[jaywillin]

  New member here.  I just got my Lyr 2 and Bifrost Uber USB (upgraded from a FiiO E17K/E09K Combo).

 
 

   
Welcome!  and yah, nice bump up.   get used to the Lyr 2 stock tubes for a few weeks, then come join us in the Lyr tube rollers thread.
if your wallet can bear the pain.

 
 

  Yeah, it's a HUGE upgrade!  I'm very happy with my purchase.
 
And no, I'm not going to that thread.  You have no idea what lies I told my wife so I can get these.  If she ever finds out how much I spent on these, I'll probably get kicked out of the house.  LOL!
 
OK... maybe next week I'll take a peek at tubes

 
as the others said, nice bump up indeed !
oh you say that you won't hit the tube rolling thread, but then one day, it will happen, you'll wonder "what if" you'll look on the tube thread, and see you can spend $30-$50 bucks, and get 
"better" sound, and you'll think, i'll just get one set of tubes , and that's it, well, after that, you're hooked, and a year later, you're sitting there with a desk covered in tubes
and your wife looking at you like you're some sort of nut ! whoops, i just told my story ! lol  
 
and we do know what kind of lies we've told your wife, we've told the same lies !  welcome brother, it's safe here   

 

[reddog]

On eBay there's a ray Samuels intruder someone is selling. Mint condition, starting bid $345.00. That's a good deal. Just search ray Samuels, it will come up.

Thanks for heads up.

 

[cuiter23]

As an owner of 2 Schiit products, I can't say anything negatively about the hardware. However, I wish I could say the same for their customer service. At first I did not want to make a public post calling the Schiit guys out because they seem to have a good reputation within the community. I even messaged Jason privately about the issue and its been 2 weeks. The fact that he did not even respond or acknowledge my complaints towards one of his staff Nick, just shows me the degree in which he actually gives a damn about his customers. This whole situation was dealt with extremely unprofessionally. As a business owner myself, treating a valued customer like this is unacceptable. So much for brand loyalty. 
 
This is a long post but I call things how I see it. I'm sure a lot of you praise them for their service, but I feel that fellow head-fi'ers should know about both the good and the bad. I asked info@schiit.com about the differences between a modi and modi2 (I was contemplating which to buy at the time). The conversation is posted below (verbatim).
 
Me: Hi Schiit Audio, I am ready to buy a Modi DAC. However, I am not sure what are the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2. If you could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: This is covered in the product description and product FAQ on the website. Nick T.
 
Me: Hi Nick,Thanks for the fast response. However, after going back and forth a couple of times between the two pages I could not pinpoint where the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2 are listed. That is why I decided to e-mail you guys as a last resort. Your help is appreciated in advance. Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: It’s in the copy, and on the FAQ tab.
 
Me: Thanks but no thanks.
 
I don't know why he could not have given me the answer directly. Is there anything that he has to hide?  I followed up in a friendly manner and said that I could not find it anywhere on the website (and there are no comparisons between the modi1 vs. modi2 on the schiit website) hoping that I would get an answer from the tech directly. I was told the same thing to check online. I admit if it was online, sure I'd give it to him, but the fact that it is not online and Nick would not type a few extra words and take a few extra seconds to do what he is paid to do is unacceptable from any point of view. 
 
Sorry, just thought I would share this rant with you guys. Maybe my expectations were too high given what I've read online about them. I just don't feel like they deserve all that credit especially when you have customer service representatives who don't even answer your question directly and try to impose a superior attitude towards you. 

 

[rovopio]

If your issue is sound description comparison, i think they just don't do that in general.
 
If your issue is Nick writing in short sentences, he did that when i ask too. I'm fairly certain Schiit do that in general. And I like the fact that Schiit replies in short sentences. It's quick, easy to read, and to the point.
 
I don't know... maybe i'm weird that I'm not looking for long e-mails when asking for support questions.

 

[jaywillin]

  As an owner of 2 Schiit products, I can't say anything negatively about the hardware. However, I wish I could say the same for their customer service. At first I did not want to make a public post calling the Schiit guys out because they seem to have a good reputation within the community. I even messaged Jason privately about the issue and its been 2 weeks. The fact that he did not even respond or acknowledge my complaints towards one of his staff Nick, just shows me the degree in which he actually gives a damn about his customers. This whole situation was dealt with extremely unprofessionally. As a business owner myself, treating a valued customer like this is unacceptable. So much for brand loyalty. 
 
This is a long post but I call things how I see it. I'm sure a lot of you praise them for their service, but I feel that fellow head-fi'ers should know about both the good and the bad. I asked info@schiit.com about the differences between a modi and modi2 (I was contemplating which to buy at the time). The conversation is posted below (verbatim).
 
Me: Hi Schiit Audio, I am ready to buy a Modi DAC. However, I am not sure what are the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2. If you could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: This is covered in the product description and product FAQ on the website. Nick T.
 
Me: Hi Nick,Thanks for the fast response. However, after going back and forth a couple of times between the two pages I could not pinpoint where the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2 are listed. That is why I decided to e-mail you guys as a last resort. Your help is appreciated in advance. Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: It’s in the copy, and on the FAQ tab.
 
Me: Thanks but no thanks.
 
I don't know why he could not have given me the answer directly. Is there anything that he has to hide?  I followed up in a friendly manner and said that I could not find it anywhere on the website (and there are no comparisons between the modi1 vs. modi2 on the schiit website) hoping that I would get an answer from the tech directly. I was told the same thing to check online. I admit if it was online, sure I'd give it to him, but the fact that it is not online and Nick would not type a few extra words and take a few extra seconds to do what he is paid to do is unacceptable from any point of view. 
 
Sorry, just thought I would share this rant with you guys. Maybe my expectations were too high given what I've read online about them. I just don't feel like they deserve all that credit especially when you have customer service representatives who don't even answer your question directly and try to impose a superior attitude towards you. 

i can understand how this seems to be poor service, but i believe schiit doesn't employ "salesmen" they don't have a sales line
all my exchanges with schiit have been similar, but it's been the right answer, nick is "support"
and nick is correct, all the differences are there , all the tabs, description,specs, and faq.
yeah, as for sales, they will tell you "its all on the website" and it is, they aren't going to tell anyone, which product sounds this way or that way. 
where they shine, is service after the sale, answers still brief, but they do stand behind their products.
all this is just the way they do business, your feelings have been brought up before, so you aren't alone in feeling that they are lacking in customer service, it does rub some folks the wrong way, i can see that
i'm not trying to be argumentative , or defend schiit, just saying its their SOP, 
and i can say for me, they have done some service for me that went above and beyond what their "obligation" was, that's 
just my experience

 

[SuperU]

Congratulations and welcome. Very nice choices.

 

[superjawes]

I wouldn't say that the difference is very clear on the website. The Modi 2 FAQ has to spend a lot of time focusing on the difference between Uber and non-Uber versions and a little time on the Optical.

But in the end, it is there, and if you just look at pictures of the back faces, you should be able to see it. The difference is Standard versus Expert mode on Modi 2. Standard M2 is essentially the same as M1, plug-and-play, no drivers, should just work. Expert mode allows M2 to achieve 24/192 sample rates by using drivers (which you'll have to download).

 

[Jason Stoddard]

  As an owner of 2 Schiit products, I can't say anything negatively about the hardware. However, I wish I could say the same for their customer service. At first I did not want to make a public post calling the Schiit guys out because they seem to have a good reputation within the community. I even messaged Jason privately about the issue and its been 2 weeks. The fact that he did not even respond or acknowledge my complaints towards one of his staff Nick, just shows me the degree in which he actually gives a damn about his customers. This whole situation was dealt with extremely unprofessionally. As a business owner myself, treating a valued customer like this is unacceptable. So much for brand loyalty. 
 
This is a long post but I call things how I see it. I'm sure a lot of you praise them for their service, but I feel that fellow head-fi'ers should know about both the good and the bad. I asked info@schiit.com about the differences between a modi and modi2 (I was contemplating which to buy at the time). The conversation is posted below (verbatim).
 
Me: Hi Schiit Audio, I am ready to buy a Modi DAC. However, I am not sure what are the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2. If you could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: This is covered in the product description and product FAQ on the website. Nick T.
 
Me: Hi Nick,Thanks for the fast response. However, after going back and forth a couple of times between the two pages I could not pinpoint where the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2 are listed. That is why I decided to e-mail you guys as a last resort. Your help is appreciated in advance. Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: It’s in the copy, and on the FAQ tab.
 
Me: Thanks but no thanks.
 
I don't know why he could not have given me the answer directly. Is there anything that he has to hide?  I followed up in a friendly manner and said that I could not find it anywhere on the website (and there are no comparisons between the modi1 vs. modi2 on the schiit website) hoping that I would get an answer from the tech directly. I was told the same thing to check online. I admit if it was online, sure I'd give it to him, but the fact that it is not online and Nick would not type a few extra words and take a few extra seconds to do what he is paid to do is unacceptable from any point of view. 
 
Sorry, just thought I would share this rant with you guys. Maybe my expectations were too high given what I've read online about them. I just don't feel like they deserve all that credit especially when you have customer service representatives who don't even answer your question directly and try to impose a superior attitude towards you. 

I did not reply because I do not reply to PMs.
 
Also, I see nothing wrong in how Nick handled this. Maybe I need to have him add a sig line that says, "I am not a salesperson. We do not have a salesperson. If you want flowery descriptions and gushing prose, you're going to be disappointed."
 
Sorry if that ruffled your feathers.

 

[MWSVette]

  As an owner of 2 Schiit products, I can't say anything negatively about the hardware. However, I wish I could say the same for their customer service. At first I did not want to make a public post calling the Schiit guys out because they seem to have a good reputation within the community. I even messaged Jason privately about the issue and its been 2 weeks. The fact that he did not even respond or acknowledge my complaints towards one of his staff Nick, just shows me the degree in which he actually gives a damn about his customers. This whole situation was dealt with extremely unprofessionally. As a business owner myself, treating a valued customer like this is unacceptable. So much for brand loyalty. 
 
This is a long post but I call things how I see it. I'm sure a lot of you praise them for their service, but I feel that fellow head-fi'ers should know about both the good and the bad. I asked info@schiit.com about the differences between a modi and modi2 (I was contemplating which to buy at the time). The conversation is posted below (verbatim).
 
Me: Hi Schiit Audio, I am ready to buy a Modi DAC. However, I am not sure what are the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2. If you could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: This is covered in the product description and product FAQ on the website. Nick T.
 
Me: Hi Nick,Thanks for the fast response. However, after going back and forth a couple of times between the two pages I could not pinpoint where the differences between the Modi 1 vs Modi 2 are listed. That is why I decided to e-mail you guys as a last resort. Your help is appreciated in advance. Regards, Kevin
 
Schiit: It’s in the copy, and on the FAQ tab.
 
Me: Thanks but no thanks.
 
I don't know why he could not have given me the answer directly. Is there anything that he has to hide?  I followed up in a friendly manner and said that I could not find it anywhere on the website (and there are no comparisons between the modi1 vs. modi2 on the schiit website) hoping that I would get an answer from the tech directly. I was told the same thing to check online. I admit if it was online, sure I'd give it to him, but the fact that it is not online and Nick would not type a few extra words and take a few extra seconds to do what he is paid to do is unacceptable from any point of view. 
 
Sorry, just thought I would share this rant with you guys. Maybe my expectations were too high given what I've read online about them. I just don't feel like they deserve all that credit especially when you have customer service representatives who don't even answer your question directly and try to impose a superior attitude towards you. 

OK, I was not going to get into this until I read Jason's response...
 
I too am an proud owner of several pieces of Schiit.  I love their equipment, it is well built, great sounding and there is nothing else comparable in their price range.  That said I too have contacted Schiit via their preferred method, email and while the responses were not rude, they were short and unhelpful.  I understand Nick is an engineer and not a sales person, but cuiter23 is not the first person to bring this to Jason's attention.  He has even mentioned the issue in his "Schiit happened" thread.   In my business I do not allow my bookkeeper to deal directly with my customers because they will get Schiit responses.  My bookkeeper is great at bookkeeping but terrible at customer service and communication.  cuiter23 tried to pm Jason regarding his issue.  Jason could have been handled the issue same way via PM and it would have been done.  Yet his personal policy is not to respond to PM's, that is his choice however the result is this issue ending up in a public forum.  
 
Schiit seems to have the attitude, here is our stuff, if you like it great. If you do not that's OK too.  As far as customer service, this is how we do it, if you like it great.  If you do not then tough Schiit.
 
Now while I have always had that thought in my head while dealing with some my more demanding and questioning customers I have found that such an attitude in practice can cost sales.  If you already have more business than you can handle that is probably OK.
 
Maybe Schiit will grow enough someday to have someone who is good at responding to questions respond to emails.  Unfortunately I find my best responses to my questions not from the company who I have spent money.  But the Head-Fi members and this and other forums.
 
I have always known in business that contrary to popular belief the customer is not always right, but they are always the customer and it maybe in the companies best interest to pretend that they are always right.  Even if they know better.
 
End of rant...  And I do love my Schiit.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

 
OK, I was not going to get into this until I read Jason's response...
 
I too am an proud owner of several pieces of Schiit.  I love their equipment, it is well built, great sounding and there is nothing else comparable in their price range.  That said I too have contacted Schiit via their preferred method, email and while the responses were not rude, they were short and unhelpful.  I understand Nick is an engineer and not a sales person, but cuiter23 is not the first person to bring this to Jason's attention.  He has even mentioned the issue in his "Schiit happened" thread.   In my business I do not allow my bookkeeper to deal directly with my customers because they will get Schiit responses.  My bookkeeper is great at bookkeeping but terrible at customer service and communication.
 
Schiit seems to have the attitude, here is our stuff, if you like it great. If you do not that's OK too.  As far as customer service, this is how we do it, if you like it great.  If you do not then tough Schiit.
 
Now while I have always had that thought in my head while dealing with some my more demanding and questioning customers I have found that such an attitude in practice can cost sales.  If you already have more business than you can handle that is probably OK.
 
Maybe Schiit will grow enough someday to have someone who is good at responding to questions respond to emails.  Unfortunately I find my best responses to my questions not from the company who I have spent money.  But the Head-Fi members and this and other forums.
 
I have always known in business that contrary to popular belief the customer is not always right, but they are always the customer and it maybe in the companies best interest to pretend that they are always right.  Even if they know better.
 
End of rant...  And I do love my Schiit.

How were Nick's responses unhelpful?
 
Again, if you're looking for sonic comparisons and flowery prose, we don't get into that.
 
Beyond that, his responses should be helpful, so I'm looking for examples that I can take back to him.

 

[StanD]

 
How were Nick's responses unhelpful?
 
Again, if you're looking for sonic comparisons and flowery prose, we don't get into that.
 
Beyond that, his responses should be helpful, so I'm looking for examples that I can take back to him.

It appears that his response about comparing the Modi 1 and Modi 2 was not correct. IMO that would not be good for customer relations. Since the specs for the Modi 1 are no longer on your website, he could have:
1) Dug up the old specs and emailed them.
    a) asked you to put that on the website under discontinued or archived products.
2) Explained that the old specs are no longer on the website and added some further fluff.
 
I think having an archived products section on the website would be a good idea for supporting customers with older products. Now that you're getting in new generations of products I think that would be a nice gesture to customers owning said products.

 

[bearFNF]

  It appears that his response about comparing the Modi 1 and Modi 2 was not correct. IMO that would not be good for customer relations. Since the specs for the Modi 1 are no longer on your website, he could have:
1) Dug up the old specs and emailed them.
    a) asked you to put that on the website under discontinued or archived products.
2) Explained that the old specs are no longer on the website and added some further fluff.
 
I think having an archived products section on the website would be a good idea for supporting customers with older products. Now that you're getting in new generations of products I think that would be a nice gesture to customers owning said products.

Actually they are still there (look a the B stock closeout section, but the addition of an archive is a good idea, too, for the out of stock no longer available stuff):

 
I consider a general question like this to have many answers. Are you asking about sound, features, price, or internal components?
I have asked Schiit questions in the past and gotten good answers, but I also phrased my question so a simple one line answer is needed.
 
I think the point is that the info is there if you are willing to actually read the site yourself and do a little work.  They are not going to spoon feed you the info.
 
And to quote their "how we do it" page: http://schiit.com/about/how-we-do-it
"And yeah, I know, our model isn’t for everyone. Sometimes we seem inflexible and curt. But that’s only because we are really focused on one thing: delivering great products at lowest cost, while maintaining local production. If that’s for you, great. If it isn’t, then there are plenty of other options out there."

 

[MWSVette]

 
How were Nick's responses unhelpful?
 
Again, if you're looking for sonic comparisons and flowery prose, we don't get into that.
 
Beyond that, his responses should be helpful, so I'm looking for examples that I can take back to him.

 
Jason thanks for the response.
 
It was the same type of question but a different product.  In my case a Lyr vs Lyr 2.  Got almost the same responses.  It is in the FAQ and descriptions.  I had read those prior to the email.  So I did a lot of research and with the help of others from the Head-Fi Schiit forums I got the information I needed and bought the product and love it. 
 
That said some folks would have said never mind and bought something else.
 
I was not looking for flowery or hand holding.  I was looking for specific information. He could have emailed back, "exactly what do you want to know?".  I never got that far.  If my question had been answered in the description and FAQ then it would have been my bad, but it was not.  Since this is not the first time this topic has been mentioned, there must be a segment of your customer base that is looking for flowery prose and hand holding.  As was mentioned above by another member some folks appreciate short direct responses.  Some do not.
 
Thanks again for your personal response.
 
And I still love my Schiit...

 

[StanD]

 
Actually they are still there (look a the B stock closeout section, but the addition of an archive is a good idea, too, for the out of stock no longer available stuff):
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I consider a general question like this to have many answers. Are you asking about sound, features, price, or internal components?
I have asked Schiit questions in the past and gotten good answers, but I also phrased my question so a simple one line answer is needed.
 
I think the point is that the info is there if you are willing to actually read the site yourself and do a little work.  They are not going to spoon feed you the info.
 
And to quote their "how we do it" page: http://schiit.com/about/how-we-do-it
"And yeah, I know, our model isn’t for everyone. Sometimes we seem inflexible and curt. But that’s only because we are really focused on one thing: delivering great products at lowest cost, while maintaining local production. If that’s for you, great. If it isn’t, then there are plenty of other options out there."

The "B-Stock & Closeout" section will not be there for long and expecting a person to extensively mine the website is not the best idea, especially if the information is not there. Hopefully they will add the "Archived" section that I suggested. In the past when Nick didn't come up with an answer I had to guide him with a repeat email to get close. I've seen the "there are plenty of other options out there" statement on their website and thought that wasn't polite and should have been stated differently.
On a positive and important point, if one has a problem with a purchased product, they seem to have superb customer service.

 

[Tuco1965]

I actually like the idea of the archived section too, but it's not my website or company.  Definitely loving the Schiit though.