[Clayton SF]

The SPL Auditor Manual has this Recommendation.
It is translated from the German so the explanation is rather lyrical:
 
Recommendations
Unplug the headphone when you switch off the Auditor. Otherwise discharging residual voltages can cause beeping sounds. We did not add a circuitry to avoid that phenomenon because it would compromise sound quality.

Reduce volume level before you remove or plug in the headphone (or when switching headphones). This excludes louder clicks and pops reaching the ear. In addition, this can avoid unpleasant surprise that follows when a headphone’s lower impedance suddenly reproduces an otherwise acceptable Auditor volume setting of a first headphone at a much higher – even painful – level.
 
I think it is good practice to keep the volume at minimum whenever plugging or unplugging any headphone from an amp. Once you keep that in mind it becomes second nature. Like riding a bike.
 

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

Hey guys,
 
To clear things up:
 
1. Lyr has a 20 second relay-switched delayed output and immediate relay mute on turn-off. It's a running change we made in production. 
2. From the start, we've always urged extreme caution with Lyr, and we have never recommended it for high-sensitivity headphones.
3. Relying on any form of protection--relay delays, microprocessor-controlled DC monitoring systems, whatever--can still bite you, when and if there's a failure in the system. And all of them (to us, at least) involve sonic compromise. That's why you'll typically find many of the highest-dollar components out there running naked, so to speak.
 
That said, we now understand that the precautions common to ultra-high-end (where it's well-known that turning on your multi-kilobuck amp before you turn on your multi-kilobuck preamp may involve having a very bad day) simply won't fly with inexpensive gear, so we're making the changes necessary to have our stuff be as user-friendly as possible.
 
Asgards will now ship with the same relay mute as Lyr, when we are back in stock. We will also offer a retrofit relay mute for Asgard and Lyr, for customers who want the convenience, and install it on any current owner's amp for free. I am still conflicted on relays, since it means another contact in the signal path, relay contact degradation over time, and the possible reliability hit (there's a joke in high-end that if something's broken, it's probably a relay.) That said, I think we have identified an acceptably reliable, least-sonic-impact solution.
 
And--to complete the trio--Valhalla's inherently slow turn-on (tube outputs) negates the need for a relay.
 
All the best,
Jason
 
 

 
Can someone please translate this for me? Does this mean the Lyr has a safety mechanism to avoid these issues when powering on and off? Also, does a "running change" made in production mean some early units don't have this relay in place? And what's this offer of a relay mute? Is that a separate fail-safe?
 

 

[Shike]

Quote:

 
Can someone please translate this for me? Does this mean the Lyr has a safety mechanism to avoid these issues when powering on and off? Also, does a "running change" made in production mean some early units don't have this relay in place? And what's this offer of a relay mute? Is that a separate fail-safe?
 

It means some do and some don't, at least that's how I interpret it.  Might be worth messaging Jason over or asking in the Lyr thread in the amp sub-forum.
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Do you plug the headphone in before you turn it on or after?   Does before or after matter if the volume is 0?

Whenever changing states on the amp, from <off to on> or <on to off>, first reduce the volume control to 0 and then unplug the headphones.  
 
 

 

[francisdemarte]

Since this issue has been known to exist on the AMB B22 for some time has anyone ever fried a set of headphones with B22 as they did with the Asgard?
 

 

[Clayton SF]

I've never head of a B22 frying headphones; I've only read that a B22 was fried because of headphones (or how they were handled--the jack).

 

[fishski13]

 
Quote:

Since this issue has been known to exist on the AMB B22 for some time has anyone ever fried a set of headphones with B22 as they did with the Asgard?
 

as long as the DC offset of the outputs are properly zeroed to 0mV, the B22 will have no DC thump when powering on or off.  i have never heard of anyone blowing a pair of HPs from a power cycle.
 
 

 

[The Monkey]

Thank you Shike and nwavguy for working to examine this issue.  And thank you to Schiit for responding responsibly and transparently. 

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Heck. I don't what's going on and don't understand any of this tech talk. All I know is that I bought the Asgard the week it was released. I have used my K701 exclusively with the Asgard. Until I saw the video of the K702 dome inhaling and exhaling my only worry was what my next headphone purchase would be. Since I don't want to keep plugging and unplugging my headphones when turning the Asgard on and off I am going to return it.

EDIT to my post:
After carefully reading the various posts by members of the Head-Fi community and those offered by Jason of Schiit Audio, I have decided to keep the Asgard. I am going to make a habit of turning the volume to minimum before plugging or unplugging my headphones. The Asgard has already given me more than a year of great listening pleasure and proven to be a great addition to my collection of amps that there is no reason for me to return it if I just follow some simple steps.
 
Happy listening!
 
 

 

[Shike]

Quote:

EDIT to my post:
After carefully reading the various posts by members of the Head-Fi community and those offered by Jason of Schiit Audio, I have decided to keep the Asgard. I am going to make a habit of turning the volume to minimum before plugging or unplugging my headphones. The Asgard has already given me more than a year of great listening pleasure and proven to be a great addition to my collection of amps that there is no reason for me to return it if I just follow some simple steps.
 
Happy listening!
 
 

Turning the volume down DOES NOT alleviate the issue.  If you want to keep the Asgard and don't want to do the unplugging cycle I suggest you get the relay Jason is offering outfitted.  This is of course my opinion though . . .
 

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Turning the volume down DOES NOT alleviate the issue.  If you want to keep the Asgard and don't want to do the unplugging cycle I suggest you get the relay Jason is offering outfitted.  This is of course my opinion though . . .

Okay. I guess I wasn't reading carefully. And thank you for pointing this out to me. I will now begin to do the unplugging cycle to avoid any sonic compromise which could happen with a relay.

 

[livewire]

@Jason - your business model is beyond reproach.
Keep up the good work, you guys are awesome!

 

[Yuceka]

I am wondering all of this discussion is any pertinent to the Orthos as well such as LCD-2 and Hifiman HE series. 

 

[everlong]

I have not read all of the thread, but this relay that will be available for the Asgard, is that something we can do easy as DIY, or do we need to ship it to Schiit? Not cheap for us living abroad.

 

[maverickronin]

While it is nice that Schiit is updating their products with the appropriate safety relays and offering a retrofit for existing amps, there's still a question that needs to be asked.
 
How or why did it get put into production with out it in the first place?