NOT: Theory on the new Schiit

You're prob right, maybe a dumb upnp os only, with no easy access to the flash, other than that -- yeah scrap it

 

"We may all be able to help ourselves here, but I have a feeling..."

Lol. SBAF quote of the day.

 

Dang, the SchiitShow is just under 2 weeks away! From lurking around, I've noticed Jason say their DAC line-up is perfect for the moment, and that this won't be the weird all digital Schiit device or their two-channel stuff. Their FB says "We think it's going to make one entire category of products look, well...very last-decade." I am guessing that this is going to be a new amplifier. I don't think sources or USB gizmos could have any radical improvements. All just theory and speculation of course. It'd be sweet if they made an Asgard sized device that could do both headphones and speakers, like a mini-raggy.

 

Umm, so @baldr has posted something pretty interesting in his HF thread;

Q: How hard would it be to add an analog-digital converter to Mani?

A: It would be a superior engineering solution to put the A/D module in a separate box. It would be a very interesting goal to produce such a box and have it available by say, late winter, at an affordable price.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/784471/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been-robert-hunter/975#post_12790327

 

HINT HINT

 

Sounds like an external ADC. I read Mike had made *very* large multibit ones for a studio a while back. (This was in Schiit Happened) My guess is a sigma-delta and a multibit ADC in a mani sized chassis.

 

Maybe I'm daft, but other than vinyl rips what is the broad application of such a device?

 

I was wondering the same. Maybe microphones which output analog signals?

 

Well, if it's not battery powered then it will offer no benefit to my grateful dead, phish, yonder mountain (?) bootlegs and field recordings of bird calls.

 

Thinking about what Jason had ruled out, and said all else is on the table, I wonder if Schiit has any plans for an audio interface. It could output analogue into a multibit ADC box... I feel that would be great, allowing smaller bands and so on to record their music with that multibit magic.

 

Yeah, ok that could be really cool, I just wonder how big that market is. Will be interesting to see either way.

 

Well I hope an ADC isn't the thing they're hyping up for the Schiit Show. I don't do my own needledrops so I don't have any use for an ADC. A new more affordable balanced amp though? I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.

 

Well with Schiit having ~19 products or w/e they're mucking with, I'm sure an ADC could exist. However, I highly doubt that it is what's being hyped up at the Schiit show, as an ADC wouldn't directly benefit most people. Of course, a good, cheap multibit ADC/audio interface could be a drastic improvement for garage band/low budget audio production, and better quality recordings wouldn't hurt anybody.

EDIT: Also, on the Schiit FB page: It’s time to go beyond “2s” and “3s” and “Ubers.” It’s time for radical rethinking.
I definitely don't think it'd just be an ADC, it seems as if it's a "radical" improvement to an existing line Schiit has.

 

Schiit turn table i bet

 

This is why I'm hoping Jason's worked out some new balanced topology that gives you great sound gains at a lower price. Right now it seems like a person would have to pay $800 or more for a good new balanced amp (thinking LC and Mjolnir 2 here, not including the closeout Mjolnir 1). What if Schiit's worked out a way to get sound close to a Mjolnir 2 or Ragnarok but for the price of an Asgard 2 or Valhalla 2? That would be huge. I'd swap out my Valhalla 2 for that, easily.

I feel like Jason's been talking about lower prices a lot lately, which is what put that idea in my mind. They may have a balanced equivalent of the Vali 2 on their hands.

 

What does that mean for stacking then? Balanced DAC topology will always start at Gungnir.

 

You can already stack a smaller amp on one of their bigger DACs, I don't see why this would make a difference.

Maybe I'm wrong but we know Schiit doesn't gimp new products to protect old ones, if they have figured out a way to give us better sound at a lower cost (whether that be through balanced or some other breakthrough), they'll release it and we'll all just have to deal.

I could be way off but it's been made clear that the Schiit Show is focusing on the headphone crowd and is looking to make a whole line of products obsolete. DACs aren't just for headphones and they just released the Momby anyway. I highly doubt this is a Wyrd replacement or a Mutec competitor. To my mind that leaves amps.

 

Balanced Bifrost would be pretty sweet.

 

Stick a pair of audio grade transformers on the outputs. Done. Can be easily purchased in the pro audio world at various price points; known as "DI boxes".