Schiit Magni Headphone Amplifier - Page 62

Quote:

Originally Posted by wes008 

Purely going off of the amps (minus the attenuators) how does the LD 1+ compare to the Magni? (I know, two different beasts, I just wanted to hear your comparison)

As you said: two different beasts.

To be honest I've not tested them against each other (I've only got the Magni for a week).

I bought the LD1+ mainly for my Grado's (325is) and it's great for them.

I bought the Magni mainly for my Fischer FA-011 because I was not happy with the sound of them on the LD1+, especially on the low gain setting. I got tired of opening the unit to change the gain setting everytime I wanted to use the FA-011's  (especially since it wasn't a great match anyway). The Magni however has made me love the FA-011's as much as I love my Grados with the LD1+.

I dont loke the Grado's on the Magni very much but I've not listned much to this combination yet (to harsh).

I have a set of NE 408a tubes and a 2107 op amp in the LD making it rather warm sounding (great with the Grado's) .

The Magni is more neutral  (no surprise there) and also more analytical i comparison. This is what I expected and why I bought it. I think these two amps will take care of my amp needs for a long time (the LD is also very flexible and gives the possibility to play around with op amps and tubes).

So hopefully I will not need to buy another amp in a long time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamijoIsMyHero 

I thought somebody posted the channel imbalance issue was resolved with the newer units, mine is in 200s and it has channel imbalance at low volumes

 I just got mine yesterday, s/n 747. I have a slight imbalance at the lowest volume settings but it's a complete non issue with my HD 600's. I haven't tried my IEM's through it  yet

Thanks Peter, and yeah, I was looking at the LD1+ for my Grados 

Quote:

Originally Posted by cel4145 


FYI: Since everyone mistakenly labels this all the time, it's Little Dot I+, not 1+. I think the "I" probably stands for "integrated" since it is a hybrid

Embarressed, I've had it for years and read a lot about it but I've actually never noticed.

Thank you for pointing it out

Quote:

Originally Posted by cel4145 


FYI: Since everyone mistakenly labels this all the time, it's Little Dot I+, not 1+. I think the "I" probably stands for "integrated" since it is a hybrid

Isn't that the next revision of the first model? The II, III, etc aren't " integrated integrated integrated"

EDIT: Guess not given that the MKI is different. Whoops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerToast 

With a sound card as my dac and the magni as my amp, would there be any benefit in terms of quality to use the line level attenuators over simply reducing the computer's output volume?

After all, turning the computer volume down is free!

Lowering your volume on the PC can result in loss of resolution because it's in the digital domain. If your audio is running in 24 bit and you lose a little resolution it won't be a big deal but at 16 bit it will be noticeable. I had an old DAC that digitally attenuated most files by 6 db. I got it modded so it didn't do that and the difference was pretty stunning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerToast 

With a sound card as my dac and the magni as my amp, would there be any benefit in terms of quality to use the line level attenuators over simply reducing the computer's output volume?

After all, turning the computer volume down is free!

If you do not have a very old sound card, it should be able to output audio in 24-bit format, which minimizes the quality loss from digital volume control. Basically, turning down the volume at the PC reduces the dynamic range/signal to noise ratio, but in reality modern sound cards are so good in this aspect - unless their performance is degraded by interference or other problems - that you can safely attenuate the signal by 10-20 dB and still not audibly degrade the sound quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stv014 

 

If you do not have a very old sound card, it should be able to output audio in 24-bit format, which minimizes the quality loss from digital volume control. Basically, turning down the volume at the PC reduces the dynamic range/signal to noise ratio, but in reality modern sound cards are so good in this aspect - unless their performance is degraded by interference or other problems - that you can safely attenuate the signal by 10-20 dB and still not audibly degrade the sound quality.

I have a brand new Xonar DX, and it outputs 24/192, so I suppose I should hold off on the attenuators if I can lower the computer volume by 20 dB without substantial quality loss. Thanks for the info!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerToast 

 

I have a brand new Xonar DX, and it outputs 24/192, so I suppose I should hold off on the attenuators if I can lower the computer volume by 20 dB without substantial quality loss. Thanks for the info!

   If it will output 24 bit data you should be fine without the attenuators. What headphones are you using? Are they low impedance and really efficient? My HD 600's are a little power greedy so the volume range on the Magni is fine but I haven't tried it with my IEM's.

Hey dear Head-Fiers,

I have hiss/noise with my magni when my black apple macbook is connected to the charger.

my setup is macbook --> dacport lx --> magni --> DT 235.

When I disconnect the charger no hiss/noise anymore.

If I use my asgard in the same setup -  macbook(on charger or not) --> dacport lx --> asgard --> DT 235 no hiss at all. Also not with my meier corda swing and any other HP amp i own.

What could it be?

Thank you!