Schiit Magni Headphone Amplifier - Page 97

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLACKENEDPLAGUE 

Is the reason the Modi caps at 24/96 for monetary or hardware reasons? Is there an upgrade capability?

See the FAQ:  http://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-modi/

Got the Audeze LCD-2 on demo today. The Magni drives them SO WELL. I don't feel the sound is muddy at all. Tried out of the E17 and Little Dot MKIII just to compare and yep, I get a muddy sound out of those. The Magni and Modi works great. The -12dB attenuators I have allow me to get to about 3 o'clock on the pot before it becomes uncomfortable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjames 

Got the Audeze LCD-2 on demo today. The Magni drives them SO WELL. I don't feel the sound is muddy at all. Tried out of the E17 and Little Dot MKIII just to compare and yep, I get a muddy sound out of those. The Magni and Modi works great. The -12dB attenuators I have allow me to get to about 3 o'clock on the pot before it becomes uncomfortable.

+1

I think its a great match

Yes, it's called the Bifrost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLACKENEDPLAGUE 

Is the reason the Modi caps at 24/96 for monetary or hardware reasons? Is there an upgrade capability?

I bought a Magni/Modi approximately a month ago. At first, I was happy with it because it was a big upgrade over uDac-2 for my HD600 and DT990s. However, over time I noticed a significant channel imbalance in my setup. I don't know if I just have terrible ears and didn't notice it at first or if it got worse over time, but anyway... I first figured it was my headphones, so I tried swapping the HD600 cable jacks to each earcup, but then it sounded imbalanced toward the other ear. I also downmixed to mono using the Foobar DSP to make sure it wasn't in my head. I then figured it might be the pot being too low, so I cranked down the digital volume and cranked up the pot, but it was still there.

So clearly something was wrong with the Magni/Modi (my coworkers: "What a piece of Schiit! Lol."). I shot Jason at Schiit an email asking about it to see if I could fix it. He replied with:

"It's extremely improbable (but not impossible) that the Magni has channel imbalance with the pot set that high. Our equipment is checked with both instruments and ears before its ships.

That said, to isolate the problem:

Swap the RCA cables to the Magni left to right. Does the problem change channels? If it does, then either Modi has a problem (highly unlikely) or there's a volume control acting in your system on the computer side.

If it does not change sides, and you'd like us to take a look at your Magni, we'll get you an RA. We'll measure it here and repair it and return it at no charge if we find the channel imbalance."

So, I tried what he suggested, but the imbalance stayed on the same side. Looked like the Magni was the problem. I sent it in to Schiit and they got it back in about a week (fast!). I got it shipped back to me free of charge, so I guess it actually did have a problem.

Regardless, it sounds great now. I'm also very, very satisfied with the customer service I received. I don't have any idea what their rate of failure is, but figured I'd let people know that even if they happen to get a defective product, Schiit does not slouch in their customer service or repair departments. 

I suggest you read about the Magni and see how many people have problems with the volume knob.

Quote:

Originally Posted by solserenade 

I suggest you read about the Magni and see how many people have problems with the volume knob.

Just to clear this up: very few at Slain's level, out of 2000 or so.

Slain's problem was with imbalance at 11:00-12:00, not in the first 5% of rotation. It was a broken pot--something we have recently shored up with a new design that has "outriggers" on the pot to stabilize it. A small amount of imbalance is normal for all small pots, but imbalance at 11:00 isn't normal in any way, shape or form.

Again, if you have problems, contact us, and we'll get it sorted out for you. No worries!

I am not sure if I have a problem or not. I have had a Magni for about two weeks or so. Sound is great, and I so have managed to deal with the channel imbalance that I have found. Up until today, I have been using some Monster Inspiration headphones. I could only turn it up a small amount before it became uncomfortable. So I ended up turning down the volume in iTunes to nearly half on some of my louder music with the volume on the Magni maybe pointing to where  seven o'clock is on a clock (no imbalance here). Not turned up that much. Any lower on the volume makes the Magni exhibit volume imbalance. I swapped out to some Sennheiser HD650 headphones today. I can turn the volume up a bit more in iTunes, but still cannot play iTunes at full without it getting too loud with the volume on the Magni at 7 o'clock. In another thread, they think I should be able to turn it higher without it getting too loud. Is that normal or not? Just noticed something when swapping from the Inspirations to the Sennheiser HD650. When I swapped, the sound on the HD650 was a lot lower (to be expected). When I turned the volume up, the imbalance was noticeable until I moved up about another notch above the level where the Inspirations were smooth.

I have a set of DT 990 pro 250 ohm headphones and right now I have them set up with a Asus Xonar DX soundcard and a FiiO E11 portable amp but I don't think the FiiO gives enough power to them or I am missing a bit of oomph in them. Now it could be just the headphones not being what I desire but it just feels they lack a bit of presence sometimes so I thought maybe it's the amp.

Long story short what kind of difference would I get with a magni compared to the little E11? and also, I'm a total newb, but is the Xonar DX enough as a DAC or would I need something else desktop wise coupled with the Magni? Thanks to anyone who answers

Just ordered an M&M stack. Very excited! Can't wait to replace the E7 I have been using at my desk with this setup. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanmcloughlin7 

I have a set of DT 990 pro 250 ohm headphones and right now I have them set up with a Asus Xonar DX soundcard and a FiiO E11 portable amp but I don't think the FiiO gives enough power to them or I am missing a bit of oomph in them. Now it could be just the headphones not being what I desire but it just feels they lack a bit of presence sometimes so I thought maybe it's the amp.

 

Long story short what kind of difference would I get with a magni compared to the little E11? and also, I'm a total newb, but is the Xonar DX enough as a DAC or would I need something else desktop wise coupled with the Magni? Thanks to anyone who answers

I have a set of DT990 Pro 250 ohm that I used to use with a uDac-2. People always said the DT990s were super bright, but I had no idea what they were talking about because they sounded only slightly bright. When I switched to Modi/Magni, I noticed that first, the headphones became way more detailed and second, their known sound signature came out. Thus, super hot highs and substantial lows. I presume this is because the headphones are finally getting enough power, as my HD600s don't sound much brighter on Modi/Magni vs uDac-2 (though they certainly sound better!).

To answer your question, I've never tried the E11 so I couldn't say with certainty, but if you feel that the DT990s aren't particularly bright on your E11, I would guess the Magni would make them both more detailed, give you more presence, and be a good deal more bright.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greystaff 

I am not sure if I have a problem or not. I have had a Magni for about two weeks or so. Sound is great, and I so have managed to deal with the channel imbalance that I have found. Up until today, I have been using some Monster Inspiration headphones. I could only turn it up a small amount before it became uncomfortable. So I ended up turning down the volume in iTunes to nearly half on some of my louder music with the volume on the Magni maybe pointing to where  seven o'clock is on a clock (no imbalance here). Not turned up that much. Any lower on the volume makes the Magni exhibit volume imbalance. I swapped out to some Sennheiser HD650 headphones today. I can turn the volume up a bit more in iTunes, but still cannot play iTunes at full without it getting too loud with the volume on the Magni at 7 o'clock. In another thread, they think I should be able to turn it higher without it getting too loud. Is that normal or not? Just noticed something when swapping from the Inspirations to the Sennheiser HD650. When I swapped, the sound on the HD650 was a lot lower (to be expected). When I turned the volume up, the imbalance was noticeable until I moved up about another notch above the level where the Inspirations were smooth.

Thats normal. The Magni has high gain, so it is loud. I had to turn my pc down quite a lot to get past 7 oclock with my LCD2's. I would imagine that the only headphones where you may be able to get substantial freedom on the pot is with 600 ohm's. Dunno if anyone has tried some Beyers here?

That being said, it isn't too much of a deal turning your computer down a bit. I've never heard any degrading of sound quality doing this compared to it being 100%.