[disastermouse]

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Magni On The Way-DAC and Cable Suggestions Invited
 
I just placed my order for a Magni, now the wait begins. I'll be using it to power my living room, Squeezebox-based, system.
 
I'm still searching for a budget DAC to use with this amp although I can get by with the Squeezebox's internal DAC for the time being. I need a DAC that has optical inputs instead of USB.  I'd love to pick up a Bifrost but that's not going to happen any time soon. The budget is pretty low right now after the amp purchase and pending headphone (probably Mad Dogs) buy, so any help would be great.
 
I'm also considering getting some higher quality, short, RCA cables. I almost ordered the PSYT set from Schiit but held off on that until I did a bit more research. Any suggestions? Now I see that some of you are having static issues. Is that the cables or maybe the USB connection? I won't be using USB on this setup so hopefully that makes a difference.
 
I'm really looking forward to this amp and will post my impressions when I've had a chance to give it a proper listen.

I got G-Snake RCA cables a long time ago before realizing that both the E9 and O2 (weird about those - letter+number and letter+number) need dual RCA into single RCA cables.  So these expensive cables sat in a box until I ordered my Magni.  They look nice but I can't use them with my other amps to find out if they make a difference.  I could AB them with the $5 RCA cables on the Magni.  I'm running an HRT MusicStreamer ii+ to Magni.
 
What's kind of weird about Schiit is that they seem to me to be traditionalists and the USB input on the Bifrost felt like an extra-price capitulation to the winds of change.  It's so weird that they have USB-only input on Modi until you consider them in another way.
 
You can sort of tell that Schiit thinks about problems to solve more than it thinks about a coherently logical and predictable product launch schedule.  I don't have any inside information, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jason and Co. were trying to solve the 'can we kick the crap out of FiiO and NuForce and all the other beginner DAC/Amp producers at a workable price?' question and then went hellbent at that and pared away options till it fit in the $99 box.  I for one am glad that they pared away input, wall wart, and distribution options over sonic ones to great extent, although they admit in their FAQ that they went with designs that they don't normally consider for more expensive gear.
 
All I can find for optical input DACs are either very expensive or very cheap (and therefore of questionable quality).

 

[ninjames]

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Definitely have to disagree. It's not so much just static but lots of noise with poorly shielded cables.
As long as you have good shielding you have nothing to worry about. Most cables won't be a problem at least.
 
Some cables have awful shielding. The Guitar Center Livewire cheap cables and the Monoprice thin ones are awful.
The RCA/GE ones at any Wal-Mart are surprisingly good.
 
If you get Monoprice cables, get the thicker ones which are like 98% plastic.

I'd suggest there's a problem with your Magni or your setup in general, then. My point isn't that there's nothing to gain with a better cable, my point is there's nothing inherently about the Magni in particular that "prefers" a specific kind of cable/shielding. If your noise is originating from your Magni's bias, then there is something wrong with the Magni. Getting better cables to improve your specific setup means you have something faulty because I get zero noise with any of my RCA cables, and since this conversation has started I've done it  with seven or eight different sets.

 

[ruleof72]

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I got G-Snake RCA cables a long time ago before realizing that both the E9 and O2 (weird about those - letter+number and letter+number) need dual RCA into single RCA cables.  So these expensive cables sat in a box until I ordered my Magni.  They look nice but I can't use them with my other amps to find out if they make a difference.  I could AB them with the $5 RCA cables on the Magni.  I'm running an HRT MusicStreamer ii+ to Magni.
 
What's kind of weird about Schiit is that they seem to me to be traditionalists and the USB input on the Bifrost felt like an extra-price capitulation to the winds of change.  It's so weird that they have USB-only input on Modi until you consider them in another way.
 
You can sort of tell that Schiit thinks about problems to solve more than it thinks about a coherently logical and predictable product launch schedule.  I don't have any inside information, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jason and Co. were trying to solve the 'can we kick the crap out of FiiO and NuForce and all the other beginner DAC/Amp producers at a workable price?' question and then went hellbent at that and pared away options till it fit in the $99 box.  I for one am glad that they pared away input, wall wart, and distribution options over sonic ones to great extent, although they admit in their FAQ that they went with designs that they don't normally consider for more expensive gear.
 
All I can find for optical input DACs are either very expensive or very cheap (and therefore of questionable quality).

I think the Magni will be a great pairing for my system as it stands now. As far as the DAC goes, the one in the Squeezebox is supposedly pretty decent, although it's now 6 years old. All my music is ripped/streamed at 16/44khz so I shouldn't have any issues for the time being. I did see the FIIO D03k, a $30 DAC with optical inputs. That is interesting although I wonder if it will be a significant improvement over what the Squeezebox has. It may just be worth the experiment at that price, though.

 

[tdockweiler]

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I'd suggest there's a problem with your Magni or your setup in general, then. My point isn't that there's nothing to gain with a better cable, my point is there's nothing inherently about the Magni in particular that "prefers" a specific kind of cable/shielding. If your noise is originating from your Magni's bias, then there is something wrong with the Magni. Getting better cables to improve your specific setup means you have something faulty because I get zero noise with any of my RCA cables, and since this conversation has started I've done it  with seven or eight different sets.

 
Nothing wrong with my Magni or setup. 100% sure of this. You would really have to be using the same headphones as I am. It's less audible with my HD-650 and Q701. The headphone that makes it the most audible is the DJ100 (TBSE). Completely quiet with ANY cables on my Headroom Micro, E9 and any other amp. Perhaps the Magni is overkill for a 38ohm headphone.
 
It's not that audible really and shouldn't be a problem with normal volume levels. It seems to get worse when you change volume levels. It mostly occurs when no music is playing.
 
The problem was gone when I changed headphone and interconnect cables to ones with better shielding. Zero noise. How is that a problem with my setup when no other amps have this problem even when using the poorly shielded cable?
 
BTW It still occurs when changing sources. It's not caused by the source.
 
Not worried about it since it's gone now.
 
Also, yes I know that the Magni doesn't prefer any specific cables. For anyone that does get noise (not related to USB), use a better shielded cable if you can.
 
It also occurs with any surge protector with noise filtering and without, so it's not bad/noisy power or anything.
 
It is totally bizarre that even a headphone cable with poor shielding could increase levels of noise.
 
My guess is that the Magni is noisier with crappy/poorly shielded cables with low impedance headphones. No idea...

 

[LugBug1]

The Magni isn't perfect, what you are paying for is sound quality. The housing is cheap and it is susceptible to interference. Mobile phone interference for e.g can be heard if your phone is near by. I've had a few amps like this in the past and no cable is going to change it. Best way to eliminate it is to keep the amp as far away from your computer,phone etc as poss.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Google FCC part15B and see for yourselves what it tests for since the magni modi is certified under this section

 

[Kamakahah]

I have a pretty busy setup with tons of cables all over the place and a very confined desk were my magni/modi sit right between my tower and monitor with maybe an inch or two to spare. Top it off using a cheap $5 surge protector in a old condo with terrible wiring (honestly it's like a 5 year old wired this place). I have zero problems. Even when I plugged in a pair of Monoprice 9927 IEMs just for fun, it was silent.
I won't try to comment on what your exact problem might be, but I just wanted to show even in a space that is far from optimal the unit can work problem free.

 

[sunseeker888]

of course the Magni and Modi conform to fcc 15(b). if they didn't, neither would be as popular since both would be considered non-compliant, and relegated to sketchy eBay listings, etc. IMO
 
To have sporadic noise induced into the amp's power supply cord is a totally separate kettle-o-fish.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

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of course the Magni and Modi conform to fcc 15(b). if they didn't, neither would be as popular since both would be considered non-compliant, and relegated to sketchy eBay listings, etc. IMO
 
To have sporadic noise induced into the amp's power supply cord is a totally separate kettle-o-fish.

the charger by itself doesn't seem to be FCC approved although you can't really approve the magni without using a charger, I am assuming the setups involved:
 
 
source+magni+charger
source+modi+magni+charger
source+magni+charger+headphone
source+modi+magni+charger+headphone
source+modi+???
 
since shiit only approves this charger so far, it has to be the only one that was tested with

 

[Kamakahah]

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the charger by itself doesn't seem to be FCC approved although you can't really approve the magni without using a charger, I am assuming the setups involved:
 
since shiit only approves this charger so far, it has to be the only one that was tested with

 
The charge does seem to be the most inconsistent piece of the stack. A number of people have reported problems with it. After trying the setup with different computers and cables, I'd probably point the finger towers the charger.

 

[fihidelity]

I just ordered myself a Magni last night, it says it's in production but hopefully it shouldn't be too long before it's here.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Um--actually, FCC Class B applies only to products with a clock frequency of 9kHz or higher--in this case, Modi.
 
FCC is not required on power amps, wall transformers, etc that do not (a) have a microprocessor or (b) have a switching supply.
 
Modi is FCC compliant, as with all of our DACs. 

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Oh right, I just glossed over FCC approval in the manual didn't notice only applied to modi

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Is the reason the Modi caps at 24/96 for monetary or hardware reasons? Is there an upgrade capability?

 

[USAudio]

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Is the reason the Modi caps at 24/96 for monetary or hardware reasons? Is there an upgrade capability?

 
See the FAQ:  http://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-modi/