https://mega.co.nz/#!RU0SVD5I!9Dn7tK_tXDvjoRCfJ7vV5JFn43-lu1...
with Jason's blessing:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of...
?? You call yourselves Schiit Audio but you can't bring yourself to write "fuck"??
Can anyone explain to my if this [1] is something more than snakeoil?
++++++++++
Sonic benefits? That’s a lot of hoo-ha!
You’re right. There’s no reason this should make any system sound better.
Although we can measure the difference in USB power supply noise, it really
shouldn’t matter. Despite this, some listeners have said that there are sonic
benefits from using Wyrd. Us, we remain Swiss on the matter—we don’t do the
hard sell by promising sonic nirvana.
Are you saying I need to get this thing if I have a USB DAC?
Nope, not at all. Most USB DACs work just fine when running on computer power,
without any hitches, glitches, or strange noises. However, if you have USB power
problems, this is a great way to eliminate them. Especially if it’s a USB-powered
DAC.
Well, I could just buy a $20 powered hub if I’m having USB port power
management problems, right?
Yep you can, and yep, that would solve that problem.
There's plenty of snake oil to go around in the audiophile community, but Schiit has always seemed to be especially forthright about what their products can and can't do.
(Disclaimer: I own a fair amount of Schiit gear and am a very satisfied customer, so I'm definitely biased positively towards the company)
The power issue is definitely legitimate. USB power supplies are noisy and the noise can bleed to analog outputs if the soundcard has poor power supply noise rejection - I once built a USB-powered soundcard on the at90usb162 microcontroller and it produced a lot of background noise which was annoingly correlated with CPU activity. It went away when I inserted a 3.3V stabiliser between the USB power rail and the MCU, making it run from this 3.3V power. Reportedly, some commercial devices have similar issues (no links, but googling "USB DAC scrolling noise" may be a good starting point).
OTOH, I'm not sure about the importance of reclocking. USB audio cards synchronize their DAC clocks to USB host clock and hence any USB clock jitter induces DAC clock jitter which causes some amount of distortion, but I know of nobody who verified whether this is important in real world scenarios.
IIRC, clock jitter caused some real problems with SPDIF DACs back in 1980s and some people still feel more comfortable using "high-precision clocks".
1. Those that make clearly audible and measurable differences. Speakers, headphones, and upgrading from total rock-bottom near-broken electronics.
2. Those that make measurable differences that probably aren't audible. Various super-low distortion figures on amps and DACs, or going from 320kbps MP3 to FLAC. Almust certainly not detectable by human ears, but instruments can see a real, measurable improvement.
3. Those that make unmeasurable differences that are not audible. These are obviously worthless and snake oil.
4. Those that make unmeasurable differences that are audible. These are either magic (none that I've seen so far), reveal limits to our previous understanding of audio measurement (these probably have existed at some point, but I'm skeptical that any current products qualify), or are actually #3 in disguise.
I think the worst you can say about Schiit is that their stuff falls into #2 -- measurably, but not audibly, an improvement over some other thing -- and since they relentlessly refuse to make official claims about the audible properties of their products, I think that puts them into solid respectability as an audio company. The worst you can accuse them of, really, is unnecessary metaphorical gold-plating.
If you want to provide cleaner power to a USB device, you provide it with an external power supply. Since DACs (or ADCs for audio input) have analog sections, you have to deliver power that meets those specifications.
You might also choose to provide filtering on the USB signal lines if your USB device's circuitry is susceptible to digital noise. USB signals are digital (approximately square waves) which contain harmonics that aren't needed to successfully decode the signal on the receiving end. Filter those out as well as high-frequency transients caused by other devices in the computer.
CAVEAT: I know nothing about the Schiit device.
1. http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/banned-at-head-fi.html
Early versions of the product came without a power relay, with the implication being you should have the volume pot all the way down, and unplug your headphones before ever turning the amp on or off. That is fairly standard precaution with the higher end of audio equipment, which both Stoddard and Moffat came from. Not so much in the market that they were targeting with the Asgard.
Since then, they've added a relay to all of their amps that need one, and have offered to add one to any amp that was sold prior to this for free.
Stoddard goes over the incident with the Schiit side of the story at http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of...
NWAvGuy wasn't actually banned for his interactions with Schiit, but due to the very strict advertising rules at Head-Fi. http://www.head-fi.org/t/584763/the-wizard-appreciation-thre...
The Asgard never actually permanently damaged or destroyed any headphones. The Schiit Lyr, however, did kill a $1.5k pair of Ultrasones Ed 8s, but this was due to an actual defect with a specific unit. Schiit replaced the Ultrasone and the Lyr for the owner.
Schiit products are battle-tested, high quality and high-value. You can tell the company is run by people who care about what they do.
The best line from this factory tour at SME [0], a maker of high precision audio [1] is, 'we make our own screws'. [2]
[0] History of SME, http://www.sme.ltd.uk/content/History-1307.shtml [1] http://www.sme.ltd.uk/content/History-1307.shtml [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2xQkexHT-M
"Chapter 6: The First Order Is…For Something We’re Not Selling"
...I'll at least be reading one chapter :)
Do you seriously make your stuff in the USA?
Yep. We worked long and hard to get our designs and
chassis so they could be assembled by first-world labor
for prices similar to the Chinese. ...
But wouldn’t it be cheaper doing it in China?
Maybe. But we’re not going to find out.
Well, hell, all your parts are probably Chinese anyway,
right? Um, no. The majority of our parts, on a total
cost basis, come from right here in the USA, from
companies manufacturing their products in the USA. ...
Be memorable—this isn’t about getting everyone to like you,
this is about getting some people to love you.
But this is still an instance of taking the low road. We all live on the same planet, and commercial jingoism isn't the way forward.
Edit: if you "aren't sure if you consider it insulting," try reversing the roles. Imagine a Chinese company that brags about how they avoid using parts and labor from the US whenever possible. How do you suppose that will play in Peoria?