So, we 've had a few discussions regarding music on vinyl, but what about Schiit Audio?

After doing the research for getting my son a turntable for Christmas, I opted for a modern Ortofon cartridge and headshell on a vintage direct-drive Pioneer 'table.  Because his Yamaha receiver lacks a phono input, I inevitably discovered Schiit Audio, maker of what is arguably the best budget phono preamp, the Mani 2.

Company website:

https://www.schiit.com/

One of many glowing reviews:

https://cracklingsound.com/schiit-mani-2-review/

Read the book!

https://www.amazon.com/Schiit-Happened-Worlds-Improbable-Start-Up/dp/1514355027

Anybody else have experience with Schiit Audio?

I've got a Fulla 3 (got to love their naming) that I use as a DAC and headphone amp when I want to listen to music on my phone. It *does* sound better than using the simpler audio adapters and does a better job powering my Grado headphones. Also occasionally use it as a sound interface on systems where the OS doesn't recognize the built-in audio hardware.

Pretty happy with it, certainly would consider buying other items from them if I could conjure up a use for them.

There's a Schiit Modi 3+ DAC on my desk attached to my Monsoon desktop speakers and sub. It's a nice piece and delivers quality sound.

How can you possibly go wrong with a company name like that!  I like IT!

So, I guess it's safe to say what I've long suspected:  most of you don't know Schiit. 

If you consider yourself an audiophile, you probably owe it to yourself to become acquainted.  I don't know all the details, but it sounds like the great American dream:  Two guys walk away from good jobs at large companies and start their own audio business, finding a niche in the "budget audiophile" realm.

Well, today being Christmas, the Schiit phono preamp and the vintage Pioneer 'table got unwrapped and hooked up today.  Sounds great.  I am happy with the selections I made, and more importantly, so is my son.

The reason I really couldn't get on board with a modern turntable from Fluance or U-Turn, is that the fully manual thing makes it seem hopelessly janky to me.  It doesn't need to be fully automatic, but I really don't want to lift the tonearm after a side plays and return the tonearm to its resting position.  The turntable should do that, and back in the day when all the major players in home audio offered a line of turntables, almost all were at least semi-automatic (return tonearm and cut power).  Literally millions of decent turntables were produced from the 1960's through the 1990's, and there are a pretty good number of them kicking around in good shape, probably just a new cartridge away from being fully serviceable.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I hardly ever see auto-cuing of the tonearm on high end TT's. That seems to have been a very mid-budget feature at the time. I'm guessing that the extra equipment and motors made for a noisier sound and probably made it more difficult to properly balance the tonearm.

I don't mind getting up to cut the power, I'm going to have to anyway to flip the record or put it away. Only gets annoying if I'm like in the middle of making out with my wife when I come to the end of a side.

Having had fully automatic, auto return, and fully manual, I'll probably never have anything except fully manual with the hydraulic dampened lift/lowering mechanism. 
 

The exception to this is if I get a ReVox at some point. 

Not really a fan of their amps (not a knock against them, just like a very specific warm and powerful sound presentation that can only get from certain amps) but their DACs are nice and REALLY like their manual EQ units - have both a Loki and Lokius. Have heard their top end DAC (Yggdrasil) with top end Electrostatic headphone setups (STAX SR-007s and SR-009s), nice quality sound but feel the RME ADI-2 DAC is a better DAC, especially for ~1/2 the price. Still think they are a great deal for the money on their lower end stuff - Modi/Magni would be the goto default reccomendation from me. The LEDs on Schiit equipment are insanely bright though...need to dim them down!

Current audio setup is an Xbox ONE with optical & laptop with USB for input into RME ADI-2 DAC to Lokius EQ to Garage 1217 Project Ember II amp running a Sovtek 6H30PI tube which pairs beautifully with my Denon AHD-5200 running Yaxi Alcantara Fostex TH-600 pads (neutral presentation like a Sennheiser HD600 but with more spacious sound/ directional accuracy/and bass/subbass punch you can FEEL). Was using a Yamaha DVD S-1800 SACD player previously but much easier to use with the XBOX and sounds every bit as good. The Lokius really helps to fine tune the low-end beautifully and get a sharper presented mid to treble range...much better than the Loki due to having 2 more bands at better frequency points - able to get a fuller and more detailed sound.

Picture of the older setup with the Yamaha DVD S-1800, just replace the DVD S-1800 with and XBOX ONE in a different location and that would be the current setup:

If you want a great warm learning tube amp/preamp that is really clean & nicely holographic/spacial sounding with fully auto-biasing for life of tube and quite a few adjustable parameter and in a nice small form factor I can't speak highly enough of Garage 1217 amps... choice of either in kit form you build yourself or a completed unit hand made in Phoenix, AZ after you order with some of the most beautiful hand soldering I've ever seen. Not crazy expensive either.

http://garage1217.com/index.html

They make decent, affordable kit with some nice features. I have a Vali 2 which is a good platform for tube rolling— currently have an Amperex Bugle Boy in it. Since it only uses one tube you don't have to worry about matched sets. It also has preouts so you can hook it to a power amp and drive speakers if headphones aren't your thing.

Also using their phono amp, but my turntable (and ears) aren't good enough to confidently state whether it's specifically a great piece.