Schiit Syn - Analog Extracted Surround Sound

Thanks for the article @bobfa! I'm so glad you spent a lot of time with the Schiit Syn and really pulled the best experience out of it, as it was intended. I talked to Jason at Schiit about this product when it came out and I struggled to find a way to make it work in my system. Sometimes products are square pegs for round holes. In my system this was the case, but in yours I know it's a fantastic fit. Based on your text messages to me over the last couple months, I'm pretty sure you'd pay twice the price for this thing :~)

Thanks Chris!

The Syn is a lot of fun!  I have been testing different ways of feeding music to it.

The two latest methods are using the  Logitech Transporter with the Modwright Tube upgrades to the analog inputs on the Syn.  The second is with a long USB-C cable from any of my USB-C Apple Devices, Mac, iPad, iPhone.

The Tube stage on the Transporter is great, and  its digital outputs are good.  Using an iPad and Apple Music very enlightening.  

Here is a four track playlist that demos ATMOS masters and non-ATMOS masters.  USB out of most anything Apple to the SYN in 2-Channel.  (Oh and also interesting on Sonos ERA300)

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/bobfa-atmos-vs-non-atmos/pl.u-BNA66l6tp4DNb

I have started moving the gear for the ATMOS system to make it simpler to work on and listen to. Right now there are speaker cables everywhere!  I am also auditioning  a couple of AudioQuest power conditioners.

RJF

Does the Schiit Syn do something similar -- or something different -- than what 5.1 (and higher) AVRs do when you hit the fake surround setting?

This is not at all a criticism. I'm genuinely interested in whether there's a difference, and if there is, am I better off with this Schiit (sorry!) or with my AVR if I want to experience good surround sound off of a stereo analog recording.  

a new spin on an old idea, among others the Phase Linear Ambience circuit and Radio Shack Quatravox. As above, not a criticism, just an observation.

AMBIENCE CONTROL CIRCUIT

Ambience Circuit
With the Phase Linear 2000 you will be able to add an additional dimen¬sion to your music Ambience. The Phase Linear 2000 enables you to recover ambience and thereby add much of the natural acoustics of the concert hüll to home listening. We think you will be amazed at how much music you were missing with a conventional preamplifier or a receiver in the normal stereo mode. The Ambience Circuit may be used with either two or four speakers or it may be defeated with a switch an the front panel.

AMBIENCE: This feature makes music listening more enjoyable. It can be used to enhance listening realism by adding an approximation of the natural reverberent acoustics of the concert hall. It adds music material which can't be heard in conventional preamplifiers.

Quatravox was the name of Realistic's synthesized four-channel output version of quadraphonic sound, which used Hafler circuitry to reproduce ambient sounds recorded by the microphones 180° out-of-phase with the intended recording (sounds recorded from opposite the microphone from the performers, i.e., studio echo, audience noise, etc.) and play them back through the rear loudspeakers out-of-phase with the main loudspeakers. The effect is a greater degree of separation that stereo sound, as the listener is able to hear echoes, applause, and other ambient sounds from behind (as opposed to in-front and thus out-of-phase with the main speakers and inaudible), even with stereo recordings. However, this degree of separation is not as great or as flexible as that of truly discrete quadraphonic sound.

On 12/14/2023 at 2:00 PM, USAudio said:

My Outlaw Audio 1050 receiver was pushing 20 years old, so it was time for an upgrade...

 

While researching separate surround processors I noticed the Syn and decided to give it a go, along with a Monolith multichannel amp.  The Syn offered a surprisingly good 5.1 surround experience with movies, but what was most surprising was how great it sounded with music!  

 

Just to do my due diligence I also gave the separate surround processor a go, but honestly the surround experience wasn't any better (albeit in my simple 5.1 system) and the Syn was much better with music.  So the surround processor went back and the Syn is staying.  

 

The Syn is more of an audiophile product and I'm more of an audiophile than a videophile so YMMV, but if you you have a 5.1 system you might consider giving the Syn a try, you might be as pleasantly surprised as I was!

I have not tried the SYN in a video system I am glad you could do some comparisons!    I grabbed an older set of Boston Acoustics 5.1 speakers and a 6-channel amp from the used room at my local audio store to test the SYN and video.  

On 12/16/2023 at 12:14 PM, bobfa said:

I have not tried the SYN in a video system I am glad you could do some comparisons!    I grabbed an older set of Boston Acoustics 5.1 speakers and a 6-channel amp from the used room at my local audio store to test the SYN and video.  

 

 

 

 

Bob - Did I stump you with my question? 

Where I wrote:

>Does the Schiit Syn do something similar -- or something different -- than what 5.1 (and higher) AVRs do when you hit the fake >surround setting?

It seems like a basic question, no?

9 minutes ago, garrardguy60 said:

 

Bob - Did I stump you with my question? 

 

Where I wrote:

>Does the Schiit Syn do something similar -- or something different -- than what 5.1 (and higher) AVRs do when you hit the fake >surround setting?

 

It seems like a basic question, no?

Perhaps your question is a bit vague, using the term "similar." Not sure. I'd say very different from a technique standpoint and not sure about the final output differences. 

According to Schiit:

Developed Through Listening

Syn isn’t like any other surround processor. It’s not digital. It supports no standard. Its all-analog processing doesn’t use any steering. It was developed by producing a simple matrix prototype, then tweaking it with analog computing techniques until it provided enjoyable, realistic results. This meant the development of two exclusive controls—Width and Presence—as well as specific headphone shaping and matrix cross-mixing.

I cannot say what it does compared to AVRs as I do not have any AVRs to play with. 

Not Stumped, just not any way to compare here in my realm.  I am not investing in that hardware.