Does Anyone Buy Schiit for the Sake of Schiit?

I own a couple of Magni 3 headphone amps that are excellent, an original Freya, the more recent version of which got a "class A" rating in Stereophile, a Bifrost 2, 2 Loki EQs...all extremely well designed and utterly high end, except for their cost...if this stuff wasn't great sounding I'd send it back.

A lot of time and effort goes into their stuff and the main two guys have many years of experience in the business. In my experience most of the people who bash them do so because of the price to quality myth. Humans usually equate higher prices with better and that's not always true. They do almost everything themselves and don't have to worry about markup from distributors and then retailers so they can keep the prices low.

Keep in mind that most audio stuff is marked up at least 100% from it's production cost so a piece of Schiit that sells for $250 is equivalent to something that would sell for $500 from a retail store and probably more if it's tarted up like Dagostino or similar.

@dancarlson10 what I took away was an edgy grainy coarse bright sound that made string instruments sound metallic, almost as if their gut strings they were playing on were made of plastic. Honestly I couldn’t wait to get it out of my system.

"there are fundamental problems in Schiit multibit DACs when it comes to doing what they are told to do: convert digital samples faithfully to analog. Whether we use balanced or unbalanced output, problems remain. And not just in one measurement but practically everywhere we look."

So, your subjective assessment is in line with what Amir concludes about Yggdrasil v2 based on the measurements of a few key parameters. I’m not surprised, but some audiophiles may prefer to cross a busy intersection at peak hour before consulting with ASR.

I used their Freya Plus preamp for a couple of years and when paired with the right NOS tubes it was easily worth twice what they charged for the unit.  Eventually I upgraded but to this day would recommend someone getting into this hobby to give it a listen and perhaps even pair the Freya Plus with the Aegirs. Coupled with a nice set of speakers they would be off to a fine start. 

....I have enough schiit in my life already, don't need to go buy it....more than enough to hand some out to the unwary....;)

i think it’s good gear. i’ve owned a few different things from them. i don’t have the same frame of reference as most posters here, my equipment is "budget level" compared to most of the systems on here, but i know what sounds good to me. the schiit gear is a great entry point to better sound and i could easily live with it for the long haul...the way i see it, the less i spend chasing "the ultimate system", the more i can spend on records.

i aspire to own a legit world class system one day, but i’ve got little kids and a mortgage.. affordable workhorse components that perform well, like schiit, are a godsend to guys like me

If someone has been sold a faulty component and the manufacturer has failed to make it right, the buyer is fully justified in complaining. But to phrase a question as though it's simply soliciting opinions when the language employed already  suggests a conclusion rubs me the wrong way. YMMV.

Seems to me , this type of thread is always going to attract guys who have a grudge or else an unfounded bias or have heard something negative somewhere . . .   they're happy to pick up a rotten banana and hurl it whatever the brand in question might be. The OP started the ball rolling with the "where workmanship and materials are less critical"  premise and gravity will take care of the rest. There's very expensive gear with thick faceplates sculpted into fancy profiles. . . are the workmanship and materials more "critical" to the SQ in such components? I don't think so!

@ghdprentice

 Thank you. As it turns out it was a functional unit. I contacted them. The problem is that it is not a natural live sound from what I hear in concert halls or on stage. Something about the timing or natural decay and ring to the notes is not right. The cobalt is much more accurate to my ears in this regard.  Ultra processed clinical, bright, and coarse to my ears is the schiit.  I don’t know what to say other than I disliked it and that it was a functional unit. I even had someone who knows their products listen to it. Also another classical musician listened to it and much preferred the Cobalt in a blind test. Luxman dac, schiit and then cobalt. Cobalt was an even split with Luxman in that test although very different timbres. Luxman warmer and a tad polished but a bit fat and slow and inflexible. cobalt leaner but cleaner and natural better flow. He also hated the schiit for its thin sound and brightness. When I told him 300 bucks for the cobalt he responded, that is annoyIngly good for that price. A bigwig in the industry turned me on to the Cobalt, and I am certainly glad he did. From what I have heard it absolutely crushes it’s price point however annoying that is. Having said that my Wadax streamer is exceptionally quiet and great and the cobalt plugs via usb into it. So maybe it is the combination that really works. Who knows Anyways everyone has a different system and there is no wrong answer in this hobby, Just someone’s ears and what they like or don’t like. 

BTW the first unit they shipped on my dime was bad and they acted like the problem was me. Maybe it was me for trusting them to send another that puked way too soon.

Shenzhen is cheaper, sounds more musical and better customer support.

I don't since their DAC did not last 3 years.

Way overpriced looking that way. 

Better value at Monoprix than the two you cited.

@dancarlson10

That is an exceptional reaction. I sure do not have a technical answer to why your unit must have been defective, but it must have been. I have owned a dozen DACs an auditioned more, including an iteration of a Dragon… and the Berkeley Refersnce Alpha 3 ($22K).. As I mentioned I own a Gungnir and have had in my system a Yggdrasil, a Dragon is not in the same universe as the Schiit. Absolutely none of your criticisms of the Yggdrasil would be possible of a fully functional one. It is a shame you somehow got a bad unit. This is just not how they perform. I guess it happens. If I heard what you heard, I would send it back as well.

I use the Bifrost 2 fed by uncompressed WAV files and the Euphony OS straight in to my tube amp. I'm very happy with my "budget" system. I listen comfortably without fatigue. "Audiophile" grade components? Not according to the vast majority here but I'm very content right now in this room relaxing to some Mingus as though I'm in the studio with him. Spend what you can afford on what makes YOU happy. At a certain point thousands more doesn't raise the level of listening pleasure in relation to the money spent. It does raise your status by impressing others here though....and gets you into their elitist club with Muff and uncle Biff.

I tried the Yggy Dac in my system out of pure curiosity. They have a 15 day return policy so no harm done should I return it. After I let it burn in for 5 days I gave it a serious listen over a few days. It was utterly unnatural sounding. I used my nice tyre 2 power cable and interconnects with my Wadax streamer and what I took away was an edgy grainy coarse bright sound that made string instruments sound metallic, almost as if their gut strings they were playing on were made of plastic. Honestly I couldn’t wait to get it out of my system. It might be hifi or whatever people want to call it,  but it isn’t music or anything close to what I experience when sitting as a front chair violinist  in a great American orchestra as my profession. For 300 dollars the AQ dragonfly cobalt is eons more natural sounding, fluid, nicer more natural timbre, and my tyre 2 power cable and interconnects are sitting on the floor not being used. I will be saving for the new Wadax arcadiaX and in the meantime am very happy with the cobalt.  Just my 2 cents.

When Schiit came on the scene I definitely put my foot down. I would never even consider the company because of the name.

Then a couple years ago a friend of mine needed a budget DAC. I researched the heck out of it… and could not get out of the fact that for budget gear you have to consider Schiit. So, I bought a Gungnir multibit DAC as an experiment (you can see my systems under my UserID), I was impressed. So we bought a Yggdrasil DAC for him… really very impressive for the money. Just for fun I bought a Schiit preamp and headphone amp just to play around with, and for my office system. They are very good values for the money… despite their name.

Schiit is not audiophile equipment by any stretch of the imagination, nor do they claim to be. But it is really good sounding audio equipment for the money. A good way to dip your toe in audio and see if it is for you.

When I spoke of workmanship and material I was thinking of discount store merchandise, not Schiit's products. It seems anyway that the voting here leans towards "good for the money".

What makes you think that Schiit’s workmanship and material is of inferior quality? If their products came in milled aluminum cases with fancy engraving and sold through a dealer network, their prices would easily triple. "Good For the Money" is an insult to engineering talent that can figure out a way to produce a product for less money because of efficiency and clever design through direct sales. Have a look at the circuit board pictures of Schiitt’s products on their website and point out which materials are Target quality.

@gs5556 + 1

Well said and spot on!

Using your Walmart/Target analogy, I think Schiit is more the audio equivalent of Trader Joe's.  American company, reasonably prices, has a definite style that is not for everybody's tastes, but has many enthusiastic fans. Some might say overly enthusiastic?

They generally have had more hits than misses in their product line.

What makes you think that Schiit's workmanship and material is of inferior quality? If their products came in milled aluminum cases with fancy engraving and sold through a dealer network, their prices would easily triple. "Good For the Money" is an insult to engineering talent that can figure out a way to produce a product for less money because of efficiency and clever design through direct sales. Have a look at the circuit board pictures of Schiitt's products on their website and point out which materials are Target quality.

@russ69, + 2

I think good for the money sums things up very nicely. If it were my $ and I was restricted to a lower amount I would buy used and choose from among a select group. I am not a big fan, but others point out that you can put together a decent sounding system for less than some spend on cables.

@russ69 + 1

Isn't every purchase some kind of compromise?

Yes!

You can make a very satisfying music system without using expensive audio gear. The Schitt line of products are popular, affordable, and of sufficient quality to satisfy a lot of people. IMHO. 

I just can’t get past the name. My brother owns their gear for it’s value. He would not call himself an audiophile

I had a Bifrost DAC way back when and

• it was well built (robust with good component layout)
• modular design that allowed for upgrades (which attracted me)
• looked clean and minimalist - if you like that look
• had the right features for me at that time
• responded well to good cables
• they sounded pretty good at first, but then the competition caught up and surpassed

They have upgraded their products, but I think many of their products are now regarded as "middle of the road" from a performance perspective.

There are better performing products out there, but there are also many that do not compete with them

Regards - Steve

Listened to a YGGDRASIL and it was flat sounding. Then listened to a Bricasti M3 and just a wow moment. Yes not even in the same price range but you do get what you pay for. 

Isn't every purchase some kind of compromise?

I have found Schiit Customer Service to be fast and helpful in their responses...

It's a shame Costco doesn't sell high end audio.  Their no question return policy would be terrific in this hobby.  😀

I've used a Schiit DAC, it was very good.  Here on Audiogon we have enough six figure systems that people tend to look down their nose at anything that doesn't cost enough.

I have no personal experience with their gear, but from what I’ve heard here, their service is Schiity.

I think the Vidar amp is outright good, and great for the price, same for the Saga preamp with an upgrade tube...I used these with Magnepan LRS, which is also very good and great for the price...I have not tried their more expensive gear...