge, to use on my Technics SL 1200G turntable.
Until then I had used only MM carts with a Rega Fono MM mk3 phonostage.

The Vertere costs around £1200 in the UK and is very highly regarded.
The Hana ML is around £1000.

I had very high expectations of this combination, but when I installed them, I didn’t think they offered any real ‘improvement’ on my Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cart and Rega Fono combo.

I sent both back and was lucky that the dealer agreed to make a full refund (some will not with used carts)

When I read about the Skoll I thought that perhaps I should try again with an MC cartridge and the new Schiit phonostage.

I had my eyes on a (very expensive) Ortofon Cadenza Black MC cart.

Yesterday, I placed my order for a Skoll with Schiit in the States.

However, I got cold feet on this whole ‘upgrade’ plan when I thought about how much it would cost, and my experience with the previous phonostage and cart ‘upgrade’

This morning, I sent Schiit an email cancelling the Skoll order and apologising for any inconvenience.

My rationale for cancelling was that if I was no longer going down the MC cart route, the Skoll was probably overkill and might not offer any improvement over my Rega Fono MM.

Having ‘come back from the edge’ of a pretty significant outlay on a new MC cart and a Skoll, you have now got me thinking whether I should re-consider….

This is a crazy hobby, especially when you enter the vinyl rabbit hole.

I’d welcome your thoughts on getting a Skoll, with or without an MC cartridge.

 

[adias]

Nothing we do inverts phase.

Thanks!

 

[theeclone]

Thanks for the excellent report on Skoll @theeclone

I am delighted to hear how much you like the Skoll and your findings were particularly pertinent as I’ll explain…

A few months ago, I bought a Vertere phono stage and a Hana ML cartridge, to use on my Technics SL 1200G turntable.
Until then I had used only MM carts with a Rega Fono MM mk3 phonostage.

The Vertere costs around £1200 in the UK and is very highly regarded.
The Hana ML is around £1000.

I had very high expectations of this combination, but when I installed them, I didn’t think they offered any real ‘improvement’ on my Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cart and Rega Fono combo.

I sent both back and was lucky that the dealer agreed to make a full refund (some will not with used carts)

When I read about the Skoll I thought that perhaps I should try again with an MC cartridge and the new Schiit phonostage.

I had my eyes on a (very expensive) Ortofon Cadenza Black MC cart.

Yesterday, I placed my order for a Skoll with Schiit in the States.

However, I got cold feet on this whole ‘upgrade’ plan when I thought about how much it would cost, and my experience with the previous phonostage and cart ‘upgrade’

This morning, I sent Schiit an email cancelling the Skoll order and apologising for any inconvenience.

My rationale for cancelling was that if I was no longer going down the MC cart route, the Skoll was probably overkill and might not offer any improvement over my Rega Fono MM.

Having ‘come back from the edge’ of a pretty significant outlay on a new MC cart and a Skoll, you have now got me thinking whether I should re-consider….

This is a crazy hobby, especially when you enter the vinyl rabbit hole.

I’d welcome your thoughts on getting a Skoll, with or without an MC cartridge.

The thing about MC carts (at least in the sub $500 range) that I've found so far is that if you don't get the loading just right they can sound a bit harsh & clinical. And then depending on the stylus profile you of course have to deal with vertical alignment to get the right tone. And then there's matching with the tonearm.

So many variables. I've been kind of bummed with the latest series of grado prestige carts as they don't seem to have that same warmth and lushness as the series 1.

Anyway, when I couldn't get the denon dl-103 to do what I wanted on my tonearm, I sprung for the Hana, which seems to be a better match. I think I resisted lowering the impedence on the SUT bc, well, the manufacturer doesn't recommend it and you get less of that initial wow factor of those bright, forward mids and highs.

But as I sat and listened for a while on the lower impedence settings on the skoll, it was like, "hmm, I'm really enjoying this. This feels kind of familiar."

And as good as the skoll sounded with those lower impedences, once I brought the SUT back into the picture and got the output gain right, it was almost like I was back in grado-land.

I think I paid less than $300 for the SUT, IIRC. But it has pretty nice cinemag transformers and on very low impedence with the skoll they seem to offer something in the sweet spot between the very mellow sound of the skoll only, and the overly forward and almost digital sound of the higher impedence settings on the SUT.

But the skoll sounded really good with this cart by itself. It was close, but to my ears the SUT took it up a notch.

Tbh I'm not good enough with circuit analysis/electronics to say for sure but I wonder how much these impedence and gain settings sounding good has to do with the lengths of cable I'm running, which are kind of long.

Also, beyond being able to quickly cycle through settings for comparison, I do think the skoll is doing something magical, especially on the XLR outs. The SE outs already sounded great but once I compared back and forth a few times I knew I couldn't go back to SE out.

That's probably enough rambling for now. But suffice it to say I'm a happy camper after much tweaking over these past few months and finally landing on the skoll!

 

[Les Strat]

Thanks very much for the really informative and helpful reply @theeclone

It seems pretty clear that the Skoll is another superb Schiit product and could be another real ‘giant-killer’ design from Jason.

Whilst it will undoubtedly work well with MM carts, I think that its real potential will be realised with MC carts, which require significantly higher gain than MM and also benefit from the ability to ‘tweak’ both resistance and capacitance loadings.

When I bought the Vertere, the dealer had asked the manufacturer to set all the dip switches to optimise performance with the Hana ML cart.

Despite this I didn’t experience the ‘wow’ factor I had hoped for.

I completely agree with you about MC carts; whilst they offer advantages over MM, especially with detail retrieval and ‘speed’ some can sound a bit clinical.
I have read that adjusting the resistance loading can make a big difference.
It is great that you have been able to get such good results in this way.

The ability to change all the settings on the Skoll using a remote is a stroke of genius!

I have decided that as I am really enjoying the sound from my Turntable/cartridge/phonostage combo, I will stick with it.

The Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 is regarded by some as the best available MM cart, offering some of the characteristics of good MC designs.

I am delighted with it, so, as a friend of mine wisely advised- ‘If it ain’t broke…’

The upshot is that I’ll stick with my Rega Fono MM phonostage, which seems to have great synergy with my TT and MM cartridge.

As with the Skoll, it also uses discrete components.

I am sure that the Skoll will be a hugely successful product for Schiit, and deservedly so.

Hats off to Jason for another brilliant design.

 

[Plautus001]

Any news?

Knowing that any Schiit I buy usually costs nearly doubled by the time it is on my porch in Canada, I think I would need to get Midgard AND Singularity.

Why?

I don't NEED them, but I wants them.

 

[Verde And Black]

After my still mysterious vinyl playback issues of last week, this has been one of those weeks where I’m reminded of why I still do this whole drag a diamond through etched petrochemicals thing…

Work took me to Winston Salem last week, where a couple of very different, but equally good shops in nearby Greensboro led me to a small stack of personal grails, and then a yard sale back here in Austin today got me still more, along with some killer oddball garage rock stuff and some obscure early 80s indie.

A whole evening has unfolded that’s about music and sipping good whiskey, and, damn, life is real good.

 

[adias]

Occasional cleaning does not hurt as well. Often I use gold plated banana plugs and solder the speaker wire to the plugs using silver content solder. I have tried most connectors you can imagine and some of the pin connectors and spade clamps can work loose. I try to spread the banana plugs strips to maintain good contact.

Resurrecting an old post… I have the same experience - periodical contact cleaning keeps connections working well. A good contact cleaner like Caig DeOxit.

It is hard to tighten Schiit’s speaker amp binding posts. Any special technique short of marring large pliers?