Schiit, interesting name...more interesting products!

[Folsom]

I wouldn't let the measurements stop me from enjoying something I like. If you're into it, that's enough.

 

[DaveyF]

Possibly in March. I'll try first with my passive pot, and if that is promising and the Yggy is a keeper, I'll go with a buffered passive stage. That would be the Schiit Freya. If you don't amplify, the tube stage does not become activated but it goes over a JFET stage. It comes with remote, 128 steps.

A good friend of mine recently acquired the Freya. To say he is smitten would be an understatement! Loves this preamp and feels it competes against tube and ss preamps up into the $5k range!
I need to go and have a listen for myself in his system, but I know he has a good ear and is not prone to hyperbole.

 

[Al M.]

A good friend of mine recently acquired the Freya. To say he is smitten would be an understatement! Loves this preamp and feels it competes against tube and ss preamps up into the $5k range!
I need to go and have a listen for myself in his system, but I know he has a good ear and is not prone to hyperbole.

Glad to hear! Good stuff all around it seems. Perhaps the Yggy/Freya route will be the answer to my DAC wishes, and I can save for Reference 3A Reflector monitors instead of an uber-DAC, the metal case work of which costs as much as an Yggy.

Many thanks again for starting this thread, Davey, and renewing my interest in those products.

 

[Al M.]

Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat have been in the industry a very long time. They've produced acclaimed (Theta Gen V, etc.) and noteworthy products (Sumo Electronics). While I would probably not choose that name for a product I like their irreverent style.

How many posts here and on the interwebs reflect a joyless pursuit of "perfection." For me, most of the time, being an audiophile is the pursuit of enjoying music. I think many audiophiles (and me) could lighten up a bit and spritz a bit of joy into their maniacal pursuits - but that's my perspective. You all get to choose for yourselves. I find Schiit's name and style are a welcome counterpoint. Perhaps stirring up some Schiit is what they had in mind. Kudos to them for their flare and products.

Totally agree!

From their website, about the Fulla DAC/amp:

“That tiny thing is a combined DAC and headphone amp? For $79? You’re Fulla Schiit!” you might be saying. And you know what, you’re right.

Hehe. I'm loving this...

 

[Al M.]

I have to say though, since I cleaned my signal cables (interconnects, speaker cables, AES/EBU digital cable) and signal connections with Deoxit Gold spray two days ago, my current DAC shows significantly more quality! It's amazing.

About that on another thread.

 

[DaveyF]

Al, one of the claims to fame of Schiit ( besides the name, LOL ) is that they do not believe in spending money on what they believe to be frivolous areas....like the casing. Apparently, they carefully pick parts that are crucial to the sound and do not spend money on others that are in their opinion--fluff. This is one of their secrets with holding down the pricing of their gear. This kind of makes some sense to me, except I happen to also believe that there are certain benefits to 'heavy duty' casing and superior parts all through. IME, the casing can knock down vibration and be highly desirable to ultimate SQ because of that ( ala my Rowland model 8Ti which is built like a brick house) and superior parts throughout can bode well for long term reliability. Clearly, one has to pay for these things.

 

[DaveyF]

I have to say though, since I cleaned my signal cables (interconnects, speaker cables, AES/EBU digital cable) and signal connections with Deoxit Gold spray two days ago, my current DAC shows significantly more quality! It's amazing.

About that on another thread.

Personally, I would NOT pay big $$ for the latest and greatest DAC. In the world of digital, and particularly the world of DAC's, the speed of change with the technology is so rapid that IMO today's SOTA, is tomorrow's boat anchor. Plus, the 'trickle' down effect is very evident and seems to occur fairly rapidly.

 

[Al M.]

Al, one of the claims to fame of Schiit ( besides the name, LOL ) is that they do not believe in spending money on what they believe to be frivolous areas....like the casing. Apparently, they carefully pick parts that are crucial to the sound and do not spend money on others that are in their opinion--fluff. This is one of their secrets with holding down the pricing of their gear. This kind of makes some sense to me, except I happen to also believe that there are certain benefits to 'heavy duty' casing and superior parts all through. IME, the casing can knock down vibration and be highly desirable to ultimate SQ because of that ( ala my Rowland model 8Ti which is built like a brick house) and superior parts throughout can bode well for long term reliability. Clearly, one has to pay for these things.

I agree, but if the milling of the casing costs extra money because of fancy curves and lay-out, this is a different matter. Then it has nothing to do with keeping vibrations down, etc.

Schiit also offers just one color for the Yggy. Keeps price down. Makes sense.

 

[Al M.]

Personally, I would NOT pay big $$ for the latest and greatest DAC. In the world of digital, and particularly the world of DAC's, the speed of change with the technology is so rapid that IMO today's SOTA, is tomorrow's boat anchor. Plus, the 'trickle' down effect is very evident and seems to occur fairly rapidly.

SOTA becoming boat anchor, hehe. Anyway, good point. However, some DACs in the upper echelons are upgradable, as also proven in practice. If that goes far enough long-term remains to be seen.

 

[Don Hills]

... is there an abridged version of why he chose that name? ...

Yes. From Chapter 4, where he describes a busy period in the early days:

“I’ve got schiit to do,” I’d tell Lisa, and disappear.

She’s endlessly patient, but one day, she’d finally had enough. “Why don’t you just call it Schiit?” she shot back, crossing her arms.

“Call what schiit?”

“The new company. You’re always saying you’ve got schiit to do. Why not just call it Schiit?”

At first, I laughed. A company called Schiit? No sane company would do that. If we proposed that name to any Centric client, I imagined what they’d say. Way too out there. Can’t believe you’d propose that. **** off too many people. What a crazy idea. Then they’d fire us.

But I’d had 15 years of marketing playing it safe, second-guessing everything we did, and watering down every great idea until it was meaningless. Maybe you can blame my decision on that history. Maybe it was nothing more than that.

And this company wasn’t about playing it safe. Hell, we were trying to reach Chinese prices here in the USA. And do it without a million-dollar investment. That was about as crazy as it got.

“Nobody would ever forget it,” I replied, finally.

“It would cut down your marketing costs,” Lisa agreed.

“And we could say we make some really good Schiit.”

Lisa laughed. “Why not? Go ape Schiit.”

“And Schiit happens,” I agreed.

“If you don’t have our stuff, you’re up Schiit creek,” Lisa added.

I nodded and sat back. Suddenly it didn’t seem so crazy. Hell, the word was meaningless for, what, 80% of the world that didn’t speak English? And if you spelled it funny, it could sound vaguely German.

Hell, the Teutonic connection opened up all sorts of stuff, including all the old Norse mythology. They named, like everything, from gods to spears to crows and forks. An endless source of non-alphanumeric names.

“Norse and German aren’t the same,” you say? Well, it doesn’t matter. We have comic books and movies to learn from. We’re dumb Americans. We mix stuff up. What’s more, we’re from California, where Thai-Mexican fusion food sounds like a good idea (and really is.)

And a name like Schiit would be unforgettable. Nobody could ignore it.

And, fact is, great marketing polarizes. Some people hate it. Some love it. An ad that hits the middle ground of “nice” is pure crap. Which is what most companies shoot for. Might as well cash out the whole marketing budget, roll logs of $100 bills, and have a big bonfire.

But we weren’t here to hit a nice middle ground. We were here to be unforgettable. (And hey, we didn’t have that many hundred dollar bills, either.)

And in that moment, everything gelled. We would be Schiit.

- Jason Stoddard, 2/19/14

 

[DaveyF]

Yes. From Chapter 4, where he describes a busy period in the early days:

Don, thanks for posting that. Cannot argue with their logic, LOL.

 

[wisnon]

Personally, I would NOT pay big $$ for the latest and greatest DAC. In the world of digital, and particularly the world of DAC's, the speed of change with the technology is so rapid that IMO today's SOTA, is tomorrow's boat anchor. Plus, the 'trickle' down effect is very evident and seems to occur fairly rapidly.

Some logic to that, BUT the rate of change has been slowing for a while. To think that the next 5 years will have even half the level of improvement as the last 5 is wishful thinking. The tech is prettty much played out and its more a finessing of the implémentations that is happening.

 

[ack]

Yes. From Chapter 4, where he describes a busy period in the early days:

“I’ve got schiit to do,” I’d tell Lisa, and disappear.

She’s endlessly patient, but one day, she’d finally had enough. “Why don’t you just call it Schiit?” she shot back, crossing her arms.

“Call what schiit?”

“The new company. You’re always saying you’ve got schiit to do. Why not just call it Schiit?”

At first, I laughed. A company called Schiit? No sane company would do that. If we proposed that name to any Centric client, I imagined what they’d say. Way too out there. Can’t believe you’d propose that. **** off too many people. What a crazy idea. Then they’d fire us.

But I’d had 15 years of marketing playing it safe, second-guessing everything we did, and watering down every great idea until it was meaningless. Maybe you can blame my decision on that history. Maybe it was nothing more than that.

And this company wasn’t about playing it safe. Hell, we were trying to reach Chinese prices here in the USA. And do it without a million-dollar investment. That was about as crazy as it got.

“Nobody would ever forget it,” I replied, finally.

“It would cut down your marketing costs,” Lisa agreed.

“And we could say we make some really good Schiit.”

Lisa laughed. “Why not? Go ape Schiit.”

“And Schiit happens,” I agreed.

“If you don’t have our stuff, you’re up Schiit creek,” Lisa added.

I nodded and sat back. Suddenly it didn’t seem so crazy. Hell, the word was meaningless for, what, 80% of the world that didn’t speak English? And if you spelled it funny, it could sound vaguely German.

Hell, the Teutonic connection opened up all sorts of stuff, including all the old Norse mythology. They named, like everything, from gods to spears to crows and forks. An endless source of non-alphanumeric names.

“Norse and German aren’t the same,” you say? Well, it doesn’t matter. We have comic books and movies to learn from. We’re dumb Americans. We mix stuff up. What’s more, we’re from California, where Thai-Mexican fusion food sounds like a good idea (and really is.)

And a name like Schiit would be unforgettable. Nobody could ignore it.

And, fact is, great marketing polarizes. Some people hate it. Some love it. An ad that hits the middle ground of “nice” is pure crap. Which is what most companies shoot for. Might as well cash out the whole marketing budget, roll logs of $100 bills, and have a big bonfire.

But we weren’t here to hit a nice middle ground. We were here to be unforgettable. (And hey, we didn’t have that many hundred dollar bills, either.)

And in that moment, everything gelled. We would be Schiit.

- Jason Stoddard, 2/19/14

Yeah I saw that and mentioned the "Schiit happens" in passing, later on. To me, this is nothing more than a childish conversation, not marketing at its best, or representative of a 15 year background in the subject. But this is just me.

 

[bonzo75]

Hey Bonzo,

I used to think that myself. Being a guy who preferred maximum resolution and incisiveness, I tended to congregate around cartridges of a similar ilk (Lyra's mostly, with a brief dalliance with a Decca). This was however on belt drives. Once I heard a Koetsu on an idler with a heavy arm, that all changed, and I abandoned my predilection for the cartridge having to make up for the lack of rhythmic drive I got from various belt-driven and suspended decks. Call that an opinion if you like (which, let's be honest, it most certainly is), but I gained some comfort in my decision to move away from the former toward the latter when I discovered Sugano-san voiced his cartridges on a Garrard 401.

Which has nothing - nothing - to do with the topic of this thread. (It's just great to talk idlers every now and then.)

Gentlemen, please excuse the intrusion. I apologise. It will not happen again. At least on this thread. I promise.

I think we are discussing different things. I don't see a Koetsu ever being as incisive/detailed/having higher frequency sharpeness, as a Lyra which was to address Al's point.

Rhythmic drive etc are different things

 

[Don Hills]

Yeah I saw that and mentioned the "Schiit happens" in passing, later on. To me, this is nothing more than a childish conversation, not marketing at its best, or representative of a 15 year background in the subject. But this is just me.

Nevertheless, for them it's working. But it's the sort of thing that's "funny once". It may not work so well for anyone else in the industry trying the same tactic.

Rather like the "Bugger" TV adverts by Toyota in Australia / New Zealand.

 

[DaveyF]

Nevertheless, for them it's working. But it's the sort of thing that's "funny once". It may not work so well for anyone else in the industry trying the same tactic.

Rather like the "Bugger" TV adverts by Toyota in Australia / New Zealand.

We presume the name is working for them...however, I question how may people have actually been put off by the name.
There is such a thing as 'negative marketing'. I'm not sure how they would know the possible damage that the name, or connotation of same, has actually done?? While on the face of it, we can see the possible marketing advantage; can we as easily ascertain the possible actual marketing disadvantage.

 

[opus112]

We presume the name is working for them...however, I question how may people have actually been put off by the name.

Quite a few I'd guess, Jason acknowledges this. The name is all of a piece with the products, so better that a potential customer not waste the company's time in buying then returning kit which doesn't suit them. Put the wrong kind of customer off right from the start is sound business practice.

There is such a thing as 'negative marketing'.

I don't believe so, as Margaret Thatcher once said 'there's no such thing as bad publicity'.

I'm not sure how they would know the possible damage that the name, or connotation of same, has actually done??

They weigh up the repulsion it creates in some (not target customers anyway) with the attraction felt by others and decide the balance is in their favour.

Incidentally Stereophile has their review of the Yggy up now - http://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-yggdrasil-da-processor#RzoK4OQOrLet3WSB.97

 

[Al M.]

Incidentally Stereophile has their review of the Yggy up now - http://www.stereophile.com/content/schiit-audio-yggdrasil-da-processor#RzoK4OQOrLet3WSB.97

Thanks, Opus.

There is your answer, Davey, on casing. The Yggy does offer a heavy duty case against vibrations, weighing 25 pounds, more than the one of my Berkeley DAC. It's just that there is no fancy milling involved, keeping costs down. Just a bent aluminum sheet.

 

[YashN]

The whole thread is quite interesting about some glitchy behaviour of the Yggy's DAC chip or filter if I remember correctly (I may be wrong about the exact cause and location of it), reported as audible by manisandher over at CA.

The end of Atkinson's measurements shows some issues for high-frequencies as well apparently.

 

[Al M.]

Interesting bits from the Stereophile review:

Through the Yggdrasil DAC, these same tracks sounded softer [than through the Mytek Brooklin]; the leading and trailing edges of tones seemed slightly attenuated. But Nico herself felt more comely and feminine. With the Yggy, my attention was drawn to the music's movement and momentum—and Browne, the composer, was more present.

Compared to the Mytek's master-tape–like grainlessness, the Schiit's sound was slightly textured, and dynamic contrasts were less evident. Nevertheless, with the Schiit, I noticed more Nico and fewer recording artifacts. Nico's signature detachment and introspection were emphasized.

That doesn't sound good. Less sharp transients, less dynamic contrast. But:

One thing was weird, and a bit perplexing: Through the Yggdrasil, the lowest and highest frequencies seemed less pure and well defined than through the Brooklyn—but with the Schiit, those same octaves seemed more realistic and tangible, less hi-fi sounding. The contrast reminded me of studio monitors and home audio loudspeakers.

Perhaps not so bad after all -- transients possibly less etched and artificial, and thus only seemingly less sharp?

Anyway, I'll hear the unit for myself sometime, hopefully soon.