Schiit Syn DAC/Preamp/HP Amp Review

[Aioros76]

Yes.
In fact I did give it a try and it worked absolutely good.
But then why would you (talking about myself) do such a thing for 400$ when there are plenty budget options for AVR with Dolby/DTS decoding.

Okay, good to know. My thoughts were not to set up a 5.1 home theatre, but more like having one source, say a turntable, into the Syn, then feed two amps for comparison.

 

[MPod]

That's presumably why it's discontinued.

ahhh...too bad. I got excited for a second - thought this was actually a decent 5.1 decoding option that I could use with small mono amps for a surround system.

 

[Guddu]

ahhh...too bad. I got excited for a second - thought this was actually a decent 5.1 decoding option that I could use with small mono amps for a surround system.

No surround decoding, just up-mixing.

 

[neRok]

Wish this was still available. Trying to find a preamp/DAC with analog inputs for a secondary system. Tough out there.

Have you seen the Behringer MONITOR2USB? It's performance is "barely fine" (compared to CD audio spec/standard), but if that's all you need, then happy days!

 

[AaronJ]

This was an interesting device in Schiit's lineup. It's the only one with DAC, analog preamp and volume control w/ remote, and headphone output. You could always get 1 or 2 but never all 3. It makes sense because not to focus too much on these all-in-one products since there isn't demand for them once you're invested in their ecosystem. Even without the 5.1 "processing" it's still a pretty good value with performance to support it.

 

[neRok]

If my math isn't wrong:
13 mW @ 300 Ohm -> 1.97 Vrms
479 mW @ 32 Ohm -> 3.92 Vrms
Shouldn't that be impossible? I've never seen an amplifier than can output a higher voltage at a lower impedance load and don't understand how that would work.

That's what she said.

---

I was actually closing some tabs when I say your post, with a like from @NTK, who is a smart fellow...

And so I'm presuming your calcs are correct here: And so when you ask "shouldn't that be impossible", you must be asking from a "theoretical performance" perspective. That's not the same thing as the "sold to you performance"...

“Typed as intended; received as interpreted.”

 

[SMen]

Another thoroughly interesting review, thank you Amir.

Toslink with decoding to true 5.1 would have been a killer product with that form factor.

 

[aagstn]

I remember them introducing this product and that insanely priced CD transport. Neither really made sense as they lacked features you would want in such a product. Not surprised both were discontinued so soon. Very interesting review of a unique piece of gear.

 

[gvl]

Company emphasizes the use of the device with a smart TV using its Toslink output

Who could think of this in 2023 when you can have a receiver doing proper multichannel decoding for less money than this? No wonder it didn’t last.

 

[Miercoles2022]

I believe its broader utility would be defined by what the surround/center/sub outputs are actually sending out. It's not clear in the manual. For example,

• Is the center full range mono?
• Are the surrounds full range L/R?
• Does the sub out have a LPF?
• Any other LPF/HPF?

It could theoretically be used as input (DAC and volume control) to a 2 or 3 way active crossover setup...

 

[Ismapics]

I did not. It is a lot of work to integrate it into my system to hear it.

Does the sub work on 2Ch stereo?

 

[just1n]

Have you seen the Behringer MONITOR2USB? It's performance is "barely fine" (compared to CD audio spec/standard), but if that's all you need, then happy days!

Thank you for the suggestion, but no remote and the brand overall doesn’t make me feel confident.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Who's this for? Anybody? Anybody at all?

Thanks for the nice review, Amir.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Agreed that proper Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding is preferable to an analog stereo to 5.1 upmixer, but I am not sure a DAC that accepts a Toslink input, decodes Dolby Digital, and then outputs 5.1 exists. I have seen multichannel DAC units from Topping and MiniDSP that do this, but they are USB-only.

 

[gvl]

Agreed that proper Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding is preferable to an analog stereo to 5.1 upmixer, but I am not sure a DAC that accepts a Toslink input, decodes Dolby Digital, and then outputs 5.1 exists. I have seen multichannel DAC units from Topping and MiniDSP that do this, but they are USB-only.

Would need to look back in time, eg Sony SDP-E800.

 

[amirm]

Agreed that proper Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding is preferable to an analog stereo to 5.1 upmixer, but I am not sure a DAC that accepts a Toslink input, decodes Dolby Digital, and then outputs 5.1 exists.

??? They could use a DSP to decode DD just like receivers do. They would however need to also have DAC ICs for all the channels which Syn does not have. So would add some to the cost.

 

[amirm]

Does the sub work on 2Ch stereo?

You mean when processing is enabled? If so, I heard in an interview that it does. But then you have all the other processing being done as well. Best to use a splitter from the stereo out and feed that to a sub directly as just about all of them have low pass filters.

 

[amirm]

I believe its broader utility would be defined by what the surround/center/sub outputs are actually sending out. It's not clear in the manual. For example,

• Is the center full range mono?
• Are the surrounds full range L/R?
• Does the sub out have a LPF?
• Any other LPF/HPF?

In an interview with the designer, he said they are doing some frequency response manipulations and levels. He was not specific.

FYI, he said the motivation for this product was that standard AV receivers are too complicated to setup, their display and remote are ancient looking, etc. And mostly claimed this box does the same thing, sans sounds coming from behind you. He could have solved those problems with a propre digital decoding of Dolby Digital instead of going the analog route.

 

[Mort]

sans sounds coming from behind you. He could have solved those problems with a propre digital decoding of Dolby Digital instead of going the analog route.

Minidsp says it was prohibitively expensive at the small volume they do, to add Dolby processing, which is why they can only do the uncompressed format. Syn went a different route.

 

[90sNintendoKid]

I bought a Syn this time last year and I had fun using it during the Christmas Holidays. I thought the surround output was convincing and I used it with a Wiim Ultra in a 4.2 setup but I used the sub out of the Wiim.

In the end I stopped using it because most devices don't downmix LFE into stereo, Wiim devices definitely don't at the moment and I can't EQ my front speakers without the left and right EQ being applied to the surrounds.