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Schiit Freya+ Pre-amp Review

Rate this preamp:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 98 43.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 64 28.7%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 33 14.8%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 28 12.6%

  • Total voters
    223

Rottmannash

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I must not have discriminating ears, as I can't hear any distortion on any of the 3 modes.
 

Cars-N-Cans

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I can understand that, might be hard to do though. Because then the users would have to play back the sound through their DACs & Amps to see if the other DAC or Amp is musical ;x
Assuming they have managed to actually purchase something more broken ;) Still it would be interesting to hear what Amir hears, not to mention my last tube based receiver was curbed many, many years ago. Odd to say but I don't even remember what tube amp distortion really even sounds like, now. But, one has to wonder at an audiophile who insists on all tubes, no feedback, and starting a new record collection, not for the novelty aspect of having cool looking records, but literally because it "sounds better." I guess for those people its something more interactive than model ship building or having a sports-memorabilia collection.
 

Rottmannash

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The distortion is also volume dependent. It could be that you are not running it at as high a level as Amir is, in which case the distortion components may be low enough not to be audible.

Trust me, I've listened at extremely high volumes but at those volumes my ears were ringing anyway so detecting distortion was impossible. At normal to high listening levels (with well recorded music) I cannot detect any distortion whatsoever-again probably due to my 63 yo ears and the combination of components in the chain. Bottom line-I'm very happy with the Freya+.
 

Cars-N-Cans

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Trust me, I've listened at extremely high volumes but at those volumes my ears were ringing anyway so detecting distortion was impossible. At normal to high listening levels (with well recorded music) I cannot detect any distortion whatsoever-again probably due to my 63 yo ears and the combination of components in the chain. Bottom line-I'm very happy with the Freya+.
Not saying its bad, but being level dependent the gain of the remaining audio chain after the preamp may limit how high a level it can get to. The tube section goes to some absurdly high output level, even for XLR. Even then the THD+N is about -55 or so, which is borderline for audibility depending on what you are using for listening (speakers, headphones, etc.). The tubes could also vary from unit to unit as well in how consistent they are, how many hours they have, etc.
 

AluminiumEar

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I was not talking about reviews, I was talking about measurments. I trust the data an APx555 is plotting, it is not a matter of trust, it is a matter of double checking the measurments parameters and conditions. Yes they will vary and you can't draw straight comparison if they are not the same, but one can do the extrapolation with a bit of analysis.
屏幕截图 2022-07-28 124206.jpg
 

DHT 845

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Tube stage with so high third harmonic makes this preamp nonsense IMO, active SS is not reference either. Passive? Who needs passive for 1200 USD?
 

JSmith

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Is this pronounce "shit"?
Yes, that is our name. Shih-tah. It's a proud German name, host to a long line of audio engineers who slaved away in crumbling Teutonic fortresses as lightning lashed the dark lands outside, working to perfect the best amplification devices in the world...

Or, well, no. Yep, Schiit is our name, and it's pronounced, well, like "hey man, that's some really good Schiit!"
Schiit publish the full Audio Precision measurement report of their products right on their website
I cannot see anything there for this model... got a link for that?


JSmith
 

firedog

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Don't quite understand this. Schiit showed much better SNR with their measurements. 115db and 120db for the tube and transistor, A-weighted.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Don't quite understand this. Schiit showed much better SNR with their measurements. 115db and 120db for the tube and transistor, A-weighted.
You can't compare raw measurements and a-weighted. They produce different results especially when power supply noise is present (as in tube mode).
 

DSJR

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Didn't Jason state in his blog that some of this stuff running parallel (solid state and valve/tube) was to 'sound out' the market and keep going the more popular one. The Saga S was paused for quite a while although I believe it's back. I buy used mostly now if I need to change and like Amir, the wider look of this case type appeals more for a preamp.

Thing for me, is that my half century old 'cooker style' preamp with an IC per channel can 'do' 10V output into a typical load (say 10 - 20k estimated) with still low noise and distortion (according to Ken Rockwell's test a few years back) and can still manage 5V max into a 600 ohm loading.

Sorry Schiit, to me this particular model is an excessively and useless retro pile of s**t! - and sold on subjective preference only to people who simply don't know...
 
Last edited:

Koeitje

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Cool, a noise and distortion generator.
 

TK750

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@TK750 study some drawing/drafting stuff and go full isometric on life for weeks and see what you think after..., It's a rush!
Haha perhaps at some point, for now I think I will have to take your word for it!
 

Jimster480

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Apparently, at this time, 4 people in the poll own a Freya+. :D

I am one of them - and really like the sound, but maybe my 53 y/o ears can't her the distortion? I also use KEF Q350s, so seems I dig poorly rated stuff. :p

Thank you @amirm for all of your hard work and reviews!
It might be that your headphone isn't resolving enough, or the music you are testing with isn't recorded well enough. Or you aren't listening hard enough. it all depends lol
 

milosz

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The analog cultists will love this thing. Tube mode will make their digital files sound a lot like vinyl.
 
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