New Schiit SYN - Analog Surround Sound Processor

[Guddu]

It's a low pass filter. My prehaps incorrect thinking is that a large part of ambiance comes from high frequencies. Be intresting to hear what led to them choosing this frequency response for the surrounds.

Yes, correct. Thank You.

 

[TonyJZX]

They have SPDIF input already on it, basic DD/DTS decoding would have surely added some value.

there's a few problems here

1stly... you have to license this stuff

2ndly... you have to add ICs and going digital defeats the purpose

3rdly... you have to add LCD screens, OSDs and control menus which adds complexity

4thly... to me you're competing against decades old processors and receivers which are essentially free on the 2nd hand market which i'm guessing a potential Schitt Syn buyer already has in another system

this product is targetting the fraction of a 1% buyer who finds this Schittt funny so to speak

 

[Twelvetone]

Viz: Apt/Holman preamp Mode Control, circa 1978…

 

[Kal Rubinson]

so they invented an analog based Dolby Pro Logic... sort of

I really liked this one:

Fosgate Audionics FAP V1 surround processor-preamplifier | Stereophile.com

When PR guy Adam Sohmer first told me about the Fosgate Audionics FAP V1, I thought that the impressive-looking device would be the first all-tube preamp-processor—heck, the first tube anything—in my multichannel system. Then I looked closer at the user's manual I'd downloaded from Fosgate's...

www.stereophile.com

 

[computer-audiophile]

Return of the Hafler "ambience retrieval" box?



I mean, matrix "quad" was a thing ca. 1972.

Exactly!
That was my first thought too. I still remember those times and devices well. I was in the game back then.
It seems to be the same lack of new ideas as in fashion, where all the old trends are warmed up again and again.

 

[charleski]

I really liked this one:

Fosgate Audionics FAP V1 surround processor-preamplifier | Stereophile.com

When PR guy Adam Sohmer first told me about the Fosgate Audionics FAP V1, I thought that the impressive-looking device would be the first all-tube preamp-processor—heck, the first tube anything—in my multichannel system. Then I looked closer at the user's manual I'd downloaded from Fosgate's...

www.stereophile.com

And there I was thinking I'd seen it all!
A $13k tube analog Pro-Logic decoder has got to get top-billing on any list of weirdest hifi components.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

And there I was thinking I'd seen it all!
A $13k tube analog Pro-Logic decoder has got to get top-billing on any list of weirdest hifi components.

Even in its time, it was of marginal interest.

 

[shadracko]

I guess Schiit had to respond to the current surround sound craze, but I can’t figure out the target audience for this product. It seems anachronistic to the extreme.

"Current" surround craze? That craze is decades old now?

 

[Asyrin]

further $399 usd gets you part way to a current low to mid range Atmos unit that actually does all this and more

i picked up an Onkyo 7.2 unit for less than this when everyone though they were going bankrupt

i think Schitt are being funny and think theres people out there who are arch and antiestablishment and want to part with $400 for what is going to be a piece of Schitt curio pretty soon.

You put that giant Onkyo unit on your desk?

Because I searched high and low for a small 5.1 receiver and found nothing.

 

[kemmler3D]

I find this really dumb. This "surround processor" is known as a mid-side processor in the studio/production world. You can do this pretty easily in DSP if you have a DAC with enough outputs.

https://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/ this freebie plus some basic filters is all you need to recreate this device, should you so choose.

Anyway, the fact that DIY solutions exist isn't really the point.

This device really abuses the idea of actual surround sound, and IMO is too liberal in terms of messing with the original mix. I don't want what schiit thinks the song should sound like, I want what the band/producer/mixing engineer thought the song should sound like. Hard pass from me.

 

[shadracko]

You put that giant Onkyo unit on your desk?

What do you mean? This is a surround unit, not something designed for desks.

 

[mhardy6647]

"Current" surround craze? That craze is decades old now?

What goes around comes around.
Ask Brian Eno

Brian Eno 3 speaker setup, Hafler circuit, etc.

I just watched a new video from Paul/PS Audio () regarding Brian Eno's suggestion to use a 3rd speaker connected to the positive terminals of your amp, placed behind, to play the uncommon audio from both channels, potentially playing audio not heard with a standard 2-speaker setup. Does anyone...

www.audiosciencereview.com

(or David Hafler, as mentioned earlier. He's a little harder to get hold of, unless a Ouija Board's handy)

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/70s/1971/Poptronics-1971-07.pdf see pg. 47ff of the magazine.

 

[FrantzM]

To paraphrase @Kal Rubinson , this is a marginal product and I predict its success will be marginal .. at best.
IMHO this product does justice to the brand's homonym....

Peace.


P.S.

 

[Zensō]

"Current" surround craze? That craze is decades old now?

Well yeah, surround is nothing new, but there is a lot of marketing hype right now with Apple and Amazon pushing Atmos and Sonos introducing their Era speakers and pushing surround harder than ever.

 

[Vacceo]

Well yeah, surround is nothing new, but there is a lot of hype right now with Apple and Amazon pushing Atmos and Sonos introducing their Era speakers and pushing surround harder than ever.

Yet, here we are, with only AVR's as convenient solution.

 

[Asyrin]

What do you mean? This is a surround unit, not something designed for desks.

It's the size of a jotenheim and has a headphone amp.

Why can't you have surround sound at a desk?

 

[formdissolve]

Wow, I'd consider this if it was balanced.. but then it would probably be pushing $1k. Pretty cool regardless.

 

[MAB]

Perhaps I missed it, but hasn't Yamaha done this in 1980's with the DSP-1?

Extraction vs Generation | Stereophile.com

Many years ago I bought the first model of the Audio/Pulse ambience synthesizer. Like many audiophiles, I was convinced (and still am) that the standard two-speaker stereo experience provides an unsatisfying concert-hall impression. But the Audio/Pulse didn't remain long in my stereo system. You...

www.stereophile.com

Probably totally different. Likely I would still want to have the Yamaha....

edit... with picture:

 

[Zensō]

Yet, here we are, with only AVR's as convenient solution.

Which, in my opinion, is because surround is a nothing burger for anything other than watching movies or playing games. YMMV.

 

[sejarzo]

A friend of mine at college with Quad ESLs at home bought a pair of Rogers LS3/5a's back in 1977 with the intent of using the Rogers in a small apartment during grad school, then as the surrounds using another "ambiance reclaiming" device somewhat like that Hafler once he got into a more permanent home. For the life of me, I cannot recall the name of it, but it was sold in a few high-end shops back then, even though they were accused of audio heresy at the time.