6 ms·

Some of their products are worse than snake oil. When powering off, Schiit's Asgard amp can output enough DC to damage some headphones. One Head-Fi user recorde

by ggreer 12y ago

Some of their products are worse than snake oil. When powering off, Schiit's Asgard amp can output enough DC to damage some headphones. One Head-Fi user recorded a video of this happening. NWAvGuy tried to get answers from Jason Stoddard and ended up being banned from the Head-Fi forums. The whole fiasco is summarized on NWAvGuy's blog.[1] Of course NWAvGuy isn't the most tactful person, but Head-Fi's reaction seems quite overzealous. 1. http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/banned-at-head-fi.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/banned-at-head-fi.html

mkozlows 12y ago
Your tenses are wrong. They used to have that problem, but they fixed it (including a retro-fix for previously sold units), and no current models have that issue.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
cthalupa 12y ago
>Some of their products are worse than snake oil. When powering off, Schiit's Asgard amp can output enough DC to damage some headphones. 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-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/765#post_10463052 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-thread-long-live-the-wizard-the-former-ha-appreciation-thread/150#post_8144761 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.
- ferongr 12y ago
  >That is fairly standard precaution with the higher end of audio equipment No it's not, that's called bad design. Unless high-end now stands for "poorly designed gear sold for 10 times what they're worth".
  - cthalupa 12y ago
    I don't know of many big ticket amps you can turn on before you turn on your big ticket preamps and don't run a risk of having an expensive bad day. Why? Because you are amplifying the turn on signal from the source or preamp. Every time you have ever turned audio equipment on and heard that thump or pop, you are hearing the same phenomenon that ran the risk of damaging headphones left plugged in. It just so happens in most cases the amount of power involved isn't significant, but it does become so once you enter the realm of high powered amplifiers. There's nothing inherently wrong about a design that doesn't include a muting relay because it is supposed to be understood how the device is operated, in the same way there's nothing inherently wrong about a car design that doesn't lock the gas tank while the car is online and running - you are supposed to know you shouldn't fill up your gas tank while the vehicle is on, and if you do so, there are risks. (Yes, sparks from the engine compartment of running cars can and do cause fires while refueling, albeit rarely)
    - ferongr 12y ago
      The volume control operates on the preamp section, the thump of amplifiers is usually generated on the power amplifier section, usually a sign of a bipolar power supply that at startup and power down rises/lowers voltage unevenly, resulting in DC output to the speakers. Turning down the volume will do nothing, you have to remove the load and in many cases (speakers) that's infeasible. Not to mention something like a brownout/power loss could end up damaging the transducer anyway. Being "high-end" is no excuse, cut-off relays do not affect sound quality and they are not expensive. It's just either laziness or advertising to people that don't know better. Again, there is no reason not to install shut-off relays.
      - 12y ago
_broody 12y ago
Yes, that was an absolute fiasco, but it's more of a problem with Head-Fi banning anyone who criticizes their sponsors because they make their money off of nurturing massive audiophile cargo cults. 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.

by ggreer 12y ago

mkozlows 12y ago

Your tenses are wrong. They used to have that problem, but they fixed it (including a retro-fix for previously sold units), and no current models have that issue.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

cthalupa 12y ago

>Some of their products are worse than snake oil. When powering off, Schiit's Asgard amp can output enough DC to damage some headphones. 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-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/765#post_10463052 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-thread-long-live-the-wizard-the-former-ha-appreciation-thread/150#post_8144761 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.

ferongr 12y ago
>That is fairly standard precaution with the higher end of audio equipment No it's not, that's called bad design. Unless high-end now stands for "poorly designed gear sold for 10 times what they're worth".
- cthalupa 12y ago
  I don't know of many big ticket amps you can turn on before you turn on your big ticket preamps and don't run a risk of having an expensive bad day. Why? Because you are amplifying the turn on signal from the source or preamp. Every time you have ever turned audio equipment on and heard that thump or pop, you are hearing the same phenomenon that ran the risk of damaging headphones left plugged in. It just so happens in most cases the amount of power involved isn't significant, but it does become so once you enter the realm of high powered amplifiers. There's nothing inherently wrong about a design that doesn't include a muting relay because it is supposed to be understood how the device is operated, in the same way there's nothing inherently wrong about a car design that doesn't lock the gas tank while the car is online and running - you are supposed to know you shouldn't fill up your gas tank while the vehicle is on, and if you do so, there are risks. (Yes, sparks from the engine compartment of running cars can and do cause fires while refueling, albeit rarely)
  - ferongr 12y ago
    The volume control operates on the preamp section, the thump of amplifiers is usually generated on the power amplifier section, usually a sign of a bipolar power supply that at startup and power down rises/lowers voltage unevenly, resulting in DC output to the speakers. Turning down the volume will do nothing, you have to remove the load and in many cases (speakers) that's infeasible. Not to mention something like a brownout/power loss could end up damaging the transducer anyway. Being "high-end" is no excuse, cut-off relays do not affect sound quality and they are not expensive. It's just either laziness or advertising to people that don't know better. Again, there is no reason not to install shut-off relays.
    - 12y ago

_broody 12y ago

Yes, that was an absolute fiasco, but it's more of a problem with Head-Fi banning anyone who criticizes their sponsors because they make their money off of nurturing massive audiophile cargo cults. 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.