Are Schiit products reliable in the long term?

Submitted by angelf2704 t3_zngauh in headphones

Hello, about a year ago I bought a pair of HD600s and Schiit Magni 3 since everyone insisted in getting an AMP. To be honest, the combo was awesome but I ended up selling both because I needed the money. I had the Magni 3 for two months and my experience was very positive, never had any trouble or issue. However I've been reading some comments about Schiit products stop working after the warranty expires. My questions is, is this really a thing? Are Schiit products not good on the long term? I might want to try some of their other products but I'm not sure if it's the best option since I don't live in the US and repairments would be difficult and expensive.

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player_9 t1_j0grbmv wrote

I have had nothing but positive experiences with Schiit. I had a Magni/Modi stack that lasted me 6 years (sold them with no issues). I’m currently running a Bifrost2 and a Freya with no issues (3 years). I also have had good experience with customer service, I bought a Valhalla2 and decided I didn’t like it (personal taste, the unit was fine), and after emailing them outside the return window, they still allows me to return it for a full refund.

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Lelouch25 t1_j0h7jf1 wrote

Just got the Asgard 3 and loving it. It has that discrete amp sound that’s different from the Magni.

More relaxed and the bass is pushed to the sides.

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CrusaderNINE t1_j0gskol wrote

Well, my modi and magni separately developed their own issues after a couple years. One not being recognized by my computer at all and the other having terrible l/r balance issues between 10 and 90% volume.Now I own the Atom+ stack now.

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bryang317 t1_j0gtu6t wrote

My modi doesn’t get recognized by my PC unless I heat up the chip inside. This started about 18 months after purchase. I believe this is a known issue as I found the hair blow dryer trick on another forum. Magni heresy has been solid in the the 2+ years of ownership.

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icedomin8r t1_j0h77sr wrote

My original Vali is now around 5 years old, never an issue and still running strong.

My Asgard 3 is turning 3 years old this month, gets used almost daily and has never set a foot wrong.

I'm sure there is validity to the problems people have reported. But as with anything, people are going to be more vocal about issues rather than praise something that works without a problem.

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lurked_4_a_bit t1_j0gxor8 wrote

Apart from taking ages to ship my magnius/modius/lokius has been doing great for over a year now with no issue

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blargh4 t1_j0h9qd9 wrote

No issues except scratchy pots for me.

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estebanxz t1_j0j962x wrote

+1, my stack is working wonderfully except for the scratchy volume knob, pulling the knob outwards a little seemed to help quite a bit, minimizes the friction noise between the plastic knob and the aluminum chassis

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mwr2700 t1_j0hlj8o wrote

4.5 trouble free years with a Jotunheim for what it’s worth.

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agentzune t1_j0h9bud wrote

My modi/magni are still perfect after 2 years. I have moved on but I keep them around as a backup for work.

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ExiledSanity t1_j0i451y wrote

I've had several products with no issues. I still have a modi multibit, Asgard2, Valhalla 2 and a Lyr 3 that get regular use, all of that except the Lyr is at least 4 or 5 years old.

The Lyr 3 is one of those that is known to have killed headphones, I am careful with it to not have anything plugged in when turning it on or off.

One of the common issues with the modi (not sure if it affects the multibit or not) is the computer not recognizing it over USB. I have no idea if that's an issue on mine or not as I only use the coax input and leave it on all the time.

I think the mid range stuff that I have is the sweet spot for schiit. The smaller cheaper stuff has a shorter warranty and more reported problems. I wouldn't have much interest in buying a magni, but I'd replace the Asgard with a new one if/when I need to.

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bootstrapper52 t1_j0iuzke wrote

Been running a magni/modi stack for over 4 years. Other than a scratchy volume pot, no issues to report.

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chef8489 t1_j0gxb0k wrote

From my experience over the past decade or so I never had issues with any of the gear I used nore has anyone that I had first hand experience with. I have used all the lyr generations, modi generations, and vali generations. I have also had a few other items on hand like th bifrost and Valhalla.

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Suspicious-Cake-3829 t1_j0hj7gk wrote

My Lyr was having issues within the warranty period, sent it in and it was fixed for a few months then started having the same issue again. Really bad noise out of one channel. My Modi stopped working after several years.

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ostuniman t1_j0hvzsd wrote

I switched to Fiio. Seems more for the money. A K5 is $150.

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trbd003 t1_j0i6cz0 wrote

But, you are contributing to the Chinese slavery industry rather than paying a skilled American technician to make your amp.

Its a real thing. We do need to take it seriously.

For value for money yes you'll usually get more buying chinese goods than American. But you're sending your money into the wrong economy and in the long run we run the risks of losing these skills.

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ostuniman t1_j0iaq87 wrote

I hear ya. I did have schiit and I didn’t like the look, buttons, build etc.

Fiio seems to have figured out the market for both Audiophiles and ignorant audio consumers.

My Fiio has a 2nd USB C port - they assumed I wanted a dedicated port for my macbook and they were right.

They added an EQ on phone apps for Bluetooth in case I wanted to watch TV. They were right.

They have cute little USB dongles. They assumed folks will want portable dacs amps because more mobile devices are being used. They were right.

I know this is controversial, but they added MQA because some folk’s really feel Tidal Masters does sound better, even if we all know its not real “lossless”. They were right.

For headphones, I been paying extra for Sennheiser that were made in Germany or Ireland. I have a special heart for German and Japanese engineering as I studied Industrial Economics.

I been avoiding HifiMan because it is china based. And I know USA will eventually go to war with China.

But the day that HifiMan makes a superior product over HD800s for the money, then I may consider.

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trbd003 t1_j0ifime wrote

I have literally never judged an amplifier by how it looks. So that one's new on me. Some of my hifi is on a Bryston amp which is literally just a heatsink with binding posts. Not a pretty thing.

I mean when it comes to how something sounds, I say buy it from wherever it comes from. But value for money... You'll always get more from China. But there's an invisible cost.

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ostuniman t1_j0igsfq wrote

I hear ya again. So there are several Reddit channels where people post pics of their “setups”. Could be PC, desk, AV equipment. I suspect most are younger folks. Its the new normal in the internet age.

There is a whole generation of folks that probably value “looks” as part of their equation to buy anything.

I know, It’s unfortunate……even when shopping for an iPhone….the reviews were mostly about the look and feel. Nevermind that technically iPhones are behind the Samsungs. Lol.

That invisible thing with China….they are basically our bank. They lend us money and without them, we wouldn’t be flourishing. And vice versa. Economics is incredibly complicated.

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GooglephonicStereo t1_j0j7l3a wrote

I have (and have had) a bunch of Schiit and never had a problem with any of them.

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creative_avocado20 t1_j0i08ra wrote

Yes, they are very reliable, have had Schiit dacs and amps for many years with no problems.

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sdrj77 t1_j0jqg60 wrote

Schitt isn't any more or less reliable than other brands.

I have an Asgard 2 and an OG Bifrost Uber that still work. They were bought in 2014.

People whose stuff is fine don't post about it on Reddit or other message boards. It skews perception when every third post is, "My stuff blew up and caught fire on my desk!" when in reality, the failure rate is something like 1 or 2 percent, for example.

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Moloch90 t1_j0klqlh wrote

So this is a Schiit-post

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hulk871 t1_j0is6um wrote

Dude so good

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sorbuss t1_j0greu1 wrote

I would choose something else

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IMKGI t1_j0grt06 wrote

I would highly recommend staying away from Shiit amps, while most people never had problems with them, they have a major problems and can in rare occasions blow up your headphones

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angelf2704 OP t1_j0gtafw wrote

Forget the headphones, I don't want to blow my ears :( That's terrible.

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broncosandwrestling t1_j0gviob wrote

Is this still accurate? I remember an old design frying gear and Schiit being coy about it but that was years ago

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chef8489 t1_j0gwjcf wrote

No it is not still accurate and when it did happen on the rare occasion on a piece of faulty equipment, schiit took care of it

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spartaman64 t1_j0h73hm wrote

does schiit give people replacement ears also? but that aside supposedly their new amps fix the issue

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chef8489 t1_j0h8lhz wrote

it was an issue while turning on and off the amp not while listening to them.

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spartaman64 t1_j0h95vk wrote

most stories ive heard is of people leaving them on idle and then coming back to a blown headphone

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chef8489 t1_j0h9evn wrote

Nope. That's not true. The confirmed cases were overloading the circuit while turning them on and off. Too many people spreading rumors.

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spartaman64 t1_j0hbg8o wrote

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/my-headphone-got-burned-up-by-a-schiit-heresy-amplifier.958253/

This guy said he was plugging in headphones between different amps no mention that he was constantly turning all of the amps on and off. He said its probably due to ESD.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/xs9uus/schiit_stack_blew_my_headphones/

The hd660 blew after he turned the amp off and on but he seemed to suggest the sundara blew when he left his computer for a bit with the amp on.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/9tzvog/psa_oops_lyr_3_did_it_again/

This report also seems to indicate that it happened while in use and not immediately after turning on.

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chef8489 t1_j0heif9 wrote

I think something else is going on with the person and the lyr 3..

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The first post something was triggering the overload circuit while he was unplugging and plugging the headphones. It was faulty equipment and schiit took care of it.

The 660 issue there was a fault in the amp and that is why they were quiet and they didnt blow the headphones till he turned it off and back on while they were plugged in. Again schiit covers this..

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These are rare occasions and people tend to blow these situations way out of proportion. I have used a lot of Schiit gear and a lot of other gear over the past several decades such as Woo Audio, Cayin and many more. I have seen defects in all of them.

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spartaman64 t1_j0hf5bg wrote

i mean ofc i dont think this is happening with every unit or most unit its probably like 1% or something. But still its bad product design and I'm glad schiit fixed the problem with their product refresh if they did.

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chef8489 t1_j0hgpf2 wrote

I dont even think it is 1% or we would have seen a lot more of them pop up. I think very few people had issues and being the internet it got spread every where and blown way up. I think issues like the one with the lyr 3 you posted is something entirely as he had the issue with multiple amps and multiple headphones and no other records from lyr 3 owners including the two amps I personally had had issues.

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I do think Schiit is really quick at addressing the issues and resolving them and compensating the customers that had issues.

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miles971 t1_j0hccfz wrote

So basic with American build

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