Thank you so much Cynthia for such a wonderful review! Wow that's some effort into producing this video huge props! I have had a Freya + and a Freya S (with upgraded op-amps) for several years now. My listening environment is a small highly-treated recording studio. 32 sound blankets up. 200lb concrete block stands for high-end studio monitors and separately for the audio gear. A set of Isopucks for every piece of gear as well. Yeah I know OCD overkill, but tested a number of configurations over many years it really works. :-) Nothing in the sound chain escapes my ears. My first tip with the Freya + is this: Isopucks under the Freya+, when in tube mode make a significant audible difference when audio volumes are medium to high. So my platform statement is that all preamps change the sound. Without exception every single one of them 'changes' the sound.. What makes the Freya + so wonderful, is the Freya + is three preamps in one. That's a big deal. Three choices of sound in one piece of gear. And it gets better, with tube rolling experimentation every single tube setup sounds very different. This creates a whole other world of playing with different sounds from the Freya+. And hey is there is no such thing as 'premium tubes', lol that is such much c***! Tubes just sound different from each other that's all. Objectively the cleanest clearest sound I have found for Freya+ tubes are cheap $15 Russian military tubes from the 1970's. Think of the Freya + as a preamp platform. My second tip is: the left side two tubes are the input buffer, they don't much affect the sound, but they do really really affect how much dynamic range can get through the preamp, think of them as the doorway that the sound walks through, bigger doorway the better. The right two tubes are the output gain stage, and they really really affect the sound signature. Identically matching four tubes for 'best sound' with the Freya + is objectively complete nonsense. The bottom line for me depends on what kind of music I am listening to. My mood, how hydrated my ears are, the time of day (I live in a big city), and what is happening on a given day electrically in my building. I get to quickly switch between three preamps. I even have the Yggy dac and Freya + plumbed down into the living room TV & tower. The acoustics are beyond horrible in the un-treated sheetrock weird-shaped loft living room. Crazy how different movie soundtracks work way better with the different preamp choices with the Freya +. Pretty much switch it up for every movie, just a couple clicks on the remote. (Final note, just like Jason Stoddard mentions, the Freya S is also my personal fave for highly critical listening to extract the most detail from a recording.) Thank you Cynthia!

Well I'm so glad I came across your review. This jas been on my wish list for awhile.

I have the Freya + N, love it. I use all three modes depending on the mood.

I’ve been contemplating buying this for a few years.

Love my Freya+ also and completely agree with your assessment: I'm currently using two LISSTs on the buffer stage and enjoy the matched $15 NOS tubes in the gain stage (as much as my $75 tung sols) when pushing my solid-state power amp through the xlr outputs. Hybrid sound is amazing! When controlling my tube amplifier through the single-ended outputs, however, it's passive mode all day! Great review and comment!

I've had the Freya+ for over a year, mine came with stock JJ tubes. Until recently I listened in tube mode almost exclusively. Unlike what I believe she said, you can run two different types of tubes, just put matched pairs in either the gain stage or output stage. Most benefit is heard in the gain stage. There is tons of stuff out there on tube rolling with the Freya, can be lots of fun. Personally, my favorite is NOS Raytheon tall boys in the gain stage and JJ's in the output stage. Recently, almost by accident, I switched to passive mode after trying the buffered stage and was pleasantly surprised by the clarity and detail. I had Pink Floyd on the turntable and the imaging amazing. I've been enjoying passive mode (when listening at higher volume) and am really pleased. I have yet to hear circumstance when the buffered mode sounds better than either the passive or tube, but maybe that's just me.

Haven't seen Cynthia in a while (maybe it's just been what I've been watching/reading). It's clear she represents solid talent and knowledge to carry on this community and industry into its phases for the next years and generations to come. Keep it up.

As a Freya + owner for the past three years I have formed strong opinions about the three modes. In my opinion the buffer mode adds a bit to the mid bass and subtracts a bit from the low bass. It brings the midrange and highs forward quite a bit. It kills dynamics. The tube stage can be very warm, depending on the tubes. It’s an effective filter for fine detail and high frequency nuance. It is nice for adding liquidity to that dry sound the CDs can give you sometimes. Used with a Loki Max you can remove most of the overbearing warmth to achieve a nice sound when the liquidity is needed. I listen with the passive mode most of the time. It’s neutral, dynamic and most of all transparent. Pretty much perfect in passive mode in my system. But it is nice to have the option to switch between modes to shake things up once in a while.

the 15 day trial window is just not enough time for me

I have this preamp and I use it with nos tubes and the sound is incredible, much better than the tubes it came with. Truly a fantastic preamp with the right tubes.

Cynthia, I would really like you to try putting two of your LISST tubes in the two left hand buffer tube sockets and put two of your 6SN7 tubes in the two right hand gain tube sockets and let me know how you think it sounds. I think they really sound good together. You can get even better sound if you upgrade the stock JJ 6SN7 tubes. I'm currently running two LISST with two Shuguang CV181Z tubes and they sound great together. You get several benefits by using two LISST with two 6SN7 tubes which I have listed below: 1. LISST don’t draw any heater filament current so your filament current transformer only has to supply half of the current it would with four tubes installed. I’ve seen many people say that they have had problems with this transformer failing because with four tubes installed, it is running very close to its maximum output. 2. LISST don’t wear out like tubes do so when your tubes do need to be replaced you only have to replace two tubes which saves you a lot of money. Also if you want to do tube rolling you only need to buy two tubes instead of four which will save you a lot of money. 3. Your Freya+ runs much cooler because you only have the heat from two tubes instead of four.

I have a Crown XLI2500 powering a pair of Cerwin Vega SL 15s, obviously not an "audiophile" set up but sounds very good with sooo much power. The XLI is a very neutral, clean sounding AB amp. It does favor the low end, its a pro amp and I think that comes with the territory. I wouldn't call it a musical amp, it puts out what is put in and boosts it 33db. Anyway, I plugged that preamp into it and man what a difference. The active mode, though subtle, seemed to take the clinical sound of my dac an made it lively with softer edges if that makes sense. The tube stage kicks it up a notch, nice and clean sound, much better mids and the bass stayed tight on the 15"s. Not the traditional tube sound I was familiar with from the old days, just a taste of it, but a great sound. I am turning a bedroom into a listening room and plan on matching the Freya+ with either a set of Vidar 2s or Tyrs. Good info, thanks.

I have owned the Schiit Freya+ for a few years and I’m very pleased with its performance. Some guys talking about using it in passive mode, are you serious?! In passive mode it sounds dry and neutral. If I buy a Tube pre-amp is to use the color That tubes add. I use it with old and new 6sn7 and 12sn7. With adapters I use it with 6c8g, 6f8g, 12ax7 family of tubes, 6cg7 and 7N7. It’s always nice to experience different flavors. My favorite sounding tubes are the Sylvania 6sn7 GTA from the 1950s and 6f8g. Mine came with Tung Sol 6sn7 GTB.

I ended up going with a topping pre 90 to serve as a pre for my hp rigs and tube amps. Was going to go freya but decided the pre90 fit my needs better.

Thank you

A very helpful and unusually extensive review for someone interested in one of theses preamps! What amp were you using with this review and what differences were there with the different speakers?

Great review , thank you. With the Schiit Freya+ driving a pair of KEF R3 meta, through two Vidars (bi amped, one for HF, other for LF) I absolutely love the passive mode. Buffer mode raises the mid bass (which sounds really bad on the R3M!). The tubes colour the sound a bit too much (records and streaming). Very keen to experiment with the LISST!

Got my first tube amp last year and my first high efficiency speakers. To think I hesitated

Merci pour cette vidéo. Je ne peux savoir combien d'exemplaire de ce préampli sont en suisse, mais il y a un Freya à Genève (pas le Freya+). Depuis son arrivée je jongle entre les modes selon le style de musique et les supports, et cela donne un éventail d'écoute infini. Je n'ose imaginer la même recherche en fonction du bloc de puissance et des enceintes. Cordialement.

Too swiss army knife for me. I Strongly considered this product tbh. Went with an integrated instead of separates. Got a cronus magnum 3. I decided the design was more focused

Tube gear from Schiit are products not in their wheelhouse (and they acknowledge this) which is fine in the Schiit Ecco system...Why not. I would recommend the ELEKIT TU-8550 PRE-AMPLIFIER for $1185 and is a company that only designs Tube gear. Sunvalley is another company (Kits or pre-built) that is old school Point-to-Point wiring for a faction of the "Big Boy" pricing.

Great review. Nice to see you here. Interesting comment about comparing to live, Absolute Sound. We went to a concert recently at a small intimate 200 capacity venue to see a blues legend (Coco Montoya). Had great 8th row center seats. They facility had recently upgraded their sound system and overall it was a good sounding venue. So I decided to compare it to my home system's sound. Live had no sound stage! How absurd! I could see Coco standing in front of me, but the sound was more spread across the stage than I would expect from my home system. And as you say, while the kick drum had more impact live. It seemed boomy to do so. Mid bass bump. And it seemed a bit flat relative to depth of sound stage. An effect I find and have seen commented on by known reviewers to be associated with digital sources compared to analog. Occasionally the direct sound from the musician's on stage would break above the reinforcement sound and you could tell the difference. Perhaps closer up would have been more direct and less reinforcement. But the end result was if I had a choice between my existing audio system and the sound there live, mine is better. However Yes I still enjoy live. An entirely different experience. Especially unreinforced direct sound like real small venues without PA or larger orchestral. But when comparing sound reinforcement systems in live performances to my home system I find my home system to sound better. But less enjoyable when spilling your drink while dancing!

Hi Cynthia, I agree so much concerning your views of pre amplification. Smaller voltages require careful management & all kinds of preamps do make a large difference. This is why I pay attention to my phono stages, my headphone amplification & ofcourse amplification prior to power amplification.

At 18:31 you show 9 pin tubes, why? 6SN7 are Octal.

Interesting. I've found the passive mode and differential buffer to be nearly identical with passive being more neutral in sound. Tube mode is much more gain and a great soundstage. Well recorded live music at concert volume sounds very realistic. Rock concerts, such as the Stones Ya Ya's or Little Feat, have that slight edginess that analog overdrive can produce. Running two Vidars as mono blocks, and vintage Infinity RSII's.

just curious on the origin of Schiit brand name ..

You did a great job of comparing this preamp to your version, your understanding of the absolute sound....But....I have to respectfully disagree with only comparing to the absolute sound. Why, we each have our own interpretation of what that sound is...and mine is probably a little different than yours. Therefore, what is more helpful is to have some reference points to other preamps which I may have heard which will then better allow me to triangulate. Even Tom, in some of his reviews references other gear and makes brief comparisons...an example would be the Orchard Audio Stereo Ultra and Bryston. As to speakers, many of us have heard Magnepans and almost none of us have heard the open baffles you referenced...so again, no point of triangulation. My strong desire is that all reviewers would refrain from thoughts like good, better, best and instead focus on telling us what they heard in relation to other gear so that we might be able to draw our own conclusions as to whether we might be interested in doing our own audition.

The tube failure is interesting. Hopefully not a handicap

Instead of using a non hifi Minidsp, you might’ve been better off using one of Schiit’s EQs.

If you don't know what the measurements mean, there is a high probability they were not even performed correctly. Best to get someone that knows how to perform accurate measurements in future.

There's an old saying, "If it looks like Schiit and sounds like Schiit, it Smells Like Teen Spirit"

That volume knob clicking is a total deal breaker for me

You should have said what it's like between the Freya one and the plus, the original one is supposed to be better but you won't criticise your paid client that's not good enough. How can you be a review if you can't say one is better than the other or even a different make makes it non irrelevant your reviews shouldn't be taken seriously.

You guys really need a good sound editor.

Meh 🤷‍♂

This person is awful at communication. She might know what she's talking about, but if so she can't communicate it. I tapped out halfway through after tiring of the tangents. I don't care about Jeremy, who I know is her husband because she mentioned it five thousand times. The non-stop branding of real-life sound as The Absolute Sound got old fast. And the statement that a drum machine sounds artificial... thank you, Mistress of the Obvious.