New Schiit / Preamps and Power Amp (was Putting the Schiit Signal Up)

Discussion in 'Preamps' started by purr1n, Oct 6, 2016.

  1. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Yeah depending how good this ends up being, it could warrant some really high end tubes :)
     
  2. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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  3. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

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    Am I missing something? Y cables don't seem to be that great of an option to me. Using the Goldpoint switch would avoid impedance issues. Also wouldn't a Y cable mess around with the signal level the dac was sending to each preamp/headamp? Just like wiring to identical woofers in parallel cuts the impedance in half and increases power output from an amp?
     
  4. eastboundofnowhere

    eastboundofnowhere Facebook Friend

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    I think this might be veering off topic, but I guess since it is in relation to preamps. If you use the aforementioned balanced y-splitter, say to a headphone amp and a power amp from the Freya, does the load change if only one of the downstream components are turned on at a time? Does anything electrically change?
     
  5. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    When an amp is feeding two woofers in parallel, both woofers are fed the same voltage. However, from the amp's perspective that 8 ohm load becomes a 4 ohm load and thus it must supply twice the power. If you were pushing out 20W before, that jump to 40W might be too much for the amp.

    However, splitting the signal from a preamp to an amp isn't quite as a big a strain. Amps typically have input impedances on the order of 50k. Two amps in parallel would drop that down to 25k... whoopdee doo that's maybe a tenth of a milliwatt.
     
  6. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    What exactly would be the impedance issue? For one the y-cable would be applied to the preamp, not the DAC. In the case that we are talking about the Freya, Jotunheim and some Emotiva type amp then the resulting impedance would be ~24k-25k assuming the Jotunheim is 47k and the emotiva is 33k. This MIGHT be a problem when running completely passive. But the Freya also has a JFET and tube output which are 600 ohms and 210 ohms respectively. That's an impedance ratio of at least 40:1 which will not have problems. Maybe if you have an exotic amp with 600 ohm inputs you could have a real issue but this is not the case with most modern amps.

    Goldpoint honestly would be the ideal solution. The problem is that it's $400 for a switch box. Freya has multiple outputs and I'd rather just run one of them with the single ended output from the Freya. Or if I'm truly obsessed with balanced a connection I would just replug the cables myself every time.
     
  7. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    I have a question about Schiit preamps, basically I just need to know if I need one or not. Below is my audio setup:

    PC using JRiver Media Center 22 -> Schiit Wyrd -> Schiit Bifrost -> Schiit Valhalla 2 -> Headphones

    Do I need a Preamp and if so, what advantage would it have to my setup?

    Thank you for your time.
     
  8. trung225

    trung225 Facebook Friend

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    @The Alchemist : I don't think you need any preamp for your headphone setup, unless you want remote :D From my humble experience, preamps do four things:
    1. Provide volume control for your amplifier (normally Power Amp)
    2. Prevent impedance mismacht between source and power amplifier.
    3. Provide some gain for power amplifier when needed (for example low power amplifiers like Nelson Pass's First Watt series when driving some relatively inefficient speakers)
    4. Tweak your system.

    Your headphone setup do not have impedance mismatch, that type of problem normally happens in speaker world,. And with gain 15 (high gain) in Valhalla 2, you don't need more gain for headphones which usually pairs with Val 2 like HD650 or HD800. If you want to tweak your system, changing tubes in Val 2 is more than enough. The only advantage of having Saga or Freya in your setup is volume control, which provides better channel balance when listening in very low volume than the cheap Alps volume pot in Val 2. Unless your listening habit is low level volume, I don't think you need a preamp
     
  9. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    @trung225 already answered. I'll keep my answer as a spoiler

    @The Alchemist

    You don't have multiple sources or using speakers, so you certainly don't need a preamp.

    A couple reasons why you might still want a Saga (or other preamp)

    -you want accurate stepped attenuation for volume control
    -you have an extra long headphone cable and you like to sit back and listen on a comfy chair while the Valhalla stays on the equipment rack or desktop. In which case you might want remote volume control
    -your Bifrost stays far from you while the Valhalla is near you requiring long interconnect cables. an active buffer might be needed so the signal doesn't degrade
     
  10. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    thank you for your posts and help @trung225 and @Cspirou I really appreciate it!
     
  11. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    I'm curious how a tube pre in my 2.0 system will change the sound signature. Otherwise I don't think it's worth it.

    I have a Hegel H360 but REALLY wanting to try a Pass Labs INT-60. The exchange adds about 3,000 on an already expensive $9,000 unit though :(
     
  12. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I spent some time at a dealer auditioning the H160, and if the Schiit Preamp/Amp combo can best the Hegel stuff, I'll be impressed. From what the dealer said, the preamp and DAC sections of the 160 and 360 are identical - difference being in the power supplies and amp sections. One of my colleagues who owns the H160 might be upgrading to a PSAudio stack soon, and if he does, I would likely be able to borrow the H160/Gungnir Multibit stack he's running right now. I'll pull the trigger on the Freya once the Vidars are in stock and perhaps by that time I'll have the loaner H160 in house to compare.
     
  13. fierce_freak

    fierce_freak Friend

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    Freya shipped, currently scheduled for a week from tomorrow (need to just get it over with and move to California since everything's out there).
     
  14. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    I had a H80 for a while. It was lean and boring.

    I like the dealers who say "this cheaper integrated has the same circuit as the big boy, with a slightly smaller PSU".

    When you ask the other way, the big boy has a MUCH better PSU and circuit...
     
  15. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Saga (thanks @sphinxvc) and Freya (thanks to my wife for an awesome Christmas gift) incoming this week. I'll try to do a comparison but it will be weak until I'm using amplification more resolving than my cheapo $100 crown amps.

    Edit: saga came early! Holy moly.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2016
  16. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    Not the only thing that comes early in zerodeefex's house!
    [​IMG]
     
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    That was only that one time and you promised never to tell anyone.
     
  18. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Very eager to hear your impressions of the Freya!
     
  19. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    It will be a while. I have a long list of things to do before I can even use it with my crappy $100 crown amp.
     
  20. Pyruvate

    Pyruvate Friend

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    Freya internals from HF.

    [​IMG]
     

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