Schiitr-Less Meet - CC Texas - Impressions

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by Azimuth, Dec 14, 2022.

  1. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    Not gonna lie, I wanna go to one of these so badly. Never considered going to the US but these meets definitely changed my mind.

    Hopefully, some day, something will be considered a few months before so I can dare to take on such an adventure with time to plan accordingly.

    Just wished for more pics.

    Glad everyone had a great time. Well done!
     
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  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's easier to pull off in areas where Head-Fi doesn't kill them off with CanJams. @CEETEE and I did what? Five successive years or hobbyist oriented meets between LA and SF. They only way we could make it work was invite a handful of vendors and ask them to chip in a few hundred bucks (if they could). Vendors now flock to CanJams.

    However, there could be a way... get the upstarts and smaller companies who cannot afford CanJams. Also, I think there's critical mass in the SF Bay Area, El Lay, and NY to pull off 100+ people hobbyist meets. It's a ton of work though.

    Anyway, I will be talking to Denise. Let's do a fun meet summer of 2023 in San Antonio.
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    A few more.
    PXL_20221214_234707964.jpg PXL_20221214_234654368.jpg PXL_20221214_235123358.jpg PXL_20221215_011008496.jpg PXL_20221214_234720773.jpg PXL_20221214_234715034.jpg PXL_20221214_235119983.jpg
     
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  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Plus this:
     
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  5. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    On the Mjolnir 3 prototype pictured above, it looks like it's all solid-state. How did this sound? Perhaps this amp would be similar to the souped up balanced Piety with better power supply that people have been pontificating about in the Piety thread.

    Edit: I misread Jason's post on page 1 and realized tube hybrid was a previous iteration, but this is all solid state.
     
  6. ufospls2

    ufospls2 Friend

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    Does anyone know what these are? They look like the LCD-R (and 4z) gold mesh behind the grill, and it does say "ribbon technology" and also LCD-R but lacks the wood rings of the LCD-R. Is Audeze maybe releasing a run of LCD-R without the fancy wood rings? Or is it maybe a prototype Schiit had without the fancy wood rings to develop their Jotunheim R?

    [​IMG]
     
  7. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Four transformers (three and a choke?) on the MJ3 :eek:
     
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  8. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

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    One can hope.

    AND one big ass heatsink. Maybe a beastmode Piety IS inbound.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2022
  9. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Super low impedance LCD-R's I think. It was also hooked to a special "low impedance/high power" version of the Magni that required like a 2A or 2.5A power brick. I think they did these amps special for Audeze.
     
  10. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Was wondering the same thing. I always hoped Audeze would release the LCD-R for the masses in a cheaper LCD-X -like housing. This could be a prototype, as you said.
     
  11. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    [​IMG]

    Is that a new Asgard or a prototype that happens to be in an Asgard branded chassis? The chassis has a bigger opening than the previous Asgards.
     
  12. Donald North

    Donald North Friend

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    How were the brews?
     
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  13. Erroneous

    Erroneous Friend

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    I was told that was an Asgard 1 that serial number confirmed was built in Jason's garage before Schiit actually took off. It was kinda nice and a smooth ride.
     
  14. Pocomo

    Pocomo Friend

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    Plentiful!

    If this is a serious question, as a New Englander I would have to say their NEIPA was a pale (!) imitation. I also tried the Black IPA which was OK but nothing crave-worthy. The carbonated lemonade was tasty although overly sweet for me.

    There were a bunch of other styles that I didn't try. The food (brisket tacos for me) was very good.
     
  15. tranq

    tranq Friend

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    is it acceptable to share a photo of the MJ3 prototype in the Schiit thread on head fi? Looks like a beastly amp...
     
  16. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    acceptable is one thing. but
    why would you choose or think that adding Good Content to HF is a noble action?
     
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  17. tranq

    tranq Friend

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    Who tf cares about nobility :), I just hang out there too, figured other folks would like the Schiity proto board porn... :)
     
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  18. Erroneous

    Erroneous Friend

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    I chose not to take pics of the proto MJ3 because earlier in the day we were asked to not talk about some of the things we saw and I didn't know if that qualified or not, but I wanted to be safe since loose lips sink ships and all.

    But maybe @schiit can chime in and say whether it's ok to share pics publicly or not.

    We want to respect their wishes because they went WAY the f**k above and beyond with this meet and are in general just super good people.
     
  19. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    First off, small show, but super fun. I wanted to go over to other things that I didn't get a chance to write about yet, including the other setups.

    EC Custom 45 Amp w/ZMF Atrium

    THIS was the most unbelievable setup I have ever heard. It had Yggdrasil as a DAC, but not sure which h version. However, it was lush, detailed, spacious, and made me realize you need top tier amp like this to not make Atrium harsh or stuffy. I almost had to stay way from this rig because it was almost too much. Like driving a supercar or a real racecar. Too easy to make everything else sound lacking because that amp is a no holds barred, one of a kind, amp of awesomeness.


    Magni low impedance w/LCD-R low-z

    This setup had a Modi + and was incredibly spacious. I liked the dynamics and tonality of this setup, however there was a bit of mid harshness that was like a bit of sandpaper. Not completely distracting, but it was not a laid back comforting ride. I kept wanting to go back to this rig and try some different songs and might have done better in a quieter environment since the bar was so loud.

    [​IMG]


    Mjolnir 3 prototype w/HD650's

    Wide, thunderous, lush, smooth…reminded me how Ragnarok 1 sounds as a speaker amp. Fast, big textured lows, and great great great dynamics. It might not have layered as well as some of the top tiered tube amps, but no SS harshness at all and very fast. It also did not have a bunch of air on top.

    MJ3.jpg

    Now this amp has many different settings an switches (single ended or push pull, gain, feedback, a pre switch) and we were told to unplug our headphones on the switches if you wanted to keep your headphones intact. I only messed with the feedback switch, and no feedback for me please…the feedback seemed to squash some of the mid detail and sound a bit muted in in the mids. I know there is still work to do in this amp and only a prototype and not a final revision, so all impressions are subject to change based on final product.


    Folkvanger w/HD650’s

    This amp was just very linear tone from top to bottom, very smooth, no compression or pushed anything, it just sounded like a very clean and smooth (sorry to use that word again) amp. It was as natural as they say and not very colored at all for a tube amp. It sounded as close to pure amplification as you can get and it did make you closer to the source. That said, I think the only limiting factor here was the Modi 2 Multibit. I say that only because I think the amp is that good to show off really great sources.

    [​IMG]

    It too was one I felt likely would be better in a quieter environment as I was it was kind of quieter. I may need to do a real review of this amp at home.


    DNA Stellaris w/Holo May

    This amp I got to try with a couple of different Sennheisers. And remember, this is with the Mesa Boogie 5UA4G replacement and not the big daddy rectifier. Both @erroneous’s rigs were hooked up to a CD transport using S/PDIF to the DAC as well.

    This amp reminded me of a more powerful Folkvanger, that also might be a bit faster and even a bit cleaner in the highs. Very effortless and super wide presentation. This was not quite as lush as the EC rig or quite as deep, but it was just as layered and detailed. The EC was also on Atrium’s, which also might be some difference. It is also 2A3’s and not 300B’s. But man this amp has some power, and some power to spare that gave you speed and clarity without any SS harshness or glare - very clean.

    The Holo May (as I did hear this with the Piety at the house the night before), seems to be super detailed and is somewhat microdynamic focused, and maybe even a bit peaky in the highs in NOS mode. The NOS mode is not lush like other vintage NOS I have heard. The lows seem quick and textured, very clean smooth mids, super effortless details, but still somewhat glary in the high-mids. OS mode made this even worse.

    Holo-DNA.jpg

    I see the allure of this DAC - lots of lots of details that does not seem like a bunch of hardness, but it also did not seem “analog” sounding to me for whatever reason. It is a detail king though.


    NITSCH Magni Piety w/ MHDC modded Paridisia

    The star of the show here being @Erroneous modded Paridisia. He said there was about $400 in exotic caps, varying in brands from Jupiter, to Mundorf, to M-Cap - here’s Marv’s picture again. I got to spend a bunch of time with this the night before, especially since the Stellaris was down a rectifier tube.

    [​IMG]

    Whatever the details, remember, this is a TDA1545 DAC chip, which was the later even cheaper version of the Phillips TDA1543. I was initially expecting some big lush lows given the DAC chip and the tube, but no, very even across the spectrum, and really had awesome synergy with the Piety amp. This had some great reverb trails and fast details and brought out details I was not expecting. It was not the most detailed, but compared to other 1541 and 1543 DAC’s/CD players. I attribute this to not only the tube, but the carefully chosen exotic caps.

    So with a used $250 DAC + $400 in caps, you are looking at a $650+ amp that I think even bested my modded Bifrost Multibit. I had a Piety hooked to my Bifrost and going back to it even playing the same track from the same CD player, there was just slight haziness.

    Er.jpg
    [ @Erroneous listening to JAR800 with MHDT Paridisia and Piety taken the night before at our crash house rental ]

    Vali 1 w/ Modi 2U

    The original Modi 2U lasted only a short while and only really served as a platform for the Modi Multibit. However, I still have a fondness of the AK4396 pre-Velvet sound chip.

    The Vali 1 still holds up against amps like Piety, and even Magni +. I think it’s technicalities are even better than Vali 2+ with better details in the highs, better dynamics, and slightly more textured lows. There is still a bit of high-mid harshness, but with the warmer source of the Modi 2U, it suits it even better than the Bifrost MB (even if the Bifrost MB is more spacious)

    [​IMG]

    The Modi 2U I purchased out of curiosity and potential modding. At the meet, it was pure stock. The 4396 on first listen is still somewhat hazy in the mids, but the presentation of the clean highs and detailed lows, gives it an almost “multibit” sound or really reminiscent of vintage MB chips, like the PCM56.

    I really should have just brought my Theta DAC and my Black Widow 1 amp as most of the Schiit employees have heard all the Schiit gear through the years and nothing I brought was special. Although one of them tried to talk me out of the Modi 2U to help complete his Schiit Museum collection.


    ETA Mini-S

    What a spectacular headphone! I don’t want to say too much about this one as I am on the loaner tour, but first impressions were VERY good. @famish99 brought his personal pair that he uses with felt pads, which he says may decrease the bass some, but I found these babies dig deep in the lows and hit that last lower octave very well. They were very dynamic sounding and much better in tonality than the Mini-C. It made me look very much forward to the loaner pair (that will come eventually).


    Conclusion

    That really wraps it up. I mean, really for me, the highlights were not the equipment, but getting to talk to Jason, Alex, Denise, Zach, and the rest of people at Schiit and hearing about everything from the development of products to the challenges opening up another production office in Corpus Christi during the pandemic, the challenges of of parts and production, and the ever evolving improvement of products and creation of new products. Their hospitality was bar none and I look forward to more events in the future as well as the new Schiit products to be introduced this year. It was also nice to meet Randy, cheapaudioman, and make a connection with another a YouTuber.

    I did not get a chance to check out the BF2/64 rig with the Asgard 1 as I could not find the correct lightning connector for my phone. I owned an Asgard 1 for a short bit, so I am aware of its warmth in many ways. I also did not talk about my modded Bifrost and Piety system as it has already been discussed quite a bit here already here and here.

    And a big personal highlight for me, was getting to meet in person @Erroneous and @famish99 in Austin, having tacos, and driving down to Corpus Christi and getting to hang out. My great thanks to @Erroneous for being our Uber driver and a great host. I shall have to come back and spend more time in Austin and have some more BBQ and tasty tacos.

    tacos.jpg
     
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  20. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    One last thing I almost forgot, the JAR580’s

    I brought all my headphones basically (600, 650, 800, Gen-G, Ether CX, E-MU Teak), and @Erroneous brought a ton of Sennheiser’s of various models, baffles, etc.

    One of them that stood out to me was JAR580. I almost did not mention them because I thought that Jupiter was not doing those anymore. However he told me that he is.

    Regular BS580 I did not get along with. Bass was too quick, kind of bright, and just too airy. Well, not JAR580. On the Piety and Paradisia rig, they has better bass and the airy highs were just at the right spot. They seemed to have more even mids and sound more effortless and open.

    They honestly reminded me of even more detailed 600’s, but with better soundstage. The WP580 had a similar tonality, but not quite the separation and layering and not so much drop on the mids. The JAR580 I kept gravitating back to and had a slight more clairity in the mids over my 650’s and slightly better defined stage.

    I did not get to spend as much time with JAR800 as I would like. And that was only on Piety, which I think is just an okay match for them since Stellaris was down. By the time Stellaris was back up, it was time to pack up for the meet and the loud open room concrete floor bar was just not the best place to audition those. What I did hear was a big improvement in the bass region on 800’s for sure. I really want to try them in a better environment with the right amp and source.

    Basically, all of the JAR mods mostly add a refinement to the 580/600/650/660 line that elevates them to new heights. I just received the JAR66S loaner and it is far and above the stock 660S and probably the biggest change from stock - more on these later.
     

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