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

[Ableza]

Name the one thing that to 'YOU" makes or breaks a listening session.

:>)

Alex

Hunger.

 

[Paladin79]

Well, I certainly hope you like it.

I wasn't expecting to be tested so quickly. But even a relatively expensive mustard is cheap compared to this hobby.

I have had French whole seed in white wine . I want to try it with cognac.

 

[rtaylor76]

2024, Chapter 7
The Most Abused Audio Terms, Part 5: Gain

The final straw came when Evan and Stephan and Tyler and Zach and I were listening to a Skoll in the lab at Corpus Christi.

We started at 40dB of gain, typical of what you need for a moving-magnet cartridge. And, into a Freya+, run in tube gain mode, into a Vidar running Elac 6” bookshelves, we could pretty much turn the Freya all the way up—no significant noise.

At 70dB of gain, though, Skoll had audible hum with Freya at max.

“Oh hell, it’s noisy,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, at 3,300x gain,” I told him.

He looked at me blankly.

“70dB is about 3300x gain,” I said. “From the Skoll.”

“Wow, that’s a lot,” Tyler said.

“But actually, it’s more like 12,000x,” I said. “Because Freya has 4x gain in tube mode.” Except I realized this didn’t tell the whole story, either. “Wait a sec, there’s also the 20x gain of Vidar, so we’re looking at about 240,000x for the whole system. So yeah, it hums.”

“Whoa, I’m glad I didn’t drop the needle,” Stephan said.

“It’s like, picking up hum out of the air?” Evan asked.

“Out of the air, from the wires in the walls, anywhere,” I said. “240,000x gain is insane. That’s like 102dB total system gain. Which is more than the dynamic range of a CD.”

“A what?” Tyler ribbed, grinning.

Yeah bite me. I remember the time when “perfect sound forever” meant 16 bits, 96dB dynamic range, far far far ahead of 60 or so dB of a typical phono system.

“A typical streaming recording on any service you choose,” I said. Because most are still 16 bit. And if they were recorded in the pre-digital era, they might have significantly less resolution than that.

“Why do you need so much gain?” Zach asked.

“Because phono is basically amplifying a tiny signal stamped into vinyl, so it needs a ton of gain. Typical CDs will do 2V at 0dB, but phono was originally spec’d lower, like 400mV, and that’s after 40dB of gain at 1kHz, and our phono preamps have tons of headroom so you can run them at 2V or 4V if you want, but you still have to choose the right gain…”

I noticed the blank looks and trailed off.

And I remembered how many questions we get about “what is 2V RMS, and what does dBV mean, and I heard you don’t have to have a preamp at all, and why do you have to turn up a relay ladder attenuator more than a potentiometer to get the same volume…”

And it was at that point that I realized I needed to do this chapter on gain.

I have heard some reports of the Skoll and noise, especially on the left channel that is more like switcher noise. My Skoll does this, but you can only really hear it when I turn up my Freya (1x gain) most of the way up. And I keep my Skoll at 40db of gain and my Freya at the active 1x of gain. I wonder if that is what you guys were hearing. It gets worse as I up the gain on the Skoll and at the highest gain I can hear it with the volume knob at about halfway.

 

[US Blues]

This is not a crazy thought.

I decided some time ago ... maybe at the beginning of COVID .. that one of the proofs that one is "living the high life" is to be able to look into the refrigerator and have at least five (5) choices for mustard.

A lot of luxury for not much money. And you can't gobble up a container of mustard in just a couple of days, these things persist for a long time.

This one is WOW YOWZER WOW. Claims to have been "served at the tables of French kings since 1632."

I just finished one of those crocks recently, that is a super yummy mustard!

 

[US Blues]

Oh, and we are on page #10,500!

 

[Oveja Negra]

Name the one thing that to 'YOU" makes or breaks a listening session.

:>)

Alex

When I'm listening to a song and it's just about to reach the climax (ie an amazing guitar solo) and my phone rings or any other kind of interruption happens, well... this is my face...

 

[Paladin79]

I just finished one of those crocks recently, that is a super yummy mustard!

Mine is ordered lol, I love different mustards.

 

[bcowen]

Burning at the stake is redundant. Using Miracle Whip is its own punishment

Valid point.

 

[monkuboy]

Mine is ordered lol, I love different mustards.

I was gonna order one and then saw a bunch of comments from people complaining about broken or leaking jars and there being a no-refund policy. Also seems like a bunch of people had lots of difficulty removing the lid. When those who ordered get theirs, please share your delivery and opening experiences!

 

[LrrTx]

I have heard some reports of the Skoll and noise, especially on the left channel that is more like switcher noise. My Skoll does this, but you can only really hear it when I turn up my Freya (1x gain) most of the way up. And I keep my Skoll at 40db of gain and my Freya at the active 1x of gain. I wonder if that is what you guys were hearing. It gets worse as I up the gain on the Skoll and at the highest gain I can hear it with the volume knob at about halfway.

The Skoll I have feeding my McIntosh system is dead quiet. I have balanced in from a VPI table and balanced out to the McIntosh preamp. Even with the meters at 90% on the power amp it sounds great through my Sonus faber towers.

 

[LrrTx]

Name the one thing that to 'YOU" makes or breaks a listening session.

:>)

Alex

What makes it for me is that late night listening session in the dark with a great bottle of wine where your system just dissolves and the music floats in the air. (Pretty sure that was a run-on sentence). But I love that, the smile on my face at that moment... That makes this hobby!

 

[bcowen]

This is not a crazy thought.

This one is WOW YOWZER WOW. Claims to have been "served at the tables of French kings since 1632."

Must have a long shelf life.

Yeah, I just ordered some too. Seems like every time I log in here these days I get hungry. @adydula is a lot responsible with his pictures....

 

[bcowen]

Wonder if your a candidate for closed backs?
Building three houses with my sons we had to stay in a apartment and I experienced the same issues.
Human beings at times can be very inconsiderate...
IMO.

:>)
Alex

The ultimate test for a closed-back is if you can hear your wife say "what garbage is that you're listening to NOW?!?" It means she can hear the music and you can hear her, so however closed they are they aren't closed enough.

 

[sam6550a]

The ultimate test for a closed-back is if you can hear your wife say "what garbage is that you're listening to NOW?!?" It means she can hear the music and you can hear her, so however closed they are they aren't closed enough.

Yes, but in your case, the music was probably Marilyn Manson, and your wife was fed up with it.

 

[DougD]

I was gonna order one and then saw a bunch of comments from people complaining about broken or leaking jars and there being a no-refund policy. Also seems like a bunch of people had lots of difficulty removing the lid. When those who ordered get theirs, please share your delivery and opening experiences!

Don't know about broken jars (crocks), but opening the lid is definitely a chore.

To put a positive spin on that, you won't have to worry that the kids & family dog are sneaking into the kitchen to hijack a few slurping tablespoons of your favorite mustard as a midnight snack.