[BrotherKathos]

going to have to try with the sabre dacs again

 

[NA Blur]

I still enjoy the Magni 3 over the BUDA. It look me 5 years to find something I liked as much or better.

 

[NA Blur]

The volume is not linear so keep that in mind when using the volume level and gain settings.

 

[BrotherKathos]

The volume is not linear so keep that in mind when using the volume level and gain settings.

What does that mean exactly? I have to say that after switching the gain to high, the Magni 3 has really started to impress me more and more. Its still hooked to my iphone, but streaming tidal hifi from it is very pleasing. Listening to rock on it with the lcd-2c is very good. l’m now takeing back my previous impression of this little unit and chalking it up to bad settings on my part. Really liking this little piece of schiit amp now

 

[NA Blur]

It means that if you move the volume knob in increments it is not the same amount of volume increase at each step.

Here is the quote from Schiit's site:

• Improved potentiometer curve. we tweaked the potentiometer to have a slower ramp from minimum volume, which improves tracking at low volumes.

 

[BrotherKathos]

It means that if you move the volume knob in increments it is not the same amount of volume increase at each step.

Here is the quote from Schiit's site:

• Improved potentiometer curve. we tweaked the potentiometer to have a slower ramp from minimum volume, which improves tracking at low volumes.

Ahh, I get it now. Thanks Bur! I'm listening to the magni 3 right now with the SMSL SU-8 and Audeze LCD-2C and am very pleased now. The high frequency grain it all but gone now. The magni 3 is still a hair more treble biased when comapred to my JDS Labs EL Amp, but it does do a good job of driving the LCD-2C. Its become a setup I'm actually content listening to for a reasonable duration. I'm still optimistic the THX AAA amp with outperform the magni 3 though. Mainly bc the specs are so much better in terms of rms power and distortion. And if we are truly after 'hi-fi' and not pleasing colored sound, then the specs are something everyone needs to put heavy stock into.

 

[Slashn77]

Ahh, I get it now. Thanks Bur! I'm listening to the magni 3 right now with the SMSL SU-8 and Audeze LCD-2C and am very pleased now. The high frequency grain it all but gone now. The magni 3 is still a hair more treble biased when comapred to my JDS Labs EL Amp, but it does do a good job of driving the LCD-2C. Its become a setup I'm actually content listening to for a reasonable duration. I'm still optimistic the THX AAA amp with outperform the magni 3 though. Mainly bc the specs are so much better in terms of rms power and distortion. And if we are truly after 'hi-fi' and not pleasing colored sound, then the specs are something everyone needs to put heavy stock into.

What is this THX AAA amp everyone is talking about? Is it the one on massdrop?
Can someone please link it? I want to check it out
Thanks

 

[sennsay]

Amazing how this thread about a small budget amplifier that sounds far above it's price and station, given the right connections, source quality and conditions, engenders such wildly swinging 'opinions' and impressions. If you think specs tell all, then you have a great deal of learning and experience to come!
If you haven't found out already that some of the gear with the most spectacular specs actually sound awful, hard, harsh, edgy, two dimensional or ok but just plain flat, then if your mind is actually open, you will find that specs will almost always only tell part of the picture. This is a really old debate that has been going on since the 60's, well written about in many of the fine Hi-fi magazine and articles elsewhere, just check some of the reviews in Hi-Fi News magazine for some of those very discrepancies. It was well understood through the 70s-90s that a good well made 25-40W valve amp could easily outperform so many of the 'powerhouse' Japanese 80-100W in a number of areas, lots of watts with little current driving capacity. The little 40W Naim Nait integrated amplifier was well known for outdriving many 60-100W amps of the era. It did not have the super specs of the Japanese gear, yet still sounds great today.
I've heard (and owned, including the Naim Nait) many of those amplifiers, CD player, DACs etc over the last 40 years, owned a lot of them and I can easily tell you now that my current little Schiit stack that I've shared my experiences about - as below in my sig - outperforms many of them (other than my TRI valve amp system I had in the lounge) for sheer organic life and musicality, the sound of living human voices that feel like flesh and blood (in other words, they have a rounded density beyond a flat plane) and the experience of being in the music, part of the experience. Last night's listening sesh was no different. It told me about what was going on with the musicians taking part, either electronica or otherwise. It's a long way from just great specs, going well beyond that objective left-brained only surface and into the whole reason for creating the music in the first place.
Is it the be-all and end-all, hell no! Just absolutely brilliant at what it does within it's limitations, it's just that those limitations almost always are completely over-ridden by me being so totally immersed in a musical space that the electronics allowing me to experience this have virtually disappeared. For me, that is the end-game. Taking the budget to higher (much!) levels will and should only add to that experience. From what I hear by the Yggy guys and gals, that ought to be thrilling!
All aspects have their place in the scheme of things and I'm certainly not 'dissing' the specs side of it as a whole, it just needs to be in balance. Still, whoever wants to swing deeply into one side of it or another, we are sure free to do so, I just want to provide some perspective, whether it's accepted or not

 

[BrotherKathos]

What is this THX AAA amp everyone is talking about? Is it the one on massdrop?
Can someone please link it? I want to check it out
Thanks

Here is the link.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-thx-aaa-789-linear-amplifier

Its similar to the new Benchmark head amp in specs, but costs ten times less. Its meant to be ultra objective with the lowest distortion levels of anything out there. Its for people who want to hear the true recording, and not some rolled off valve amp ‘organic’ sound.

 

[BrotherKathos]

Amazing how this thread about a small budget amplifier that sounds far above it's price and station, given the right connections, source quality and conditions, engenders such wildly swinging 'opinions' and impressions. If you think specs tell all, then you have a great deal of learning and experience to come!
If you haven't found out already that some of the gear with the most spectacular specs actually sound awful, hard, harsh, edgy, two dimensional or ok but just plain flat, then if your mind is actually open, you will find that specs will almost always only tell part of the picture. This is a really old debate that has been going on since the 60's, well written about in many of the fine Hi-fi magazine and articles elsewhere, just check some of the reviews in Hi-Fi News magazine for some of those very discrepancies. It was well understood through the 70s-90s that a good well made 25-40W valve amp could easily outperform so many of the 'powerhouse' Japanese 80-100W in a number of areas, lots of watts with little current driving capacity. The little 40W Naim Nait integrated amplifier was well known for outdriving many 60-100W amps of the era. It did not have the super specs of the Japanese gear, yet still sounds great today.
I've heard (and owned, including the Naim Nait) many of those amplifiers, CD player, DACs etc over the last 40 years, owned a lot of them and I can easily tell you now that my current little Schiit stack that I've shared my experiences about - as below in my sig - outperforms many of them (other than my TRI valve amp system I had in the lounge) for sheer organic life and musicality, the sound of living human voices that feel like flesh and blood (in other words, they have a rounded density beyond a flat plane) and the experience of being in the music, part of the experience. Last night's listening sesh was no different. It told me about what was going on with the musicians taking part, either electronica or otherwise. It's a long way from just great specs, going well beyond that objective left-brained only surface and into the whole reason for creating the music in the first place.
Is it the be-all and end-all, hell no! Just absolutely brilliant at what it does within it's limitations, it's just that those limitations almost always are completely over-ridden by me being so totally immersed in a musical space that the electronics allowing me to experience this have virtually disappeared. For me, that is the end-game. Taking the budget to higher (much!) levels will and should only add to that experience. From what I hear by the Yggy guys and gals, that ought to be thrilling!
All aspects have their place in the scheme of things and I'm certainly not 'dissing' the specs side of it as a whole, it just needs to be in balance. Still, whoever wants to swing deeply into one side of it or another, we are sure free to do so, I just want to provide some perspective, whether it's accepted or not

Like I’ve said before, its all about peoples preferences. Some people don’t like change and already have their bias on what things should sound like. Specs may be only a part of the equation, but they are a big part of it. Musically should be left to the recording and not the source, amp or headphones. People who want actual hifi, will prefer high spec equipment over the old valve amps, Thats because to be hifi in the first place means high fidelity, or ultra revealing. This can be a double edged sword since those systems will let you hear even the slightest imperfection in the music. The thx amp is designed to be a true amp, which means it only amps the sound coming in, and does not add anything to the signal path at all. You may like your valve amos or taylored sound products, but they are not true hifi, because hey dont meet the basic definition of the term if they cover up the sound in some buttered manner. If you are happy with it though then that is all that matters. I personally prefer to hear how the artist intended the music to sound, and short of jacking their brain, the closest we can get to that is to use the equipment they used when they record the music, which most likely does not include your old tech, at least in music made today. Even stuff that was mixed years ago will get changed by the artists using high spec equipment so they can make the recording sound better. To each his own though, but if you really have an open mind like you claim, you would not be so dismissive if equipment based on specs alone. What you like is not necessarily true for others.

 

[BrotherKathos]

After listening to the magi 3 with the high gain for a day, I have to say the sound is much improved. It still has that slight V shape frequency response that I'm not very fond of(the main reason I got rid of my Beyerdynamic dt 770 pro 250 ohm). I tried listening to it with the sabre dacs again and it was much better than before. I can get a better idea of what schiit intended when they made this product. After switching all the headphones and dacs around a few more times and listening I've narrowed down my personal favorite pairings. My Audeze LCD-2C sounds best with the JDS Labs EL Amp and Topping D50 Dac. The Hifiman HE-400i sounds best with the Massdrop O2 amp with SMSL SU-8 Dac. Finally the Magni 3 sounds best with the Sennheiser HD558 and 598 Cs using the iphone as a dac. The magni 3 still has a bit too much glare for me and does become fatiguing after about an hour or so even though I do enjoy the listening experience until then. I can now say that overall I'm satisfied with the $115 spent on this little amp. Even though its not my favorite amp, i do like it quite a bit now and enjoy it when in use. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to hear added snap crackle and pop to their music. The Magni 3 gives it to you in spades.

 

[NA Blur]

I doubt the amp has a V-shaped frequency response. If anything that would be your headphones and now you are hearing the true nature of your headphones. If it sounds edgy that could be because it has more power. I find powerful amps sound edgy if not properly adjusted for volume and gain.

 

[BrotherKathos]

I doubt the amp has a V-shaped frequency response. If anything that would be your headphones and now you are hearing the true nature of your headphones. If it sounds edgy that could be because it has more power. I find powerful amps sound edgy if not properly adjusted for volume and gain.

I'm far from the only person who finds th magni 3 to have a slight v shape frequency response. Even if one pair of my 5 different headphones have a slight V they all can't. Especially the Audeze LCD-2C which is known by reputation to be one of the darker planars on the market. The magni 3 has an unnatural boost to the highs. Its how it was engineered. If you are not hearing that, then its because your dac is much darker and the magni 3 is boosting it to make up for it. Its the reason the magni 3 sounds the best on my iphone. Its a much lower quality dac with more high frequency roll off that tames the magni. I've played all around with the gain and volume. There is not that much to tweak.

 

[treecloud]

Was curious about the Massdrop THX 789 amp and was comparing output power with the Magni 3 (using mfg provided specs on Massdrop.com and Schiit.com), and was surprised to see Magni 3 specs more power into single ended:

@16ohms they are tied at 3 watts
@32 ohms Magni 3 is 2 watts, THX 789 1.8 watts
@300 ohms Magni 3 is 430mW, THX 789 200mW
@600 ohms Magni 3 is 230mW, THX 789 100mW

According to these specs the Magni 3 power advantage increases as drive conditions become more difficult...a good thing. Of course each mfg may have used different standards to establish clipping levels, and only results using the same protocol by an unbiased tech would be definitive. Even so all the hoo hah about the THX 789 being so powerful seems overstated, particularly with the Magni 3 on the scene.

And the differences in distortion specs between the two units should be well below thresholds for audibility, leading me to think under well controlled ABX conditions, using single ended output on the 789, there will be no aural difference between the two units.

 

[riffrafff]

Dunno. My Magni 3 sounded fine with a 4490-based amp, and even more finer with the Mimby.