[Rowethren]

With Mjolnir discontinued, this means there is no Schiit tube amp (Lyr, the most expensive Schiit tube amp can do only single ended) that can do balanced connections aside from Folkvangir

I am hoping for something smaller than Folkvangir sometime down the line

From the PCB photos Jason posted a while ago it looks like the Folkvangir is single ended only. Happy to be wrong though as it means I won't have to re-terminate my cables.

 

[DougD]

....and away we go!

I have one to add to this... Pineapples in Manila are better than both

And I will add to that to say that a pineapple allowed to ripen on the plant is a vastly more tasty experience than your average grocery store pineapple.

 

[Timster]

give me modi and magni in one tiney box.
want small all in one unit

It's called "Hel 2" .. that would be the closest you would get it in the Schiit range

 

[tincanear]

From the PCB photos Jason posted a while ago it looks like the Folkvangir is single ended only. Happy to be wrong though as it means I won't have to re-terminate my cables.

or use a TRS plug to 4-pin XLR / Pentaconn / balanced 4-pin whatever adapter.

 

[darkarn]

From the PCB photos Jason posted a while ago it looks like the Folkvangir is single ended only. Happy to be wrong though as it means I won't have to re-terminate my cables.

Thanks, that's a good observation. If this is true, I wonder what's stopping Schiit (and other companies?) from making good balanced tube amps

 

[darkarn]

or use a TRS plug to 4-pin XLR / Pentaconn / balanced 4-pin whatever adapter.

But won't this still not solve the lack of power needed to drive such balanced connections?

 

[Stevko]

It's called "Hel 2" .. that would be the closest you would get it in the Schiit range

It is very close. less power and OP. Will it sound smooth as my Magni?

 

[tincanear]

It is very close. less power and OP. Will it sound smooth as my Magni?

I would expect the sound to be more similar to the Magni Heresy than the Magni 3+

 

[Stevko]

Never heard Schiit Heresy

 

[tincanear]

But won't this still not solve the lack of power needed to drive such balanced connections?

tubes have lots of voltage swing capability to easily drive high-impedance (e.g. 300 and 600 ohm) cans. In the case of Folkvangr, there are 4 x 6N6P dual triodes for each channel to provide higher output current for mid and lower impedance loads.

 

[tincanear]

Never heard Schiit Heresy

I have not heard HEL2, but I have compared Magni 3+ and Heresy using low-impedance (~16 ohm) planars, Bifrost OG Multibit source, and to my ears (YMMV) they are similar sounding, with the Magni 3+ a bit warmer. Actually, I prefer Asgard 3 over either of these, but A3 (with internal DAC card) wouldn't meet your compact form-factor requirement... Hel 2 includes a 2.1A 5V USB type AC power supply, which is much smaller than the big 16VAC 1400/1500mA wall warts for Magni 3.

 

[Stevko]

I can live with a bigger unit. But smaller is better. Considering asgard3, but they says schiits internal daccards only give 1.4V. can be a problem with high imp cans?
Think the best option is HEl 2 or Topping DX3 V2.
Hel don`t ship before 20 may. and then I must wait 2-4 weeks in transit.
dx3 can i buy in my country. but, high output imp and lower power.

But I prefer Schiit. Then I know what I get....

 

[darkarn]

tubes have lots of voltage swing capability to easily drive high-impedance (e.g. 300 and 600 ohm) cans. In the case of Folkvangr, there are 4 x 6N6P dual triodes for each channel to provide higher output current for mid and lower impedance loads.

Thanks, I see. So in other words, balanced or not is not what determines if the amp can drive the cans, but rather how good the tubes are?

 

[Timster]

It is very close. less power and OP. Will it sound smooth as my Magni?

I can't say for sure as a) I don't have a Hel 2 to test and b) I find differences to be subtle and in most cases difficult to discern (unless you go an order of magnitude or more up the price ladder). But I would suspect that the Hel 2 amp side of the equation would be pretty close to the Magni/Magni Heresy in terms of sound signature. The power is less of an issue if you do the math! It will still make your ears bleed with most headphones if you wanted it to.

 

[Timster]

I can live with a bigger unit. But smaller is better. Considering asgard3, but they says schiits internal daccards only give 1.4V. can be a problem with high imp cans?
Think the best option is HEl 2 or Topping DX3 V2.
Hel don`t ship before 20 may. and then I must wait 2-4 weeks i transit.
dx3 can i buy in my country. but, high output imp and lower power.

But I prefer Schiit. Then i know what I get....

I have a Dx3 Pro... and it's fine for what I use it for. Sound signature wise it's hard to tell as both are very clear, but the Magni seems to have more "grunt", a bit more dynamic. Maybe that's the higher power, maybe some expectation/confirmation bias, maybe the Modi Multibit feeding the Magni ... ???? However, when it comes to sitting back at night and relaxing with some music, the Magni comes out to play over the DX3.