TOPIC:

Hi all,

I'm considering the SHD line, between the full SHD and the studio. I currently have 2 Dacs that I enjoy, so would think that I could use them with the Studio and get the same functionality as the full SHD (minus analog input). Am i wrong here?

Anyone else use the Studio with 2 differing Dacs? I know delay can be an issue, but can it not be corrected?

Thanks

Delay can be corrected in the SHD plugin (application) but there are some DACs that have too much delay to correct so I suggest finding out what delays your DACs have.

I have a Schiit Modius and a Grace Balanced SDAC

The test reports for the Schiit Modius say
"Device Delay: 0.000 s"

Which i assume/hope means nothing substantial. Not sure about the sdac, but its a pretty standard design.

What test are you refering?

The audio precision test results that Schiit provides on their site

www.schiit.com/public/upload/PDF/Schiit%...0Suite_%20Modius.pdf

Perhaps the dev team could give any opinions on using external dacs (mismatched or similar) vs the analog outputs of the full shd?

Is there any inherent detriment to using the studio with its spdif outputs besides delay issues between using different dacs? Sync issues in general? Drift during playback?

Thanks

lmerino wrote:

Perhaps the dev team could give any opinions on using external dacs (mismatched or similar) vs the analog outputs of the full shd?

How would you expect them to answer that question? Two different DAC's, neither of them the DAC portion of the SHD, and neither of which you mention specifically.

A different DAC is a different DAC. It's up to you as the user to identify any differences and account for them.

Dave.

dreite wrote:

How would you expect them to answer that question? Two different DAC's, neither of them the DAC portion of the SHD, and neither of which you mention specifically.

A different DAC is a different DAC. It's up to you as the user to identify any differences and account for them.

Dave.

How about this... since the shd studio was designed with 2 digital outputs, was it intended to specifically use 2 of the exact same dac on the outputs , or is there a solid expectation the unit function properly when using 2 different dacs.

As mentioned earlier, I have a schiit Modius and grace Sdac balanced, but in general I’m curious if the studio was designed to utilize 2 different dacs.

Thanks

lmerino wrote:

dreite wrote:

How would you expect them to answer that question? Two different DAC's, neither of them the DAC portion of the SHD, and neither of which you mention specifically.

A different DAC is a different DAC. It's up to you as the user to identify any differences and account for them.

Dave.

How about this... since the shd studio was designed with 2 digital outputs, was it intended to specifically use 2 of the exact same dac on the outputs , or is there a solid expectation the unit function properly when using 2 different dacs.

As mentioned earlier, I have a schiit Modius and grace Sdac balanced, but in general I’m curious if the studio was designed to utilize 2 different dacs.

Thanks

If both of these dacs lock to the SHD output signal there should be no problem, there could be a latency difference, output level difference but mostly nothing you cant correct for.

If on the otherhand your dac has a large fifo and uses his own master clock there will be (too) large latency difference and most of all it will drift from the other dac's latency.

lmerino wrote:

dreite wrote:

How would you expect them to answer that question? Two different DAC's, neither of them the DAC portion of the SHD, and neither of which you mention specifically.

A different DAC is a different DAC. It's up to you as the user to identify any differences and account for them.

Dave.

How about this... since the shd studio was designed with 2 digital outputs, was it intended to specifically use 2 of the exact same dac on the outputs , or is there a solid expectation the unit function properly when using 2 different dacs.

As mentioned earlier, I have a schiit Modius and grace Sdac balanced, but in general I’m curious if the studio was designed to utilize 2 different dacs.

Thanks

How many ways can you ask the same question that doesn't have a definitive answer??
They designed it to work with identical DAC's OR with non-identical DAC's. It's a standard S/PDIF data stream coming out of each output. It's up to you to account for the differences.

Dave.

Thanks for the feedback.

I seem to have analysis paralysis in a decision of whether to get the Studio or full SHD.