Schiit Fans ?

[StimpyWan]

@StimpyWan

Jason is hosting a Texas SchittrMeet this afternoon on Youtube. They're always a good source of information.

 

[Tillerman]

So an update on my system - first added was an Aegir, followed about a month later with a Saga S. The Saga S was a needful change because my venerable Audio Alchemy DLC's power supply died. Initially worried when this happened because my Aegir went into fault mode immediately. I looked through the Aegir's owner's manual and followed the instructions for clearing the fault, which worked as advertised. Once the Saga S came, I was back in business.

I am using these with Klipsch Chorus speakers and a VMPS Larger subwoofer. I should add that both Schiit items were installed in the middle of heating season here in MN. This is relevant to my observations below.

The Aegir with Klipsch Chorus has excellent sound quality and deserving of the praise, especially for it's price point. The Aegir is being compared to a Sony VFET TAN-5550, a Pass F3 clone and an EchoWars built DoZ class A amp. The feature I really love is the standby switch allowing the amp to be silent with greatly reduced heat and power draw.

The Saga S paired with the above also has excellent sound quality and channel matching accuracy, especially for it's price point. The Saga S is being compared to the Audio Alchemy DLC, a Yamaha C-2a and a Yamaha C-4. The operational feature I don't love is the light pop made through the Chorus speakers when switching inputs or shifting from passive to active mode. That is one of the "problems" of using such sensitive speakers, all gremlins are exposed further up the chain.

As winter is winding down I made a few discoveries because the forced air heat is off more of the time now (i.e. the ambient noise level is much lower).
First was a light 60 Hz hum coming from the Chorus woofers and the VMPS subwoofers. Following the diagnostic flow chart suggested by PS Audio, I discovered that in my system the Aegir and my Samson S1000 amp were interreacting with the Saga S. I tried all variations, but settled on a temporary ground lift on the Aegir and the Samson S1000 to completely quiet the hum. I have some of the recommended Ebtech/Morley HumX devices on order.
Second was noticing the transformer hum of both the Aegir and the Saga S. I live in a rural area with a factory dairy on the same piece of the grid as our house. Hence, we have had a history of "dirty" AC for all the years we have been here. I have tried various devices, most recently an Emotiva CMX-2 with limited improvements. This is only noticeable when the music volume is very low or stopped.

So, basically I am satisfied with my new equipment, but I could wish for silent operation too.

 

[RunOutGroove]

I currently have 2 pieces of Schiit plugged into my system, a Vali headphone amp and a Modis DAC. Both are great performers to my ears, particularly for how inexpensive they are and even more so because I found great deals on them used. Both seem to add a level of airiness, detail, separation, etc (and without adding any harshness) as compared with either the headphone out on my old Marantz or the built in DAC of my Denon DVD player. I heard a noticeable improvement of the Modius over my old DAC, a Topping D50s, which is a more expensive unit. I kind of geeked out when I bought that thing and watched a number of YouTube reviews on it and one review seemed to think that it was very similar to the much cheaper Modi DAC except that it has those balanced outputs. I'd like to believe that there's more to it than that, particularly because I'm not using those balanced outs, but if that were true then it would mean that the Modi is really the bargain of the century... and a better sounding unit (at least to my ears) than the decently reviewed D50s, which retails for 2.5x the price.

I can't comment on the whole line as I've only checked out the couple of pieces that I own, but it seems that the company is doing a very rare sort of thing in making great sounding, high value gear that's made in America. Another plus too from where I sit is that the stuff looks really nice too. I go for silver faced stuff and they really do that well... and the really modest, minimalist aesthetic is just what I like as well...

 

[Frank Sol]

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So, basically I am satisfied with my new equipment, but I could wish for silent operation too.

Your Hum problem is not uncommon with Schiit

 

[Tillerman]

Your Hum problem is not uncommon with Schiit

They admit as much when asked. This is the reply I got about the Aegir's transformers before I bought it.

The transformers will make a bit of noise unfortunately that's just a reality with 60Hz AC and transformers. They should be essentially silent from about 1-2 meters away or further.

 

[StimpyWan]

Some of the early production Aegir's used plastic stand-offs to mount the main transformer. In shipping, those stand-offs could crack. That could cause undue vibration and hum. Replacing the stand-offs corrected the issue. A Youtube video, on the Aegir, made the repair process look fairly simple.

 

[Tillerman]

Some of the early production Aegir's used plastic stand-offs to mount the main transformer. In shipping, those stand-offs could crack. That could cause undue vibration and hum. Replacing the stand-offs corrected the issue. A Youtube video, on the Aegir, made the repair process look fairly simple.

My Aegir is only a couple of months old, hence it is not early production. That said, if you have a link for the YT video please post it. I took a quick search on YT (Aegir transformer) and didn't find it.

 

[StimpyWan]

My Aegir is only a couple of months old, hence it is not early production. That said, if you have a link for the YT video please post it. I took a quick search on YT (Aegir transformer) and didn't find it.

I'm no longer seeing the Aegir video. Here's a Vidar assembly video, until I can locate the Aegir post.

 

[Tillerman]

I'm no longer seeing the Aegir video. Here's a Vidar assembly video, until I can locate the Aegir post.

I will check it out - thanks.

 

[runnin']

I’ve had several different Schiit dacs, and currently have the Modius, Modi 3+, Modi Multibit and Gungnir multibit. With the Freya+(what a Pre!) it presents an immersive 3D soundstage in which the speakers disappear. Listening to even old Diana Ross and the Supremes is jaw dropping. Karen Carpenter is simply stunning.

But I have no stranded copper anywhere in my system, and the speakers, Totem Arro, are manufactured by a speaker fanatic company. No pcb in the x-over, and the tweeters are apparently quite expensive. The amp is the Vidar.

I added all the detail because I believe that every detail matters. The music can be subtly degraded at any point in the chain. The Schiit guys REALLY know how to engineer components that are faithful to the signal.

The Asgard 3 is another stunning piece at the price point…

 

[Tillerman]

I’ve had several different Schiit dacs, and currently have the Modius, Modi 3+, Modi Multibit and Gungnir multibit.

I do have my eye on the Gungnir Multibit as a replacement for my Audio Alchemy DTI 2.0>I2S>DDE 3.0 Multibit set up. 2 features are attracting me to the Gungnir, the first being the Adapticlock (jitter reduction) which seems to be unique in Schiit's line and the 2 pair of RCA analog outs, which would allow a way for me to add a headphone amp to the DAC.

 

[RunOutGroove]

I’ve had several different Schiit dacs, and currently have the Modius, Modi 3+, Modi Multibit and Gungnir multibit.

I'm curious how you would compare those DACs, particularity the differences between Modius, Modi 3+, Modi Multibit models? I'm finding that the differences between my mew Modius DAC and the old Topping D50s that I was using to be pretty significant and though I kind of feel that I should be at a point where I "quit while I'm ahead," I can't help wonder how much better other Schiit DACs might be... or if the differences are more subtle. With the Modius, I feel like I'm getting a far more airy, 3D presentation and there's far more transparency in the treble. Cymbals, shakers and higher pitched drums like timbalies, frame drums and such seem faster with more overtones and smoother decay.

 

[hornbostel]

So an update on my system - first added was an Aegir, followed about a month later with a Saga S. The Saga S was a needful change because my venerable Audio Alchemy DLC's power supply died. Initially worried when this happened because my Aegir went into fault mode immediately. I looked through the Aegir's owner's manual and followed the instructions for clearing the fault, which worked as advertised. Once the Saga S came, I was back in business.

I am using these with Klipsch Chorus speakers and a VMPS Larger subwoofer. I should add that both Schiit items were installed in the middle of heating season here in MN. This is relevant to my observations below.

The Aegir with Klipsch Chorus has excellent sound quality and deserving of the praise, especially for it's price point. The Aegir is being compared to a Sony VFET TAN-5550, a Pass F3 clone and an EchoWars built DoZ class A amp. The feature I really love is the standby switch allowing the amp to be silent with greatly reduced heat and power draw.

The Saga S paired with the above also has excellent sound quality and channel matching accuracy, especially for it's price point. The Saga S is being compared to the Audio Alchemy DLC, a Yamaha C-2a and a Yamaha C-4. The operational feature I don't love is the light pop made through the Chorus speakers when switching inputs or shifting from passive to active mode. That is one of the "problems" of using such sensitive speakers, all gremlins are exposed further up the chain.

As winter is winding down I made a few discoveries because the forced air heat is off more of the time now (i.e. the ambient noise level is much lower).
First was a light 60 Hz hum coming from the Chorus woofers and the VMPS subwoofers. Following the diagnostic flow chart suggested by PS Audio, I discovered that in my system the Aegir and my Samson S1000 amp were interreacting with the Saga S. I tried all variations, but settled on a temporary ground lift on the Aegir and the Samson S1000 to completely quiet the hum. I have some of the recommended Ebtech/Morley HumX devices on order.
Second was noticing the transformer hum of both the Aegir and the Saga S. I live in a rural area with a factory dairy on the same piece of the grid as our house. Hence, we have had a history of "dirty" AC for all the years we have been here. I have tried various devices, most recently an Emotiva CMX-2 with limited improvements. This is only noticeable when the music volume is very low or stopped.

So, basically I am satisfied with my new equipment, but I could wish for silent operation too.

Sorry to hear about your 60 Hz noise issue. I have a pair of Aegir’s that I run as monoblocks with a Schiit Magnius as a preamp. The Aegir’s are dead quiet. The Aegir’s typically drive a pair of ADS L1230’s or JBL L100t’s. Both speakers are pretty efficient. Easy for the Aegir’s to drive. One Aegir sounds just fine. Currently driving a pairs of stacked OLA Advents. The Advents sound fantastic! The Aegir’s easily drive the stack.

 

[runnin']

I'm curious how you would compare those DACs, particularity the differences between Modius, Modi 3+, Modi Multibit models? I'm finding that the differences between my mew Modius DAC and the old Topping D50s that I was using to be pretty significant and though I kind of feel that I should be at a point where I "quit while I'm ahead," I can't help wonder how much better other Schiit DACs might be... or if the differences are more subtle. With the Modius, I feel like I'm getting a far more airy, 3D presentation and there's far more transparency in the treble. Cymbals, shakers and higher pitched drums like timbalies, frame drums and such seem faster with more overtones and smoother decay.

Going off of memory, the Modius has perhaps sharper details than the ‘Mimby’, which is the more analog of the two. It’s kind of a ‘which variety do you prefer’ kind of thing. If you can’t employ the XLR of the Modius, I think the Mimby has the edge.

I can’t remember which one does cymbals better, but they are both better than the Modi. It’s a great dac for the money, and some would never need to go further.

The Gungnir multibit is really something else in my set up. More detail without being forward, which allows an immersive soundstage as I mentioned above. But with some old vintage Paradigm Titans or Totem Dreamcatcher speakers, that gorgeous sound is just not achieved.

 

[Eric Garland]

I have one Schiit product, the Modi 3; its an inexpensive but very good quality DAC. I have two devices going into it...digital audio out from the CD player and also digital audio out from the HiSense TV. Since I have two input sources into the DAC I select on the front panel of the Schiit which input source I want to listen to...in this case I use the middle select position for the 4k TV, and the bottom position for the CD player. Super pleased with this little DAC, well built, awesome digital to analog conversion, and I paid $99.

 

[Frank Sol]

OLD SCHOOL

Schiit TYR... Mono Blocks

55 lbs. 12 lb choke. 160,000uf filter capacitance. 24 150W Toshiba output devices. 7 internal power supply rails, including HV boost rails that uses unique discrete CFP regulators. Sounds like overkill? It is. Tyr is our most insane amplifier ever, designed for driving difficult speakers without breaking a sweat.

8 Ohms: 200W RMS per channel maximum
4 Ohms: 350W RMS per channel maximum
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 3Hz-500KHz, -3dB
THD: <0.01%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 200W RMS into 8 ohms
IMD: <0.01%, CCIR, at 200W RMS into 8 ohms
SNR: >125db, A-weighted, referenced to full output
Damping Factor: >200 into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz

 

[Tillerman]

OLD SCHOOL

Schiit TYR... Mono Blocks

55 lbs. 12 lb choke. 160,000uf filter capacitance. 24 150W Toshiba output devices. 7 internal power supply rails, including HV boost rails that uses unique discrete CFP regulators. Sounds like overkill? It is. Tyr is our most insane amplifier ever, designed for driving difficult speakers without breaking a sweat.

8 Ohms: 200W RMS per channel maximum
4 Ohms: 350W RMS per channel maximum
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 3Hz-500KHz, -3dB
THD: <0.01%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 200W RMS into 8 ohms
IMD: <0.01%, CCIR, at 200W RMS into 8 ohms
SNR: >125db, A-weighted, referenced to full output
Damping Factor: >200 into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz

I can only imagine the mechanical hum those transformers will make...turn up the music louder!

 

[Frank Sol]

@Tillerman Just out of curiosity I'm waiting on a Review by a semi-impartial person

 

[DavidTT]

@Frank Sol thanks for posting about the Schiit Tyr above. That is one STOUT piece of equipment. A bit much for my needs but impressed that they're going to have that beast on offer.

I just added to my system a Vidar, Saga S and a Modi 3E. I previously owned a Modi 3 and a Sys, so I had a little familiarity with Schiit products. In my case, I've been on the search for a high quality, high current amplifier (Class AB) for my main system for a while now. I switched main speakers to pair of JBL Studio 590s and wanted much more power than my little NAD 316beeV2 could provide. In the last year I've cycled through amps from NAD, Adcom GFA-535, a Cambridge AXR100, Cambridge CXA81, and Yamaha A-S801. I finally decided to go to separates for the long term, which is where the Vidar, Saga S and Modi 3E came in.

I've been running them all just for two days now, but will make a few observations:

-First, I've had no noise or hum issues with the Vidar/Saga S combo. EDIT: After several hours of use today I stuck my ear right next to the Vidar and there is quiet transformer hum. If I move my head a foot+ away from the amp I hear no hum, but wanted to add that here for completeness and accuracy. The Vidar also has stayed cooler to the touch than my previous Class AB amps from Yamaha and Cambridge. Fit and finish on all three units is very good.

-The Vidar appears to be marvelously 'transparent' with outstanding control on the bottom and crystal clear highs. I don't discern a boost in any portion of the response, for which I'm very happy. If there is to be boost I want to control it, so I'm happy the Vidar and Saga S (in passive mode) are simply presenting what they receive. Within minutes of firing the system up I noticed a tightness and texture in the bass that impressed me compared to the Yamaha A-S801 it replaced. Dynamics are great, snare hits, kick drum, powerful passages all come across with authority and snap. I know people comment on the Aegir being more of a step into HiFi but Vidar offers solid, honest power and seems pretty damned HiFi to my ears. I'm really impressed.

-The clickety volume changes on the Saga S are interesting and a little odd but worth it since they ensure channel balance at every volume. The Saga's passive mode seems honest and noiseless, wire with gain. When I turn on the buffer mode there is a noticeable increase in bass and uppers, almost like invoking a 'presence' setting, but it seems a touch boosted in ways less clean than the passive mode. My wife preferred the sound with buffer on, but I prefer it off so far. Frankly I'm happy to have not gone with tubes in this case. I've had tubes and gone down the rabbit hole with changing them out and listening for differences and such, but for this system I just want clean, honest SS sound and the Saga S is a helluva thing for $300 IMO.

-The Modi 3E is really great IMO. I've not had high end DACs as I lean toward the vinyl side of things to date, but I prefer the 3E to the Modi 3 that I use in a secondary system and prefer them both to a Topping D50s and Topping D10 that I've used previously. At some point I'll spring for something like a Bifrost or Denafrips but these purchases together were enough for right now. I'm listening to the system right now and don't want for more from the Modi 3E.

-Considering current and heinous world events, I am very pleased that the money for these purchases went to an American manufacturer!

-The only downside so far is that the nice little aluminum remote control for the Saga S arrived non-functional. Schiit is sending a new one and I hope the problem is in the remote and not the Saga S.

I'm very happy with this gear. It's great that Schiit went beyond desktop devices and headphone amps. It's damned hard to find good stereo preamps these days that don't cost well above $1,000 and Schiit offers multiple options that are all under $900. Passive and buffered modes in their cheapest preamp? Yes please. The Vidar is also really something great IMO, an honest, clean, powerful amp that's just an amp. The Modi devices don't add gadgetry like tiny screens, filters, preamp functions; they are just excellent DACs that sound really natural, for a few bucks over a hundred. Great stuff.

 

[Tillerman]

Despite my comments about mechanical hum from both the Aegir and the Saga S transformers, I do agree with your comments @DavidTT regarding value for dollar spent and sound quality. The folks at Schiit told me that some mechanical hum from their transformers was not unusual, which is what I have experienced. I have indicated in a previous post that I live in an area with known dirty AC, which certainly aggravates this issue.

The separate issue of ground loop hum I was experiencing was eliminated by using the Ebtech/Morley HumX devices as recommended by Schiit in their owner's manual.