Schiit Hel

[Crazy_Nate]

Hey - just plugged in one of these to my wife's computer ( + HD6XX as a xmas present). After the usual driver headache, I like it! It sounds fairly powerful and very clean. Anyone outside of Schiit have measurements for one?

Here's the link to Schiit's APx555 measurements: https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/PDF/Schiit DAC APx555 Standard Test Suite_ Hel.pdf

 

[majingotan]

How's the "mic in jack" quality? Any better than motherboard's mic in jack?

 

[Crazy_Nate]

Haven't tried it yet. If I can get our onboard sound drivers to play well with the Hel drivers (not always a given), then I can probably subjectively use my ears while my wife tests the mic. I have a feeling that the mic-in is mostly driven by convenience and I may not be able to hear a difference.

 

[JJB70]

This seems an interesting product as it offers quite a lot in a compact and affordable package. Headphone power output seems impressive for the size and price. Forget the gaming stuff, I suspect this is a very good solution for music lovers.

 

[majingotan]

Schiit provides their distortion data at 1V. I suspect past that there would be audible distortion present in the output. Then again at those voltages, the transducers would also be producing tons of distortion as well

 

[JJB70]

I would like to see Amir measure this. If well implemented then an amp of this power with a DAC at this price would be a pretty compelling proposition. The Magni Heresy shows Schiit can make an excellent product for a great price. The Hel could be a real sweet spot if the amp is as well implemented as the Heresy and the DAC competently done.

 

[Ratatoskr]

The gamers are already getting enthusiastic about the Hel. Mic in is rated excellent reviewers would like to see USB mic input for latest gaming headphones though.

https://www.thegamer.com/schiit-audio-hel-high-power-gaming-dacamp-review/
https://www.mmorpg.com/hardware-rev...power-gaming-dacamp-review-game-on-1000014078

 

[Soniclife]

The gamers are already getting enthusiastic about the Hel. Mic in is rated excellent reviewers would like to see USB mic input for latest gaming headphones though.

https://www.thegamer.com/schiit-audio-hel-high-power-gaming-dacamp-review/

From that review.

Schiit audio has been creating high-quality audio products since 2019.

They must be ASR fans.

 

[majingotan]

For the price that’s on the level of high end PCIE gaming cards with 7.1 channel output, high quality mic input and DSP to boot, Schiit Hel’s mic in and its ADC should be on par with some of the audio interfaces at its price range

 

[Dana reed]

Picked up one of these along with a mic cable for my LCD2 for a WFH setup. Added my modi 3 to the setup, so I could leave the Hel USB connected to my laptop full time, and use the USB on the modi for my phone. The audio quality of the recording for the mic sounds solid, and I haven’t even used high gain for my LCD2s

 

[Shangri-La]

Is there any way you can add the Fulla/Hel to existing DAC/pre-amp to Only use its mic input and headphone output, while using existing DAC/pre- for everything else? Doesnt look likely but just wanted to add mic/headphone feature which existing DAC lacks.

 

[Dana reed]

Is there any way you can add the Fulla/Hel to existing DAC/pre-amp to Only use its mic input and headphone output, while using existing DAC/pre- for everything else? Doesnt look likely but just wanted to add mic/headphone feature which existing DAC lacks.

You can just set up the computer to use the other DAC, and then run its output into the line input of the Hel

 

[Shangri-La]

You can just set up the computer to use the other DAC, and then run its output into the line input of the Hel

Yeah that's probably the only way. Though it kinda defeats the purpose of using the original DAC...

 

[Dana reed]

Yeah that's probably the only way. Though it kinda defeats the purpose of using the original DAC...

I mean you can run the other DAC into whatever headphone amp you want really, and just use the microphone input of the Hel. For something like teleconferencing and gaming though, you probably don't need a better DAC than what's in the Hel. I'd say the audio quality of the other people's voices is going to be limited by however it's mangled in transmission.

 

[Shangri-La]

I mean you can run the other DAC into whatever headphone amp you want really, and just use the microphone input of the Hel. For something like teleconferencing and gaming though, you probably don't need a better DAC than what's in the Hel. I'd say the audio quality of the other people's voices is going to be limited by however it's mangled in transmission.

Yeah the DACs I'm thinking about getting for my desktop system dont have mic-in or headphone-out. I only need mic for teleconferencing during the shutdown and I'm not a headphone guy either. Maybe a standalone Hel makes sense.

 

[Dana reed]

Yeah the DACs I'm thinking about getting for my desktop system dont have mic-in or headphone-out. I only need mic for teleconferencing during the shutdown and I'm not a headphone guy either. Maybe a standalone Hel makes sense.

I mean if you don’t plan to use headphones, you could also get a Fulla, which also have a mic in. That would be quite a bit cheaper, unless you need the analog gain knob for the mic. The analog gain knob, and more powerful hp amp are what the Hel has up on the Fulla.

 

[Shangri-La]

I mean if you don’t plan to use headphones, you could also get a Fulla, which also have a mic in. That would be quite a bit cheaper, unless you need the analog gain knob for the mic. The analog gain knob, and more powerful hp amp are what the Hel has up on the Fulla.

Other than mic gain and more poweful hp amp, I was assuming the Hel offers better sound quality (mic/headphone/DAC) than the Fulla?

I was also wondering as a DAC, what level of sound quality does the Hel offer. I was suspecting about Modi 3's sound quality.

 

[Dana reed]

Other than mic gain and more poweful hp amp, I was assuming the Hel offers better sound quality (mic/headphone/DAC) than the Fulla?

I was also wondering as a DAC, what level of sound quality does the Hel offer. I was suspecting about Modi 3's sound quality.

All three have the same DAC chip, and overall SINAD appears to increase from Fulla to Hel to Modi, but likely inaudibly so. Not that subjective quality can be judged solely by SINAD.
I spent a bunch of time yesterday A/B testing two DACs on very different parts of the SINAD chart. The Ayre codex, and the modi 3. And also testing 3 different amps. The codex, the thx aaa 789, and the mjolnir. They all sound great to me with a number of headphones and only have small differences, at least with the type of music I listen to. It’s fun to play around with gear and try to see what sounds best, but in the end, the transducer and the music itself is where the main differences are

 

[Shangri-La]

All three have the same DAC chip, and overall SINAD appears to increase from Fulla to Hel to Modi, but likely inaudibly so. Not that subjective quality can be judged solely by SINAD.
I spent a bunch of time yesterday A/B testing two DACs on very different parts of the SINAD chart. The Ayre codex, and the modi 3. And also testing 3 different amps. The codex, the thx aaa 789, and the mjolnir. They all sound great to me with a number of headphones and only have small differences, at least with the type of music I listen to. It’s fun to play around with gear and try to see what sounds best, but in the end, the transducer and the music itself is where the main differences are

Just looked at Schiit's specs and things get slightly better from Fulla to Hel to Modi, which makes sense as Modi functions as a DAC only, while the other 2 have pre-amp, headphone amp, and mic in. That 4490-based DAC seems to be a mature product of Schiit. It's used in their modular DAC/pre-/amp too. Thinking about upgrading my desktop speakers/DAC as I spend more time these days WFH. I tried the other day comparing a 10-year-old Creative sound card (Soundblast X-Fi Xtreme Audio) and the Project Pre-box S2 digital DAC. To my surprise, I could hear a difference but not sure which sound I prefer. Maybe in favor of the Project slightly, but certainly not worthy of $400. Speaker was the ELAC Debut B6.2, amp was Akitika GT-102. Probably speaker was the bottleneck. In my main stereo setup, I could differentiate minute differences.

 

[Shangri-La]

I may have found what I'm really looking for: audio interface. It adds mic-in and headphone capability to your desktop system without altering what's currently used. For a simpler solution, a USB mic will do and it can also provide a headphone jack.