Schiit Skoll Balanced Phono Stage Review

[Daviede]

Phono cartridges are balanced by design and balanced input phono stages are a very worthwhile addition.

Is there any record player now with a balanced output interface?

 

[EJ3]

Is there any record player now with a balanced output interface?

There are others but here are a few:​

Pro-Ject X1 B and X2 B,​

THORENS TD 1601,​

THORENS TD 550,​

From Audiogon

lewm​

12,590 posts
11-23-2023 at 12:46am
A turntable is a passive device. It has nothing to do with signal processing or amplification. Same goes for a tonearm. If you want to operate in balanced mode, you simply connect your cartridge to any suitable phono stage that incorporates balanced circuitry. Nearly all cartridges can deliver a balanced signal, if connected to a balanced phono stage such that the “ground” pins from the cartridge carry instead the negative phase of the signal. By convention the “hot” pins carry the positive phase. Positive goes to pin 2 of an XLR. Negative phase to pin3. Pin 1 is for chassis ground but the phono signal floats.

imhififan​

2,141 posts
11-24-2023 at 02:01pm
MC cartridge and almost all MM and MI cartridge except those wired its negative to ground are balanced device. If you’re looking for a turntable with cartridge and XLR connection for under a grand, just shop for a turntable and cartridge that is within 1k budget and rewire the phono connection to XLR cable.

lewm​

12,590 posts
11-23-2023 at 01:13pm
So, if you already own a balanced phono stage, you would remove the RCA plugs from your phono cables. Then solder the bare lead that was connected to the center plug of the RCE to pin2 of an XLR. The bare lead that was connected to the outer barrel or ground of the RCA would connect to pin3 of the XLR. If the RCA cable has a shield, connect the shield to pin1. It is best if your RCA uses separate conductors for hot and ground where ground is distinct from the shield. This scenario holds where the cable runs direct from the cartridge pins or from a DIN plug or from an outboard box.

 

[martin900]

I heard mine for an hour and it was returned. Lch noise very clearly audible on MM settings. I mostly use headphones so the setup and records need to be near darn perfect. Folks who don't hear it must have either inefficient speakers or there is a new batch of reworked PCB's in the wild....or they run MC carts.

It is not humming as such but it's more of HF garbage comparable to hearing noise from SMPS or cheap LED bulbs. Other phono pre-amps were dead quiet on the same turntable and power strip so the issue was clearly the Skoll. On higher gain setting it was unusable due to Lch noise.
Major disappointment because the Rch didn't have any issues, which to me means that the design is somehow flawed and Schiit calling it 'physics' is simply being rude when the cheapest single/dual op-amp chinese phono can be dead quiet.

Wait for Skoll 2. I'm done with the brand for good, it's in the name.

 

[NoxPlague]

I am returning my Skoll. I'm disappointed with the unit I received.

1. Alarming on/off popping sound from my speakers even if my pre-amp is turned off. The only way to prevent the popping is to turn of my amps first which does not work for my setup.
2. Excessive speaker cone movement. I don't know what causes this but it seems like it would damage my speakers long term. This seems unacceptable given that using the same source (vinyl record, turntable, cartridge etc) with my other two phono stages I see only normal speaker cone vibration.
3. Sound stage is sounds smaller and less out in my space compared with my Creek Audio OBH 15 Mk 2. Obviously subjective, would need tools to make sure it's not just level matching given the differences between phono stages.
4. High-pass / LF filter cuts out way too much bass, I saw this in Amir's review, but it was still shocking to realize how much is removed. It isn't a rumble filter, it's more of a dramatic HP filter at ~100 Hz. Unusable.

Testing done on a MMF 5.1 SE w/ Hana SL cartridge.

 

[56suited]

Can I use this as a preamp too, meaning XLR inputs from the TT, RCA inputs from a DAC/streamer, and XLR to active monitors?

 

[rocksteady]

Can I use this as a preamp too, meaning XLR inputs from the TT, RCA inputs from a DAC/streamer, and XLR to active monitors?

Seriously? It's a Phono Preamp, both inputs are for Low Level Phono Signals. Connect anything else, and you will likely blow it up, or your Speakers...

 

[ChrisMag2099]

Can I use this as a preamp too, meaning XLR inputs from the TT, RCA inputs from a DAC/streamer, and XLR to active monitors?

Definitely not. You could run two turntables into it, but not a higher output device like a CD player. Event at its lowest gain setting, you'd overload the input, and would be applying RIAA EQ to the source.

 

[ChrisMag2099]

Is there any record player now with a balanced output interface?

Any turntable with a DIN output can be run balanced by using the appropriate cable type. In theory, most tables could be modified also. Rega, maybe not though. I think Rega arms tie ground to one of the neutral leads.

Tonearms which have DIN output include Kuzma, Avid, SME, Linn, and certain ProJect ones (9cc for example), off the top of my head.

 

[Platypus20]

I’m apparently lucky, both my Skolls are dead quiet

 

[ErVikingo]

I’m apparently lucky, both my Skolls are dead quiet

Same with mine. Dead quiet and great frequency range. I would prefer if it had another step on the ohm settings

 

[markstein]

Is there any record player now with a balanced output interface?

My Technics SL1210GR can be used with balanced wiring, as the chassis GND is not connected to the RCA connectors, meaning the signal on RCA is floating.
Other turntables might be wired the same way - can be easily checked with a
voltmeter and cartridge disconnected.

 

[dzerig]

My Technics SL1210GR can be used with balanced wiring, as the chassis GND is not connected to the RCA connectors, meaning the signal on RCA is floating.
Other turntables might be wired the same way - can be easily checked with a
voltmeter and cartridge disconnected.

If you tap the chassis or dust cover while a record is playing , does the sound transmit? My cheap b&o is nearly immune to vibration such that we played DSotM while using it as first base during our weekly softball game. But cartridge selection is minimal. And the SOL is finicky and constantly readjusting.

 

[DSJR]

The pics above all show a two-core screened cable being used. What about 99% of tonearms/turntables out there using a single core screened coax cable from arm to amp?

Sure, if you're willing to delve into the guts of the deck and/or arm and re-wire with a fresh two core screened cable (I use Van Damme's flexible 'Pro-Patch' to good hum-free effect here, together with a now separate chassis 'earth' wire, keeping the pickup wiring isolated from the deck itself), then that'd be great, but not everyone is willing to do this an dmost dealers worth their salt may be too snooty to do it for you (or they'd charge a fortune for lowering themselves to wield a soldering iron!).

 

[markstein]

If you tap the chassis or dust cover while a record is playing , does the sound transmit? My cheap b&o is nearly immune to vibration such that we played DSotM while using it as first base during our weekly softball game. But cartridge selection is minimal. And the SOL is finicky and constantly readjusting.

Well, if you tap on top of the housing or the lid, a dull sound is transmitted. However, the isolation from the ground seems to be really effective, which is the typical use case.
If you want to be on the safe side, I propose you take the lid off when playing a record. You can simply slide it out without using any tools. Reattach for dust protection.

 

[Thomas_A]

Lid on or off is not a straightforward solution to reduce vibrations. Airborne sounds acts on the record surface or on the closed lid and peaks are found at frequencies corresponding to standing waves between the record surface and the roof. The lid on often reduce these vibrations. At the same time, lid on shifts the frequencies due to that the distance to the roof is changed somewhat. Sometimes though it seems that the isolation of the lid vs. the plinth or whatever the lid is sitting on, is poor, which may or may not make things worse. It needs to be measured for each individual case what is best.

The "tapping-method" is more related to shock and footfalls.