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

[Paladin79]

I'm trying to decide on drivers at this point, leaning toward some Mark Audio 4". Although VERY happy with the Kef LS50 Metas, I do miss some aspects of the dipole magic the Apogee Duetta Sigs had, especially that deep soundstage. I was very lucky when younger, listening to an older friend's system including Quad ESL 57's with a Linn Sondek LP12

It is always great to have a depth of experience to fall back on. I best not get into speakers right now but I have heard plenty. Today I build with olive wood so I best get back to that.

 

[33na3rd]

I'm trying to decide on drivers at this point, leaning toward some Mark Audio 4". Although VERY happy with the Kef LS50 Metas, I do miss some aspects of the dipole magic the Apogee Duetta Sigs had, especially that deep soundstage. I was very lucky when younger, listening to an older friend's system including Quad ESL 57's with a Linn Sondek LP12

I was curious how you were getting along with the LS50 Metas. They are very different than your Apogee's.

Seeing that the LS50 Metas are currently on sale made me doubly curious!

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Hmm... If Visual Volume only works with 2 channels, what does Forkbeard do with a 5 channel Kraken?

Visual Volume works with one or two of our amps, not one or two channels.

Forkbeard looks at your stack and checks what you've got. It then uses that information to calculate everything it needs to determine the Visual Volume bars.

It can only do those calculations, however, if it can make certain assumptions about the route your audio signal is taking. So if the algorithm runs into a situation that makes it reasonable to assume that there might be components in your signal chain that could affect the signal in ways that the algorithm can't take into account, it defaults to showing no Visual Volume bars instead of ones that would most likely be incorrect.

 

[turtlerod]

Oooof. Make sure you put very prominent labels on the box/boxes with all your interconnects & other cables & remotes & power cords. On my last move, those boxes went with me in my vehicle, so I knew exactly where they were, and could start setting up audio essentials before the mover's truck even arrived.

If you are moving vinyl ... box those up yourself. Otherwise those will arive shuffled better than a Las Vegas card dealer could do. And be kind to your back.

Belated add: Also it's very good to carry, in your vehicle, some basic tools to put things back together, and XL trash bags so you can get packing materials out of the way quickly when you start unpacking. And some furniture sliders.

I found that labeling boxes with what's in them takes a lot longer than simply saying where the contents came from. "Doug's desk, underneath L side" tells me everything I need to know.

The Schiit stuff is clearly marked. The racks will be transported with all of the cables still attached. (except speaker wire). I do not have vinyl, all of my music is on 3 synolgy NAS boxes. Each NAS hold 48 terabytes of files. The difficulty will be getting my new wife to agree to how and where I set this up. I was single for 10+ years when I set up my sound room. I am not sure I can negotiate the proper amount of space. I am thinking of building another building on the property to house my audio.

 

[Syan25]

The Schiit stuff is clearly marked. The racks will be transported with all of the cables still attached. (except speaker wire). I do not have vinyl, all of my music is on 3 synolgy NAS boxes. Each NAS hold 48 terabytes of files. The difficulty will be getting my new wife to agree to how and where I set this up. I was single for 10+ years when I set up my sound room. I am not sure I can negotiate the proper amount of space. I am thinking of building another building on the property to house my audio.

Good luck with your move. The best part is you shall hear music wherever you go.

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

I was curious how you were getting along with the LS50 Metas. They are very different than your Apogee's.

Seeing that the LS50 Metas are currently on sale made me doubly curious!

Love them! We should get together sometime for a listening session. I've always enjoyed the voicing of Kef's being a long time LS3/5a owner

 

[Raptor34]

And John Barry. Dances with Wolves. Great score.
Somewhere in Time - a beautiful piano/orchestral work.

Aaaand we must not forget Jerry Goldsmith. Tora!, Patton, Papillon, Chinatown, The Omen, Alien, Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Medicine Man, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, and The Mummy.

 

[sixergixer]

One of the many reasons Tool is one of the greatest bands ever is that no matter how crazy their songs are, when they play them live, the energy is the same.

The same with Porcupine Tree.

 

[Whazzzup]

Aaaand we must not forget Jerry Goldsmith. Tora!, Patton, Papillon, Chinatown, The Omen, Alien, Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Medicine Man, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, and The Mummy.

 

[sixergixer]

Best $ spent on audio recently—recalibrated my ears over the weekend



Live un-amplified source, purest possible signal chain. Small venue. Dynamics off the charts, even 12 rows back. Strangely, to my ears, the french horns sounded closer than other brass, almost even with the violins. Shostakovich 4th.

Past concerts available on CD, will get this one when it becomes available as a reference

Which orchestra? I've been trying to make plans to see the Oregon Symphony perform soon. It's been far too long since I've been in a concert hall.

 

[cricket]

So, how's life, y'all?

I've been trying to find a faint hiss-buzz coming from my tweeters. More digital sounding and not a ground loop. Nothing measurable at speaker inputs with a scope. Disconnected input cables. Shut down other components and wall-warts. Shut down ethernet and Wi-Fi. Noise is still there. Next step is taking the integrated amp to the basement and connecting shop speakers just to move it away from all the interference.

My "somethin' aint right" OCD is triggered, even though the noise can't be heard over music. Other than this distraction, life is good.

 

[sixergixer]

I totally agree! Also did you ask you them which direction their Ethernet cables were plugged in?

One remarkable experience I had this past summer was an assignment to photograph some orchestral concerts for a local classical music festival because their regular guy couldn't do it. I like photographing from the wings backstage for a unique perspective, but I end up running back and forth backstage to get on the left and right sides of the stage. One of the pieces they played was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and I was crossing backstage when they were playing the end of the Sacrificial Dance, which is one of the loudest parts of the piece with the percussion going full tilt. Hearing that less than 6 feet away separated just by the acoustic shell was a literally visceral experience! It's amazing how much power and sound an orchestra, especially in modern ensembles, can generate!

This brings to mind the story from when Metallica performed their S&M show with the San Francisco Symphony & Michael Kamen in 1999. [A truly epically phenomenal performance on all accounts no matter your musical leanings.]

In a video documentary, band members shared their initial apprehension about playing live with an orchestra, citing thoughts of "how the hell are we going to amplify an entire orchestra?!" (paraphrased) to match the band's famously loud concert sound.

Upon hearing the orchestra on stage the first time, their thoughts turned suddenly to "how the hell are we going to make ourselves loud enough to be heard over the damn orchestra?!"

Needless to say, volume levels were all managed well and the show was a resounding success -- mostly due to Mr. Kamen's insanely talented orchestrations. The recording of the show captures that energy very well and is a must-listen, imo.

 

[Plautus001]

Yep!
You can add as many devices as you want to your stacks inside the app.

The only limitation you will encounter is that the Visual Volume bars will only show up if you either have one Schiit power amp in stereo mode or two Schiit power amps in mono in your stack. Visual Volume won't really "know" what to do with three or more amps, and so the bars will not show up.
This might change if we ever do an active crossover ourselves. (Nothing is planned along those lines.)

Holy Schiit! Did you mention active crossovers, Forkbearded? Yes please!

 

[Paladin79]

Which orchestra? I've been trying to make plans to see the Oregon Symphony perform soon. It's been far too long since I've been in a concert hall.

One of my favorite venues.
Walking distance from my son’s house. The only National park dedicated to the performing arts, one can hear the National Symphony there.

 

[tincanear]

Which orchestra? I've been trying to make plans to see the Oregon Symphony perform soon. It's been far too long since I've been in a concert hall.

Definitely go to a live un-amplified music (symphony, choral ensemble, jazz group) event local to you.

Redwood Symphony, CA Bay Area, between San Francisco and San Jose. Seating capacity ~350