Schiit Audio
Website:https://www.schiit.com/
Est. year: 2010
Location: USA
Schiit Audio was started in June 2010 in the United States by Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat. It started with two headphone amplifiers and now builds dozens of products, from headphone amplifiers and DACs to preamps, phono stages, equalizers and power amplifiers, with chassis made in California and assembly in Texas. Its products are sold worldwide directly from its own website.
Range & what it's known for
Headphone amplifiers remain the core. The Magni at USD 119 is the entry, followed by the Vali 3, Midgard, Asgard X, Jotunheim 3, Valhalla 3, Lyr 5 and the Mjolnir. DACs run from the Modi 5 at USD 149 through the Mimir and Bifrost to the Gungnir 2 and the Yggdrasil at USD 2,299. The Bifrost, launched in June 2011, was designed to be upgradable, and its later version still takes plug-in cards such as the B3 Mesh card. Speaker amplifiers include the Vidar 2F, Aegir 2F and Tyr F, and the Wotan heads the amplifier list. After a fire at an AKM chip plant in November 2020, Schiit moved its DAC designs to ESS parts, alongside chips from Analog Devices and Texas Instruments.
Who owns it and where it's made
Schiit remains a private firm led by the two founders. The company says chassis and transformers are made in California, circuit boards are produced in its own plant in Corpus Christi, and final assembly takes place in San Antonio or Corpus Christi in Texas. Products carry a warranty of up to five years and a 15-day return window.
The lineup in this catalog
Headphone amplifiers, DACs and phono stages across several categories. Current list prices go from about USD 100 for the smallest boxes to USD 2,299 for the Yggdrasil DAC.
Who it's for
Schiit makes sense for desk-based headphone users wanting US-built electronics at modest prices and like to build a system from separate boxes. A Magni and Modi 5 stack is the usual way in, a Jotunheim 3 or Bifrost the middle step, and the Mjolnir, Gungnir 2 or Yggdrasil the end point. Speaker owners can grow from a Vidar 2F to the Tyr F.