Addicted to music Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 http://schiit.com/products/freya is now on there website. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwertyqaz Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 It looks very cool. the price is reasonable too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Just now, Qwertyqaz said: It looks very cool. the price is reasonable too. I'd have thought that a "reasonable price" would depend on how it sounds. AFAIK, no one here knows how this product performs. FWIW: I have some familiarity with a few Schiit products and they have certainly proven to be excellent ones. Nonetheless, I don't judge a product based on what a copywriter claims. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Well for starters, stepped relay volume control, better than the traditional pots 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) You can use the Schiit Freya as a passive or switch to s/s (fet) buffer, or to tube buffer, it can be used rca or balanced in all modes, not that balanced is any advantage unless you have garden hose length interconnects. At $699usd it's very competitive. But I think the Schiit Saga is the better deal, passive, or tube buffer still has the same relay attenuator rca only for $349usd. The best deal to me is the Schiit SYS passive (only), if your source is low output impedance (<500ohms) which most are these days, and your poweramp is >47kohm or more input impedance. At $49usd the real bargain. Great thing with Mike Moffat is that he knows his stuff as he was the main designer for Theta Audio for many years before teaming up with Formula One entrepreneur Jason Stoddard to form Schiit Audio. As with all Schiit products there a trial period, and refund if not happy, less re-package fee. Cheers George Edited January 9, 2017 by georgehifi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyev Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) I'm in the market for a pre - the Freya looks Interesting. anyone in melbourne have a Saga I could borrow for an afternoon? Edited January 10, 2017 by buddyev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Quote 4 minutes ago, buddyev said: I'm in the market for a pre - this looks Interesting. anyone in melbourne have a Saga I could borrow for an afternoon? These guys are near you also in Vic, maybe they can accommodate you. https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/products/schiit-audio-saga-stereo-pre-amplifier Cheers George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyev Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 58 minutes ago, georgehifi said: These guys are near you also in Vic, maybe they can accommodate you. https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/products/schiit-audio-saga-stereo-pre-amplifier Cheers George Thanks George - i forgot these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedog Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) I received a Freya yesterday (not in Oz, sorry). Haven't really been listening to the tube section yet, just the SS and the passive. Once I get a good handle on the SS, I will do some serious listening to the tubes. This thing is very good. Sound is very clear and clean with lots (not too much) of detail. Not sterile or harsh sounding. I was using the analog volume control preamp function of my Mytek 192 DAC as pre. The internal Mytek pre is pretty good, as good as some "audiophile" stand alone preamps. This is definitely better (The DAC is now in "pure DAC" mode, the internal pre is taken out of the signal path). The passive section of Freya sounds very similar to the SS, but without as much gain (duh!). Passive sounds very clean and clear, but in some systems/for some tastes it will sound a bit thin. The SS won't. I've previously used a couple of other passives (including the Schiit Sys that costs $49 bucks and a Goldpoint), also an old MF SS pre. The Schiit Sys was also good, for 50 bucks, but no remote. This is better. To be accurate this has 4 advantages over the smaller and cheaper Saga (if you need them): 3 modes: passive, active tube section and active SS section, as opposed to just two - tube buffer and passive section. Balanced ins and outs. Greater number of ins and outs. Volume control is 128 steps instead of 64.If you want that. I'm sure the smaller SAGA is a great deal for those that need "only" its features. This one fit my needs better. Cons: remote is very small plastic and basic. Okay and functional, nothing more. Schiit has said they will probably market a fancy metal remote in the future as an add on, but not at the present. I'm guessing once they sell enough of the two preamp models it will be worth it to them to offer a better remote, as buyers have already indicated they want one. Other con: tube section stays on (tubes wearing out) even if you are using one of the other modes. Of course, if you don't use the tubes often, you can just remove them and run the pre in one of the other two modes. Schiit also have said they will probably market "SS tubes" - SS devices that fit in the tube socket and mimic tubes for the amp. They already have this for some of their headphone amps. http://schiit.com/products/lisst-tubes In short I'd recommend this pre. I haven't listened to a $5000 pre in my system for comparison, but I have heard some costing $1500 -$3000 in my setup, and this thing is clearly at that audiophile level. So it's a steal, if you ask me. Doubt you can find anything better at anywhere near the price, even from China. It's also a fun audiophile thing to be able to play with the 3 output modes. BTW, Schiit is also about to come out with a matching Power amp ("Vidar") for $700. Not Class D, if that bothers you. Stereo amp that can be bridged to be a monoblock: http://schiit.com/news/news/schiit-previews-2-channel-line-at-rmaf If it is on the level of these preamps you well be able to put together a very good pre + power combo starting at $1050 US from Schiit. Sounds like a good answer to the magabuck equipment we see too often. Edited January 10, 2017 by firedog 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Quote Schiit also have said they will probably market "SS tubes" - SS devices that fit in the tube socket and mimic tubes for the amp. They already have this for some of their headphone amps. http://schiit.com/products/lisst-tubes This seems like a bit of a joke, as all the signal will be going through unnecessary caps and resistors that are still in circuit for the tube, when it should (being solid state) be dc coupled from input to output. Cheers George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedog Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 1 minute ago, georgehifi said: This seems like a bit of a joke, as all the signal will be going through unnecessary caps and resistors that are still in circuit for the tube, when it should (being solid state) be dc coupled from input to output. Cheers George In the end, all that matters is if you think it sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazzesman Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Folks re the Sage preamp Volume Control: relay-switched stepped attenuator with discrete thin-film resistors , 64 1dB steps What is the difference and/or advantage b/t having a 64 step attenuator and the 128 step in the Freya. Please don't say 64 steps Is it simply a finer adjustment in the vol control or does it actually mean an overall ability to increase the Vol higher in the Freya? Regards Cazzesman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chill3 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 51 minutes ago, cazzesman said: Folks re the Sage preamp Volume Control: relay-switched stepped attenuator with discrete thin-film resistors , 64 1dB steps What is the difference and/or advantage b/t having a 64 step attenuator and the 128 step in the Freya. Please don't say 64 steps Is it simply a finer adjustment in the vol control or does it actually mean an overall ability to increase the Vol higher in the Freya? Regards Cazzesman Just gives finer control 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, cazzesman said: Folks re the Sage preamp Volume Control: relay-switched stepped attenuator with discrete thin-film resistors , 64 1dB steps What is the difference and/or advantage b/t having a 64 step attenuator and the 128 step in the Freya. Please don't say 64 steps Is it simply a finer adjustment in the vol control or does it actually mean an overall ability to increase the Vol higher in the Freya? Regards Cazzesman Just finer adjustments, It would also depend if they did a linear or logarithmic advancement volume curve. I had prototypes with mine with 32 step log and lin that have been just fine enough, so 64 would be great, 128 I think a bit of overkill. Cheers George Edited January 14, 2017 by georgehifi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 33 minutes ago, georgehifi said: Just finer adjustments, It would also depend if they did a linear or logarithmic advancement volume curve. I had prototypes with mine with 32 step log and lin that have been just fine enough, so 64 would be great, 128 I think a bit of overkill. Cheers George You would be wrong. 128 steps is the MINIMUM required for good control. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 Agreed, the more steps the better. I have 100 steps, sometimes I wish there was more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 (edited) Like I said Zaph, I used 32 step on a unity gain preamp, and it was fine. I was able to utilize more than 3/4 of the entire range of it, from zero to passed 3 o'clock I can understand with an active preamp that has more gain than one needs, a 32 will be too coarse. Then yes the 64 or even 128 would be preferred. As most of the volume control may never be used because of too much gain, so the increments down low may not be fine enough with 32 or even 64, you may only be using the volume between 7 and 9 o'clock which I find useless. To use it with more volume range (sweep) available, the system gain needs to be dropped, an all to common complaint with active preamps owners today, "to much gain" Cheers George Edited January 15, 2017 by georgehifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedog Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 It also depends on how you listen. I often listen to mixed playlists, and can find myself adjusting volume on every track. If you do that, then 128 steps is definitely preferred. If you tend to listen to whole albums/discs, then usually you don't need such fine volume control, as you don't adjust volume much. BTW, the remote of these units allows you to press continuously on the volume control for "fast" increase of decrease, or use single presses to increase/decrease volume one step at a time. This is unlike some volume controls (e.g., Apple remote) which only work one step at a time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasinski Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 My Freya will be delivered Monday and I look forward to it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizzie Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 My Freya will be delivered Monday and I look forward to it How U find the Freya Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasinski Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 I just hooked it up now and can't make any judgement yet. Will post some thoughts in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizzie Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Looking forward to hear about your impression especially the JFET buffer modeSent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasinski Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 The Jfet mode is very quiet and seems like it's not adding anything to the music that isn't already there. I installed some Sylvania 6sn7 WGTA tubes into unit that I have had stored away and I love the sound with those. Little warmth and depth to some acoustic music in that mode. I look forward to getting a pair of the Vidar amps when they come out to drive my Kef LS 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 A pair of them! For LS50s! Holy cow, that will make those little KEFs jump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizzie Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Holy schiit, that's some serious power on those ls50Enjoy the Freya and good luck with the vidar monos Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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