darmok

... you guessed it: the recording. Goddamnit, LSO Live, would you please hire a real recording engineer for once?

Oh funny, I didn't hear hum, but the rest of that I agree with. Haven't tried MJ3 yet but this all has kinda put me off of it. I guess it's a good reminder that different isn't better and Pietus is still awesome.

I'd argue that you might be doing more good to share these impressions in thread since only ever saying nice things about a product is a great way to lose sight of the ground. I remember you were much less enthused about the Magni Unity than I was (I mean it IS a Magni) and tbh I get it-- preferences account for a lot. Hell, some people prefer Spotify to YT Music :P

Yeah, start a thread @darmok. I'll try to share some impressions as well. I forgot we don't have a thread for Asgard X yet.

Is this the 250R version?

What does "if you're into that sort of thing" mean in this context?

@joch DT 1990 Pro OG was only 250R

@ilikebananafudge_ ”if you can accept the brightness”. Not everyone likes Beyers…

@schiit Back to back with Pietus, Jot 2, Vali 3, the Asgard X just seems to struggle. Everything’s there, but the relative balance of everything changes so quickly I can’t keep track and it just reduces to a wall of sound. e.g. when the guitars come back in Displaced at about 5:00, they just sound really flat and tin-can-ish on Asgard X.

@schiit Everything also sounds about 10x slower than it is on Asgard X, which is usually a side effect of a distortion profile I just don’t get along with. Again, this could be the intended tuning! I’m not passing judgement on that part since I’ve heard this kind of thing before and know some folks like it. I just don’t!

@schiit So long story short, I’ll shoot an email over for a RMA, and if I decide not to swap it for another one, maybe I’ll see about transmogrifying it into a Valhalla 3 :-)

wrt to bright lights on devices - have you tried just taping them over?

@penguins oh yeah, I’ve got plenty of little bits of electrical tape on things. The annoyance I have with the Soekris DACs is that (a) it’s hard to get all the bleed around the LED numeral display and (b) if you’re using it as a headphone amp or preamp, you kinda need to see that sometimes, but it never times out!

Wonder if there is a "update" that can be applied to the Soekris DACs for this (given that downloadable filters, they can be end user updated, etc). I have had a few Soekris DACs myself and the lights don't bother me, but they're definitely on the brighter side.

@pure5152 weirdly, I tend to hear differences right away, then as I spend more time listening I’ll talk myself out of it, then eventually I’ll relax and get back to less focused listening and hear all the things I originally heard again. Very rarely does my impression of a DAC change much in the end. Amps tend to be harder to pigeonhole, especially since it takes time to work through the DAC and headphone synergies.

interesting! I think I'm the opposite, I tend to hear differences in amps more apparently but it can take some time for me to really get a grasp of certain dacs. of course I think it also depends on the character of the dacs/amps and such-- like I feel it's easier to feel the difference between rounded tube amps and neutral solid state amps, and also between non-schiit delta sigma amps and comboburrito filter dacs

@darmok I agree with you, find it hard to believe it's close to Gungnir 2, the difference in hardware is too great. But it was in an Asgard X.

But... It's fun being wrong!

@Thad E Ginathom You're wrong about that.

Oh Good! :)

@likearake My recommendation is the FiiO DM13. Outside of not handling pre-emphasis correctly (none of the new portables do) it’s the most consistent and the build is the best for a portable.

EC Zero T has really nice but slippery glass hardware, and I’m still not certain whether I like the sound. The Moondrop is an OK alternative too, but it always sets the emphasis flag on S/PDIF which will cause some DACs to incorrectly apply de-emphasis. Just as a portable on its own, it’s fine too.

Thanks! Really appreciate your thoughts.

nice-- I also have an Asgard X coming in (my silver one finally shipped). am excited to compare it with the magni unity, which I still feel is incredibly underrated here. I can post impressions but am hesitant because I use only the OAE1 nowadays, which doesn't seem to be well-loved here (but I still love for its holographic layered soundstage and natural tonal balance to me after brain burn-in)

@pure5152 Yup, I ordered silver too and mine also shipped today. I'm actually pretty curious about the OAE1; might have to try that out at some point!

the oae1 is weird b/c the angled drivers cause a phase shift in the treble (it gets reflected from outer to inner ear, causing a timing delay)— as a result it sounds pretty muffled/muddy on first listen, but after the brain adapts it does start sounding more holographic and natural. the downside is once acclimated all other 90deg drivers start sounding flat/"off"— still worth a listen just to experience it I think!

https://www.youtube.com/live/y59IrA7KMBo

I grew up in their youth orchestra, working with members who are still there to this day. They really are a wonderful orchestra, and Orchestra Hall is an amazing concert hall!

@Qildail I'm on the same boat, too much Schiit

@darmok Do you prefer the Mimir over the Modius E via transformers?

@joch I haven’t tried MImir with transformers yet, but I don’t really feel like I need to. Mimir is ahead in all aspects to Modius E + PI-2XX.

Balanced out impressions? Let me know if I'll need a cigarette for after.

Pentatone is great. Easily one of my favorite classical labels.

Product line advancement/refresh vs new product.

Unless that was rhetorical, if so, sorry for being gullible and interrupting!

It all started because the number 4 is not unlucky in some cultures. And that is why the + and the ++ and then just the name. It mostly is confusing on the used market because some just sell and list as a “Yggdrasil”and there are many versions now.

I asked and it won’t: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up.701900/post-18666072

@roderickvd drat. That response is both true and irrelevant: it doesn’t say why they chose not to implement it. Hopefully we’ll get more clarity or a firmware update at some point.

You see we’re teaming up there ;-) seems USB hardware volume control was not yet fully understood. And so perhaps not considered. Hope this helps.

Nonetheless, they still want you to buy their USB conditioners and power supplies :) (but of course you can use those in front of non-iFi things too).

Used to think I was deaf for struggling to differentiate but yeah, Thorsten did seem to do a great job with those units. Barring the need for greater power delivery it's kinda just a case of nervosa no?

Probably not given the in-house development of their own delta-sigma solution.

@internethandle forgot about that, genuinely rather exciting to eventually try out. Still, wonder why they specifically went with ESS after the AKM shortage a while ago

I much prefer Cirrus and Texas Instruments DACs over ESS stuff, it's just way more natural sounding.