Schiit Magni Headphone Amplifier - Page 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFiGuy528 

My Magni had a volume balance issue as well. Only comes to light when the amp is warm. May be a weak solder. Mine went back to Schiit.

I'm sorry to hear that, and when I read that on the product page:

I wondered if Schiit could get the discrete gain stage right. :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

Don't these 600 ohm AKGs have a sensitivity of about 91 dB SPL @ 1 Vrms?

 

I seriously wonder why Schiit says this amp is fine to drive IEMs. Many on-/over-ear headphones easily reach 115 dB SPL, some in-ears over 130.

This makes the usable volume control range quite small and the channel imbalance probably quite big.

 

:/

 

Anyone using this amp with ~30 ohm headphones?

Simple, it has such a low noise floor that you should be able to feed it with a really low signal and still get a clean output. Even turned all the way up with my Grados (nothing playing at the time obviously) it's dead silent.

When I get my 4.As I intend to try out the M&M combo with them with the computer probably set around 5% volume. Should work pretty well (and if it doesn't then you'll hear it here).

That's not a solution though, more like a workaround.

5% is like -50 dB on my computer, so you get a performance similar to a ~13 bit DAC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

Don't these 600 ohm AKG's have a sensitivity of about 91 dB SPL @ 1 Vrms?

 

I seriously wonder why Schiit says this amp is fine to drive IEMs. Many on-/over-ear headphones easily reach 115 dB SPL, some in-ears over 130.

This makes the usable volume control range quite small and the channel imbalance probably quite big.

 

:/

 

Anyone using this amp with ~30 ohm headphones?

I plan on using the Magni with my Grado SR-80i's and a few other low ~32Ohm cans when it arrives. I ordered it this morning so I won't have it until either Saturday/early next week depending on when Schiit mails it. 

I'll let everyone know how well it works with a few other headphones I have (Portapro, AKG K442, etc.) 

I'm also curious to see how well the X-Fi Titanium HD synergizes with the Magni. Both are pretty neutral / clean so I believe it should be a good combo. If it's not than I might get a Modi, but I have a feeling that the X-Fi will be a pretty good paring. 

However, I do plan on having to digitally attenuate the signal coming from my X-Fi Titanium HD as Defiant00 states below. I believe the RCA out on this card is something like 2v (Modi is about 1.6v) so I might have to run the signal quite low to make it work with low impedance cans. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defiant00 

 

Simple, it has such a low noise floor that you should be able to feed it with a really low signal and still get a clean output. Even turned all the way up with my Grados (nothing playing at the time obviously) it's dead silent.

 

When I get my 4.As I intend to try out the M&M combo with them with the computer probably set around 5% volume. Should work pretty well (and if it doesn't then you'll hear it here).

I'm glad to hear that the Modi has a really low noise floor. I don't plan on using it with IEM, but I have a feeling that most people with low impedance headphones will have to do the same. It shouldn't be an issue due to pretty much all of my source material being 16 bit (CD rips / MOG (320 kbps CBR). 

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

That's not a solution though, more like a workaround.

 

5% is like -50 dB on my computer, so you get a performance similar to a ~13 bit DAC.

 

 

I believe that it's really only a problem with native 24bit material. Defiant00 did a post about this in his Asgard comparison thread. http://www.head-fi.org/t/643368/schiit-modi-and-magni-comparison-to-bifrost-and-asgard/15#post_9001056

I do wish that the Magni did have a lower gain, but than it wouldn't work as well for higher impedance headphones. It also doesn't seem possible for them to easily add a gain switch without radically changing the design of the amp due to them using a discrete gain stage design. (Correct me if I'm wrong about that. )

Overall though, I do like that the Magni can power both high and low impedance headphones, just with a little source tuning required. 

However, it would be an issue if you have mostly native 24bit audio files. I'm not sure how you could use the Magni with low impedance cans in that case. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

That's not a solution though, more like a workaround.

 

5% is like -50 dB on my computer, so you get a performance similar to a ~13 bit DAC.

For me it is a solution since the Modi is a 24 bit DAC and all my music is 16 bit. If you have lots of 24 bit music then obviously it wouldn't be for you.

With that said, yes, I fully agree that a better volume pot would be nice. 

Well, the example seems to assume that the DAC is perfect and reaches a dynamic range of 144 dB.

Most 24 bit DACs don't even reach 120 dB tough. If you attenuate the signal (read: push it into the noise floor) by roughly 50 dB... (assuming 5% = -50 dB).

Are there any frequency response graphs of the Magni floating around? I haven't found any..

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefQon 

Who would want to buy these for a $1.5k headphone (namely the HD800's), completely stupid not to mention the Magni's sound like they have a more brighter sound sig. Even for those looking for a cheaper alternative. 

in other words "HAHAHA POORFAGS!"

grow up

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnor 

Well, the example seems to assume that the DAC is perfect and reaches a dynamic range of 144 dB.

Most 24 bit DACs don't even reach 120 dB tough. If you attenuate the signal (read: push it into the noise floor) by roughly 50 dB... (assuming 5% = -50 dB).

This is true, the noise floor is definitely the main concern. All I can report is that even if I do something silly like 5% on my computer, as long as I have the Modi set to 24 bit mode I get no noise even with the Magni's volume pot maxed. Using the LCD-2s I've been keeping the computer volume at 25% since it gives me a nice usable range on the Magni.

I won't have my 4.As for another month or two, but when they do come in it'll be an interesting experiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okamoto 

Hey people, i'm wondering, how would Modi fare with a E11?
And is the Modi a better DAC than E10?

Wondering about this too. Would love to know people's thoughts and if anyone has done a comparison.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maverickmonk 


But %25 should give you the same 16 bit signal as before, assuming a 16bit file. And to be honest, that's plenty of cutdown. 5% is just silly. You could also put a decibel lowering insert into it. Its just a male > female rca plug with a resistor in the middle. They sell them on parts express and other sites. In other words, it does the same thing putting a shunt resistor in the potentiometer. The only "zero loss" way of doing it would be to decrease the gain, and I like a 100 dollar amp that can drive orthos and 600ohm beasts more than having yet another small but power limited affordable amplifier. There's lots of those. But this is the 1st $100 amp i've heard someone say will drive the AKG sextets or he500's well.

Yeah, that's why I'm using 25%. The 5% was just me trying to provoke a difference between 16 bit and 24 bit modes with the Modi (it hisses in 16 bit, still silent in 24 bit as far as I can tell).

Quote:

Originally Posted by slantedview 

Are there any frequency response graphs of the Magni floating around? I haven't found any..

I hope someone can measure this. I've never once seen any measurements of the Schiit equipment and probably never will.

I don't really want to say it sounds like it has slightly elevated treble, but it sure sounds like it with my DJ100 and Q701.

In nearly 3 years my DJ100 hasn't quite sounded this trebly, but it's not bad and quite good. It's mostly in specific treble happy recordings.

Maybe the O2 sounds exactly the same..

I'll give the Magni a week or two of use before deciding. Maybe it will improve and smooth itself out. It sounds pretty flat up until the treble. Obviously it could still measure flat, but still sound this way. Weird, I know.

I'll also need to try other sources, maybe it doesn't love the ODAC with these two headphones. The DJ100 still sounds amazing with the Magni, but a little off from what I remember. It's treble reminds me of that of my Ipod Touch 2G.

BTW it's mids seem flat to my ears and not forward at all. I like this..

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLACKENEDPLAGUE 

 

in other words "HAHAHA POORFAGS!"

 

grow up

You need to be