Hacking Schiit

I have on my desk a few pieces of Schiit, but have been playing a bit more lately with a Vali 1. What a great amp.

I have a few of these little guys and was running two of them as a dual mono setup prior to playing with this one. It ended up swapping a bunch of the capacitors out to give some diff. flavors, but I think the best change has been adding a second set of tubes!



Probably not great for the longevity of the amp, but man does it sound great with acoustic music. The reverb, and trailing notes (particularly from guitar) are a bit prolonged and really make for a "full" experience. The sound reminds me of being at a live show at an ampitheater where the reflections add a fullness. Quite a lot of fun!

 

That looks like quite the beast

 

Looks great, but next time please shell out $5k for NOS blackgate caps on the low voltage sections.

 

Ok, here it is, a Schiit Sys with a r2r attenuator using 1% Vishay resistors and point to point wiring with Mogami cause I hate via's.





It's definitively more macrodynamic, microdynamic and somehow less fatiguing. It's weakness is it doesn't really add anything either. Volume steps are less than I'd like as well. IMO the crack acting as a pre-amp sounds better due to warmth which the Akitika needs, but I don't want to warm tubes or fiddle with wires before I listen to music in the office. Next up is a 789 that is staring at me funny so it needs a r2r attenuator as well.

 

I have the original Vali 2. I can sell it or mod it. Are there by recaps or mods folks tried?

 

Ohhhhh I'd be interested in that. Keep us in the loop!

 

Posting about it in the 789 thread here https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/massdrop-x-thx-aaa-789.5852/page-23

 

Has anyone messed with the MM2's opamps? Want to tame the highs somehow, seems to work with a buddys Lyr 3, but with my V226 it is borderline unbearable, even in NOS, with Piety it is not listenable for longer periods...
Really like it other than that, even got a Vali 3 on the way to see what can be done.

 

Yeah... $old it, tamed them quite nicely.

 

Anyone changed AD5781ARUZ to BRUZ in a BF2, or considered it? I just snatched a OG BF2 board off of eBay and am thinking about it. It would improve INL from ±4 to ±0.5 LSB.

I do remember Jason writing, more than once, that improved INL does not equate to better THD or other measurements. Not that I care about the measurements. Cause, hey, wasn't the Gungnir using the BRUZ? Must be *some* reason for thinking "B" is for Better.

The board I bought is a green BFM4 one with Würth caps. I have read that some people recapped them, saying that there is an audible difference to the BFM3 board with Nichicon caps. Is the BF2 not DC-coupled? If so I wonder if this may be more nervosa than an actual thing.

 

I'm skeptical that such a swap would play nice with the DSP/firmware, but maybe I'm out of my depth.

 

Should be good. Like the 11001B was a drop-in replacement for the 11001A in the Yggdrasil, or at least the MIL-F prototype, the BRUZ should be drop-in for the ARUZ. No other changes as per the datasheet. It’s just higher spec.

Only one way to find out for sure though…

 

Anyone have issues when swapping opamps on the Modi Multibit? Have tried two sets of OPA2156, first time I thought I might have used too high soldering temperature, but no luck thus far. Getting a hum in one channel and crackling in the other. Using Cardas solder with flux paste and have made sure solder connections are clean and strong. If anyone has any ideas, I'd much appreciate it in case it helps to go from paperweight to functional DAC again. Pic of soldering job below. Thanks in advance.

 

Would it be right to assume that either the chip is faulty or a short snuck up somewhere in your soldering?

 

I’ve had several sets of chips, so doubt that the problem. Possibly soldering, but can’t see any shorts under a magnifying glass. Can always try to reflow solder again though.

 

You have a couple of the solder blobs sitting on vias (the wholes in the board). Those vias may be making a connection to some trace within or on the other side of the board. I would clean up those blobs and see if it fixes things.

 

"It almost sounded like congestion and something holding it back". I think what everyone doesn't realize is the Max voltage for OPA 1656 & 2156 is 36v ( AD8512 is 15V Max). When it comes to powering transient, soundstage & bass, the original caps can't keep up with the draws from the TI Opamp.

Realizing this on the first day, after swapping AD8512 => OPA1656, for the first 30 mins, music was extremely delightful, to an unimaginable realm of belief, slowly after that, everything sounded worse... even worse than having the original Opamps. I decided to do a little research with my friend and decided to upgrade the power supply capacitors (2) to 63VDC with 2200uF.

Let me tell you guys something... the Bifrost modded with OPA 1656 in IV & buffer (DC servo later) + new Caps kick the Gungnir Multibit MB in the balls. Only things the Gungnir Multibit MB does better is the laid back quality.... but I & my wife (especially) prefers the modded Bifrost.

And for the records, I don't own any headphones nor will I ever think about owning one (at least in the near future). My current set up is Gungnir Multibit MB or Biforst MB Frankystein Mod + Odyssey Kismet+++ amp and Odyssey Tempest Extremely modded with Fritz Speakers with modded crossover.

I have not tried the OPA2156 ( have them in my closet) but I want to enjoy the OPA1656 to the max before swapping it out to the 2156. So don't ask me how I think about the OPA2156..... I clearly don't have a clue.

I want to give back to this community, as you guys help me unlock the full potential of my Bifrost. Looking forward to perfecting this Beast with all y'all.

Before: https://ibb.co/vVkSGRf

After: https://ibb.co/0yN8rfR

Edit: Sorry I don't know how to upload image to this forum, been lurking for a year now but haven't posted anything, please use the link for now...

 

Perhaps I'm misreading this, but neither the op amps nor the power supply capacitors determine the power supply rail voltage. Additionally, the op amps don't "draw" voltage-- they draw current. The supply voltage is constant regardless of the capacitor voltage rating, provided that the voltage rating is greater than the voltage applied to the capacitor. You can easily check this by measuring the voltage across the capacitor pins using a voltmeter.

It's also worth mentioning that the AD8412 is a +/-15V part and not a 15V part. To use TI language, this makes it a 30V part-- just 6V short of the OPA parts. This shouldn't be used as a figure of merit, though. If there's one op amp power supply spec that can infer better quality, it's likely quiescent current. Higher bandwidth and lower noise require more current.

That said, the big Mundorf electrolytics may sound better than stock for a number of reasons.

 

I'm just interpreted what my friend told me, there might be some holes in my knowledge as I'm not an engineer like my friend... just an average audioholic.

With that being said, if you or any members can help me explain the benefits of the new caps... I would really appreciate it.

however, the new caps definitely store enough reserve for the Op amp mod. It's just so much smoother, sweeter and better, even the bass are much more in control... I wasn't expecting much on this Caps Mod, but boy oh boy, it works wonder.