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Schiit Lyr 3 technical measurements

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifier Measurements' started by atomicbob, May 7, 2018.

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  1. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    Schiit Lyr 3 technical measurements

    If you are unfamiliar with audio measurements please use a search engine with the query:
    "audio measurements" or "audio measurement handbook"
    Look for publications by Richard C. Cabot and also by Bob Metzler, both from Audio Precision. There are other useful publications as well. These will provide basic knowledge.
    Interpretation of the following measurements is beyond the scope of this post.

    The data presented were collected as follows:

    1. PrismSound dScope III, picoscope 5243B, Keysight 34461A DMM
    2. 300 and 30 ohm loads used for measurements
    3. Unbalanced cables Worlds Best Cable Gotham GAC-2 RCA
    4. Vaunix Lab Brick USB hub for measurement equipment
    5. Audioquest Forest and Schiit Pyst USB cables used for measurement equipment
    6. Amplifier gain adjusted to 0 dB gain @ 0.775 Vrms 0 dBu
    7. Lyr3 gain switch set to high position
    8. Lyr3 gain knob at approximately 12:00 to achieve 0 dB gain
    9. TungSol 6SN7 driver tube
    10. 14 and 16 AWG sheilded power cables used

    Reference levels :
    +9 dBu 300R 16.00 mW - 110 dBSPL @ 98dB/mW
    0 dBu 300R 2.00 mW - 101 dBSPL @ 98dB/mW
    -10 dBu 300R 0.20 mW - 91 dBSPL @ 98dB/mW
    -20 dBu 300R 0.02 mW - 81 dBSPL @ 98dB/mW

    +9 dBu 30R 160.00 mW - 110 dBSPL @ 89dB/mW
    0 dBu 30R 20.00 mW - 102 dBSPL @ 89dB/mW
    -10 dBu 30R 2.00 mW - 92 dBSPL @ 89dB/mW
    -20 dBu 30R 0.20 mW - 82 dBSPL @ 89dB/mW

    Reference data on two headphones:
    HD 650 impedance 300R, sensitivity 98 dB/mW
    HE-500 impedance 38R, sensitivity 89 dB/mW

    Highlights
    Square wave response is very good. TungSol 6SN7 provides an effortless, clear sound which put this amp into the high performance/price ratio category. I prefer a little smoother top end which I obtain with a PS Vane 6SN7-UK or 6SN7-SE (the Western Electric 101D bottle version.) Also tried a Shuguang CV181-Z Black Treasure. I felt this contributed to a ratty, spitty top end in the Lyr3. CV181-Z is a good tube, this is just a sub-optimal application for it in my opinion.

    My personal preferences include listening typically at an average of 75 dB SPL. Assuming a typical Peak
    to Average ratio of 10 dB puts peaks at 85 dB SPL. This suggests the measurements at -20 dBu represent my experience with HD6x0 and HD800 headphones. Auditory experiences for someone listening 10 dB SPL average higher may diverge from my own experiences.

    editorial - I believe there is a tendency to focus excessively on numbers such as THD attempting to reduce a complex topic to a single number representing a sort of goodness rating. Graphs can present far more data conveying a better understanding of the measurement over a range of frequency, levels, etc. Please don't read too much into the numbers presented. Read the tutorial presented here for a good example of why.

    Picture of the Audio Lab setup for Lyr3 measurements
    20180430 Lyr3 dScope 5243b - small.jpg

    300 ohm load part 1 of 3

    Lyr3 THD+N THD nth harmonic distortion (A04) FFT 0dBu 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 A04 THD+N THD nth-HD FFT 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 THD THD+N vs Freq 0dBu 300R
    20180430 lyr3 THD THD+N vs Freq 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 1 KHz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 1 KHz THD+N THD FFT 0dBu 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 50 Hz + 7000 Hz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 50+7000Hz 0dBu 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 600 Hz + 1700 Hz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 600+1700Hz 0dBu 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 IMD spectrum Left and Right -16dBu 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 19+20KHz -16dBu 300R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 residual noise spectrum Left and Right A=0dB 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 residual noise A=0dB 300R 4XF.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
    #1
  2. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    300 ohm load part 2 of 3

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 mS / div 300R load 100 KHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10mS div 100KHz filter 300R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 mS / div 300R load 10 MHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10mS div 5MHz filter 300R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 uS / div 300R load 100 KHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10uS div 100KHz filter 300R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 uS / div 300R load 10 MHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10uS div 5MHz filter 300R.png

    Lyr3 amplitude - phase - gain (A01) 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 A01 amplitude - phase - gain 300R.png

    Lyr3 signal to noise (A07) 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 A07 SNR 300R.png

    Lyr3 THD+N THD nth harmonic distortion (A04) 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 A04 THD+N THD nth-HD 300R.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk (A08 A09) 300R load
    20180430 lyr3 A08 A09 Crosstalk 300R.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
    #2
  3. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    300 ohm load part 3 of 3

    Lyr3 Frequency Response and Interchannel Phase pg 1/2 300R load
    G2_L1T2_1_A.png

    Lyr3 Frequency Response and Interchannel Phase pg 2/2 300R load
    G2_L1T2_1_B.png

    Lyr3 Gain vs Amplitude Left 300R load
    G2_L1T3_1_A.png

    Lyr3 Gain vs Amplitude Right 300R load
    G2_L1T3_1_B.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Frequency Left 300R load
    G2_L1T5_1_A.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Frequency Right 300R load
    G2_L1T5_1_B.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Amplitude Left 300R load
    G2_L1T6_1_A.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Amplitude Right 300R load
    G2_L1T6_1_B.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk Left to Right vs Frequency 300R load
    G1_L1T10_1.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk Right to Left vs Frequency 300R load
    G0_L1T11_1.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
    #3
  4. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    30 ohm load part 1 of 3

    Lyr3 THD+N THD nth harmonic distortion (A04) FFT 0dBu 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 A04 THD+N THD nth-HD FFT 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 THD THD+N vs Freq 0dBu 30R
    20180430 lyr3 THD THD+N vs Freq 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 1 KHz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 1 KHz THD+N THD FFT 0dBu 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 50 Hz + 7000 Hz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 50+7000Hz 0dBu 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 600 Hz + 1700 Hz spectrum Left and Right 0dBu 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 600+1700Hz 0dBu 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 IMD spectrum Left and Right -16dBu 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 19+20KHz -16dBu 30R 4XF.png

    Lyr3 residual noise spectrum Left and Right A=0dB 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 residual noise A=0dB 30R 4XF.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
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  5. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    30 ohm load part 2 of 3

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 mS / div 30R load 100 KHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10mS div 100KHz filter 30R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 mS / div 30R load 10 MHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10mS div 5MHz filter 30R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 uS / div 30R load 100 KHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10uS div 100KHz filter 30R.png

    Lyr3 square wave 20 Hz 2 Vpp 10 uS / div 30R load 10 MHz BW
    20180430 SigGen lyr3 20 Hz square 2000mVpp 10uS div 5MHz filter 30R.png

    Lyr3 amplitude - phase - gain (A01) 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 A01 amplitude - phase - gain 30R.png

    Lyr3 signal to noise (A07) 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 A07 SNR 30R.png

    Lyr3 THD+N THD nth harmonic distortion (A04) 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 A04 THD+N THD nth-HD 30R.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk (A08 A09) 30R load
    20180430 lyr3 A08 A09 Crosstalk 30R.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
    #5
  6. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    30 ohm load part 3 of 3

    Lyr3 Frequency Response and Interchannel Phase pg 1/2 30R load
    G2_L1T2_1_A.png

    Lyr3 Frequency Response and Interchannel Phase pg 2/2 30R load
    G2_L1T2_1_B.png

    Lyr3 Gain vs Amplitude Left 30R load
    G2_L1T3_1_A.png

    Lyr3 Gain vs Amplitude Right 30R load
    G2_L1T3_1_B.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Frequency Left 30R load
    G2_L1T5_1_A.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Frequency Right 30R load
    G2_L1T5_1_B.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Amplitude Left 30R load
    G2_L1T6_1_A.png

    Lyr3 THD+N vs Amplitude Right 30R load
    G2_L1T6_1_B.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk Left to Right vs Frequency 30R load
    G1_L1T10_1.png

    Lyr3 Crosstalk Right to Left vs Frequency 30R load
    G0_L1T11_1.png
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2018
    atomicbob, May 7, 2018
    #6

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