Schiit Mjolnir headphone amplifier - Page 133

Originally Posted by rated1975 

So you enjoy the the T1's treble spike with everything other than rock

T1's were too prickly for my ears. LCD's sound "right" and "truthful" with most music.

Originally Posted by Olias of Sunhillow 

This being the Mjolnir thread, I'll add some Schiit-specific content.

My Mjolnir arrives tomorrow, and I'm planning to spend a couple weeks comparing it with the BHA-1 driving the LCD-3. Should be lots of fun! I've seen the results of previous head-to-head comparisons, but nothing beats a comparison done in the comfort of your own home.

Originally Posted by DarknightDK 

Looking forward to your impressions of the Mjolnir and lcd-3 pairing. I've heard mixed reactions so far. Someone said that it bests the BA / lcd-3 combo, while others have said they didn't pair well.

Originally Posted by ardilla 

 

I thought there was some sort of consensus about the goodness of the LCD-3 / Mjolnir  pairing?

Originally Posted by olor1n 

 

I've only read negative impressions of the Mjolnir/LCD-3 from one member (tokendog?). The rest have been full of praise. Far from mixed. 

Originally Posted by dleblanc343 

Hey soup, let me know what you think about the mojo with the LCD3. I actually do not like it at all , it's too bassy and incoherent in the lower registers compared to the HE-6 or HD800 imo.

Originally Posted by rrahman 

I got my Mjolnir and I been testing it out w/ the lcd3.  Its an impressive amplifier, but isn't without flaws.  

 

Spec’s wise its probably the most impressive amp I have heard.  You can really tell that 5 watts rms makes a difference.  The transient response, decay, and headroom are on par with the best I have ever heard.  It really makes anything else seem sluggish.  In this regard it slays my Concerto. Noise floor which is what usually bothers me most about amplifiers is as good as I can ask for.  Build quality is typical Schiit, flawless.

 

The qualms I have are more an issue of taste than objective inferiority.  It makes my LCD3 sound more like an HD800, with a very quick and responsive diaphragm, ever so slight uptilt in tonality, light and airy w/ massive soundstages.  The downside is it sounds more clinical, a bit thin and lifeless like an HD800.  I usually love this effect.  Infact I remember the pairing with the slightly darker lcd2 as what motivated me to buy the amp in the first place.  It really makes jazz, classical, a capella music and especially techno sound amazing.  On the downside, pop music, rock, hip hop sound aggressive, clinical and a bit lifeless.  Compared to my Concerto which I feel is the most neutral amp I have heard, I think the mjolnir has slightly too much treble energy.

 

A lot of people will read this and think this is a bad impression, but that's not really what I want to convey.  The amp's technical superiority over other amps is clear, but I think my taste preferences lie elsewhere.  I'll give it a few more days, but I will likely return this amp to get a WA22.  I have never heard the WA22, but I am hoping it has the muscle to control the diaphragm just as well w/o sacrificing body and emotional impact.  If I did not want to convert to a balanced set up, I’d probably keep my Concerto which I feel is competitively on par with this amp.

Originally Posted by Solude 

And the official A/B is complete.  Here we go...

 

The short of it is the Peak is staying and the Mjolnir is up for sale to the next lucky Canuck.

 

The long of it is a little more involved.  As with all my reviews this is in comparison, not global.  The Mjolnir is a detail and dynamics monster.  No question it will show you things that went unnoticed, clarify others and just flat out give you jaw dropping detail retrieval.  In the global sense of the word, its likely neutral as well.  But where it falls apart is in separation and staging.  The Peak is more natural, if a touch bottom tilted but what it does well is detail, though not at Mjolnir levels, and separation.  Things just never blend or become a wall with the Peak.  The Mjolnir despite great detail, tended to blend the bass lines into the mid mix.  Staging was mostly left to right, with comparatively more 3 blob staging than the Peak.

 

So in the end it becomes a trade off.  The Peak is more natural sounding, trading some detail and clarity for better separation and staging.  The Mjolnir has more detail retrieval and likely more neutral as well but can feel top tilted and fatiguing if, like me, you are sensitive to that.

 

Bring on the statement amp so I can drop my favourite tube in to tilt it back in my favour and have the best of both :D

Originally Posted by DarknightDK 

I'll wait to see what Schitt has up their sleeves for the statement amps.

Originally Posted by Jand 

Has anyone had a chance to test how the Mjolnir handles things using RCA inputs from a DAC rather than the XLR inputs -- does it significantly diminish the quality?  

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Erukian 

Nope. I used (crappy) RCA cables to connect my gungnir+mjolnir together for a couple weeks and then I bought the Pyst cables when they came out.

The difference is minor and in no way what I would call "significant"

Originally Posted by MaJoMax 


isnt fully balance setup always bring out the best performance?