Schiit Freya + passive mode, Bechmark LA4, Topping pre90

[dlovesmusic]

Hello folks. Been reading the forum for years and finally join the family here.

Currently a Schiit Freya + preamp owner. Been overall pretty happy with it for the past few years until last week the tube stage went dead with no output (but the passive mode and solid state differential mode works fine)

Honestly i had been mostly using the tube stage of the Freya + for all my listening in my main system and wasn’t giving much love to the passive or solid state differential mode at 0db gain for the past few years…

In the meantime, I get to use the passive mode and the solid state mode and I got to say surprisingly I am not sure if I miss the tube stage!! (I will get it fixed regardless)

Please excuse my newbie question.

So the passive preamp mode of the Freya + had been reviewed and measured here at absolutely transparent with sinad of 121db.

The topping pre90 or the Benchmark LA4 had been reviewed and measured here also with sinad of 121db or so. All three preamps have perfect linearity as well.

Other than the +16db or so of gain with the pre90 or the Benchmark LA4 if someone needs that to drive their speakers to a desired volume, do I get any sound quality benefits by switching over from the Freya + to a pre90 or a Benchmark LA4?

In general, What are the benefits or maybe cons between a passive preamp vs an active preamp if sinad is pretty much identical?

The Freya + even without the tube stage is doing everything I need - connecting my dac and to my power amp through xlr and preout to my 2 subs and can even do HT-bypass at unity gain…

Cheers

D.

 

[BDWoody]

Other than the +16db or so of gain with the pre90 or the Benchmark LA4 if someone needs that to drive their speakers to a desired volume, do I get any sound quality benefits by switching over from the Freya + to a pre90 or a Benchmark LA4?

No reason to believe so.

I have the Freya S, and like it a lot. If you only need attenuation, and it has the connections you need, no reason to change unless you just feel like it.

 

[GXAlan]

I have a Freya Noval that I don’t use much at the moment but it’s a bit concerning to hear that the tube stage failed so early! Is it just the tubes somehow? Or did something else break?

 

[Mikig]

Hello folks. Been reading the forum for years and finally join the family here.

Currently a Schiit Freya + preamp owner. Been overall pretty happy with it for the past few years until last week the tube stage went dead with no output (but the passive mode and solid state differential mode works fine)

Honestly i had been mostly using the tube stage of the Freya + for all my listening in my main system and wasn’t giving much love to the passive or solid state differential mode at 0db gain for the past few years…

In the meantime, I get to use the passive mode and the solid state mode and I got to say surprisingly I am not sure if I miss the tube stage!! (I will get it fixed regardless)

Please excuse my newbie question.

So the passive preamp mode of the Freya + had been reviewed and measured here at absolutely transparent with sinad of 121db.

The topping pre90 or the Benchmark LA4 had been reviewed and measured here also with sinad of 121db or so. All three preamps have perfect linearity as well.

Other than the +16db or so of gain with the pre90 or the Benchmark LA4 if someone needs that to drive their speakers to a desired volume, do I get any sound quality benefits by switching over from the Freya + to a pre90 or a Benchmark LA4?

In general, What are the benefits or maybe cons between a passive preamp vs an active preamp if sinad is pretty much identical?

The Freya + even without the tube stage is doing everything I need - connecting my dac and to my power amp through xlr and preout to my 2 subs and can even do HT-bypass at unity gain…

Cheers

D.

Hi!!

If you hear well with the passive why worry? I use a passive preamp, sorry, attenuator, Khozmo, and I don't feel the need for an active preamp.

 

[dlovesmusic]

I have a Freya Noval that I don’t use much at the moment but it’s a bit concerning to hear that the tube stage failed so early! Is it just the tubes somehow? Or did something else break?

Well it’s been trouble free for the past 3 years or so. It just totally failed to turn on one day. Fortunately the passive mode and active ss mode is perfectly fine.

And to be honest, might not be a “bad” thing after all since otherwise I wouldn’t have come to the realization that the passive mode sounds really good, I might actually prefer it better than the tube stage!!!

 

[dlovesmusic]

Hi!!

If you hear well with the passive why worry? I use a passive preamp, sorry, attenuator, Khozmo, and I don't feel the need for an active preamp.

Thanks, not worry necessarily, but more out of curiosity what an active preamp will do differently to the system if measured to be transparent like a passive pre…

 

[dlovesmusic]

I should point out that I am currently using the passive preamp mode of the Freya + turned to max volume and use hqplayer digital volume to control volume.

I much prefer using the digital volume control of hqplayer since it’s much more accurate and volume can be set at 0.1 db increments, compared to the Freya remote - a press of the volume button gets you up or down at least a few notches

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I should point out that I am currently using the passive preamp mode of the Freya + turned to max volume and use hqplayer digital volume to control volume.

I much prefer using the digital volume control of hqplayer since it’s much more accurate and volume can be set at 0.1 db increments, compared to the Freya remote - a press of the volume button gets you up or down at least a few notches

Understood. I feel the same way and, consequently, have eliminated preamps* entirely. My DACs drive the amps directly. Saves electricity, wiring and $$.

*(including Schiit, Benchmark and Topping)

 

[dlovesmusic]

Understood. I feel the same way and, consequently, have eliminated preamps* entirely. My DACs drive the amps directly. Saves electricity, wiring and $$.

*(including Schiit, Benchmark and Topping)

I wish I could do that but I do have a few devices connecting to the chain, including my Anthem MRX1120 receiver pre-out to the Freya to share the power amp and main speakers

 

[Mikig]

I should point out that I am currently using the passive preamp mode of the Freya + turned to max volume and use hqplayer digital volume to control volume.

I much prefer using the digital volume control of hqplayer since it’s much more accurate and volume can be set at 0.1 db increments, compared to the Freya remote - a press of the volume button gets you up or down at least a few notches

I, however, do the opposite: reading the ASR tests I noticed how often the maximum performance of a DAC is obtained at 0db, and in any case at maximum volume. So I keep DAC at maximum and use the volume of the passive preamp. If you don't have other components to attach to the preamp you might as well use it and use the player or DAC directly to the power amp. like Kal

 

[dlovesmusic]

I, however, do the opposite: reading the ASR tests I noticed how often the maximum performance of a DAC is obtained at 0db, and in any case at maximum volume. So I keep DAC at maximum and use the volume of the passive preamp. If you don't have other components to attach to the preamp you might as well use it and use the player or DAC directly to the power amp. like Kal

My dac has no volume control so it’s always at max 4v connecting to the Freya + through xlr

 

[Mikig]

My dac has no volume control so it’s always at max 4v connecting to the Freya + through xlr

allright!!

 

[Gorgonzola]

I had the Freya + for a time and used the Passive mode almost exclusively after experimenting with Tube mode listening. Personally, (subjectively), my very strong impression was that the Passive was more detailed and dynamic though less "warm".

I have often heard the passive volume control dampens dynamics. Indeed, I have had that problem (per my strong impression) in combination with certain amps. However there was no apparent loss of dynamics with the Freya + Passive in combination with a Topping D90 DAC upstream and a Purifi 1ET400A based amp downstream. I believe I've heard that dynamic limitations are more likely in of case passives with power amps of low input impedance but I might be corrected.

 

[Mikig]

I have often heard the passive volume control dampens dynamics. Indeed, I have had that problem (per my strong impression)

On the other hand, with low level sources... I confirm that with the new DAC this problem does not exist!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I wish I could do that but I do have a few devices connecting to the chain, including my Anthem MRX1120 receiver pre-out to the Freya to share the power amp and main speakers

Understood. For that, I used a switch.

 

[dlovesmusic]

Understood. For that, I used a switch.

An amp switch. That might be a separate topic of discussion altogether. Can you please recommend a good quality switch that takes both xlr and rca?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

An amp switch. That might be a separate topic of discussion altogether. Can you please recommend a good quality switch that takes both xlr and rca?

Nope. One or the other, afaik. I use only xlr and this is what I have (although it it not in use now):

 

[dlovesmusic]

Nope. One or the other, afaik. I use only xlr and this is what I have (although it it not in use now):

Thanks Kal, will do some reading on it.

Cheers

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Thanks Kal, will do some reading on it.

Cheers

Unfortunately, it is discontinued but they turn up used from time to time. I do not receommend the earlier 5.1 active version which had trims for each channel, a master VC and no remote switching as it tended to be noisy. The 7.1 is passive and silent.

 

[GXAlan]

Well it’s been trouble free for the past 3 years or so. It just totally failed to turn on one day. Fortunately the passive mode and active ss mode is perfectly fine.

And to be honest, might not be a “bad” thing after all since otherwise I wouldn’t have come to the realization that the passive mode sounds really good, I might actually prefer it better than the tube stage!!!

Curious to know what Schiit says.

It all depends. When your tube mode is fixed, try listening to any of the vocal songs from La La Land. I find that tubes really help “sweeten” the sound in that the recording itself reproduced with full transparency feels like the phantom center is too tight and narrow and running the tubes, perhaps through crosstalk or microphonics made the phantom center width a bit wider and reverberant which makes it sound like you’re in an intimate live club as opposed to a multitrack’d studio session.

An amp switch. That might be a separate topic of discussion altogether. Can you please recommend a good quality switch that takes both xlr and rca?

I have a remote control speaker-level switch that I sent Amir to test which is supposed to allow one amp to multiple speakers or multiple amps to one speaker.