[BrotherKathos]

The Magni 3 can be more refined (and with an excellent wide and deep soundstage with the better recordings), it just depends on what comes before it and there are subtle improvements with age, the former being the biggest difference. Well noted though, with your impressions so far. I have the HE400S and although they are 'good', I don't actually like them with the Schiit stack, personally. The Senn HD540 Ref1s run all over them for intimate organic and sheer alive wholeness in this set-up. However, paired with the Questyle QP1R, they are fabulous! The QP1R also provides my best and purest source for the Schiit stack.
Where the Magni 3 can sometimes appear lacking is in the mid-bass punch and attack department, my R2R is fuller and weightier, I just prefer the greater overall transparency and linearity.

I've got a few phones and I think I need to find the best pairing for the Magni. I'm waiting on the HdXX drop and will either end up using those or possibly some Audeze lcd2c phones with it. THe he-400i sounds way way better with my SMSL SU-8 and el amp than they do paired with the magni 3 and topping d50.

 

[sennsay]

I've got a few phones and I think I need to find the best pairing for the Magni. I'm waiting on the HdXX drop and will either end up using those or possibly some Audeze lcd2c phones with it. THe he-400i sounds way way better with my SMSL SU-8 and el amp than they do paired with the magni 3 and topping d50.

Yes, that's the fine art, isn't it, finding that perfect match. Some, like the HD6xx and other than a few exceptional moments here and there, I just couldn't live with ultimately. I used to have the HD650s as well and along with the HD6xx, despite being slightly superior in a couple of small areas) just found that they didn't do 'natural organic communicative Life' the way the HD540 Ref1s do with their current pad and cable set up and the Schiit stack. They show those abilities with many amps, including some home theatre jobbies, but the 'stack' is where they gel sublimely.
All hail to those who find those magic pairings out there!

 

[DavidA]

I've got a few phones and I think I need to find the best pairing for the Magni. I'm waiting on the HdXX drop and will either end up using those or possibly some Audeze lcd2c phones with it. THe he-400i sounds way way better with my SMSL SU-8 and el amp than they do paired with the magni 3 and topping d50.

Like @sennsay noted its the art of finding a pairing of amp and headphone and one reason I don't normally suggest the Magni3 to friends since its good but didn't pair well with some headphones that I tried it with. An amp that that I'd always recommend is the Ember but its quite a bit more at $350 but to me and many that have it its a bargain at $350 since it so flexible with paring with almost any headphone that I've tried it with and that not even getting into tube rolling yet.
The HD650/6XX sound best with an OTL amp to me but its not bad with the Jot and Magni3 but once you hear how it sounds with a OTL amp its hard to go back to a SS amp, at least for me.
Best pairing for my HE400i is the headphone output of my UD301 DAC or the Ember with a slightly warm tube (Bugle Boy or Mullard) and another amp that I felt paired well with the HE400i was the Polaris ($250) that I borrowed from a friend.

 

[Martin GH1369]

I believe it was originally Schiit's in-house nickname (for the Modi Multibit).

Thank you.

 

[Martin GH1369]

Like @sennsay noted its the art of finding a pairing of amp and headphone and one reason I don't normally suggest the Magni3 to friends since its good but didn't pair well with some headphones that I tried it with. An amp that that I'd always recommend is the Ember but its quite a bit more at $350 but to me and many that have it its a bargain at $350 since it so flexible with paring with almost any headphone that I've tried it with and that not even getting into tube rolling yet.
The HD650/6XX sound best with an OTL amp to me but its not bad with the Jot and Magni3 but once you hear how it sounds with a OTL amp its hard to go back to a SS amp, at least for me.
Best pairing for my HE400i is the headphone output of my UD301 DAC or the Ember with a slightly warm tube (Bugle Boy or Mullard) and another amp that I felt paired well with the HE400i was the Polaris ($250) that I borrowed from a friend.

I was originally going to buy a Cavalli Hybrid tube amp but I can't get hold of one in the UK so gave up on that idea.
I'm not adverse to spending a lot of money on audio equipment (I spent nearly £10,000 on my AVR and 5.1.4 setup) but I have to know that I like what I'm buying. I was easily able to test the home cinema setup I wanted, I phoned Richersounds (UK AV shop) and said I wanted to trial the equipment, they gave me a date and I attended to test the equipment no where near me does this with headphones and very few will do it with headphone amps, I'd have to take the headphones with me to the places that will but they only have a very limited range and nothing of what I am interested in.
I managed to convince my wife that the entire family would benefit from the new home cinema equipment, headphones and amps are a much harder sell and especially when I've only recently bought new stuff inexpensive (relatively) though it was.

I don't want to get into the habit of always buying upgraded equipment, I'd get in trouble as I recently did it with my pc

 

[DavidA]

I was originally going to buy a Cavalli Hybrid tube amp but I can't get hold of one in the UK so gave up on that idea.
I'm not adverse to spending a lot of money on audio equipment (I spent nearly £10,000 on my AVR and 5.1.4 setup) but I have to know that I like what I'm buying. I was easily able to test the home cinema setup I wanted, I phoned Richersounds (UK AV shop) and said I wanted to trial the equipment, they gave me a date and I attended to test the equipment no where near me does this with headphones and very few will do it with headphone amps, I'd have to take the headphones with me to the places that will but they only have a very limited range and nothing of what I am interested in.
I managed to convince my wife that the entire family would benefit from the new home cinema equipment, headphones and amps are a much harder sell and especially when I've only recently bought new stuff inexpensive (relatively) though it was.

I don't want to get into the habit of always buying upgraded equipment, I'd get in trouble as I recently did it with my pc

I'm in almost the same boat as you living in Hawaii since only Best Buy and a few other stores even carry headphones and they are mostly Sony, Beats, Bose and a few other brands and forget about amps or DACs. Tried to setup a get together with a few other Head-Fi members but we never got meet going. I've been lucky to have some friends who have great gear and we do get together once in a while to listen, drink, eat and just talk so I've been able to borrow and audition some pretty nice gear over the years thanks to them.

As for constantly "updating or upgrading" I am at a point where I'm getting older so I know my hearing is only going to get worse so I don't really have any reason to keep buying new stuff but I do like the various differences of the various headphones that I have and also how they pair with my gear

 

[sennsay]

Like @sennsay noted its the art of finding a pairing of amp and headphone and one reason I don't normally suggest the Magni3 to friends since its good but didn't pair well with some headphones that I tried it with. An amp that that I'd always recommend is the Ember but its quite a bit more at $350 but to me and many that have it its a bargain at $350 since it so flexible with paring with almost any headphone that I've tried it with and that not even getting into tube rolling yet.
The HD650/6XX sound best with an OTL amp to me but its not bad with the Jot and Magni3 but once you hear how it sounds with a OTL amp its hard to go back to a SS amp, at least for me.
Best pairing for my HE400i is the headphone output of my UD301 DAC or the Ember with a slightly warm tube (Bugle Boy or Mullard) and another amp that I felt paired well with the HE400i was the Polaris ($250) that I borrowed from a friend.

Indeed, DavidA, the Ember is something I'm rather intrigued with and would like to hear one. Going to have to buy one first though, as there's not much chance of getting a listen to one around here! I like the looks of it too, might even get the kit I already have some lovely Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8s to pop in there if I want warmth without thickness.

 

[Tuneslover]

Like @sennsay noted its the art of finding a pairing of amp and headphone and one reason I don't normally suggest the Magni3 to friends since its good but didn't pair well with some headphones that I tried it with. An amp that that I'd always recommend is the Ember but its quite a bit more at $350 but to me and many that have it its a bargain at $350 since it so flexible with paring with almost any headphone that I've tried it with and that not even getting into tube rolling yet.
The HD650/6XX sound best with an OTL amp to me but its not bad with the Jot and Magni3 but once you hear how it sounds with a OTL amp its hard to go back to a SS amp, at least for me.
Best pairing for my HE400i is the headphone output of my UD301 DAC or the Ember with a slightly warm tube (Bugle Boy or Mullard) and another amp that I felt paired well with the HE400i was the Polaris ($250) that I borrowed from a friend.

I agree with @DavidA post having upgraded to the Project Ember (from Magni 2U & Vali 2) myself.

 

[DavidA]

Indeed, DavidA, the Ember is something I'm rather intrigued with and would like to hear one. Going to have to buy one first though, as there's not much chance of getting a listen to one around here! I like the looks of it too, might even get the kit I already have some lovely Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8s to pop in there if I want warmth without thickness.

If you do get one (or any of the Garage 1217 amp) don't get the kit since it will not have the warranty if you build it yourself, food for though.

I actually got the Ember on a recommendation from a long time Head-Fi member @Solrighal, and to make if even better my old GF bought it for me to replace a WA7d that I had just sold only because you can change the color of the LED under the tube to pink.

The Magni3 that I tried belong to a friend who was looking for a small foot print amp for his office who had also ordered a CTH and LCX from MassDrop but due to the long wait times needed something quickly. This is where we noted that the Magni3 while great with some headphones was less than ideal with others (HD800, HD700, T1gen1, HE560, and a few others) due to it being a touch on the bright side of neutral IMO. He has since given the Magni3 and LCX to one of his daughters who has a TH900, HD6XX and Ypsilon G1, kept the CTH for use with HD650 and PS1000e in his home office and got a Polaris for his office with HD700 and Aeon Flow open.

 

[BrotherKathos]

Like @sennsay noted its the art of finding a pairing of amp and headphone and one reason I don't normally suggest the Magni3 to friends since its good but didn't pair well with some headphones that I tried it with. An amp that that I'd always recommend is the Ember but its quite a bit more at $350 but to me and many that have it its a bargain at $350 since it so flexible with paring with almost any headphone that I've tried it with and that not even getting into tube rolling yet.
The HD650/6XX sound best with an OTL amp to me but its not bad with the Jot and Magni3 but once you hear how it sounds with a OTL amp its hard to go back to a SS amp, at least for me.
Best pairing for my HE400i is the headphone output of my UD301 DAC or the Ember with a slightly warm tube (Bugle Boy or Mullard) and another amp that I felt paired well with the HE400i was the Polaris ($250) that I borrowed from a friend.

I usually try to find the least colored amps possible and adjust my flavor with headphones because I find it easier that way to find what I like. I usually stay away from tube amps for that same reason. The topping D50 is supposedly one of the most objective dacs out there especially under the $500 price point. I'm waiting on the drop for the THX AAA amp to pair with the D50 and the magni 3 was really meant as a throw away purchase that will do me until then, afterwards I can pair it with something else of mine that will work better. I might try the ember though as I've only ever dealt with tubes on my guitar amps and never with any stereo equipment.

 

[sennsay]

I usually try to find the least colored amps possible and adjust my flavor with headphones because I find it easier that way to find what I like. I usually stay away from tube amps for that same reason. The topping D50 is supposedly one of the most objective dacs out there especially under the $500 price point. I'm waiting on the drop for the THX AAA amp to pair with the D50 and the magni 3 was really meant as a throw away purchase that will do me until then, afterwards I can pair it with something else of mine that will work better. I might try the ember though as I've only ever dealt with tubes on my guitar amps and never with any stereo equipment.

The Magni 3 as a 'throw away purchase'? I would have to assume - rightly or wrongly - that you definitely have not heard it at it's best! After 45+ years of experience in audio, the Magni 3 in my combo is far away from ever being classed in that category! I also have no 'brightness' in my system, some recordings might show that they are more brightly lit, but not the amp in itself. I also use quality pure silver interconnects and there is none of that so-called silver mid brightness either. Recordings that are over-eq'd, yes, the system itself, not. Neither the headphones (HD540 Ref1s), optical cable, DAC (Mimby), Mogami cable or the source (QP1R). I can relax for hours with magnificent organically alive communication and rhythmic integrity, without anything being dulled or compressed into a more 2D soundstage. Depth, height, width and transparency with upgraded 29 year old headphones (pads and cable only), the finest humanly musical results I've had from any gear in decades.
I'm aware of truly greater amplifiers out there, headphones that are 'better' in some areas (yet many have lost some of that organic aliveness in the process and I do not like the bass emphasis or brightness, or both), the financial cost though to truly take things to a whole new level is significant!
The Magni 3 has, in a way, created it's own issues, in that being rather a bargain price it's often only used in budget systems, with budget connections etc. It is well worthy of far better and my own results prove it .. at least to myself and others that have done so

 

[DavidA]

I usually try to find the least colored amps possible and adjust my flavor with headphones because I find it easier that way to find what I like. I usually stay away from tube amps for that same reason. The topping D50 is supposedly one of the most objective dacs out there especially under the $500 price point. I'm waiting on the drop for the THX AAA amp to pair with the D50 and the magni 3 was really meant as a throw away purchase that will do me until then, afterwards I can pair it with something else of mine that will work better. I might try the ember though as I've only ever dealt with tubes on my guitar amps and never with any stereo equipment.

I was like you at first and wanted "least colored" DACs and amps but I've found that its not so simple only because various headphones react to differently to different amps and its one reason I have kept my main system of 3 DACs and 4 amps for so long since it gives me a lot of different combinations and I really like all the different pairings.

I'll take the Magni3 off your hands when you decided to "throw it away" , I can always setup another listening area in the bathroom, or add it to my lanai setup. Kidding aside the Magni3 is a bargain for what it is but like I posted earlier it just didn't seem to pair well with some headphones.

The Ember is quite a bit different from the Magni3 not only due to rolling tubes but you can vary the output impedance and there are other options to by-pass input caps and such so its a amp that you can tinker with to try to good/great pairing with almost any headphone. If you don't want to deal with tubes look at the Polaris, very similar without the tube.

 

[BrotherKathos]

I was like you at first and wanted "least colored" DACs and amps but I've found that its not so simple only because various headphones react to differently to different amps and its one reason I have kept my main system of 3 DACs and 4 amps for so long since it gives me a lot of different combinations and I really like all the different pairings.

I'll take the Magni3 off your hands when you decided to "throw it away" , I can always setup another listening area in the bathroom, or add it to my lanai setup. Kidding aside the Magni3 is a bargain for what it is but like I posted earlier it just didn't seem to pair well with some headphones.

The Ember is quite a bit different from the Magni3 not only due to rolling tubes but you can vary the output impedance and there are other options to by-pass input caps and such so its a amp that you can tinker with to try to good/great pairing with almost any headphone. If you don't want to deal with tubes look at the Polaris, very similar without the tube.

I probably won't ever actually throw the magi 3 away. That was just a figure of speech, and maybe not the best one for this site hehe. I've got plenty of places to put it when and if it gets replaced later on. It has gotten alot better over the week of burn in. Strangely the biggest improvement was its function as a preamp. I was actually very dissapointed initially with how it sounded as a preamp, but after a week it has turned around into something that actually sounds really good. Almost a complete 180. Maybe my ears were messed up a week ago, or some other strange reason. Its dfinately not me getting used to it though since I only listened to the system maybe twice for a couple of minutes in the whole time period. My time listening was spent on the SMSL and EL amp combo. I doubt I'll ever stop liking the objective side of audio though. I like to feel like I'm hooked into the sound board at the recording studio as the artist makes his stuff.

I want a completely black background with as little noise as possible. I've even returned 2 of the ESSENCE HDACC II 4k headphone amps because to me as soon as the things turned on they had a constant low level white noise through them. The CEO Bob Rapport sent me a replacement that did the same thing and when he got the units he found them to be operating as normal. He then informed me after selling the units that the other customers did not notice the noise. So for some really wierd reason there might have been some equipment ac line noise that only the Essence dacs picked up on my specific setup that no other dacs or amps that I own pick up and no one else seems to experience with the same units.
None of my other products were that bad, but the magni 3 is noticeable noisier to me than the EL amp which muddies up the water a bit too much for me. Tubes are in my experience even worse in that respect. Any sort of hiss or pop or audible distortion is a deal breaker for me for my home listening. And don't even get me started on vinyl.

 

[DavidA]

@BrotherKathos, hum is usually caused by dirty power in you home and for some its a PITA to get rid off and also some amps/DACs seem to be more sensitive to dirty power. Reading though many of the amp thread it can be a simple solution like the ground to the housing of the DAC/amp is not making good contact, installing pricy power conditioners and for some it was constructing a faraday cage around a tube amp.
The Magni3 that I borrowed from my friend was dead silent at my place but another friend noted that there was a very slight hum when she turned up the volume to max when she was borrowing it and also that there was some scratchiness in the volume pot that she used some Deoxit on.

 

[BrotherKathos]

@BrotherKathos, hum is usually caused by dirty power in you home and for some its a PITA to get rid off and also some amps/DACs seem to be more sensitive to dirty power. Reading though many of the amp thread it can be a simple solution like the ground to the housing of the DAC/amp is not making good contact, installing pricy power conditioners and for some it was constructing a faraday cage around a tube amp.
The Magni3 that I borrowed from my friend was dead silent at my place but another friend noted that there was a very slight hum when she turned up the volume to max when she was borrowing it and also that there was some scratchiness in the volume pot that she used some Deoxit on.

I think the noise in my unit is most likely a hardware issue. Its pretty silent overall, but just no where near the El amp. I actually have the unit hooked up to a monster power power generator. This is not your run of the mill power conditioner as it literally disconnects your equipment from the wall ac power. It takes the ac power and then generates its own clean power with perfect 120 volt regulation from that. Its from a bygone era when monster power was really high end. Not the cheap line filtering that most all other units use. I'm warming up to the magni 3, but will most likely replace it in that particular setup when the THX amp gets here in Feb. But who knows, maybe it will be ultra broken in by then? Like you I also noticed the slight treble bias of the magni 3 and as I'm very treble sensitive that is one of the main reasons for putting it lower on my list of preferred head amps. I bought a TEAC UD-301 a few months back and that was the absolute worst shrill horrid amp I've ever heard and promptly returned it. Maybe I got a bad one there too or it just didn't jive with all my other components. I tested it with 3 different power amps and 4 headphones and it sounded awful on them all to me.

My voltage regulator: https://hometheaterreview.com/monster-avs-2000-home-theater-voltage-stabilizer-reviewed/