Schiit Syn Review, Discussion, Impressions, Measurements

(OK the above is just me being silly but as someone firmly entrenched in personal audio for the foreseeable future cuz living space for good speakers is not cheap I feel that while my distaste for DSP may be immutable with respect to pure music listening, something like this would be PERFECT for games)

 

I know this old but wondered how everyone is feeling about the Syn now?

I have two pairs of SVS Prime Wireless that I was thinking about running in 4.1 with the Syn.

Has anyone used this in a 4.1 setup and feel like they would benefit from using an actual center channel?

Thank you for any information you can give!!

 

My Syn is in my 7.1.4 ATMOS system, acting as a second source at 5.1. I am using the top rear ceiling speakers as the surrounds. The Syn is a lot of fun. I am feeding the Syn with the URD transport. This gives me three inputs: CD, iPad USB for Apple Music 2-channel ATMOS, and USB from a PiCorePlayer Squeezelte endpoint.

I am working on an article about the URD for Audiophile Style.
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My Syn-less kit is: five passive ceiling speakers, a sub, an MRX720 AVR, a Yggdrasil DAC, and a smart LG TV. I use Roon to manage and stream sound. I read about Syn and was intrigued, but I don't see how it would fit into my system. To me, Syn reads more like a replacement, which I'm not interested in, rather than an enhancement, which would interest me.

So, suffer the NOOB: relative to the above setup, where would Syn go? Somewhere between the TV and the speakers, I figure. But would Syn then output to the AVR? Alas, my inputs for my AVR are either HDMI, RCA stereo (2 per source), or digital. So, I don't see a fit, but I'm rather stupid.

In advance, thanks for any help. JohnV

 

Yeah, if you plan on keeping the AVR then the Syn doesn't fit into that system. It's basically a 5-channel preamp with cool adjustable matrix decoding, computer-compatible USB input and headphone + 5ch line outputs. I use mine as a headphone amp in a gaming rig. Maybe if you wanted a small surround setup in a bedroom or office?

 

I prefer using the Schiit Syn for a home theatre setup to running any number of low end AVR's I've tried. Sure less is coming through than with an AVR though what is there comes across as more natural and lifelike. Likely due to using a little 8x Phillips TDA1387 DAC to the Syn, and Duelund RCA leads to 3x Topping PA3s amps. It gives a natural colouration and richness that I find enjoyable and importantly my Windows 11 media PC allows me to turn on volume normalization so I'm not forever adjusting the volume.

Output from the passively cooled minipc does via USB to the DAC and HDMI straight to the UST projector. Nothing to go wrong whereas I had no end of issues getting AVR's to detect the projector and remembering which input was which was a royal PITA given the setup was only used occasionally. For a simplified setup which just sounds right the Syn is fantastic.

 

Is there a recommendation regarding the placement of the Syn before or after a Passive Preamp? As in, the Syn placed in between DAC and Passive Preamp or placed between Passive Preamp and Amplifier? Single source setup. Respects,