[Barry S]

Schiit SYS Passive Preamp  $49
 
http://schiit.com/products/sys-passive-preamp
 

 
 
Some sneaky Schiit that just flew in under the radar.

 

[Radio_head]

Will it sound better than the Vali with my HE-400's?

 

[musicinmymind]

Looks good, but it does not have balanced in & out
 
this one has
 
http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/accessories/products/control-freak

 

[Barry S]

  Will it sound better than the Vali with my HE-400's?

It won't sound like anything with your HE-400s--it's a passive preamp, not an amp. I'm planning on using it to control sources without volume controls that feed my active monitors.

 

[Radio_head]

 
It won't sound like anything with your HE-400s--it's a passive preamp, not an amp. I'm planning on using it to control sources without volume controls that feed my active monitors.

OK, perhaps it doesn't have enough power for the HE-400.  Will it sound better than the Magni with my De La Soul Ludacris Crocodile Tear Quincy the Iguana headphones?  They are easier to drive.

 

[cheneric]

Hmm..never really considered a preamp. Are preamps essentially to give more control to your output/input and volume control? 
 
I recently assembled a bottlehead crack and I'm interested in testing out the difference between from my dac to active speakers vs. dac ->crack->active speakers.
 
This would seem like a good simple device to a/b test. 
 
This seem can also benefit me by keeping my computer audio to 100% and adjust the active monitor volume from the preamp...

 

[wes008]

  Will it sound better than the Vali with my HE-400's?

Quote:

OK, perhaps it doesn't have enough power for the HE-400.  Will it sound better than the Magni with my De La Soul Ludacris Crocodile Tear Quincy the Iguana headphones?  They are easier to drive.

 
Radio_head perpetually causing head-scratching amongst Head-Fi members 

 

[worminater]

What would this have over a 1usd cable splitter?  I would *love* if i could control the level of each input independently..(ps3 on one; pc on the other, dial down PC during game but still hear if i was getting a skype call on the other...)

 

[worminater]

  What would this have over a 1usd cable splitter?  I would *love* if i could control the level of each input independently..(ps3 on one; pc on the other, dial down PC during game but still hear if i was getting a skype call on the other...)

Oooh, scratch that; it's a switch not a mixer.  You hit the button to switch input.  I have a Niles AXP1 i use for this exact use case currently.  Whenever I get around to setting up speakers again I'll likely pick this up as a switch as it matches my stack. 
 
(PS3||MBA||MBP||Modi||<misc>)->Niles AXP1->Valhalla->hd650
 
Will turn into
 
(PS3||MBA||MBP||Modi||<misc>)->Niles AXP1->Schiit SYS ->((Valhalla->hd650) || Speakers).
 
 
I might swap the Niles to the speaker switch and add a mixer though...  

 

[Barry S]

  What would this have over a 1usd cable splitter?  I would *love* if i could control the level of each input independently..(ps3 on one; pc on the other, dial down PC during game but still hear if i was getting a skype call on the other...)

A simple cable splitter has no ability to control level. You could use two SYS units if you wanted independent level control of two sources. Having to adjust two active monitors fed by a DAC or line level source drives me crazy--the SYS will provide a single easy level control.

 

[elwappo99]

Jason hinted at this some time ago. Looks like a great value and a really good unit to have if you switch between active speakers (like those airmotivs) and a headphone amp.

 

[leesure]

I had the privalege of spending a little time with the Sys while doing the photography. It's a nice bit of kit. If you have a computer based system that uses powered speakers and especially would like the ability to jack in a 2nd source, it makes sense.

My favorite shot from the shoot:

 

[teofilrocks]

Please excuse my ignorance, but if this has two inputs and one output, how will it switch between a headphone amp and active monitors? Or is it only for switching multiple sources into a single output device that needs a preamp, and forget adding the headphone amp..

 

[cel4145]

Please excuse my ignorance, but if this has two inputs and one output, how will it switch between a headphone amp and active monitors? Or is it only for switching multiple sources into a single output device that needs a preamp, and forget adding the headphone amp..

I don't know how the potentiometer complicates things, but normally with passive switches like this you can reverse the inputs and outputs so that you have two outputs and one input.

 

[CrownMan]

The SYS might be a nice piece to hook between a source and 2 headphone systems for comparison testing or just to support a dual headphone rig where each is optimized for a particular type of music. Not that I have a situation like this of course...
 
I might have some concern about matching input/output impedances between the SYS and the 2 rigs. Sounds like a good question for Jason.