The Mike Moffat (#2 at Schiit) Blog

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

  1. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    idk 'phones'; I have a 5 yr old DAP of acceptable quality that will also send/receive calls, texts & emails, and on which I can load little programs that tell me what the weather is like.

    Pretty cool, I reckon.
     
  2. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    I worked on the Robot OS for a while, and it's also got plenty of fuckery. Haven't look at the fruit OS, but it works.

    I told my older dad you can get a new battery for $29 bucks, and the fruit people told him your phone has a 1 degree bend it, I can see it, and then persuaded him to buy a new phone ... so they are slime balls too.


    You got it @baldr - Schiit is a great company so long as someone is at the helm who won't let it devolve into a drove of idiots and weasels.
     
  3. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    The fact that I just paid half price for the latest upgrade by installing a new board in my 5 or so year old device should be customer service enough for anyone. How cool is it that my older device is not only still serviced, but does not have to go onto planned obsolescence?
     
  4. loki993

    loki993 Facebook Friend

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    "window pane" ? Os??? Windows phone? I believe that's been dead for at least 2 years now....

    Ok looked it up apparently its officially been dead for a year but its figuratively been dead for much longer....

    I can say that because I had one...loved it actually...but man the app availability suck and you can say it doesn't matter, I tried to say it too, it's a lie it does...a lot

    I like new phones but I don't buy them when they come out, so I don't pay full price for anything..that's how you do it. I just gave the GF my Note 8 and I got a good deal on a Pixel 2. Love the note 8 but it was a heavy SOB. There are things I like about the Pixel 2 and things about it that drive me absolutely crazy...and no actually the screen isn't one of those. People make a big deal out of the "pure google" experience and I have to say after coming from the Note I can confidently say the pure google experience is a bit overrated. Everything they say about the pixel 2 camera though is absolutely true. this from a guy that's flashed ASOP on every android phone I could on.

    I love that the Sol is finally getting close....I am a bit disappointed that it's not coming this year though..but make it good..I can wait.

    Plus I have to find my good vinyl....sounds odd to lose a box of records I know..but dammit I moved recently and I have a collection of records that I kept separate from the others because they were my new ones or special ones. I've looked everywhere I can think of and I can't find the anywhere....its driving me crazy.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2018
  5. musicfirst

    musicfirst Almost 60, supposedly still hears ant farts

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    Sorry for the double post. See the post below..
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2018
  6. musicfirst

    musicfirst Almost 60, supposedly still hears ant farts

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    For Jason and Mike's latest thinking on upcoming products including Schiit Amps, turntable the Manhattan / Gadget as well as Mikes 10 year plan/wish list, check this out this interview with Johnny Darko...



    Kerry
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2018
  7. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    Wow, lots of great info on 'Sol'. Very impressive if it works out as planned. I never really thought it would come in at less than 1k, so 700.00 is (potentially!) fantastic news. And only 200.00 for a spare arm. With the stand alone motor and unipivot arm it might put a real dent in VPI sales. That first run of a thousand could sell out very, very quickly.

    Odd they didn't mention Conrad Hoffman by name.
     
  8. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    God forbid I forget Conrad! The Sol would NOT be happening without him, and yes, indeed on it goes and is clearly in production as we speak. All component parts are ordered. I don’t know what Jason has posted, but four of us visited our new foundry last week. Compared with our other candidate, it was much less dangerous. There were no open vats of molten aluminum lurking in open, ill-lit, production space awaiting some person like me to trip and fall in, face first. The entire atmosphere was quite huge and sanitary, with all molten aluminum at least twenty feet distant from any visitors or employees. A production line of cast parts came out of the mold on a conveyor belt, rather than being pulled from beneath molds by workers with three inches thick thermal gloves. The good thing about the first foundry was that the staff had to be hyper-aware of hazards at all moments. The much safer and modern new foundry allowed all to concentrate on the quality of the parts without eyes darting towards various fatal hazards all within inches to feet. The first foundry candidate had machines the size of very small cars like smart cars. The current foundry I found and chose has machines the size of short railroad cars.

    I digress. All of the parts for the Sol itself are now ordered; the only exception is the shipping box and the tools for assembly. Tony is gathering up a list of the tools as I write. Yup that is tools – several of them. This is assembly required. Definitely not some turnkey cheapass turntable designed to plug and play. It will be necessary for the user of the Sol to know some important turntable fundamentals which optimize setup for maximum performance and maximum cartridge and vinyl life. The better your TT is setup, the happier your records, and the happier your cartridge. Since it doesn’t take long for your vinyl to be worth more that your Sol and cart combined, this is important.

    Most of the cheapass tables are sold prefitted with entry level cartridges. The Sol will work well with far better ones. We will make some videos which, among many other concepts, explain why setting your tracking force (playing weight) too low can f**k up your records far worse than setting it too high. If you are going to get the most out of vinyl, it requires some effort on your part. I know, there are those who will eschew vinyl for either theoretical or practical reasons.

    It is not my purpose to display any cavalier attitude toward digital sources either streamed or played from physical media. Lord knows I was on the receiving end of many such attitudes when I made the Theta very early digital products. I made the Sol because there is some nearly ineffable aspect of analog (continuous over time) record/playback. It’s scarcity in the context of the entire sonic experience makes it more valuable. Few have the patience for this.

    This is neither evangelism nor suggestion; I believe this. If you do not, that is fine. I love all audio so I build products for digital media and soon will make products for physical digital media as well. True happiness is based on liking what you have rather than wanting what you do not. Here comes the preaching: This is a hobby; enjoy the passing parade of music.
     
  9. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    You have a talent Mike. It's very difficult to make people laugh. But you can make people laugh with the written word which is exponentially more difficult.
     
  10. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Assumed you meant Joseph Conrad, and was wondering what twisted, inescapable human destiny had led to this point. The description of the first foundry giving me mental pictures like scenes out of Apocalypse Now, it seemed appropriate.

    Then I checked the previous post on the previous page and found I was wrong. Disappointing, in a way!
     
  11. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    I mentioned in one sentence that we'd gone to the new foundry and that it was much more first-world than the last one; I'm thinking of reasons to go back mainly to go to Wicked Cow burgers nearby and get a burger and some local beers. If all of our new chassis end up cast, you now know why.

    But yeah, Mike said it better than me: the new casting facility is much more confidence-inspiring than the one we first visited. They even have robots scooping the molten aluminum and robots spraying the Pam™ (or whatever the hell ass non-stick shit they use in casting) between shots.

    And seriously, casting could open up some interesting new ways to do chassis, but we're still in the we'll-see phase on that. Which reminds me, I need to contact the casting company about some questions I had...
     
  12. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    ...new cast heat syncs for new Schiit uber amps.
     
  13. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    If you’re walking around that old-school foundry and come across this, it’s probably not a great sign...

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Iunno I won't mind having my audio gear made by the foundry that prevented the robopocalypse.

    Can't get a better guarantee than that wrt your gear not achieving sentience and murdering you in your sleep.

    Kinda surprised California doesn't have a label and certification program for that still.

    :drunk:
     
  15. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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  16. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    How many parts are being cast?

    I am guessing plinth and motor housing. What about the platter?
     
  17. aamefford

    aamefford Nothing like chamberpot coffee

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    First foundry description had Zappa “The room where the torture never stops” playing in my head as I read it.
     
  18. baldr

    baldr Schiit-sterer

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    Plinth and platter are cast and finish machined. Motor Housing is a stock can.
     
  19. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Will the platter need weights to make it balanced? Long ago I owned an Acoustic Research ES-1 turntable that had a cast platter, and it had weights attached to the rim on the underside of the platter, not unlike the weights a tire shop puts on a wheel during balancing.
     
  20. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Does this mean a CD transport is still in the works? I expect Sol is taking up a lot of your time, but if a Schiit transport is likely coming down the line in a year or two I'll just wait rather than shopping around for something else.

    Indeed. Thank you for what you do.
     

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