Fulla Schiit - Is it really a serious product ?

[matt-fr]

Hello,

 

While looking for a DAC/Amp Combo, I saw in the pinned topic "Before you buy amp and DAC + recommendations." (link), that the Schiit Fulla 2 is recommended.

One the website of the company they now list a Schiit Fulla product (link), that is sold as the "Fulla 3" and replaces the "Fulla 2".

 

On the product page, in the FAQ, we can see that the product appears as "I’m Fulla Schiit" in the sound control panel.

Quote

So how does this thing work for gaming?

Plug in your headphones and mic (usually using the TRRS-to-dual-TRS adapter supplied with the headphones), plug the Fulla 3 into your computer, select “I’m Fulla Schiit” for both audio output and mic input, and you’re set. Done.

 

 

The naming of the product and trolling in the FAQ page makes me wonder if the product is really useful.

I have a "old" pair of Sennheiser PC350, and I have recently started to watch Bluray movies with them.

The problem I have, is that the sound of the movies are pretty low, and I have to crank up everything at 100%. That problem is only present with movies, everything else is fine (Gaming, Youtube, Music ...).

 

Would the Schiit Fulla DAC/Amp Combo resolve my issue ?

Thanks

[Oshino Shinobu]

As someone that has a DAC and AMP from Schiit audio, yes, they're serious and make very good products. 

 

I can't speak for the Fulla specifically but my Magni + Modi stack has been working very well for years. 

[Labeled]

yeah it is. It should, though you could grab a "Last Call" magni 3 if you're really worried about power output for cheaper

[Derkoli]

It is a serious product, Schiit audio just loves to make fun of its own name, and Audiophile snake oil, such as on their cables.

 

 

And Schiit does make really nice stuff. I love my YGGDRASIL DAC.

[rice guru]

It's all right but doesn't have the greatest dac implementation. If it were up to me I would just spend a bit more and grab the fiio k5 pro instead

[ValkyrieStar]

I have the Fulla 3, I didn't bother with previous Schiit offerings as i use an antlion modmic, so i needed something that had a decent mic input too.

As soon as i saw the Fulla 3 had a mic input, i jumped right on it.

The Fulla 3 is a straight upgrade to the Fulla 2.

 

Changes from the Fulla 2

- Mic input, the Fulla 2 didn't have one at all. The new mic input on the 3 is actually really good. It drives my modmic well and gets very good audio quality.

- Improved capacitors, the Fulla 2 used generic poly capacitors, which struggled with bass at high volume. The 3 has much better specced capacitors.

 

Fulla 3

+ Will drive your headphones so loud your ears will hurt, you can then turn it up even higher, and your headphones will cry.

+ It's plug and play, no drivers required, on windows 10 at least.

- They seem to have a quality control issue with the volume pot, very common to have the right channel become scratchy when turning the pot. Curable with some contact cleaner (DeoxIT for example)

+/- They have a very flat frequency response, to the point where it makes some songs sound a little cold and harsh. I actually kinda prefer the audio from a Sound BlasterX AE-5 as it's a little warmer around the bass-low/mid region. I put this as a + or - because it's dependant on personal preference.

 

Alternatives

- Asus's Xonar U7 (Mk2) was bought and returned, it struggled to drive my 32ohm headphones despite having a headphone amp. I get louder sound using the Line-Out from the motherboard!

- Creatives G6 was bought, and returned, the mic input was surprisingly poor. It didn't drive the mic hard enough to get any decent volume, so instead you had to use boost which then introduced a lot of hiss and electrical noise, exactly what i was trying to avoid. The headphone dac/amp wasn't bad though, a little weaker than others and a definitely not-flat frequency response though.

- Sound Blaster Z, I still have this card, won't for much longer, objectively it sounds a little better, maybe because it seems to have a little warmer bass through to low/mids, but the mic-input is noisy and picks up huge electrical interference through the pcie slot. It also struggles to drive bigger headphones, with noticable distortion.

- Sound BlasterX AE-5, picks up on many of the downfalls of the SBZ, it sounds brilliant and drives bigger headphones very well. Unfortunately i didn't get to test the mic input of this one, but creative has a history of underdriven, overboosted mic-inputs.

 

TL:DR;

If you don't care about decent mic input quality, grab a SoundBlasterX AE-5, they will make your headphones sound brilliant, and loud if you want to.

If you do care about having good mic quality, grab the Fulla 3. It's got its slight downfalls with build quality but the mic quality is like nothing else i've tried before. Super clean mic input.

[JZStudios]

2 hours ago, ValkyrieStar said:

+/- They have a very flat frequency response, to the point where it makes some songs sound a little cold and harsh. I actually kinda prefer the audio from a Sound BlasterX

That's a good thing. If you want it to sound warmer then use PEACE.

[ValkyrieStar]

15 hours ago, JZStudios said:

That's a good thing. If you want it to sound warmer then use PEACE.

It also depends on the headphones somewhat too.

 

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 419's, closed over-ears. They are a little weaker on the bass side, but they are incredibly comfortable. Due to the nature of my work sometimes i can be sat working for almost 13 hours a day, they never hurt my head or my ears and my ears don't get too warm either. The weaker low/bass area makes them feel a little harsh but nothing bad by any standard.

 

I tried a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770's, IIRC these were the 80ohm version, they were more pronounced in the low-end than the HD 419's and sounded much more flat overall, no particular spikes or anything. These were a nicer listening experience but they pressed on the sides of my head a little much for prolonged use, much more than 1-2 hours and the would give me a slight headache and hot ears and i don't have a wide head at all. Maybe could have been remedied by stretching the headband but they werent mine so i didn't want to do anythign to them.

 

I generally use a couple different songs to test different sound card and headphone combinations, to name just two;

 

This track i feel lets you experience the wideness of the soundstage.

 

And this lets you test out the bass reproduction. You easily tell if it's too weak or overpowered from listening to that song.

 

Both of those are in my favourites playlist too

[Metallus97]

On 12/9/2019 at 4:25 PM, ValkyrieStar said:

I have the Fulla 3, I didn't bother with previous Schiit offerings as i use an antlion modmic, so i needed something that had a decent mic input too.

As soon as i saw the Fulla 3 had a mic input, i jumped right on it.

The Fulla 3 is a straight upgrade to the Fulla 2.

 

Changes from the Fulla 2

- Mic input, the Fulla 2 didn't have one at all. The new mic input on the 3 is actually really good. It drives my modmic well and gets very good audio quality.

- Improved capacitors, the Fulla 2 used generic poly capacitors, which struggled with bass at high volume. The 3 has much better specced capacitors.

 

Fulla 3

+ Will drive your headphones so loud your ears will hurt, you can then turn it up even higher, and your headphones will cry.

+ It's plug and play, no drivers required, on windows 10 at least.

- They seem to have a quality control issue with the volume pot, very common to have the right channel become scratchy when turning the pot. Curable with some contact cleaner (DeoxIT for example)

+/- They have a very flat frequency response, to the point where it makes some songs sound a little cold and harsh. I actually kinda prefer the audio from a Sound BlasterX AE-5 as it's a little warmer around the bass-low/mid region. I put this as a + or - because it's dependant on personal preference.

 

Alternatives

- Asus's Xonar U7 (Mk2) was bought and returned, it struggled to drive my 32ohm headphones despite having a headphone amp. I get louder sound using the Line-Out from the motherboard!

- Creatives G6 was bought, and returned, the mic input was surprisingly poor. It didn't drive the mic hard enough to get any decent volume, so instead you had to use boost which then introduced a lot of hiss and electrical noise, exactly what i was trying to avoid. The headphone dac/amp wasn't bad though, a little weaker than others and a definitely not-flat frequency response though.

- Sound Blaster Z, I still have this card, won't for much longer, objectively it sounds a little better, maybe because it seems to have a little warmer bass through to low/mids, but the mic-input is noisy and picks up huge electrical interference through the pcie slot. It also struggles to drive bigger headphones, with noticable distortion.

- Sound BlasterX AE-5, picks up on many of the downfalls of the SBZ, it sounds brilliant and drives bigger headphones very well. Unfortunately i didn't get to test the mic input of this one, but creative has a history of underdriven, overboosted mic-inputs.

 

TL:DR;

If you don't care about decent mic input quality, grab a SoundBlasterX AE-5, they will make your headphones sound brilliant, and loud if you want to.

If you do care about having good mic quality, grab the Fulla 3. It's got its slight downfalls with build quality but the mic quality is like nothing else i've tried before. Super clean mic input.

fulla 3 outperforms the SBX by a good margin. less distortion and better dac. similar power to SBX. Get the Hel for even more power (wich i guess you don’t need) the DAC section of fulla and Hel is the same 

[Metallus97]

On 12/10/2019 at 11:09 AM, ValkyrieStar said:

It also depends on the headphones somewhat too.

 

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 419's, closed over-ears. They are a little weaker on the bass side, but they are incredibly comfortable. Due to the nature of my work sometimes i can be sat working for almost 13 hours a day, they never hurt my head or my ears and my ears don't get too warm either. The weaker low/bass area makes them feel a little harsh but nothing bad by any standard.

 

I tried a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770's, IIRC these were the 80ohm version, they were more pronounced in the low-end than the HD 419's and sounded much more flat overall, no particular spikes or anything. These were a nicer listening experience but they pressed on the sides of my head a little much for prolonged use, much more than 1-2 hours and the would give me a slight headache and hot ears and i don't have a wide head at all. Maybe could have been remedied by stretching the headband but they werent mine so i didn't want to do anythign to them.

 

I generally use a couple different songs to test different sound card and headphone combinations, to name just two;

 

This track i feel lets you experience the wideness of the soundstage.

 

And this lets you test out the bass reproduction. You easily tell if it's too weak or overpowered from listening to that song.

 

Both of those are in my favourites playlist too

okok but to realy judge those kinds of DAC/AMP combos you need to listen to this music in lossless or at least not over youtube

[Kalm_Traveler]

if I can jump on this since it's about the Fulla 3, other than mic input would there be any perceptible benefit over the Fulla 2?

[rice guru]

2 minutes ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

if I can jump on this since it's about the Fulla 3, other than mic input would there be any perceptible benefit over the Fulla 2?

Probably a better dac implementation. As that was the main complaint over the fulla 2

[Metallus97]

11 minutes ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

if I can jump on this since it's about the Fulla 3, other than mic input would there be any perceptible benefit over the Fulla 2?

yes a bit better dac and better caps. Bass response is a little better. especially at high volume. That said even the Fulla 2 is awesome at 99quid 

 

oh and the 3 CoMmEs In BlAcK bEcAuSe ThAtS GaMiNg My BoIiIiI! 

[ValkyrieStar]

15 hours ago, Metallus97 said:

okok but to realy judge those kinds of DAC/AMP combos you need to listen to this music in lossless or at least not over youtube

Well yes, youtube isn't a great way to test. I was just giving those songs as examples.

 

15 hours ago, Metallus97 said:

yes a bit better dac and better caps. Bass response is a little better. especially at high volume. That said even the Fulla 2 is awesome at 99quid 

 

oh and the 3 CoMmEs In BlAcK bEcAuSe ThAtS GaMiNg My BoIiIiI! 

The caps are upgraded, didn't look into the implementation of the dac, but it's the same chip.

It seems they derated the output power slightly, a minor compromise for the huge step up in quality at high volume. The only times it distorts are when it's destroying my headphones.

 

The only (minor) complaint i have with mine is that the volume pot is a bit meh, the right channel is a bit scratchy when changing the volume, i would RMA it if it was anything more significant, but you can work around it by simply setting the volume pot to 100% and controlling it via windows instead, so i didn't bother. It's wierd how it's always only the right channel.

[Metallus97]

1 hour ago, ValkyrieStar said:

Well yes, youtube isn't a great way to test. I was just giving those songs as examples.

 

The caps are upgraded, didn't look into the implementation of the dac, but it's the same chip.

It seems they derated the output power slightly, a minor compromise for the huge step up in quality at high volume. The only times it distorts are when it's destroying my headphones.

 

The only (minor) complaint i have with mine is that the volume pot is a bit meh, the right channel is a bit scratchy when changing the volume, i would RMA it if it was anything more significant, but you can work around it by simply setting the volume pot to 100% and controlling it via windows instead, so i didn't bother. It's wierd how it's always only the right channel.

chip is the same but from what I have heard they also tuned the input and power delivery section. That will make the Chip perform (a little!) better. But biggest upgrade sound whise are those new caps.

 

Hm my wifes one doesn't have problems with the volume knob. BUT this minor complaint is well worth it for the price and friggn noice performance