[wes008]

When I saw this thread I made sure I got all my homework done, made up a cup of coffee, and sat down for a nice, long, in-depth read. I finished it in 15 seconds :/ Thanks for the direct comparison though! I'll probably go with the Schiit stack.

 

[TMRaven]

So good!  Yes, you should get the Schiit stack.
 
For those unfamiliar with the Way the Objectives sound, I will write a short but sweet (not as short and sweet as my review section) paragraph of the way the Schiit stack sounds in general.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

I'm doing a Magni + Odac combo, was this stupid?
 

No, that's what I'm doing and it's just fine.
I don't know how the Modi sounds though. Maybe it's warmer than the ODAC to some? Highly doubt it..

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

 
I recommend getting any neutral amp and EQing your headphones. It's a silly idea to me to find a dark, bright, or whatever headphone amp. That's a hardware change that costs money and might not mesh well with your other gear or future gear. Getting a clean neutral amp that can power most headphones will allow for you to get the sound you want through EQing.
 
Edit: I'm a fan of the O2 myself, but the Magni, or any other clean, neutral, and powerful amp would be my suggestion if you don't like the looks of the O2, which is the biggest flaw of it in my opinion. 

 
Well, if the Magni was so neutral, you'd think it would be good with EVERY headphone. So far this doesn't seem to be the case unless it's sound smooths out.
 
It'll be interesting to compare the ODAC to the Modi and change to different sources. Maybe the Modi is adding in brightness (I mean still flat as they say) and it's not so much the Magni itself. I have the ODAC, so I'm guess that's not the case.
 
I hope I can eat my words and the Magni won't be as bright sounding after 20+ hours of use. I can't detect any warmth in it at all, but i'm ok with that.

 

[TMRaven]

Quote:

 
Well, if the Magni was so neutral, you'd think it would be good with EVERY headphone. So far this doesn't seem to be the case unless it's sound smooths out.
 

 
Not entirely the case, because 9/10 'audiophile' headphones on today's market are bright/thin to begin with-- all at the expense of clarity and detail.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

No, that's what I'm doing and it's just fine.
I don't know how the Modi sounds though. Maybe it's warmer than the ODAC to some? Highly doubt it..

Definitely brighter.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i sure hope to see a magni-tube amp for a triple decker on our desks...just a single tiny tube. 

 

[keanex]

Quote:

 
Well, if the Magni was so neutral, you'd think it would be good with EVERY headphone. So far this doesn't seem to be the case unless it's sound smooths out.
 
It'll be interesting to compare the ODAC to the Modi and change to different sources. Maybe the Modi is adding in brightness (I mean still flat as they say) and it's not so much the Magni itself. I have the ODAC, so I'm guess that's not the case.
 
I hope I can eat my words and the Magni won't be as bright sounding after 20+ hours of use. I can't detect any warmth in it at all, but i'm ok with that.

 
If the Magni can power the headphone then it should sound good with the headphone assuming you like the headphones sound signature. Remember the Magni is a neutral amp, it's not bright and it's not changing the sound, you're simply hearing the sound the way the headphone manufacturer intended you to hear music through it. Maybe you're used to amps that emphasize bass or roll off highs, but the Magni and O2 do nothing to change the sound. If you don't like how the headphones sound through a neutral amp then the chances are you don't like the signature of the headphone and should look into EQ or a pair that suits you better. 

 

[TMRaven]

Edited first post with general description of how these components sound.

 

[MrMateoHead]

Quote:

Edited first post with general description of how these components sound.

I agree with your O2+ODAC assessment. I didn't think the change from computer to ODAC was night and day, but the black noise floor of the Objective gear certainly seems to have made the "treble" ranges a bit more apparent. Was a veil lifted? Its been too long for me to remember. But sure, the noise floor was certainly lowered meaningfully (which I was hoping for).

 

[antberg]

subbed.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

 
If the Magni can power the headphone then it should sound good with the headphone assuming you like the headphones sound signature. Remember the Magni is a neutral amp, it's not bright and it's not changing the sound, you're simply hearing the sound the way the headphone manufacturer intended you to hear music through it. Maybe you're used to amps that emphasize bass or roll off highs, but the Magni and O2 do nothing to change the sound. If you don't like how the headphones sound through a neutral amp then the chances are you don't like the signature of the headphone and should look into EQ or a pair that suits you better. 

 
I don't agree with this at all yet. I've had the DJ100 for 3 years and it definitely makes it more trebly. The problem though is that the amp doesn't have more than 8 hours of use on it. Supposedly some say the amps brightness smooths out with use. It definitely seems to have slightly emphasized treble out of the box. I'll know more soon. How do you know it's truly neutral? Are you just going by what someone says or random posters? Even if Schiit says so, it doesn't matter much to me.
 
Even the HD-650 sounds slightly different than it should. It's a lot less forgiving and I do like this sometimes. It's soundstage magically increased in size too.
 
The differences are not huge and the Magni could very well measure flat, but I doubt it. It sounds like it has slightly rolled off low bass and very slightly emphasized treble. It'll be interesting to connect up different sources and compare it to the O2.
 
My Micro Amp sounds much more balanced and I don't find it warm or having rolled off bass/treble (saw some measurements recently, but for the portable version). I'm going to use the Magni for 25+ hours and hope I can eat my words about it's treble. I don't believe or not believe burn-in of amps. Should be an interesting experiment.
 
It'll be fun to connect up different sources to the Magni and see if I can hear the differences easily. On my E9 it's very difficult, but on the Micro Amp it's stupid easy. I don't know the technical reason for this.
 
I do love the Magni with my HD-650, Sextett and HD-598. A bit disappointed with it when using the Q701 and K601. Probably needs burn in

 

[adamlr]

im very close to pulling the trigger on the schiit stack and id appreciate if someone could clear something up for me?
iv heard its flat, if its too bright, ill eq the treble down abit - not a problem as far as im concerned. but what does it do with the bass? im sure it will outperform my laptop dac and my portable amps, no doubt, but would this combo be a bad idea for a bass head? all i want is a  reasonably flat response dac+amp that wont effect the music too much, so that i can effect it myself with eq. i want to pair it with dt 770s btw.
 
many thanks

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

I'm using it with the SHURE 1840, it doesn't increase or decrease the bass just increased the treble a little bit, go get them 

 

[adydula]

Has anyone seen any 'real' objective reviews with some real measurements so we can really compare to the published O2 specs?
 
Alex