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

[earnmyturns]

Ah yes... very fine, but I'm more of a DCA Corinna guy and I suspect the two latest Ralls too. People that know me say I'd like the Caldera too, but I don't know it.

Caldera open is a fantastic match for Mjolnir 3.

 

[jsabini1]

Have you tried Colgate tooth paste?

It leaves them fresh and minty!

I have heard that about using toothpaste, never tried it though...

 

[Timster]

Last night I learned that I cannot run the space heater, my hair dryer, and the Tyrs all at the same time.

Looks like you'll be cold, with messy hair

Edit : Ninja'd by a few. Are we starting to think too much alike 'round these parts?
Edit 2 : Don't fall behind, else you get Ninja'd

 

[Derrick Swart]

Thanks a breath of fresh air in the stale audio environment. I totally agree with the music discovery aspect of streaming on a service that meets one's needs but there are other considerations. Please don't forget the artists who devote their lives to producing cool music. If one enjoys a particular artist, please visit their website and purchase the releases you want. They might have a Bandcamp page (an artist receives 100% on first Fridays of the month, 80 % otherwise). Please also remember the independent record stores in your respective areas or online, they deserve your financial support. They all need to make enough money to meet their needs and provide the services one would enjoy. Imagine some of your favorite artists driving a cab instead of producing music and would you be willing to risk your life riding in it? Everyone has their respective skill set. Streaming services do not pay artist's much per stream (Taylor Swift "might" get 1c/per and most others receive much less) There is a reason streaming corporate offices are opulent. I am not denying that business model, I am just suggesting one show monetary respect where it's due and deserved. If live music is your thing, attend local concerts of the artists you enjoy and visit their merchandise tables (I have purchased many music titles not available elsewhere). Discogs is also a resource for locating a title that would probably never be available on a streaming service. Looking forward to the new Schiit gear this year.

Be well.

I highly approve this message! Bandcamp is awesome: my old record store around the corner on-line!!
Download in ALAC and Apple Music does the rest.

 

[Plautus001]

The vast majority of that looks like taxes, no? How is that on FedEX? I’m thinking it’s on those whom extract said taxes… or am I missing something?

The disbursement and entry fee seem a bit of a stretch for an envelope.. my wife says her company refuses to use FedEx or DHL anymore (metal working/aviation parts)

 

[Timster]

Wonder how long it takes for a person in this hobby to realize at a certain point that it all pretty much sounds decent?
Yeah transducers are the BIG thing.
Why do I have 7 headphones here then?
Why do I have multiple amps and dacs here?
Why do I still look at stuff and wonder...hmmm.
Insert "YOU" for "I".

Be honest!
:>)

Many (many) years ago a colleague invited me around to his place to listen to his system. I can't remember the CD player, or the "audiophile" amplifier he was using, but the Tannoy Gold 15" drivers in a bigger than Arden cabinet were mesmerising. From that experience I resolved to have big Tannoys as my main system transducers. As much as I'd love a Westminster I a) didn't have the cash and b) didn't have the room. (up until then I'd built some speakers and was slowly updating things as I could afford and had a NAD Amp, Harksound T/T, Teac Cassette Deck, Pioneer Laser Disc and a Sony CD player. Speakers were a Namconics 3 way that I'd modded - mid-80s here)

So I found a rather beaten up DIY Arden with HPD-385's in working condition and set about reinforcing the very resonant cabinets - no bracing at all! Made a huge difference. Next one of the tweeters had a crackling on some material and volumes. Investigations showed the compression driver voice coil had partially separated from the compression dome. So both were replaced, a few hundred dollars. They looked like crap though, but I didn't care --- covered them with a mottled black vinyl wrap. Still well ahead in the big scheme. These served me well for years, surviving a few relationships and moves as I found my way (is that why we separated??.... hmmm)

Moving forward, relationship going well (Married!) and we are building a new home. I traded the big ugly Tannoys for a newer, smaller pair that would suit the new home better. It was my decision, because I thought it was the right thing to do. Wish I'd never done it though. I'd lost that sound that I loved. Took many years, a home move and three more pairs of speakers before I happened across a pair of Tannoy DMT-15 monitors being sold off from a studio in Sydney, 650 miles away. Fate was on my side because I was laid off work the week I saw them, and had a payout. I picked them up for a song (and a long road trip) and they remain my main speakers in a nice large room.

I continue to tinker around the edges with amps, DACs streamers etc, and am now well on the path to simplifying. The best I have heard these Tannoys sound is with a Freya+ and Vidars, fed from a Bifrost 2. If I change anything else it will be a better streamer than the Bluesound Node 2i so I can get lossless Apple Music without a laptop. (we are heavily in the Apple ecosystem and I see no reason to add more services right now).

I am at that point - it sounds great, and I'm only tinkering around the edges now for the main system, and have a smaller nearfield setup to play with to scratch the itch

I'll have the place to myself for a couple of weeks soon - look out neighbors!

 

[Les Strat]

Streaming and music purchases go hand-in-hand, IMHO. I use streaming to discover new artists and if I like their music, I purchase a DL or CD to support them.

** One thing that has not been mentioned re: Qobuz is that virtually all of the music available for streaming is also available to purchase and DL via their store (CD quality and Hi-Res). Not sure what % of sales the artist gets, but it is another potential revenue stream offered by Qobuz that is often not mentioned and not offered by many of the other major streaming services..

I rarely use Qobuz, preferring to play ripped CDs, physical CDs, or vinyl.
Qobuz is great for exploring new music and also as an enormous ‘juke box’ for late night listening sessions with friends over beers….and whisky

When I do discover new music which I really like, I buy a physical copy, usually on CD.

I also buy CDs from artists after their gigs, whenever I can.

Selling ‘merch’ when on tour is an important source of income for musicians, especially the lesser known ones.

I have several CDs signed by artists after memorable gigs.

They are a very special part of my collection.

 

[562955]

2025, Chapter 1
This Crazy Biz

I stopped at Aerodrome Distilling this last Friday.

Nathan, the proprietor, grinned and waved as I came in. It had been a while, so as I walked up to the aircraft wing that served as a bar, he asked:

“How’s business?”

I paused for a moment, then blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “Weird.”

Nathan laughed and nodded.

“How’s it going here?” I asked.

“Weird,” he replied.

And we both laughed.

Because weird is a good word to describe what’s going on, even though the word is vague and somewhat foreboding. But that’s what’s happening: things are weird.

In our little world, sales are fine, but the mix is totally different. Internally, we’re more zen than we’ve been in a long time. No more disruptions of moving, no more frenetic ramp-ups. The product plan is big, but it’s better worked out, better planned, and, well, just better than ever before. Even though there are some seismic things coming as we move forward into a software future, things are calm.

In the bigger high-end space, things are weird, too. But there’s no calm. Instead, there’s a ton of nervous energy, a seemingly desperate rush to introduce stuff newer and bigger and more expensiver and screenier and at never-before-seen price points doing maybe-irrelevant functions. Super stressful! Couple this with the ongoing tension between the aforementioned Princes of Pricey and the Drones of Measurement, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of zen going on.

Here's the thing: people don’t deal well with stress and tension.

Especially in a biz that should be fun!

This is about music, right?

Of course it is. But even that can get contentious. Is the music serious enough? Is it a good recording? Is it the Right Music (sometimes being defined as “music I listened to while in high school and college, because music should never change and evolve,” or “music created by people long-dead for large groups of instruments which were super high-tech for their time, but have now ossified into something largely out of touch, oh and let’s argue about the interpretations of same by our favorite conductors.”)

Aaaand…I’ll say it: it’s also about gear.

And that’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of retail therapy now and again (well, unless you’re seriously considering things that could affect your current ability to pay for, like, food, shelter, retirement, etc—especially if those things are in the “maybe doesn’t matter” category—in which case yeah, maybe not so fine.)

So yeah, gear nervosa can be really bad. Which is why you may get this feeling some people are standing at the brink.

At the brink of saying, You know, wireless earbuds are good enough, and never coming back to high-end audio.

At the brink of re-thinking, re-evaluating, and downsizing their stacks of megadollar stuff to something more in-line with reality.

At the brink of realizing that there won’t be some New Magic Format so they can rebuy their music yet again, that the reality is doods in garages can release 24/192 PCM all day, and that’s a heckuva change, and there’s a heckuva lotta change all over the place, and what does that mean for the—

—weird—

—industry that we’re in?

I mean, consider the irony of these recent happenings:

We won Budget Product of the Year…for our most expensive product. Yes. Tyr won the top category for budget products in The Absolute Sound’s recent year-end wrapup. That’s super-cool, and we’re flattered, but does this suggest we need to start thinking about the definition of “budget?” Because Tyrs ain’t cheap. Especially when you’re looking at even more money in if you want a preamp and DAC.

We were banned from recent awards submissions…because we win too much. At another site, readers were admonished against recommending anything from Schiit for their annual awards, because we had dominated previous awards by winning too much. And yeah, I get it, they don’t want to seem like Schiit shills, but I gotta thank them for handing me this Best. Marketing. Ever. Moment.

And it’s not just us. In the absence of some clear Newer Better thing, the industry sometimes seems a bit adrift.

I mean, in the 1980s and 1990s, new audio DACs came out every year, driving from 14 to 16 to 18 to 20 bits. There were clear technical differences between them, and manufacturers raced to keep up. Delta-sigma became a thing in the 1990s, and manufacturers scrambled to incorporate that technology too, because it was far less expensive than multibit. Things changed fast because the industry was changing fast. And it was a huge engineering task to improve performance—heck, even measuring it was difficult, the first Stanford Research and AP machines didn’t have the resolution we have now.

Today, an inexpensive delta-sigma chip and good engineering will get you a DAC that measures, steady-state, near the limit of what we can achieve, limited by actual physics. As in, -12XdB THD+N.

Oh yeah, and that inexpensive delta-sigma chip is a derivative of a delta-sigma chip that has probably been around for more than a decade, and, with good implementation, would measure about the same.

So are DACs “solved?” No. One measurement doesn’t give the full picture.

Are they dead, because there are few new DACs? Also no. Pretty much every megadollar DAC doesn’t use audio DAC chips.

But it’s not just DACs that are affected by “no-newer-better-thing-it is.”

It seems there can be no discussion of amps that doesn’t have some true believer declaring the Only Choice is the One True Named Platform because it tops the steady-state numbers games, and other options shouldn’t even exist. (You’d expect these guys not to need any discussion, because they have it figured out, but somehow it seems they always have plenty of time to go and crap on “lesser” stuff. Huh.)

It also sometimes seems that half the discussion in total revolves around streamers, which are basically fancy single-use computers. Nothing wrong with that, but when you have to start wrapping silly words around it to justify car-like prices, then maybe it’s gone a bit too far.

Another significant aspect of discussion is resampling, which has been similarly shinified as “upsampling.” While this implies “making things better,” it also means “completely changing the original,” which a whole lot of the industry doesn’t seem to have a problem with anymore.

And resampling—whether done with hardware or software—is a significant source of stress and tension. When discussions revolve around “well, did you use Filter 23 and the optical output isolated through the proprietary LZRBeem interface, because if not you’re missing out,” or “I’m not sure if my Core Ultra 9 can handle the reSyncSampleX algorithm with ArxV768 without going over 75%,” all the while interspersed with various bug reports, please let me know what this has to do with music.

“So is this just Stoddard Shakes His Cane At Audio?” someone asks. “Or is there a point to all of this?”

Good question.

Let’s see why we are calm when everything around us seems to be crazy—and let’s see if we can help you get there, too.


Bathe in Music

Today, you have no excuse to be stuck in your musical past.

Because streaming.

This is the biggest change in the biz since Schiit started. A decade ago, we could run unironic ads showing a guy lounging in front of a wall of CDs with the title, “For the music you have, not the music you have to buy.”

Because, at that time, the industry was still in the grips of “if you have a better format, you’ll get people to (re)buy all their music (that they have been re-buying since high school).” High res streaming wasn’t a thing. The focus was on physical media, or files you owned. Hence, we were saying, “We have a DAC that is really made for the stuff you already have—CDs—no need to go out and buy DSD or MQA or whatever.”

Now, there are several high res streaming services, including Apple and Amazon.

The format wars are over. PCM won.

And now, even small bands can produce high res PCM themselves.

Aaaaaaaannnnd…most importantly, you have access to all of this for about the price of one old-style CD per month. You are free to explore and decide what you like.

We are sooooooooo far from the era of music scarcity that it’s actually hard to describe. Paying almost $100 for my first 4 CDs (two were imports). Reaching 100 CDs after much money in. Wondering if what I was buying would be as good as I thought it might be, because a lot of what I liked got limited play on the radio. Waiting for something on the radio. Making tapes of my CDs to use in the car, because CDs weren’t practical. Eventually, getting up near 1000 CDs, then going to 2x that when I met my wife. Then ripping those, first to MP3 then to FLAC.

To today, when 90% of my listening is high res streaming.

To today, when I can see what other bands might be similar to what I’m listening to.

To today, when I can search for a dimly-remembered band that never quite made it.

It’s a totally different world. If you don’t have streaming, you’re missing out. Pick a platform, give them some money, and explore. If you find something you want to buy, you can certainly pick up a file, CD, or record. If you find you don’t like some kinds of music, that’s fine too. This is not about judging your musical taste (mine is terrible). This is about being open to new things, actively exploring and discovering, not being stuck in the same old, same old, same old songs.

Because music is far more than you remember.

Take a bath.


Start at the End

Spend most on your transducers.

As in, no matter the budget, spend most on your headphones or speakers.

“But I heard source first is best,” someone says. “And what about total system synergy?”

Yeah, source first is a neat idea. I bet it was promulgated by a company that made mainly source components. And don’t get me wrong. I wish it was real. Because that would definitely make a case for you spending money on an Yggdrasil over a Bifrost.

(Please note we make no transducers, so for us to say, “Spend money not on us,” is either (a) stupid, (b) truth, or (c) both very stupid and absolutely true.”)

In short, get the headphones you really really want, or the speakers you really really fell in love with. Amps and preamps and DACs matter less. Not that they’re unimportant—especially when you’re talking about headphones and speakers that are very difficult to drive—but it’s better to start with the transducers, because they make the most difference.

Doubtful?

Try a blind level-matched A/B of two amps or DACs. You’ll have to listen hard on familiar music to tell a difference.

Try a blind level-matched A/B of two headphones or speakers. You’ll hear the difference instantly.

Transducers first.


Resist Nervosa

Another thing that’s changed since we started is direct sales. When we began, it was a big decision for us to sell direct, rather than go through dealers and distributors. Now it’s a proven strategy.

Selling direct has several huge advantages, but it also adds complexity. It means that many dozens of companies are advertising at you, or forum-ing at you, or PR-ing at you, or influencer-ing at you, or selling-on-a-marketplace at you, wanting your attention, wanting the relationship, wanting that sweet sweet Customer Lifetime Value…

…sorry, went all CMO-y there for a moment.

The point is, things are a lot more noisy. In the past, you’d go to a dealer and they’d probably have some curated systems at certain price points. You’d be able to listen to them and make a decision. The dealer might even set up the system for you.

(Of course, dealer items also meant much higher prices, and don’t get me started on margin influence on recommendations—basically, there were some good dealers, and there are still some good dealers, but there were bad ones as well.)

Now, you’re buying blind in a noisy market. You’re hoping the product you pick will make a significant change, because it’s a pain in the rear end to return something.

And there are so many things to pick!

I mean, hey, yeah, there are amps and DACs. But there are ones that measure well and ones that don’t measure well and there’s ones that are lauded and ones that aren’t and ones with tubes and ones without tubes and ones that are priced like a steak dinner and ones that are priced like a car.

And then there are other mysterious boxes with mysterious names and mysterious capabilities. And cables. And fuses. And a dozen other tweaks, from some with a good basis for actually helping (like connector cleaning, etc) to those that are, well, less physically realistic (like tuning the Earth’s fundamental resonance.)

And then, if you want to venture out into the more, ah, sketchy corners of the internet, you can pick from any number of “clone” products, if you want a taste of car-priced gear on a budget.

All of these things are instantly available, so it’s tempting to try a bunch of them. For some people, this can be nervosa central. So many things you can do with your system! What new wonders might appear?

Here’s the thing: maybe nothing might appear.

Maybe it’ll end up being worse.

Maybe you’ll just end up with nothing more than days wasted fiddle-****ing everything to death, with a pile of half-baked things sitting on your desk (or piled behind your rack) that you don’t really need, and don’t want to deal with sending back.

There’s nothing wrong with being happy with your system.


The Path to Certitude

So what’s the point of this long, rambling, not-bullet-pointed, no-photos chapter?

Maybe nothing. Maybe this is just the result of a random exchange at a South Texas distillery that cemented “weird” in my mind as a good way to describe how things have been feeling for a while.

Or maybe it’s just a way for me to put some framework on this year. There are a ton of things we can say about new products, about new technologies, about, heck, the fact that it’s our 15th anniversary.

(And we don’t even have a 15th anniversary logo. Maybe I should do one.)

Or maybe it’s a way for me to think through our advertising and outreach this year, which will be more active than in the past. You’ll see me at the NYC CanJam, for example, and we’re actively trying to see if we can do whole-line headphone shows and meets, as well as full-GigaStack speaker events.

But hopefully it’s more than that. Hopefully it helps you cut through the noise a bit as well. If it does, then I’m happy to have helped.

If it doesn’t, well…there are more chapters coming. Next up, Stjarna.

Thanks Jason for expressing a gut feeling I have had for a couple of years now about my set up and the way I access and enjoy music - shortly after having some new carpets and furniture in my listening room I did a rough set up of my system and it sounded instantly welcoming and very musical , so I abandoned my search for laser like reproduction and just bathe in the music I love or have just discovered !!

 

[bagwell359]

Yeah. My BMR Monitors, in a 17x19x8 (in ft) room, according to Anthem ARC's measurement, are relatively flat down to 20Hz. IIRC, they are rated to 35Hz. There is also a 2-story window behind me with a bit of raised ceiling to match. That's driving them with Ayre's 60W integrated. I imagine a Wotan or your Classé would really bring out the bass.

You could try the Ceramics, at under $1k.

The towers would be insanity, as they are rated to 20Hz (iirc). What's that, 1Hz/$200 or so?

Very nice set up. Do you have the 1st or 2nd version of the Minitor?

The bass on the towers is very nice into the low/mid 20’s - taut and clean. Add to that the extra mid and you get a speaker that would handle larger rooms and does do dynamic contrasts a bit better.

I sold (retail), bought, borrowed, modded and heard a lot of speakers esp ‘75-‘05 and both the current Monitor and Tower are right at the top for price/performance and very close to that regardless of price.

Low volume intelligibility, lack of IM, excellent timbre, top to bottom cohesion among other traits makes for a fine view into the music.

 

[audioaura]

Many (many) years ago a colleague invited me around to his place to listen to his system. I can't remember the CD player, or the "audiophile" amplifier he was using, but the Tannoy Gold 15" drivers in a bigger than Arden cabinet were mesmerising. From that experience I resolved to have big Tannoys as my main system transducers. As much as I'd love a Westminster I a) didn't have the cash and b) didn't have the room. (up until then I'd built some speakers and was slowly updating things as I could afford and had a NAD Amp, Harksound T/T, Teac Cassette Deck, Pioneer Laser Disc and a Sony CD player. Speakers were a Namconics 3 way that I'd modded - mid-80s here)

So I found a rather beaten up DIY Arden with HPD-385's in working condition and set about reinforcing the very resonant cabinets - no bracing at all! Made a huge difference. Next one of the tweeters had a crackling on some material and volumes. Investigations showed the compression driver voice coil had partially separated from the compression dome. So both were replaced, a few hundred dollars. They looked like crap though, but I didn't care --- covered them with a mottled black vinyl wrap. Still well ahead in the big scheme. These served me well for years, surviving a few relationships and moves as I found my way (is that why we separated??.... hmmm)

Moving forward, relationship going well (Married!) and we are building a new home. I traded the big ugly Tannoys for a newer, smaller pair that would suit the new home better. It was my decision, because I thought it was the right thing to do. Wish I'd never done it though. I'd lost that sound that I loved. Took many years, a home move and three more pairs of speakers before I happened across a pair of Tannoy DMT-15 monitors being sold off from a studio in Sydney, 650 miles away. Fate was on my side because I was laid off work the week I saw them, and had a payout. I picked them up for a song (and a long road trip) and they remain my main speakers in a nice large room.

I continue to tinker around the edges with amps, DACs streamers etc, and am now well on the path to simplifying. The best I have heard these Tannoys sound is with a Freya+ and Vidars, fed from a Bifrost 2. If I change anything else it will be a better streamer than the Bluesound Node 2i so I can get lossless Apple Music without a laptop. (we are heavily in the Apple ecosystem and I see no reason to add more services right now).

I am at that point - it sounds great, and I'm only tinkering around the edges now for the main system, and have a smaller nearfield setup to play with to scratch the itch

I'll have the place to myself for a couple of weeks soon - look out neighbors!

Love this journey! It’s amazing how much sound can change with the right gear and tweaks along the way. Those Tannoys sound like they've been worth every step. Enjoy your solo time!

 

[Bowmoreman]

Yeah. My BMR Monitors, in a 17x19x8 (in ft) room, according to Anthem ARC's measurement, are relatively flat down to 20Hz. IIRC, they are rated to 35Hz. There is also a 2-story window behind me with a bit of raised ceiling to match. That's driving them with Ayre's 60W integrated. I imagine a Wotan or your Classé would really bring out the bass.

You could try the Ceramics, at under $1k.

The towers would be insanity, as they are rated to 20Hz (iirc). What's that, 1Hz/$200 or so?

It will be illustrative to hear them in my 25.5 x 16.5 x 7.5 room; it’d be easy to have them 5-6 feet out from front wall, and 10 feet apart… I think I would have to do some sort of ceiling treatment since the mid-driver is a cone (a very good one, but a point source nonetheless). At least the ribbon tweeter doesn’t have a lot of vertical dispersion like my Apogee ribbon tweeter/mid only not quite so “long” vertically - ha - so never had to worry about floor or ceiling bounce much with them…

We shall see, but ain’t gonna happen during New England Ice season

 

[Bowmoreman]

I rarely use Qobuz, preferring to play ripped CDs, physical CDs, or vinyl.
Qobuz is great for exploring new music and also as an enormous ‘juke box’ for late night listening sessions with friends over beers….and whisky

When I do discover new music which I really like, I buy a physical copy, usually on CD.

I also buy CDs from artists after their gigs, whenever I can.

Selling ‘merch’ when on tour is an important source of income for musicians, especially the lesser known ones.

I have several CDs signed by artists after memorable gigs.

They are a very special part of my collection.

My son the pilot and 6/12 string picker has a full set of signed Leo Kottke CD’s we picked up at one of his periodic concerts back in, IIRC, 2015. He was most gracious upon meeting him, and very solicitous of my son and his technique questions. Even invited him to sit with him and play on one of his guitars with him after the concert - THAT was epic, and something he’ll never forget. afterwards, he composed a song in honor of having met his guitar idol: named it “Generator Failure” (kinda a weird takeoff on “Vaseline Machine Gun”). IYKYK

Always support musicians you like with physical/real stuff. Real people being rewarded for their works… I have philosophical objections to the global “you will own nothing, and be happy crowd” (doesn’t matter if it’s music, or cars, or anything else).

 

[Paladin79]

Have you tried Colgate tooth paste? Works great on frosted headlight covers.

I have tried such things as well as jewelers rouge in the past. I do have several dust covers to refurbish and what I used is pretty quick and easy, and not too abrasive.

 

[Bowmoreman]

Caldera open is a fantastic match for Mjolnir 3.

Only ZMF I’ve been exposed to thus-far, was a short review/loaner pair of ZMF Bokeh closed. Very nice, but: closed, and not quite at transparency level of my Koss’ ESPs… I can imagine his higher end and open efforts would be extremely nice though; I like his “house sound”… N.b. I am very much a cans noob.

 

[Les Strat]

My son the pilot and 6/12 string picker has a full set of signed Leo Kottke CD’s we picked up at one of his periodic concerts back in, IIRC, 2015. He was most gracious upon meeting him, and very solicitous of my son and his technique questions. Even invited him to sit with him and play on one of his guitars with him after the concert - THAT was epic, and something he’ll never forget. afterwards, he composed a song in honor of having met his guitar idol: named it “Generator Failure” (kinda a weird takeoff on “Vaseline Machine Gun”). IYKYK

Always support musicians you like with physical/real stuff. Real people being rewarded for their works… I have philosophical objections to the global “you will own nothing, and be happy crowd” (doesn’t matter if it’s music, or cars, or anything else).

What a great story about Leo Kottke, @Bowmoreman

I only saw him perform once- at Cambridge Folk Festival in 1979- and he was brilliant.
I had never heard of him before that!

One of the reasons I like going to small music venues, is that you often get a chance to chat to musicians over a beer at the bar.

In some cases, I have actually got to know band members quite well, after going to several of their gigs.