[TinearedOne]

This is happening with a bunch of mjolnir 3s, including mine, as well as other Schiit amps. Hearing it all over the place now.

After two buggy yggys, bad finishes, crooked connectors for the digital inputs, and now this switch problem, I’m starting to really doubt my trust in Schiit’s assembly and products lately. Hope they figure it out soon.

I have six Schiit products (Magni 3+, Modi 2U, OG Modius, Gjallarhorn, Sys, Vali 2) and none of them have had manufacturing defects. Here's to hoping that's more common than not. Thanks for the, "heads up," though, as now I will be much more deliberate about putting my Heretic through testing.

 

[Hofy]

Yeah, I'm curious which of my headphones will like the amp the most. I think it will likely be the HD 660S2, just a gut feeling but not sure, what pairs the best could surprise me. I am using the Schiit Modi Multibit 2 as the DAC.

I have been comparing the Heretic with the Asgard3 and Valhalla2. I have not decided what I like best, but with all the cans I have I am thinking I have found my favorite headphone! Sennheiser HD560S.

 

[TinearedOne]

Listening to my new Heretic right now on middle gain through my Gjallarhorn and Energys. Left the amp on and playing for a few hours prior to listening, but literally these are impressions from the first few hours of play. Here are some thoughts. It's handling preamp duties well.

• Depeche Mode, "Somebody" - vocal has more layers than I recall, layers that are certainly not there on the Vali 2, which tends to smooth things out more.
• Depeche Mode, "Blasphemous Rumors" - background noises, which are scattered throughout, sound just right, especially the beep of the life support, which is very clean.
• Annie Lennox, "No More 'I Love You's'" - one of my sibilant tests, and yes, there's sibilance there, but that's what I was expecting. Certainly only my Vali 2 smooths out the top enough for this recording, but it's still listenable.
• Crash Test Dummies, "Superman's Song" - always loved this vocal, and the duet portions are very clearly separated, not smeared together at all.
• Adele, "Hello" - again, nice detail retrieval and Adele's voice has the right timber to my ear. Again, background vocals nicely separated.
• Colin Hay, "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" - conveying all the emotion - nicely layered voice and guitar strings.
• Yo-Yo Ma, "Bach, Cello Suite #1, Praeludium" - strings seem accurate, but perhaps a bit too controlled, lacking the decay I hear on the Vali 2, still a nice sound, though, if a bit too clean.

On to the Hifiman HE-X4 on high gain. Definitely enjoy high gain with these headphones. Mid-gain doesn't have the same life, even at the same volume.

• Still Yo-Yo Ma, "Bach..." - still nice and tight, with perhaps a little more decay in the greater isolation of the headphones.
• Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like a Hole" - again, really nice, almost holographic layering, able to separate out all of the sounds on the track and follow each. Drum line is very crisp.
• Ministry, "Stigmata" - drum line, which has a tendency to be a little flat and annoy me at times, has nice layering. Again, hearing nicely into the music and vocals.
• The Cramps, "Goo Goo Muck" - as expected from the rest of my listening, Lux's voice is properly "groovy" and the drums have nice snap, as good as I've ever heard this song sound.
• Norah Jones, "I've Got to See You Again" - attack on the piano notes is pretty intense in a good way, instrument separation is great. The amp just seems to handle complex passages very well.
• The The, "Kingdom of Rain" - again with layering, also really nice that I can pick out the softer background vocal clearly.
• Jack Johnson, "Upside Down" - nice separation again, all the instruments have nice depth to the sound.

Overall, just really enjoying my first few hours with the Heretic. Happy about the purchase. We'll see how often I vacillate between this and the Vali 2, but I really like the more detailed sound. I'm not finding it etched or dry at all. YEMV, though.

A few notes on the hardware. Nice red lighting. Knob is nicer and smoother moving than my other Schiit with similar size knobs: Sys, Magni 3+, and Vali 2. Fit and finish look good.

Time to go to just enjoying the music.

 

[TinearedOne]

I have been comparing the Heretic with the Asgard3 and Valhalla2. I have not decided what I like best, but with all the cans I have I am thinking I have found my favorite headphone! Sennheiser HD560S.

Got to ask why the HD560S? I'm thinking about getting a pair of Sennheisers, but was pretty much just looking at 58x, 600, 6xx, and 650.

 

[Hofy]

Got to ask why the HD560S? I'm thinking about getting a pair of Sennheisers, but was pretty much just looking at 58x, 600, 6xx, and 650.

The HD560S were meant to be budget headphones, but they screwed up in reverse and made them much better sounding than they should have. You can see what I have on hand in my signature.

 

[kman1211]

The HD560S were meant to be budget headphones, but they screwed up in reverse and made them much better sounding than they should have. You can see what I have on hand in my signature.

Do you have an old or more recent HD 560S? They actually tweaked them a bit to make them warmer and less bright. Newer ones have shorter cables I gather. I had an old HD 560S way too bright and lean then had a HD 400 Pro which was much better to my ears. The 400 Pro is supposed to be the same thing, but I found out the HD 560S had a revision (which measures differently) which explains why it sounded quite different. May revisit them or get the HD 490 Pro or NDH-30 which use the same driver as the HD 560S/400 Pro but in different housing and with different damping configurations and with better tolerances (with the NDH-30 at least).

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

Do you have an old or more recent HD 560S? They actually tweaked them a bit to make them warmer and less bright. Newer ones have shorter cables I gather. I had an old HD 560S way too bright and lean then had a HD 400 Pro which was much better to my ears. The 400 Pro is supposed to be the same thing, but I found out the HD 560S had a revision (which measures differently) which explains why it sounded quite different. May revisit them or get the HD 490 Pro or NDH-30 which use the same driver as the HD 560S/400 Pro but in different housing and with different damping configurations and with better tolerances (with the NDH-30 at least).

I'm of the opinion that HD560s sounds just as good as the HD6 series, and in some ways its better. I think if they changed the chassis a bit they could have easily sold them for $350-500 at launch. Using the 5 series chassis sort of locked them into a certain price point, but it way outperforms it IMO.

 

[kman1211]

I'm of the opinion that HD560s sounds just as good as the HD6 series, and in some ways its better. I think if they changed the chassis a bit they could have easily sold them for $350-500 at launch. Using the 5 series chassis sort of locked them into a certain price point, but it way outperforms it IMO.

I did think the HD 400 Pro was on par with the HD 6xx in many ways with some aspects better though the HD 6xx does outdo it in terms of mids and timbre, though honestly I think a well-driven DT 880 600 is superior to the HD 560S/400 Pro and it's similar in price. But the DT 880 was always a HD 6xx competitor, it's just cheaper now but not any worse than the HD 600/650. But I do have to say in terms of sound quality among dynamic drivers, the HD 560S/400 Pro and the DT Beyers are probably the best I've come across in the sub $200 range.

I generally prefer a warmer sound though which is why I focus more on Senns, even though I think the DT 880 600 has a superior driver to the HD 600 and HD 650. I also prefer the comfort of the HD 6xx and HD 5xx line. I don't think the others of the HD 5xx line have very good drivers, only the HD 560S driver is good imho.

 

[adias]

deleted

 

[Hofy]

I'm of the opinion that HD560s sounds just as good as the HD6 series, and in some ways its better. I think if they changed the chassis a bit they could have easily sold them for $350-500 at launch. Using the 5 series chassis sort of locked them into a certain price point, but it way outperforms it IMO.

This is my feeling also. They could have slapped a $399 price tag on them and they would have sold.

 

[George Hincapie]

My new Magni+ arrived in the UK yesterday. Just dipping my toe in the Schiit water, so to speak.

Initial listening found a closed stage. Left it running a Roon stream for 24 hrs and this evening it's noticeably better.

Chain is: Roon Nucleus > Fibre > Pi2AES > I2S > Audial S5 > RCA > Magni+ > Periapt > Arya Stealth

Honestly, it offers incredible performance for the size and price. Quite remarkable for under £100 delivered. It's a fun amp to listen to, but of course very far from the last word in performance in any area.

It would be hugely unfair to compare the Magni+ to my Linear Tube Audio MZ3, so I won't. The MZ3 is around 80 times the price and just a beast of an HPA.

I am really enjoying this introduction to Schiit products, and am now wondering about trying Mjolnir 3.

I have been considering either Holo Audio Bliss or Ferrum Oor/Hypsos for a TOTL SS addition to my stable, but, from what I've read and seen on YT, it seems Mjolnir 3 performs at a similar level...

 

[TinearedOne]

FYI, the Heretic has nice control of my AKG K612 Pro headphones as well. Not strident at all to my ears, and I'm listening to some pretty strident recordings, like The Cure's version of "Fascination Street" on their Mixed Up album. Still just enjoying the amp. Been thinking about and researching upgrades, but having a new amp has me quite interested in the two decent headphones I already have. It has opened me up to some new sounds.

 

[adias]

Q. re the front panel gain switch:

I noticed that toggling the switch slowly say between mid and max gain (at moderate volume) sometimes one of the channels switches but the other has a weak connection requiring a small nudge. If I flip the switch quickly there's no issue.

Comments?

It seems to be a non-issue. Gain leves should be changed with zero volume anyway. I set it in one gain position and contacts have been stable for several days.

 

[kman1211]

Got the Heretic in today, did a short listen during lunch time liked what I heard. Will be giving it a proper listen once I get off work. Going to be letting it run with my new HD 600 consistently for a few days to break in both.

 

[TinearedOne]

Still not finding my Heretic anything but nicely accurate and revealing. It's a nice amp.