[UmustBKidn]

  I currently have my magni hooked up to the output on my motherboard. The motherboard is a Z87E-ITX which has a TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier onboard. Am I double amplying my signal and is this a decent setup till I get a modi or another dac? I am using this with some HE-400.

Yes, and Maybe.
 
As long as you try not to overdrive the Magni, it's probably decent enough to listen to temporarily. The thing I always worry about in a setup like that is, the input to the Magni really isn't designed to handle a high input level - it's designed for a "line out" from a DAC. So basically it is possible to drive the Magni harder than normal with such an arrangement. How much is too hard? That I don't know. I also don't know what will happen to your warranty if you blow a Magni by over-driving it (nor do I know if that's possible).
 
I do know that I've used my Magni with two different DAC's. One has a 1.5 volt output (the Schiit Modi), the other a 2 volt output (the Pure i-20). The device with 2 volts output drove the Magni a lot harder and made it run much hotter.
 
What I think I would do is, turn the Magni volume control to about noon (or a bit higher), then slowly increase the volume control coming out of the computer until you're at a moderate listening level. Then, use the Magni volume control to fine tune the listening level. If your Magni gets hot, turn down the volume of the computer.
 
I would not listen to that setup permanently. You'll notice a distinct difference when you start using a DAC.

 

[utee05]

Thanks for the advice. This is only a temp setup once I get the modi. WIll be ordering it this week so hopefully get it in by mid-week next week. Thanks.

 

[BrianPeppers]

nvm

 

[RockCrayfish]

My findings are that the Magni is not that loud. Maybe it's my source. I can turn the volume knob all the way up on some tracks and I adjust it to ~12 o'clock for the other, louder, tracks. My Logitech Z-2300's built-in headphone amp seems to be louder.
 
All computer volumes are at 100%, iTunes volume slider at 100% with an EQ to cut the output back by ~3 db.
 
Is this normal for 300ohm cans?

 

[MrMateoHead]

The magni puts out enough power at 300 Ohms to drive phones to very loud levels. A 1V source output on a 5X gain should also be enough to get loud volumes.
 
What are you listening too? If the recordings are HDR, then it is probably normal for you to have the dial twisted a lot. When I listen to HDR on my O2, I am usually up around 12 O'Clock.

 

[RockCrayfish]

  The magni puts out enough power at 300 Ohms to drive phones to very loud levels. A 1V source output on a 5X gain should also be enough to get loud volumes.
 
What are you listening too? If the recordings are HDR, then it is probably normal for you to have the dial twisted a lot. When I listen to HDR on my O2, I am usually up around 12 O'Clock.

 
My experience is with a Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1 Plus (twice the power at 300 ohms), CMoy pocket amp, and the Logitech Z-2300 headphone jack, so I don't really have anything that provides a similar amount of power to compare to the Magni. 
 
Most of my audio is 24/96 FLAC or ALAC.

 

[MrMateoHead]

So you have plenty of power.
 
The Filetype of your music does not matter. The way that it is mastered does. If they have HDR, then you typically will be turning that knob a lot more. HDR usually include well-mastered Classical, Jazz, or live albums. Once in awhile a Pop or Rock album comes out with more dynamic range than normal.
 
But a DVD or Blu-Ray movie would provide a lot of headroom. If you throw one in, I would expect your knob twisted a lot more than normal. That is HDR.

 

[RockCrayfish]

  So you have plenty of power.
 
The Filetype of your music does not matter. The way that it is mastered does. If they have HDR, then you typically will be turning that knob a lot more. HDR usually include well-mastered Classical, Jazz, or live albums. Once in awhile a Pop or Rock album comes out with more dynamic range than normal.
 
But a DVD or Blu-Ray movie would provide a lot of headroom. If you throw one in, I would expect your knob twisted a lot more than normal. That is HDR.

 
Interesting. That could be it. The MA Tubemagic D1 Plus is a friend's amp, which I listened to before my Magni arrived so I maybe I was just expecting more, given that the M/M combo and MA Tubemagic D1 Plus cost about the same.
 
Thanks for the explanation!

 

[kman1211]

  My findings are that the Magni is not that loud. Maybe it's my source. I can turn the volume knob all the way up on some tracks and I adjust it to ~12 o'clock for the other, louder, tracks. My Logitech Z-2300's built-in headphone amp seems to be louder.
 
All computer volumes are at 100%, iTunes volume slider at 100% with an EQ to cut the output back by ~3 db.
 
Is this normal for 300ohm cans?

I had similar findings, I found the amp in general to be lacking in dynamic range and body while this is fine for headphones with plenty of inherent body and of a more upfront nature it doesn't work well some for other headphones. This gives the amp the impression of not being that loud despite having plenty of power. It's quite dull sounding on some headphones.
 
I think it's more of a synergy thing than anything. I personally found ohm ratings or power don't matter a whole lot. How well the sound signature of an amp goes with the sound signature of a particular headphone is much more important imho.

 

[UmustBKidn]

  My findings are that the Magni is not that loud. Maybe it's my source. I can turn the volume knob all the way up on some tracks and I adjust it to ~12 o'clock for the other, louder, tracks. My Logitech Z-2300's built-in headphone amp seems to be louder.
 
All computer volumes are at 100%, iTunes volume slider at 100% with an EQ to cut the output back by ~3 db.
 
Is this normal for 300ohm cans?

 
I have used my Magni with 60 ohm, 63 ohm and 250 ohm cans. The 63 ohm cans can be driven harder with less volume adjustment, than the 250 ohm cans.
 
On my M+M stack, I keep my computer volume at 100%, and my iTunes volume slider around 50%. My Beyer DT770-250 ohm cans do not require 100% volume on the Magni. I usually leave it set around 2 o'clock or so. I use that setup regularly. If I want, I can drive my DT770's to ear bleeding levels by turning everything up - but I try not to damage what's left of my old ears

 
I do not touch the EQ in iTunes, I keep it off. I would suggest you also leave that off. IMO, the equalizer should only be used with cheaper cans or non optimal setups that would just suck without some touch up. You may also want to explore the settings in control panel to make sure something isn't wonky in there.
 
The Modi's output is 1.5 volts. I've also used the Magni with a 2 volt DAC, which does drive it noticeably harder. If your source is only 1 volt, that might be an issue. I would suppose the Magni is optimized for a 1.5 volt input.

 

[RockCrayfish]

 
I had similar findings, I found the amp in general to be lacking in dynamic range and body while this is fine for headphones with plenty of inherent body and of a more upfront nature it doesn't work well some for other headphones. This gives the amp the impression of not being that loud despite having plenty of power. It's quite dull sounding on some headphones.
 
I think it's more of a synergy thing than anything. I personally found ohm ratings or power don't matter a whole lot. How well the sound signature of an amp goes with the sound signature of a particular headphone is much more important imho.

 
Maybe it is just a synergy thing, I can't comment on that. It does seem transparent in that the sound I'm hearing is exactly how it's meant to be heard, but the lack of power is off-putting.
 

   
I have used my Magni with 60 ohm, 63 ohm and 250 ohm cans. The 63 ohm cans can be driven harder with less volume adjustment, than the 250 ohm cans.
 
On my M+M stack, I keep my computer volume at 100%, and my iTunes volume slider around 50%. My Beyer DT770-250 ohm cans do not require 100% volume on the Magni. I usually leave it set around 2 o'clock or so. I use that setup regularly. If I want, I can drive my DT770's to ear bleeding levels by turning everything up - but I try not to damage what's left of my old ears

 
I do not touch the EQ in iTunes, I keep it off. I would suggest you also leave that off. IMO, the equalizer should only be used with cheaper cans or non optimal setups that would just suck without some touch up. You may also want to explore the settings in control panel to make sure something isn't wonky in there.
 
The Modi's output is 1.5 volts. I've also used the Magni with a 2 volt DAC, which does drive it noticeably harder. If your source is only 1 volt, that might be an issue. I would suppose the Magni is optimized for a 1.5 volt input.

 
Interesting. If I set the iTunes volume slider to 50%, I think I'd have to turn the Amp to 6 o'clock. I did connect my HD 448 (32 ohm) for comparison sake and they were powered very well.
 
When iTunes is configured for WASAPI 24/96, enabling a flat EQ doesn't color the sound, like it does when iTunes is configured with default settings. I started with a flat EQ and gave a little bump to the lower frequencies to meet my listening needs. I felt the HD 600 needed just a little more in the bass department and now they're perfect.
 
I'm using the Magni with the stock adapter, not sure what voltage that is.

 

[MrMateoHead]

^^^^ RockCray fish -
 
I may be mistaken but the MA Tubemagic plus seems rated for max power of 500 mW x2 (300 Ohms), which translates to 1 Watt at 300 Ohms. Without knowing other specifications, anyway, this is several times the power of the Magni at that impedance. The amp should be able to drive whatever you have at 300 ohms about 6 dB louder, in theory, which is a pretty discernible bump in loudness.
 
That and what I guess are your HDR recordings probably cause the volume 'issue' more than anything else.

 

[roguegeek]

I need help understanding something. I have certain headphones and IEM that sound like absolute crap with the Magni, but other that are equally efficient that sound fine. A Porta Pro sounds fine through it. A PX 100-II or XBA-3 sounds like crap. I know this has to do with a low impedance headphone not being able to work with a high output impedance amp. Bottom line, I don't get it. Is there something someone can point me to that will help me understand this concept or can someone give me a simplified answer? Also, what's the math that needs to be done in order to know if a certain can will work with a certain amp?

 

[antikryst]

^^^^ RockCray fish -
 
I may be mistaken but the MA Tubemagic plus seems rated for max power of 500 mW x2 (300 Ohms), which translates to 1 Watt at 300 Ohms. Without knowing other specifications, anyway, this is several times the power of the Magni at that impedance. The amp should be able to drive whatever you have at 300 ohms about 6 dB louder, in theory, which is a pretty discernible bump in loudness.
 
That and what I guess are your HDR recordings probably cause the volume 'issue' more than anything else.

There's an inherent problem with power ratings. Not all of them measure it the same way.

Schiit measures in RMS meaning it should provide that power consistently. Something that says 500 mw max means it's RMS rating is lower than that. It can reach 500 mw (max power) with higher distortion levels.

Yup. It's marketing. Making you think it's powerful but in reality it's really not.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[antikryst]

My findings are that the Magni is not that loud. Maybe it's my source. I can turn the volume knob all the way up on some tracks and I adjust it to ~12 o'clock for the other, louder, tracks. My Logitech Z-2300's built-in headphone amp seems to be louder.
 
All computer volumes are at 100%, iTunes volume slider at 100% with an EQ to cut the output back by ~3 db.
 
Is this normal for 300ohm cans?

Do not base it solely on volume. The point is getting to loud volumes cleanly with minimal distortion.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk