The Mike Moffat (#2 at Schiit) Blog

Discussion in 'Schiit' started by baldr, Dec 15, 2016.

  1. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    The lyrics seemed more cinematic than Rock album stuff to me. When it came out, I was listening to so much unusual music, it just struck me as the new Lou Reed album (which was a good thing). Looking back, I can imagine some RCA execs pooping their pants when they listened to it. I'm sure they couldn't imagine what was to come.

    Maybe the Gadget will turn They’re Taking the Children Away into a "feel good" song. ;)
     
  2. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    A double feature of Berlin and New York is the only cure I know of for the common cold.
     
  3. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    God, spare me from talking to myself. There are rumors (psst – did you hear) that no less than some very key players here are whispering to the world that we are about to come out with a new Yggdrasil analog board. Guess what! The only unsubstantiated rumor is that key players are talking here (read bullshit). It is true, however, that we have new analog boards, digi boards, input boards, all Yggdrasil boards except new USB boards. The only reason I don't have new USB boards anymore is that they finally were good enough to release.

    It seems I work on new boards all of the time around here. Now I know some of the chattering class out there may think that I have been so distracted with my R&D agenda that I forgot about my new board release directives, but that is not true. None of the boards I am still working on are yet good enough for public release. If I am going to offer a new whatever kind of board, YBYSA it will be a genuine fuckin' upgrade. That's why I have so few of them.

    But I did see Elvis in the Can Jam men's room at RMAF. No schiit.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2017
  4. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    Some semi-informed babble re DIY. Semi-informed, I say, because I read in other threads that Schiit killed DIY. Really? This is a serious question for me, as I have no background of staying awake at night scheming on how to kill DIY. Now I realize I threw the first cheap bomb with the introduction of the original Modi, but there was nothing nefarious directed towards the DIY hobby. I suppose that it stands to reason that if we make thousands of a Magni or Modi, our parts cost will be much lower than a similar unit offered it kit form at much lower quantities for DIYers. Is that it?

    In my youth, there were Heathkits and Knight-Kits and Eico Kits and a few others as well, but they were seldom cheaper, as some tech manual writer had to write assembly docs that were dead-on right. Then you get the customer service nightmares from those who got two or more wires backwards on assembly and the thing doesn't work. As a biz model in the spirit of Schiit, it sucks as it opposes kick-ass pricing. Impossible.

    Where I suffer some pangs of nostalgia is when I think of how much fun I had putting together kits in my youth. There is nothing like it, and when your unit is done, you automatically made it yours. Meanwhile, I am puzzled at how some think on this forum that Schiit killed DIY. Seriously.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2017
  5. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    DIY is alive, well, and not giving two shits about Schiit.

    From what I've seen, DIY has never been cheaper (all things being equal) than finished products (unless one starts getting into some very specific needs).

    Furthermore, I feel Monoprice, SMSL, Nobsound, Topping, and so on are probably much more of a cheap bomb than the sometimes more topology differentiated U.S. made Schiit products. And I don't think DIY gives two shits about those brands either.

    It's not value what drives DIY. DIY it's a real hobby (as opposed to the Headphoneus Supremus "hobby").
     
  6. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    @baldr the solution is simple. SchiitKiits. (Dr Cavalli has some DIY designs out there, not sure if they were ever sold by anyone in kit form)
     
  7. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    @baldr Schiit didn't kill DIY. Didn't even hurt it. If anything, the accessibility of your gear pulled more people into the deep end, increasing interest in seeing what could be possible for a reasonable price.

    The Magni 1/Vali 1/Modi 1 really dragged me in much deeper into this hobby than anything else. As I explored even further, I started getting into DIY. I don't think I'd have ever done the DIY thing without hearing your gear.
     
  8. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    I think its more a reference to Schiit's cost effective gear as opposed to what most people think of when they think of "hi-fi". There is a level of "Why bulid a Bottlehead Crack, when I can just get a Valhalla", but I'm sure that is so small...
     
  9. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    In my youth, I think I had just one go at a DIY kit. Pre-miniature days, it was a radio, with a mono headphone out, that would fit in a matchbox. The company had a standard rate for taking back the thing a customer had screwed up and sending out a working one. Who knows, maybe they made more from that than the kits. I'm sure I was far from being the only one inept with a soldering iron.

    Those Heathkit ads caused lust. However, just as I learned the hard way that I can take a clock apart, but cannot put it back together again, I guess that, as well as being unaffordable, deep down, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it anyway.

    Fifty-five years later, I am still inept with a soldering iron. I can manage a torch, though. It is just so unfair that electronic components can't be soldered at red heat!
     
  10. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Well, you can, you just need a really small torch, and since PCBs are harder to weld we have an intermediary softer metal mix to bridge between the component and PCB.

    Hmm.
     
  11. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    When I had more time, I was deep into DIY, having built multiple variations of a CMOY, some O2s, a Bottlehead S.E.X., and even attempted a balanced B22 build. A lot of my interest was for learning, customization, and achievement - but at the time, and of great interest to me, some of these amps were class leading in SQ, and a good value compared to what was commercially available. General progress in technology has made great sound very affordable, and the value proposition when looking at cost vs SQ for DIY has fallen off quite a bit. And though I haven't kept up on the latest and greatest DIY designs as of late, the old cream of the crop doesn't seem to be competitive with commercial offerings any more, especially when looking at high cost of good casework. Schiit certainly contributed to this scenario with excellent offerings that all look and sound great especially at the budget end, but they aren't the only ones. At this point, yeah, I would just buy a Schiit product rather than spend all the time and effort to build something that doesn't look or sound as good for twice the price.
     
  12. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    That is how I understood the original comment re Schiit/DIY.
     
  13. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    Nah, Schiit has done no harm to the DIY market.

    If you bought/built Dynaco kits like I did (or Heath Kits, like my dad), when I was a youngster, it's because you had an inherent passion about the sound, plus maybe a fascination with how does this work? Nothing Schiit has produced today has any effect on that. That's just something you had/have, or don't.

    Consider what our choices were then too. Not many. The DIY option was one of a small set of choices. That's not Schiit's fault that there are more choices now.

    That written, I admit, the aesthetics of Schiit gear appeals to me because it is a utilitarian look, often discrete designs, and yea, I don't need the box to look fancy or spam me with an overload of lights and switches. Definitely reminiscent of the DIY days.
     
  14. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    @baldr and @schiit -

    You both probably get a lot of criticism. Not sure if either of you have been told enough, but big thanks for products you have made. Hours and hours of pure bliss listening to music, and thank you both for making some amazing sounding products, at a price I could afford too.
     
  15. Larry Megugorac

    Larry Megugorac Craps on Filipino accents to ease inner poverty

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    My first receiver was a Heathkit!!! I was quite a thrill to plug it in and power it up for the first time.....All the lights lit up in the right places.....Damn...I can't quite remember the model number.....but I know I had it hooked to a 401 Garrard TT with Heathkit Speakers......Loved that system....my first one!

    I also agree with Darren G above.....my Yggdrasil has brought out a renewed appreciation of music......I now listen almost every day...and still am amazed by what I hear!

    I, at the very least, hear my Office system every day that's made of my iMAC > Bifrost Multibit/Jot/Audioengine combo!!! TGFS!!! Thank God for Schiit!
     
  16. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

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    When I was 12, several of us went in on a Heathkit walkie-talkie set. Pretty sure it was more than the assembled ones from Radio Shack, but had more range. Great fun. I remember we where so nervous about putting in the transistors (they were expensive in the 60's) that we asked one of Dads to do it. Never did get the DIY bug though. I always would find something else to get into. I think I started building my own telescopes from Edmond Scientific kits after the Heathkit adventure.
     
  17. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I would never hire me to build electronic gear. As Harry Callahan would say, "...a man's gotta know his limitations."
     
  18. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    Well, for now the gadget is ready to put into production. On the back end of RMAF, the response to it was a bell curve – there were some who couldn't stop talking about it, some who couldn't tell what it was doing, and the majority were agreed on the fact that it had a sweet spot. This is pretty much what I expected. The majority also returned again to audition it for a second time, which I believe bodes well for its future, We are echoing these experiences at the Schittr. The next Gadget (Little Boy) would be a Bifrost or Gungnir sized box which allows for different temperaments. This requires significantly more processing power, hence the larger box.

    Before we do that, however, we need to implement our own USB implementation in a small microprocessor. Those of you who bought and are continuing to buy Gen V's should not be concerned, as this is a project primarily for our least expensive DACs. Why? Well, the availability of less expensive DAC chips is primarily Delta Sigma, which suffer from high levels of sonic fucktivity. Getting rid of Delta Sigma chips would be for me an event similar to curing cancer. There are other cheaper proper multibit DACs around, but they will not interface to either ds high fucktivity dacs without the presence of a microprocessor to set up the DAC in a software sense to properly work. Therefore the project to implement UAC2 (USB2 Audio) in a cheap processor of our choosing. Until then, we are not free from the sonic bondage of Delta Sigma below the $120 at lower price points.
     
  19. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    Just noticed this: "DOTARDS WILL BE BANNED ON SIGHT" f**k, I'm in deep shit! At least most of parts are original, I'm still not senile (arguably) and everything still works!
     
  20. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I think you earned a pass... Haha
     

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