Super Best Audio Friends

First of all, I know many have been eagerly waiting for Byggy, which is set to be released soon. My understanding is that the sonics are finalized, and Schiit is currently working on polishing the final touches and features. I will be doing a stream-of-consciousness style write-up. Feel free to ask if there's anything you'd like me to check or confirm during this process.

First, let's discuss the speaker setup here. This is an old photo so the Byggy is not pictured. The Byggy was compared to the Gungnir 2 though. This is the same configuration used at The Meet, except in a much better room (I have sound absorption panels above and at the walls). Please note that for these initial impressions, I did not use the pi2AES Mercury 3 / Roon (pictured below) as the digital source; instead, I fed the system with an iPad connected to the high-speed USB inputs on the Byggy. I plan to evaluate the Byggy with the pi2AES next week. And no, I’m not going to bother with the Wiim Ultra, because it’s not good enough—it would hold back the Byggy, just as it did with the Gungnir 2, Yggdrasil MIB, etc. The Wiim Ultra merely an OK or decent, but not great sounding digital streamer using it's USB output.

Here’s a photo of our Primo Water Bottom-Loading Pro 2-Temp dispenser. A while back it suffered a catastrophic failure and dumped the entire contents of a 5 gallon water jug onto the floor.



I took a cursory look to see where and how it was leaking and kind of said, “F it. Not worth my time. I’ll just buy a new one at Walmart.” So I go to Walmart and I’m like, “WTF — why is this $280?” I didn’t remember paying that much only a few years ago. Inflation and tariffs, I surmise.

I am not paying nearly $300 for this cheap, made-in-China POS! Also, I felt kind of bad that I would have to toss it into the trash. It would probably end up in Ghana or Zimbabwe, like the rest of our “recycled” iPhones and MacBooks — that is, if it didn’t fall off into the bottom of the ocean on the way there. Microplastics, anyone?

Noise Nuke+™ is a scaled up version of the original Noise Nuke™
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ise-nuke-for-hp-amps-with-external-smps.5142/

The original version is a cost effective way to greatly reduce noise from the SMPS provided with many audio devices.
Noise Nuke+ pushes the envelope to experiment with what is possible.

This is in no way cost effective nor is it advised for anyone except experienced DIYers.

I am not responsible for any such damage. Proceed at your own risk.

Initial thoughts:

1. THE APOS GREMLIN IS LEGIT! The second I plugged the ZMF Caldera Closed into the Gremlin (balanced output - with the amp being fed by MILF DAC balanced <- ET3 transport), I KNEW IT WAS LEGIT!
2. Finally! Schiit has some real good sounding competition in the entry level low cost space for tube hybrid amplifiers. The Gremlin trades blows with the Vali 3, but I will immediately admit that I prefer the Gremlin, at least with the setup above. Yes, we compare here.
3. I highly suspect the Gremlin is NOT another one of those high-SINAD (massive open loop gain with corresponding massive negative feedback) jobs. The design appears to use 12AU7/6922 as the driver and a very simple transistor buffer. This likely explains the Gremlin expressiveness and ability to convey microdynamics.
4. APOS sounds really funny, like A POS.

Well, I gave my impressions, and I purchased, and here it is. Measurements because why not?

wav - flac USB digital audio data integrity

Discussions may be found on internet forums claiming flac encoded files sound different from straight pcm wav files. Results from actual testing for data integrity issues at any step in the process of encoding, transmitting, receiving will be shown using a complete system loopback null test. This is a Windows specific test but similar results may be obtained on other major non-RTOS computers.

I miss these kinds of meets. Tradeshows have their place, but nothing replaces old school meets.

Schiit Wotan The Schiit Wotan is a beast!


200W into 8 ohms
400W into 4 ohms

For all of the information please reference Schiit’s product page.

https://www.schiit.com/products/wotan

This doubling of power is very important to anyone who wants to power Magnepans (which run mainly at 4 ohms).

Just to make it official...

Let me set the stage before diving into the Wiim Ultra review. Many folks in the SBAF community are hunting for that elusive last 1-5% of performance, with some even aiming for a mere 0.1% improvement. There's a belief here that digital sources contribute up to 50% (or more) to the final sound from a DAC. Whether you buy into this or not, debates on audio (much like gun control) aren’t settled through talk, but maybe through more physical confrontations—but let's steer clear of that path.

When it comes to DACs and streamers—those digital sources feeding the DACs—many of us have gone for fancy boxes with specialized USB outputs, typically powered by 5V linear power supplies. An example, albeit direct from a PC rather than a streamer, can be found here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...usb-break-out-pci-usb-card-with-unison.11822/

Terminology for this discussion
Fs: sample rate frequency
f: sinusoid signal frequency (stimulus)
inferred jitter: symmetrically paired sidebands related to the stimulus

A stimulus f often chosen to be Fs/2, Fs/4, Fs/8 is sent to the DAC input. A very high resolution FFT is performed to reveal components other than the stimulus. Those that are symmetrically paired sidebands on either side of the stimulus are likely a result of input data transport jitter, though they could also be from noise on the converter reference voltage. FFT components not symmetrically paired are intermodulation distortion from some other source, ie: not jitter.

For 44100 Hz sample rate f is typically chosen as 11025 Hz (Fs/4.)

Inferred Jitter Wiim Ultra USB out to dac1221 USB input SE output

For those who asked, e.g., @YMO:

Installing the Schiit Mesh card was a straightforward process. The most challenging part is having a small hex wrench to loosen the retaining screw on the volume knob. Once that's done, simply unscrew the four Phillips screws on the top and remove the lid.

The Mesh DAC card differs slightly from the ESS card in that it sits vertically rather than horizontally. Make sure all four pins are properly seated in the socket. My initial attempt only inserted four of the eight pins in the 2x4 array into the socket. I noticed this through a visual inspection, where the card appeared offset at an angle.