Major Schiit audio product updates.

[Entropy.]

An update on Schiit products for those that are inclined. Most of the below news was provided by the founder of Schiit, Jason Stoddard. 

 

Recap:

-Modi has increased in price.

 

The Schiit Modi (Now dubbed the Modi 3E) has increased in price from $99 USD, to $129 USD. With this change comes a switch in DAC chip, from AKM (who unfortunately suffered a factory fire a while back), to ESS. The specific chip being used here is the ES9018, and measures slightly better than the outgoing modi 3+.

 

On a separate note, the lifespan of the Multibit Modi was extended due to the AKM factory fire. Seeing that Schiit has switched suppliers, expect EOL for the Modi multibit in the first half of 2022.

 

-Silver Schiit products have increased in price.

 

Due to now utilizing a new clear-anodization process, manufacturing silver variants of Schiit products has become more costly. This has resulted in the following price increases:

$10 for small-size units (mani, loki mini (the Magni and Modi are excluded)), $20 for "medi-small" sized units, (Lokius), $30 for medium-sized units, (Asgard, Bifrost, Jotunheim), $50 for "medi-large" sized units, (Freya, Aegir, Vidar), and $100 for large-sized units (Ragnorak). Pricing for the black variants have not changed in price.

 

Note: Jason Stoddard (founder of Schiit) claims that these price increases are not going to become monthly affairs, and that this is a rare, and much-needed price adjustment.

 

-New Schiit coming in hot.

 

Jason has stated that 2021 was a bit of a train wreck, due to supply shortages and component price increases. Many products were pushed back, but this year, he has high hopes. The Tyr, Schiit's monoblockable, soon-to-be TOTL poweramp is slated to launch this year, and has already entered production. A photo of it can be seen on the Loki max product page.

 

The Folkvangr, a 10-tube... Yes, 10. tube. Headphone amp, additionally, has also gone into production. This will likely be Schiit's TOTL headphone amp, with sources claiming that the pricing will be around 10x the vali, or around $1500 USD.

 

To top off the upcoming lineup, we have the Schiit URD: a CD transport that has entered beta production and was shown in a recent Livestream. It is said to have Schiit's unison USB output, optimized for their DACs.

 

Finally, Jason has recently said (Feb 3) that Schiit may be launching some additional, yet-to-be-disclosed products in the near future. And I quote:

 

"1. We still have new products coming, some shockingly good and affordable, some maybe just shocking (or industry-redefining?)

2. The first of the shockingly good stuff is coming soon.

3. The first of the affordable stuff is coming soon.

4. We continue to improve things, and we are seriously working on reducing prices wherever we can."

 

Sources:

https://www.hear.audio/2021/03/22/jason-stoddard-of-schiit-audio-drops-the-list-of-2021-products-going-into-production/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up.701900/page-5871#post-16797999

Note as a precaution: Yes, I posted this a little while ago on reddit, this isn't stolen- I'm just trying to spread the information a bit. 

[rice guru]

I hope with the role for Modi multibit we get a nice cheaper multibit dac than bifrost2 . Budget multibit would just be nice especially one that sounds good.

[NinJake]

Thanks for the update. It's good to somewhat stay in the loop of things! (Though impossible to stay in the loop for everything...)

[H713]

Interested to see their big monoblock power amplifier. I probably won't buy one (because I have no shortage of power amps), but knowing Schiit it will be linear, and it will perform really well.

 

10 tube headphone amp? Sounds like a big OTL to me. I guess if that's your thing, cool...