From what Tom at Schiit has told me, they use the Valhalla 2 with upgraded tubes for their HD700/800 cans and I can imagine they'd be pretty good with the V2, after my own experiences with the same amp and tubes.
The Valhalla2 was a strange amp to me the few times I had borrowed it from a friend since it didn't seems to take on the character of the tubes rolled (driver only) and the over all sound was a bit lean and dry so I've never revisited it. The Mgni3 is a bit warmer and fuller compared to the Valhalla2 but this is going from memory since its been a few years since I heard a Valhalla2.
Do you know what the "upgraded" tubes were and if it was only the drivers or the power tubes also?
The Valhalla2 was a strange amp to me the few times I had borrowed it from a friend since it didn't seems to take on the character of the tubes rolled (driver only) and the over all sound was a bit lean and dry so I've never revisited it. The Mgni3 is a bit warmer and fuller compared to the Valhalla2 but this is going from memory since its been a few years since I heard a Valhalla2.
Do you know what the "upgraded" tubes were and if it was only the drivers or the power tubes also?
I liked it to a point but once I really started to listen to my Sennheiser HD540 Ref1s with the Magni 3, the latter completely outperformed it. Transparency, detail, focus and speed were all superior, though I have to say that the modified Ref1s became too similar to the V2 in balance and became soft and slower, also noisier. This, despite the apparent 2X power output into 600 ohms of the V2 over the Magni 3.
Upgraded tubes were only the inputs and on Tom's recommendation were the superb Amperex Orange Globe 1968 6DJ8s. They sounded fabulous ... until I began upgraded the Ref1s with much better pads and cable. As soon as I really got into hearing what the M3 could do with the Ref1s, I sold the V2 and bought a Mimby instead, with change left over, sonically a significant upgrade all round.
@BubbaJay, the HD700 is probably better off with a hybrid or tube amp from what I've tried so far but it does sound quite good on some SS amps like the HA-501, Liquid Carbon and Polaris. I've tried them on my friends Magni3 and its okay but I can see where they are borderline sibilant at times. The HE400i is easy to drive but can sound off with some amps and I've never cared for them with my Magni, Lyr2, Asgard2 or my friends Magni3 (basically it doesn't like to play with schitt IMO). I had the Nighthawks for a few months but I could never get accustomed to the over all dark but some times sibilant nature of them. Haven't heard the Elear yet but a friend told me to pass on them since he has them and knows me quite well since he knows that I usually listen at a relatively low levels (60-75dB) and he feels that the Elear doesn't sound decent until about 85dB, he also feel that the mids are a bit too recessed for my preferences, and he's heard my highly modded HE400 that he likes better than his Elear.
Yeah, with the HD700 I've heard it on a tube amp and it was much better sounding with the highs any sibilance. I've always hated bright headphones and overall I haven't found my HD700 to have a lot of sibilances which was surprising to me. When they sounding brighter with the Magni 3 I was quite surprised but it wasn't too bad for the most part.
As for the Elear not sounding good tell around 85dB I have to say that's somewhat true. I listen to them anywhere from about 75dB to 85dB but I've also listened to them at about 65dB. At 65dB they still sound really good but you don't get the full feel tell about 10dB more, they just sound more dynamic the louder you listen to them. I'm a mids kind of guy and I don't find the Elear to be recessed much at all in the mids. There is a small dip around 4kHz but it's not that bad and a little EQ helps quite a bit. I know the new Clear is supposed to have that fixed but the bass isn't as punch, plus it doesn't sound that much different than the Elear.
@BubbaJay, the HD700 is probably better off with a hybrid or tube amp from what I've tried so far but it does sound quite good on some SS amps like the HA-501, Liquid Carbon and Polaris. I've tried them on my friends Magni3 and its okay but I can see where they are borderline sibilant at times. The HE400i is easy to drive but can sound off with some amps and I've never cared for them with my Magni, Lyr2, Asgard2 or my friends Magni3 (basically it doesn't like to play with schitt IMO). I had the Nighthawks for a few months but I could never get accustomed to the over all dark but some times sibilant nature of them. Haven't heard the Elear yet but a friend told me to pass on them since he has them and knows me quite well since he knows that I usually listen at a relatively low levels (60-75dB) and he feels that the Elear doesn't sound decent until about 85dB, he also feel that the mids are a bit too recessed for my preferences, and he's heard my highly modded HE400 that he likes better than his Elear.
I just got a Magni 3 and so far am very impressed. I am primarily a 2 channel audio listener but wanted to dip my toes in the headphone listening. I have to say for $100 this seems like a real steal. I'm listening through AKG K550 but have signed up for the most recent Sennheiser HD6xx massdrop so I will be excited when those come this summer.
The last thing I need is yet another headphone amp but man do I like value based products, and Schiit certainly has them, I'm thinking $99! Why the heck not!
The last thing I need is yet another headphone amp but man do I like value based products, and Schiit certainly has them, I'm thinking $99! Why the heck not!
The last thing I need is yet another headphone amp but man do I like value based products, and Schiit certainly has them, I'm thinking $99! Why the heck not!
The last thing I need is yet another headphone amp but man do I like value based products, and Schiit certainly has them, I'm thinking $99! Why the heck not!
Thats what I thought. Initially I bought one as an interim amp while waiting for the Massdrop MCTH. I ended up selling a much more expensive amp because I liked the Magni 3 as much. So now that the MCTH is here, I keep that one at home and the Magni 3 at work.
EU dealer in the Netherlands just got a small shipment of between 15-20 Magni 3 amps this evening. All sold out very quickly. Managed to snag one for myself.
Thats what I thought. Initially I bought one as an interim amp while waiting for the Massdrop MCTH. I ended up selling a much more expensive amp because I liked the Magni 3 as much. So now that the MCTH is here, I keep that one at home and the Magni 3 at work.
Do you use Yggy at home with the Magni 3? And if you do ... cough it up, what does it sound like Too much of a good thing for the M3, or will the M3 scale up some more with a DAC of this calibre?
A message from Massdrop saying the HD6XX have arrived early and are just being checked for QC as we speak. Might even get mine before the end of the month. I'm fascinated to find out how my upscaled HD540 Ref1s will shape up compared to the much newer HD6XX. I am already a little sceptical that my long time favourites will be usurped from the throne of musical joy, so eagerly provided by the Ref1s. We shall see, the HD6XX will probably take some time to break in, as did the original 650s.
The whole system had a mighty blast last night with a big dose of that great Aussie rock group, The Angels, Live. Wowza! Try "Take A Long Line" for a massive blast of fabulous high speed knock out Aussie rock and roll from the very best years of the genre! Followed by "I Ain't The One"!! Imagine THAT in a very smoky, small, rowdy and packed out pub (bar) with a bunch of rather drunk punters ... actually, VERY drunk punters, this is where Aussie rock was born in 70's. There's been nothing quite like it since. This is also where AccaDacca (AC/DC) was born. Sometimes I've just gotta go back there for a while
Do you use Yggy at home with the Magni 3? And if you do ... cough it up, what does it sound like Too much of a good thing for the M3, or will the M3 scale up some more with a DAC of this calibre?
I've used the M3 at home briefly with the Yggy and it sounds great, but that was never the intent. I really bought it for the office to use with the Bifrost Multibit, and again it sounds great in that system too. The advantages of the Yggy are apparent with the M3, so it does scale up to some extent, but I would never recommend this as a long term solution. If someone buys a Yggy, pair it with a better amp. I think a more sensible match for the M3 is the Bifrost MB or the Mimby, and I could be happy with that if it were my only system. The home system is Yggy into Massdrop MCTH or Mjolnir ExStata when using electrostatics.
My primary dynamic headphones are the Sennheiser HD-650 and the Fostex TH-X00, with the Sennheisers getting about 80% of the listening time. The M3 works great with both. The MCTH is better than M3 with the Sennheisers, actually a really superb synergy there. I think the M3 is a little better with the Fostex than with the MCTH.
Also just ordered my first (headphone) AMP yesterday, the Magni 3. Luckily I knew they were going to have a few in stock in The Netherlands otherwise it would have been too late.
Now let's hope it’s going to be good together with my Creative ZxR, even though there will be double amping.
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Too much of a good thing for the M3, or will the M3 scale up some more with a DAC of this calibre?
