Schiit Freya S Preamplifier Review

[jjk]

This is my Freya.
I have sent an email to Schiit asking if they will repair or exchange. If I don't hear back Monday, I will call them.
Pretty cool/gratifying to see a good Forum participation level on a device I offered for review.
Thanks!

 

[CheapskateCCAOwner]

This is my Freya.
I have sent an email to Schiit asking if they will repair or exchange. If I don't hear back Monday, I will call them.
Pretty cool/gratifying to see a good Forum participation level on a device I offered for review.
Thanks!

If it were me, I would be perfectly satisfied with your Freya as-is. IMO, your Freya S performs within spec (though I know some here would disagree), and the disparity between channels is inaudible anyway.

Of course I'm a super cheapskate, so my standards are probably a lot lower than yours, but good luck either way!

 

[LTig]

The times I have measured AC music signals from the output of a CD player I have not seen any at all above 290mv

Typical output levels of CD-players are around 2Vrms unbalanced (RCA). How much voltage actually is delivered depends on the recording, but any preamp connected to a CD player must be able to handle 2Vrms (and hopefully at least twice as much as there are lots of audiophile CD players and DACs with more than 2V. I remember having seen one with 7V tested so 6 dB headroom is not sufficient for those pathological cases.

 

[LTig]

Just looking at the graph "Intermodulation distortion" (IMD vs input level) we do not know in which stage IMD is created (before and/or after the volume control) - it may depend on volume position or not. THD and noise on the other hand are obviously mostly created after the volume control because they are higher in high gain mode where the volume position must have been set lower than in low gain mode. So we can safely conclude that IMD is created behind the volume control as well (IMD goes with THD). Then it is safe to assume that both IMD and THD are lower for low volume (see posting #44 why this is the case) while noise is constant.

There is another hint about the internal (unknown) schematics: the preamp can be switched into passive mode. For economic reasons I'd assume that Schiit uses only one 2 way 2 channel switch instead of two, so it has to be after the volume control. This implies that there is no amplifier stage before the volume control. The good thing is then that you can connect sources with very high output level without fear of clipping the amplifier stage; just reduce volume and you're fine.

 

[amirm]

The chart shows the average SINAD between the Freya S's two channels in "0 DB" active mode for different gain levels (unless I'm mistaken)

That's correct. I adjusted the volume until I got the desired output, summed THD+N for each channel as expressed in SINAD and plotted it.

 

[gvl]

That's correct. I adjusted the volume until I got the desired output, summed THD+N for each channel as expressed in SINAD and plotted it.

Did you notice distortion decreasing with lowering the volume?

 

[Boatswain]

I would like more of these preamplifier tests. Thank you!

 

[jjk]

Update:
I received an email from Schiit today. The email asked about my purchase information, reference the warranty.
I bought the unit from another ASR member. I explained that to the rep (the email was not from one of the two principals) that I thought it was in both my interest and Schiit's interest that the unit be investigated/repaired/replaced, regardless of whether I was the original buyer.
Waiting to hear back from that exchange. More to follow.

 

[audioeclectic]

@amirm technically what could be the root cause this distortion y just one channel on the taste scenario you performed to Freya S? and the variation on the last graph you show?

 

[jjk]

Update 2
Here is the response from Schiit:
Hello Steve,
I am sorry the warranty does not apply to second -hand units. We will be happy to take a look at it for you
http://schiit.com/contact/service Please click on the link it will set you up in our repair Que. Once we inspect it we will get back to you with a repair estimate.
Thank You

I followed up with this email:
Hello Amy,
Does Schiit have a spec for THD+N tolerance between channels?
Thanks,
Steve

And the response:
Hello,
I am sorry I do not have that information. If you would like us to look at it please send it in.
Thank You

Comments? Suggestions?

 

[audioeclectic]

Update 2
Here is the response from Schiit:
Hello Steve,
I am sorry the warranty does not apply to second -hand units. We will be happy to take a look at it for you
http://schiit.com/contact/service Please click on the link it will set you up in our repair Que. Once we inspect it we will get back to you with a repair estimate.
Thank You

I followed up with this email:
Hello Amy,
Does Schiit have a spec for THD+N tolerance between channels?
Thanks,
Steve

And the response:
Hello,
I am sorry I do not have that information. If you would like us to look at it please send it in.
Thank You

Comments? Suggestions?

Send to them to repair, and then to Amirm to measure again! It would be interesting!

 

[jjk]

Honestly, I am not convinced that Schiit will repair. I think it is just as likely that they will say something like,
" Both channels meet our spec, no repair required."

 

[amirm]

Honestly, I am not convinced that Schiit will repair. I think it is just as likely that they will say something like,
" Both channels meet our spec, no repair required."

That's exactly what they are going to tell you. All the units may be this way anyway.

 

[amirm]

@amirm technically what could be the root cause this distortion y just one channel on the taste scenario you performed to Freya S? and the variation on the last graph you show?

I don't know without knowing the schematic. The performance of one channel is very good so it doesn't take much to deviate from that.

 

[Laserjock]

Did you swap the channels into the analyzer to make sure it followed?

Just curious as I deal with variables like these in my industry.

 

[direstraitsfan98]

That's exactly what they are going to tell you. All the units may be this way anyway.

If you bought one new and were unsatisfied at all they are more then happy to send a replacement unit. I’m not sure how they would treat a customer months later after they purchased or if they unit was acquired second hannd, but with all my dealings with them in the past they’ve been more than accommodating. Just MY experience of course.

Unrelated but I’d love to see measurements for the new Ragnorak integrated amplifier schiit is selling. As well as their Vidar and Argier amplifiers.

 

[majingotan]

ASR has the Aegir measurements here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...surements-of-schiit-aegir-pwr-amplifier.9314/

It measures really well and even has the subjective A grade category from Stereophile. Only caveat is the lack of power so you would definitely need 2 of these in monoblock configuration

 

[T.M.Noble]

Honestly, I am not convinced that Schiit will repair. I think it is just as likely that they will say something like,
" Both channels meet our spec, no repair required."

I want to let you know that I have personally looked into this matter. We always take repairs seriously and want to deliver a quality product to any customer. This unit looks to be in need of repair as we have never seen these results on any Freya S that leaves the warehouse. We publish our own measurements (see link attached) and we state that if anyone cannot replicate these measurements to contact us. This is part of the reason we do not honor the warranties of secondhand units. We cannot guarantee the quality of the product because we are uncertain of how the product was shipped, treated, used or tampered with. That being said, I would be happy to have the unit repaired at our cost. Please reconnect with our customer service and they will take care of you again.

https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/PDF/Schiit Preamp APx555 Standard Test Suite_ Freya S.pdf

 

[direstraitsfan98]

Told you.

 

[jjk]

Thank you T.M.
Much appreciated and well done.
I will have ASR ship the unit directly to you.
Thanks again.