Schiit taking orders (as of Dec 23) on Freya preamp

I've had a Freya for approx. 9 months now.  I remain very pleased with it.  I especially appreciate the balanced design.  I believe that is (at least) one advantage over Saga.  Freya's ability to accept balanced input made a big difference in the sound using my CDP.  I'd never had opportunity to hear it using balanced out.  The listening experience with the CDP is now a close second to ripped CD files through an Aries Mini/Gungnir MB combination also via balanced out to Freya.  

@ghosthouse 
Using Freya with tubes, are you still hearing a faint tube noise through the speakers as others have reposted in the past on other forums?

I'm wondering as well. Over at Head-fi all I hear is about how noisy the thing is

@lak

I don’t listen in tube mode very much and have actually pulled the tubes...not out of any unhappiness with the tube sound or noise level - though the as-supplied, stock 6SN7s WERE noisy! Schiit did very quickly replace a couple for me when I "complained".

In my set up right now with Gungnir MB and a Hegel H200 (used in HT by pass mode) the sound from JFET buffer mode seems really close to the tube sound (whether NOS RCAs, "better" NOS Russian 6SN7s or current production EH installed). There is a difference to the SQ in tube mode (apart from higher gain) but it is not a "night and day" difference. The difference between JFET & tube mode might be greater when using Freya with a Class D Taranis amp. Overall, interconnects seem to affect SQ more than the tube type...at least to my ears. With tubes pulled, I enjoy being able to leave the Freya powered up all the time without concern about tube-life. Consequently, I can’t give you an "as of this moment" report about noise levels with tubes..

Going by memory (increasingly less reliable), the better tubes did quiet things down a lot (though possibly there was/is still some very faint "warbling" when the Freya is muted but not receiving signal). When playing, I don’t ever recall tube noise issues between tracks or when the source is paused but Freya is left unmuted. Having lived with various tube amps and a tube preamp for years and years, some occasional slight noise from tubes just seems part and parcel of the "experience". By comparison, I’d say the Freya with good tubes is quieter...certainly no worse.

Running in JFET mode now, there is NO noise with volume all the way up after pausing the CD I’d been playing. With CD playing and Freya muted, if I put my ear very close to the speaker I can hear some faint (bleed through?). It is barely audible with an ear only an inch or two from the driver. Absolutely not anything I can hear at the listening position. With Freya muted and no signal, there is no noise at all.

I had wanted a passive pre-amp when the Freya came out, so it suits me just fine. As mentioned earlier, I appreciate the balanced design. The flexibility...e.g., 2 balanced and 3 SE in is another positive. I think the sonics with Freya in the chain are great. I’m probably 90% digital and might run tubes when I play vinyl. That extra gain in tube mode comes in handy then. Pardon the long-winded reply. Hope it is useful.