Review and Measurements of Schiit Valhalla Amp

[magicscreen]

I think theres probaly audible difference with high quality audio files and good hearing.
This level of Sinad is just very bad, you cant even reproduce the dinamic range of a simple CD, theres no way that there isnt any difference.

I hope that Amir uses high quality audio files for testing.
And I am sure that his son has better hearing than mine

 

[amirm]

I hope that Amir uses high quality audio files for testing.

I have a selection of files which over time, have provided revealing of headphone distortion. I am always adding to them though.

 

[Bds3151]

Well there's no excusing distortion that is encroaching on audible territory and horrible power at 1%THD. However, clearly this unit has been banged up. At least one channel appears to have attrocious measurements. I know you are limited in purchasing new units and must rely on used units, but I wonder if it's wise to publish measurements of an amp that may have been broken.

You can't hear it until it is over 1% according to this study. A whole lot of confirmation bias going on here.
https://www.axiomaudio.com/blog/distortion/

 

[JohnYang1997]

You can't hear it until it is over 1% according to this study. A whole lot of confirmation bias going on here.
https://www.axiomaudio.com/blog/distortion/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ship-to-nonlinear-distortion-audibility.4784/

 

[Bds3151]

Thanks John. A good read. Seems like it contradicts the input here that many have tried to hear differences in equipment and failed. I'll do some more research on how the study was done. Must of been great ears to hear .003% or so.

 

[amirm]

Spectrum of THD determines its audibility. As such, any rule of one number for THD can very much be wrong. This is why I always show the FFT spectrum in the dashboard.

 

[Bds3151]

Thanks for that clarification Amirm. I think they tried to specify worst case with 1 to 3% in the study I posted. But there seems to be a lot of differences with the additional studies John posted. I know ears/brains are very different but I don't know why it's so hard to agree on a worst case range. It can't be from .003 to 20%, can it?

 

[aldarrin]

Took a bit of digging, but found the original product page, spec sheet, and manual.

Product Page:
https://el8442.wixsite.com/schiitarchive/post/valhalla

Specs:
https://1dc9d0f5-a06e-4d08-9c11-300...d/1dc9d0_bf594fc608e94d69abee84464ba186d2.pdf

Manual:
https://1dc9d0f5-a06e-4d08-9c11-300...d/1dc9d0_caa15023ac40450fae16caab57719452.pdf