[Becis]

Hello,

so I would like to create my first proper audio headphone setup. After several hours of reading lot of forum post and reviews I decided to buy as headphones Verum 1, as DAC Schiit Modi.

But where I am little bit lost is AMP, because some reviews say that it is totally fine to just plug them directly in to the player and everything works well due to their low 8 ohms impendance, but second review says that I need super high level of AMP because it is pretty tricky to drive them with impendance this low.

So my question is where is the truth? Will it work well with Schiit Magni or Vali? If yes which one will be better for them?
If I will decide to buy Schiit Magni or Vali will there be a noticable difference (10% or more) with comparsion with some portable DAC/AMP like Audioquest Dragonfly Red or Xduoo Link 2?

Thanks for your replies!

 

[SilverEars]

Get a solid-state amp with very low output impedance since you need high current. Schiit Magni should be reasonably priced and fine.

 

[arpinnurmela]

Hello. I've owned the Verum One since early this year. I have powered it successfully on all headphone outputs that I own. Used it extensively on a Schiit Hel, which uses the same but half of the opamps as does the Schiit Magni Heresy. It also uses the same DAC chip as what is inside the Schiit Modi. The Hel/Verum combination has a beautiful sound and enough headroom on low gain to be very enjoyable. I do not listen on high gain as I feel that the Schiit amp loses clarity and nuance. I have also listened to the Verum on a Schiit Asgard 3. The Asgard 3 delivers clean PRAT, which is somewhat lacking on the Hel. But the Hel is no slouch with the Verum One. I have since moved on from the Schiit Hel, but I do believe that the Schiit Hel offers a tremendous value for the average headphone listener.

However, out of curiosity, I wanted to try and find something that was actually rated for 8ohms. Yes, the Verum One will play on pretty much anything, and yes, the more power you give it, the louder it gets. BUT... after finding a Naim Headline clone on AliExpress, I have discovered that I was leaving much on the table with the Verum One headphone. As an FYI, this headphone was developed using speaker outs on a British hifi amplifier (Exposure Hifi). So putting this headphone on a headphone amplifier capable of 8ohms output definitely stepped up the bass presence dramatically. The Naim clone isn't perfect, but it's a great deal for the money you are paying, comes with a massive toroidal transformer, and has that 8ohms rating. Naim says they designed the Headline circuit for planars FWIW.

Would I be happy to own a Schiit Hel and Verum One combination. Definitely. The Schiit Hel is a great do-everything and can't be recommended enough. But the Verum One headphone is designed to deliver beyond its price tag and scales very readily. So, if you give it real juice, it does in fact sound different. Comparing the performance of the Verum One on the Naim clone versus the Asgard 3, I believe that the Naim clone is definitely the superior match up. And as noted on Schiit's website, the Asgard 3 is well rated down to 16ohms. Sure, I heard no distortion at all playing the Verum One over the Schiit Asgard 3. Zero distortion, clean, pratty, maybe a touch dark as compared to the Hel. So a real give and take between the two Schiits.

Putting the Verum One on real 8ohm power though... it is transformative. I went with the Naim Headline clone because I couldn't afford to spend >$500 on a comparably designed headphone amplifier from the mainstream hifi offerings. I didn't even know what I was missing bass wise until I heard the Naim/Verum combo.