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After listening to a Schiit Freya S preamp for six months I'd come to the conclusion that I prefer the passive setting (paired with an iFi iTube2 buffer), which surprised me since I assumed the active mode of the preamp would provide the best sound based on the comments and reviews I'd read. And at first I did prefer the active gain mode, with or without the tube buffer. But I eventually settled on the passive mode using the buffer, it just had the right mix of resolution and richness. Last night, though, I was (re)reading about passive vs active preamps and started questioning my decision, especially since many of the articles and forum discussions mentioned the problems inherent with using a passive setup.So I went back to square one and experimented with six permutations between preamp and buffer to see if I still thought using the preamp in passive mode with the tube buffer was still my preference. The Freya S has three modes: passive, active 1dB gain, and active 12dB gain. The iFi iTube2 has three tube buffer modes: SET, push-pull, and one they describe as "a sound parallel to classic, low-distortion tube-based studio equipment". All three tube modes impart a fairly mild effect, especially the "classic" mode, and I found that after months of trial and error I prefer the SET mode with my stereo system, regardless of passive or active preamp modes. That's why I limited my experiment to the SET mode of the iTube2.
What I discovered is that I prefer using the tube buffer and the effect is noticeably different between passive mode and active modes of the preamp. The main difference is how much more of the "tube bloom" effect I hear in passive mode, without losing the resolution and dynamics of the active modes. It surprised me because I had a pre-decisional bias that the active mode(s) must be better and that my decision to use the passive mode was an overeager desire to adhere to the "straight wire" paradigm. Turns out it was more than that; the combination of passive preamp and tube buffer sounds much more relaxed, with the correct timing and dynamics of music I hear when attending music performances and concerts. The music just came alive and sounded more (using an overused term) "natural". The difference was not subtle and sounded so good that I ended up listening to music way past my bed time.
All I can figure is that with my setup (sources, pre-amp, amp, speakers) the passive mode in the Freya S and the buffering effect of the iTube2 provides a good matching of impedances throughout the signal chain. Either that or I'm rationalizing again. :-)
Tom
Edits: 10/02/21
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Topic - Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - tketcham 08:08:36 02/21/21 (42)
- Piped in engine sound - RGA 17:25:22 02/23/21 (2)
- RE: Piped in engine sound - tketcham 18:00:59 02/23/21 (1)
- how about "sucker #3"? - LtMandella 07:14:08 02/28/21 (0)
- What I notice in my Schiit Saga with the tube buffer engaged... - MWE 07:13:47 02/22/21 (1)
- RE: What I notice in my Schiit Saga with the tube buffer engaged... - tketcham 10:18:11 02/22/21 (0)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - Story 10:50:33 02/21/21 (4)
- RE: Error in judgement - tketcham 17:03:18 02/21/21 (0)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - rivervalley817 11:05:57 02/21/21 (2)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - Story 13:35:20 02/21/21 (1)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - rivervalley817 13:58:37 02/21/21 (0)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - triode3 09:59:25 02/21/21 (1)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - tketcham 17:00:28 02/21/21 (0)
- RE: Musings on passive vs active preamp with tube buffer stage - Tre' 09:55:24 02/21/21 (5)
- RE: Interesting - tketcham 16:53:20 02/21/21 (2)
- RE: Interesting - Cut-Throat 07:12:03 02/22/21 (1)
- RE: Interesting - tketcham 10:07:05 02/22/21 (0)
- I experienced the same - E-Stat 16:28:46 02/21/21 (1)
- Yup. nt - Tre' 16:20:05 02/27/21 (0)
- I could be wrong but... - airtime 09:02:13 02/21/21 (16)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - Palustris 08:53:45 02/22/21 (12)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 11:34:19 02/22/21 (11)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - Palustris 13:39:02 02/23/21 (2)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 15:30:18 02/23/21 (1)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - Palustris 08:41:02 02/24/21 (0)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - rivervalley817 11:44:07 02/22/21 (7)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 12:29:39 02/22/21 (6)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - rivervalley817 13:45:19 02/22/21 (5)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 15:03:51 02/22/21 (4)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - rivervalley817 15:19:36 02/22/21 (3)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 15:31:28 02/22/21 (2)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - rivervalley817 15:40:59 02/22/21 (1)
- RE: Dust - tketcham 15:56:02 02/22/21 (0)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 06:21:36 02/22/21 (0)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - Tre' 10:04:28 02/21/21 (1)
- RE: I could be wrong but... - tketcham 07:07:29 02/22/21 (0)
- I preferred Passive on the Freya +, but then ... - Feanor 08:31:39 02/21/21 (6)
- RE: Apparently I've still got work to do. - tketcham 17:07:18 02/21/21 (5)
- RE: Apparently I've still got work to do. - LtMandella 07:05:27 02/28/21 (2)
- RE: Apparently I've still got work to do. - tketcham 07:18:24 02/28/21 (1)
- RE: Apparently I've still got work to do. - LtMandella 08:18:46 02/28/21 (0)
- Full tube gain stage downstream of the Freya Passive is an option - Feanor 05:28:11 02/22/21 (1)
- RE: Full tube gain stage downstream of the Freya Passive is an option - tketcham 06:08:54 02/22/21 (0)