Is Hel Heaven?

Not too long ago I made a review about the Schiit Fulla E. A gaming dac made by the Texas based company Schiit. My conclusion wasn’t that it wasn’t that good and I just couldn’t recommend it. And then I got my hands on its bigger brother, the Schiit Hel 2 and started to wonder if this one was any better!

To be precise, this is the Hel 2 E and isn’t the first version that was released. Like the Fulla, the original Hel 2 was only briefly available. But because of a big fire at the AKM factory in 2020 there was a real shortage of AKM components, like the DAC used in both the Fulla and the Hel2. So now you have Fulla E and the Hel 2E, where the E is for ESS!

So what is the difference between the Fulla and the Hel? Well to tell you simply; the Hel is just a grown-up version of the Fulla with a different output staging, meaning more op amps and thus more power. The Hel also has a gain switch, an input switch, a microphone volume knob, an on-off switch and a larger casing.