[alpovs]

I am feeding the Magni with the line out signal from the Oppo which is supposed to be 1 Vrms.

I have the HA-2SE. It's line-out output is twice below the standard (usually it's 2 Vrms, not 1 Vrms). Whatever amp I plug it to I need to crank up the volume or use high gain. Have you tried high gain on your Magni 3? I don't have Magni 3 but I have Magni 2 Uber. Whatever other DACs I used with my Magni I used low gain with my headphones. With the HA-2SE I had to use high gain for comfortable listening with everything else being equal. This could be part of your problem.

EDIT: I remember reading a review (could not find it quickly) where the reviewer claimed that HA-2SE's phone-out sounded better and more powerful than line-out when connected to an amp. You may want to try that.

I tried feeding the Magni with the output from my PC's sound card and if I set the volume on the PC to 100% (on Windows and on the music app) I get a little better output but not enough to take the amp to the right levels.

Are you using the line-out port, not speaker's?

 

[sennsay]

Well, I just don't get it. The Magni 3 spec says it should be putting out 430 mW RMS at 300 ohms which should be more than enough power--my Oppo HA2-SE spec says 30 mW at 300 ohms and that works pretty well with the HD-6XX (in fact it sounds more powerful). I suppose there could be a difference in the power spectrum bandpass used to measure the RMS power spec between the two amps but I am assuming this would not be hugely significant. The only other thing I can think of is perhaps there's something weird going on with my setup...I am feeding the Magni with the line out signal from the Oppo which is supposed to be 1 Vrms. It's a single-ended output so I have a 3.5mm to RCA cable with L/R plugs going to the Magni. I've tried a different cable and I get the same results. Also, when I feed this same line-out to my Nobsound NS-08E I get no problem but that's a 3.5mm to 3.5mm connection. I tried feeding the Magni with the output from my PC's sound card and if I set the volume on the PC to 100% (on Windows and on the music app) I get a little better output but not enough to take the amp to the right levels.

I'm stumped as I'm just not getting the same experience reported by others. I can't point to "we all hear differently" because I feel my relative comparisons against much lower power amps suggest the issue is real...and according to Schiit not an issue with the Magni. Certainly it should do better than my iPhone!

1 Volt output is half of what most digital and analogue outputs usually are. So yes, a reduction in dynamics can be expected no matter which cable you use. The output of your phone is from the inbuilt amplifier, adding more distortion and volume. Have you tried running the output of a CD/BluRay player into your Magni? You might get a surprise at the difference in loudness and dynamics, just as a test. I use my Questyle QP1R as a source from the analogue out with no problems at all, I'm going to assume it's 1.9V out from both s/PDIF / Optical, as it has a variable output to 1.9V from the DAC output if you choose, I don't (or you can have it as a fixed output, a true line-out, I do), so I presume it's fixed at the highest voltage.
There's nothing wrong with your cables or your M3, just the low analogue output from your Oppo player, sorry to say, mate. Your Nobsound might have a more sensitive input or it's volume control ramps up quickly, just a different way of doing things. If I can run my 600 ohm Sennheisers from the M3, then it has plenty of power, even if I have the volume set of 2-3 o'clock, it's still clean, punchy and distortionless. I hope I haven't confused you further

 

[erich6]

Not sure, but Isn't 1 Vrms a little low from the Oppo line out?

have the HA-2SE. It's line-out output is twice below the standard (usually it's 2 Vrms, not 1 Vrms).

1 Volt output is half of what most digital and analogue outputs usually are.

I think I confirmed that's the problem. I fed the line-out from the Oppo to my FiiO E12 amp which I then connected to the Magni. I set the FiiO on high gain and cranked the volume up all the way. With this setup the Magni had plenty of power out to the HD-6XX.... But, it seem silly to do this as I could just plug my headphones to the E12 and be done with it (or to the headphone amp section of the Oppo). At any rate, it seems the Magni unlike my FiiO portable amp or my Nobsound NS-08E cannot amplify a 1 Vrms signal. I suspect a DAC with a 2 Vrms output will do fine....

So, if I want to use the Magni in my desktop setup I should consider a) buying a different DAC with 2 Vrms output (I've been thinking about getting a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital) or b) adding a preamp between the Oppo and the Magni 3. Will the Loki provide any gain? I was thinking it would be nice to have the tone controls.

 

[alpovs]

How is high gain on Magni 3 fed directly from HA-2SE? It seemed fine to me on Magni 2 Uber.

 

[sennsay]

I think I confirmed that's the problem. I fed the line-out from the Oppo to my FiiO E12 amp which I then connected to the Magni. I set the FiiO on high gain and cranked the volume up all the way. With this setup the Magni had plenty of power out to the HD-6XX.... But, it seem silly to do this as I could just plug my headphones to the E12 and be done with it (or to the headphone amp section of the Oppo). At any rate, it seems the Magni unlike my FiiO portable amp or my Nobsound NS-08E cannot amplify a 1 Vrms signal. I suspect a DAC with a 2 Vrms output will do fine....

So, if I want to use the Magni in my desktop setup I should consider a) buying a different DAC with 2 Vrms output (I've been thinking about getting a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital) or b) adding a preamp between the Oppo and the Magni 3. Will the Loki provide any gain? I was thinking it would be nice to have the tone controls.

You could buy a Mimby DAC and solve the problem instantly and get even better sound quality Or of course the Pro-Ject S2. Ought to be a cracking sound system.

 

[erich6]

How is high gain on Magni 3 fed directly from HA-2SE? It seemed fine to me on Magni 2 Uber.

I'm not sure I understand your question...I have a 3.5mm to RCA cable with L/R plugs connected to the "line out" on the Oppo HA-2SE and then to the Magni inputs with the RCA plugs. I set the Magni 3 to high gain (and the Oppo is switched to high gain also but that doesn't matter with the line out port).

 

[erich6]

You could buy a Mimby DAC and solve the problem instantly and get even better sound quality Or of course the Pro-Ject S2. Ought to be a cracking sound system.

Many swear by it so I'm thinking about it.... But, I have a few DSD albums I like and I want MQA decoding as I listen to a lot of Tidal through Roon....

 

[sennsay]

Many swear by it so I'm thinking about it.... But, I have a few DSD albums I like and I want MQA decoding as I listen to a lot of Tidal through Roon....

Then the decision is made a bit easier for you I'm probably going to line up a Mimby for myself soon, as all of my music files are AIFF, plus some iTunes AAC jobbies.

 

[alpovs]

I'm not sure I understand your question...I have a 3.5mm to RCA cable with L/R plugs connected to the "line out" on the Oppo HA-2SE and then to the Magni inputs with the RCA plugs. I set the Magni 3 to high gain (and the Oppo is switched to high gain also but that doesn't matter with the line out port).

OK then. I think you never mentioned before that you used Magni 3 in high gain. Or I missed it.

As I mentioned before try the headphone output on the HA-2SE instead of line out. I remember seeing a review recommending this. Maybe it will sound better to you.

 

[alpovs]

Many swear by it so I'm thinking about it.... But, I have a few DSD albums I like and I want MQA decoding as I listen to a lot of Tidal through Roon....

But HA-2SE doesn't do MQA decoding. Does it? Or your statement has nothing to do with HA-2SE?

 

[erich6]

But HA-2SE doesn't do MQA decoding. Does it? Or your statement has nothing to do with HA-2SE?

No, I don't get MQA from the Oppo. I purchased it before MQA was widely available but it does support native DSD. I also wanted something that was portable and the slick design won me over. The DAC sounds great too so I'm really happy with it. Now that MQA is available on Tidal I've been thinking about getting a new DAC but wasn't in a rush to get one. I got the Magni because I had been using a cheap tube amp which sounds awesome but occasionally picks up noise from RFI/EMI sources due to a poor power input implementation and I wanted to add a nice solid-state option to my desktop setup. I'm disappointed it doesn't work well with the Oppo but I'm getting hints of its greatness with my low impedance headphones so I'm considering getting a new DAC with at least 2 Vrms line out....

I will try it out of the headphone output. I suspect it will be a little better as I know that port is louder than the line-out when the Oppo is set on high gain and turned up. Just not sure about double-amping....

 

[erich6]

I should add thanks to all of you that replied to my issue and provided helpful comments. Much appreciated.

 

[YUHaveNoNames]

Your comment only reinforces what I said, and why you fill your mouth to talk about your girlfriends, is that called straight pride ?

You have issues haha.

 

[Renato Fury]

You have issues haha.

That's what my parents told me when I set the house on fire. HAHA.

 

[Mark Williams]

OK, back to the original post topic. I have a Magni (first one) and I'm very pleased with it. What, other than the gain has been done to the Magni 3? Any sonic improvements? Or, is it just the selectable gain feature that's new?