Schiit Ragnarok 2

I may have had a bad unit, because mine sounded worse than my cheap amps. Sucks cause I liked everything else about it other than that.

 

I would have contacted Schiit and/or used my warranty. Obviously it should not sound worse than the cheap amps. I can tell you that the Ragnarok 2 I heard sounded much better than the Magni 3.

 

Thank you.

BTW, you're not disgareeing with me on resolution of the Ragnarok2... it wasn't me who mentioned it
I have yet to hear it, but interested in it as a one box solution for amp, headamp and phono.
For DAC i'll be sticking with my Gungnir MB as I love it.

Sounds like I could actually also add the Freya+ later to the balanced input if I wanted to.
I'll contact Mark to see if I can get a listen to the Ragnarok2 in High Wycombe.

 

I’m confused about this. The way this reads it sounds like the stepper is being used as a passive volume control/attenuator, but is that not effectively a preamp (albeit, a passive one)? Or is it some other design?

 

Thanks @rlow, was thinking the same thing... is it purely passive when used as a "preamp", what happens if you try SE --> BAL if it's passive? And, does gain setting change this: 1/8/25


Checked out Freya S/+ (point: is Ragnarok 2 pre one of those circuits)-->

1/1/4 [passive/nexus x1/nexus x4]
1/1/4 [passive/jfet x1/tube x4]

Rag2:

1/8/25 [gain low/mid/high]

 

Correct, it is passive. And when all the way up, you have exactly one set of relay contacts in the signal path. THEN it goes to the Nexus stage.

SE/Balanced and Balanced/SE is inherently handled in the Nexus stage. Nexus stage handles all gains.

 

So if using as a pre amp, bypassing the nexus stage, will it not convert a single ended input to a balanced output?

 

Just wanted to ask again. Does the *Ragnarok pre out convert single ended to balanced? Also is the output buffered or totally passive? I have a really low impedance power amp and doesn’t work well with passive preamps.
Thanks

 

How about asking [email protected]? And then be a good sport and let us know what you found out.

 

The preamp out is a preamp out, not passive out, meaning it goes through the Nexus gain stage. Which means it converts SE to balanced and balanced to SE inherently. And, since it's an active stage, the output impedance is a constant 75 ohms.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info!

 

Actually it was hot on one phase and cold on the other for both channels. We bias each phase separately. Could it have gone out like that? Maybe, but unlikely, as it's checked twice in production.

We could always send it back with tamper-evident seals, I guess...

 

Interesting, now questioning what I heard... Please don't read into my adcom adventures as daring to adjust schiits nexus stage (if thats where the idea came from), I follow Jason's development posts! Also the top screws were extremely loose, actually finger tightened them- one was half out.

 

Thanks for the update and that's really odd. I'm also really glad what I had heard was not representative of the typical Ragnarok 2. When I received the amp, everything seemed ok physically, nothing loose.

 

My Ragnarok 1 had an intermittent issue where the left channel would come in and out like there was poor contact on one of the relays or something. I know it was isolated to the amp. To make a long story short I sent it to Schiit for repair and they were not able to replicate my issue. So they replaced the boards and added new firmware. They clearly went out of their way to make it right. When I got my Ragnarok back from Schiit the issue was completely resolved and my Ragnarok seemed to sound better. Do you think I probably have a Ragnarok 1.5? What changes have you noticed going from a 1 to a 1.5?

 

What were your impressions of the differences in tonality between 1 and 1.5?

 

May be referring to this: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...it-ragnarok-aka-raggy.2009/page-5#post-156070

 

I'm in the market for a strange combination of things. I have a couple low power class A amps that I want to drive with balanced inputs. I also am looking for beefier power amp to drive some more power hungry speakers. Also looking for a balanced preamp to control all of this madness (yes all in the same room).

I was thinking Freya S/Vidar combo, but the Rag 2 looks like it can do the job plus a headphone amp to go along.

Could you all recommend one over the other? Freya S/Vidar vs. Rag 2.

Thanks