[JoeKickass]

When comparing the jot to the m3, I really couldn't hear much of a difference. The biggest differences I heard was the bass and treble on the jot was a touch better extended and detailed. The difference was subtle, not glaring. Its amazing how close the m3 gets to the jot, but I still think the jot is ever so slightly better sounding.

That's really awesome, I have the Jot and it's a serious amp. People in the Jotunheim thread compare it favorably to amps costing $1,000's!

To hear the Magni 3 is 90% a Jot for 1/4 of the price means this little amp is going to be a revolution!

 

[Leo888]

Hi AudioBear, thanks for the info. In your opinion, was there any difference from HO to LO? Most likely using the magni 3 50/50 from both output if i ended getting it. Thanks again.

 

[AudioBear]

Will test tomorrow. I only used low.

 

[Leo888]

Will test tomorrow. I only used low.

Thanks for the time to try out AudioBear, appreciate it. Just to verify about the ealier post, i meant to say Headphone Out and Line Out incase i put it wrongly across.

 

[Tuneslover]

@ToddAr1

Thanks for the impressions of Magni 3. It almost sounds like it's a toss-up with the Jot which is quite amazing at $99. If we put a pair of headphones on your head and turned on Led Zepelin or Don Quixote could you tell us which of the two were playing?

This is what I like about Schiit, good quality and excellent sound at a fair price. Their entry level products are exceptionally good and are continually being improved so much so that they compete with their mid tier products. Excellent.

 

[Tuneslover]

Hey Eric, hope you're well.
So let me ask you, since I already own the Jot, would it be worth it to pick up the m3? Is there enough difference to take the plunge? It's very inexpensive, but inexpensive or not, if it's basically a clone of the Jot there's no need throwing $ out the window. Interested in your thoughts man.....or anyone's

When I got into Schiit gear I started with the entry level stuff to hear what it sounds like. I really liked their products and upgraded as they upgraded their entry level stuff and simply sold the "outdated" gear. Over the past couple of years I decided to move more into their (and other companies stuff) mid tier equipment but instead of selling off the previous generation stuff I began to create additional listening stations throughout the house. Maybe a little crazy but hey I'm enjoying it. Although I don't need another amp (I already have 4, each with their own listening setup), it's so tempting to jump at the Magni 3 because it appears to be so much better than the original Magni and the Magni 2U (both of which I used to own) at an extremely good price.

So if you're considering an additional listening setup I would say go for it. $99 for an audio product this good is pretty hard to pass up on. However myself, I need another DAC. I love the Mimby and am eyeing on purchasing another one but I'm going to wait for a bit to see if there are any updates on it's horizon.

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

This is what I like about Schiit, good quality and excellent sound at a fair price. Their entry level products are exceptionally good and are continually being improved so much so that they compete with their mid tier products. Excellent.

Agree. While other companies aim for a better TOTL amp/DAC, schiit meets the need for all levels.

 

[TheGame21x]

Welp, I bought one. It'll be slotting into my system where my Element used to be, which I'm replacing because it's too sensitive to interference from my wi-fi router. Excited to hear this little guy. It'll be the third piece of Schiit in my setup, right alongside my Modi Multibit and Vali 2.

 

[McTeags]

So right now I'm rocking a Mimby -> Jot -> HD6XX (balanced) or MrSpeakers Aeon (SE). I've started using the Aeon much more often than the HD6XX. I personally think it's a much more enjoyable headphone to listen to on lower volume levels. I haven't been getting as much value out of the balanced output of the Jot as I had originally thought. I was considering selling my Jot to pick up a Magni 3, getting some cash back and going back to listening strictly to single-ended. I've read some of the impressions so far that people think that the Jot is a superior amp but it's a close call between the two. Does this make sense or do you think it would be a decision I regret making afterwards?

 

[Mr Rick]

So right now I'm rocking a Mimby -> Jot -> HD6XX (balanced) or MrSpeakers Aeon (SE). I've started using the Aeon much more often than the HD6XX. I personally think it's a much more enjoyable headphone to listen to on lower volume levels. I haven't been getting as much value out of the balanced output of the Jot as I had originally thought. I was considering selling my Jot to pick up a Magni 3, getting some cash back and going back to listening strictly to single-ended. I've read some of the impressions so far that people think that the Jot is a superior amp but it's a close call between the two. Does this make sense or do you think it would be a decision I regret making afterwards?

No decision is irreversible. Personally, I would not give up the Jot's balanced capabilities.

 

[ToddAr1]

I was considering selling my Jot to pick up a Magni 3, getting some cash back and going back to listening strictly to single-ended. I've read some of the impressions so far that people think that the Jot is a superior amp but it's a close call between the two. Does this make sense or do you think it would be a decision I regret making afterwards?

I use single ended outputs only, and the Magni is insane value for the money, but I would never think about selling my Jotunheim and keeping just the Magni. The Jotunheim sounds better and does more.

 

[hpnut]

Any thoughts / impressions on using this with an AKG K712? I wonder if this can better my (portable) Xduoo XD05 which I'm very impressed with. The Magni has much more power but will it be a noticable difference on the same volume levels? I keep reading the AKG needs a lot of current..?

 

[JoeKickass]

The Magni 3 is no question the smart buy to save money.

The Jot is more refined: no wall wart power supply, front panel switches, huge volume pot, and balanced out has twice the power of the Magni 3, but it's also 4x the price!

So right now I'm rocking a Mimby -> Jot -> HD6XX (balanced) or MrSpeakers Aeon (SE). I've started using the Aeon much more often than the HD6XX. I personally think it's a much more enjoyable headphone to listen to on lower volume levels. I haven't been getting as much value out of the balanced output of the Jot as I had originally thought.

The answer to this problem is to get a balanced cable for the Aeon!

 

[Jimster480]

That's really awesome, I have the Jot and it's a serious amp. People in the Jotunheim thread compare it favorably to amps costing $1,000's!

To hear the Magni 3 is 90% a Jot for 1/4 of the price means this little amp is going to be a revolution!

I'm sure the Jot does compare, it has balanced after all.
My experience with balanced has been quite favorable so far even though I am not using balanced cables. Just the DAC's themselves sound better in balanced configurations.

 

[AudioBear]

Thanks for the time to try out AudioBear, appreciate it. Just to verify about the ealier post, i meant to say Headphone Out and Line Out incase i put it wrongly across.

I understood what you asked (at least I think I did). I did a quick and dirty comparison of the Low and High gain settings. They sound the same on both my HD800S (hi vs low) and my Emotive Airmotiv 4 powered desktop monitors. And both sound amazingly good for $99 (or any higher price in most cases).

Understand that volume control knob position means very little unless you are testing comparatively and measure the output with a meter. If you want to compare one headphone to another and one needs a setting of 9 o'clock while the other requires 10:30 for the same apparent volume, it's pretty clear one can is more efficient than the other. Since the volume knob is not linear one can't use the ratio of those two numbers to calculate anything. Since I didn't measure actual acoustic levels take what I say with a grain of salt. [edit: I guess I should specify that I set all digital volume controls in the chain to 100%]

That said, as it happens the HD800s need a range of 9 to about 10 to at very most. It depends on the source music and my mood. By coincidence, when I unplug the headphones so that signal is routed by the Magni 3 directly to my monitors, I hear almost exactly the same level. The monitors might be a touch louder. So driving powered speakers thru the pre-outs requires very little power. Not surprising. What surprised me is how low the volume setting was for the HD800S. One way to say this is that they are pretty efficient, another way to say it is that the Magni 3 is very powerful. When I switched to the HI gain output a setting of 7-8 o'clock was more than adequate and small adjustments made big changes. The same was observed with the pre-outs driving the powered monitors. I am going to leave the Magni 3 on low gain.

BTW, many say the HD800S is very picky about amps. I don't know one way or another about that because I like them and I have always had amps that are supposed to be good with them. Suffice it to say, for me at least, the Magni 3 is a great pairing for the HD800S. Predictably, others will feel differently. That's just the way it is...

I hope that answers your question @Leo888