Schiit Magni Headphone Amplifier
Jan 1, 2013 at 1:43 PM Post #601 of 2,252
600ohm AKG Sextett sounds great with this. Not sure if anyone cares. That thing could use a really clear sounding amp and every bit of treble helps.
 
Volume is only at about 25%!! Using the ODAC as my source.
 
Now on to the AKG K601..
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 2:02 PM Post #602 of 2,252
Quote:
600ohm AKG Sextett sounds great with this. Not sure if anyone cares. That thing could use a really clear sounding amp and every bit of treble helps.
 
Volume is only at about 25%!! Using the ODAC as my source.
 
Now on to the AKG K601..


I'm curious to see how this will do with the Q701s, since this now extends my options to this or the E9.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 2:15 PM Post #603 of 2,252
Quote:
I'm curious to see how this will do with the Q701s, since this now extends my options to this or the E9.

 
Right now I prefer the E9 with the Q701 over the Magni, but my Magni needs more use for me to give a better opinion. Magni sounds great with everything i've tried..right now it's a little bit better than before with the Q701. I never thought I'd find an amp that's less warm than my Headroom Micro and E9. The Magni seems less colored than the E9 for sure. A bit thinner so far with the Q701, but impressions are way too early. I guess it doesn't help that i'm using the ODAC.
 
This burn in thing is amusing...at least it gives people something to argue about. Hopefully in another thread
biggrin.gif

 
I'll try the Magni again with the Q701 once I get a few days of use on the amp.
 
So I guess the Magni might be some serious competition to the O2.
 
I should have filmed my reaction of the Q701 and Magni straight out of the box. It wasn't a good experience. I bet HiFiGuy had the same reaction..I hope he put more use into the Magni and tried it again later.
 
NOTE: Still can't believe how perfect the Sextett sounds with this tiny thing.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 4:48 PM Post #605 of 2,252
Quote:
 
Right now I prefer the E9 with the Q701 over the Magni, but my Magni needs more use for me to give a better opinion. Magni sounds great with everything i've tried..right now it's a little bit better than before with the Q701. I never thought I'd find an amp that's less warm than my Headroom Micro and E9. The Magni seems less colored than the E9 for sure. A bit thinner so far with the Q701, but impressions are way too early. I guess it doesn't help that i'm using the ODAC.
 
This burn in thing is amusing...at least it gives people something to argue about. Hopefully in another thread
biggrin.gif

 
I'll try the Magni again with the Q701 once I get a few days of use on the amp.
 
So I guess the Magni might be some serious competition to the O2.
 
I should have filmed my reaction of the Q701 and Magni straight out of the box. It wasn't a good experience. I bet HiFiGuy had the same reaction..I hope he put more use into the Magni and tried it again later.
 
NOTE: Still can't believe how perfect the Sextett sounds with this tiny thing.

Maybe we should get Tyll to try it out
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 6:43 PM Post #606 of 2,252
Sorry, last post deleted
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 6:52 PM Post #607 of 2,252
Quote:
Tell us how the magni and valhalla compare. And tell us what phones you are using. I cant see sigs on the mobile version of this site.

My cans are HiFiMAN HE-500; Grado PS-500, SR-80i; Sennheiser HD-650, HD-600; Audio Technica AHT-AD900 et all.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 7:58 PM Post #608 of 2,252
Quote:
Would not recommend it with the HD800. The HD800 needs a clean source and a great amp.  Been running the Magni now for about 14 hours straight into the HD700.  Although it's smoothed out a little, it's definitely on brighter side of neutral.  For sources, I tried the Dragonfly, AudioEngine D1 and the Bifrost both with optical and USB.  The Bifrost via USB seems to be the best match so far.  Of course, YMMV with source and headphones.
Just to confirm what everyone else is saying - I'm getting channel imbalance at very low volume but it's pretty much dead silent at zero.  It does have gobs of power as I can't turn it up much past 9 or 10 o'clock. It does not have the dynamics or grunt of the Lyr but that's expected at 1/4 of the cost. For the money, and with the right headphones, the Magni is an amazing little amp!

Would love it if you could share some thoughts on Modi/Magni versus your Dragonfly.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 8:18 PM Post #609 of 2,252
Who would want to buy these for a $1.5k headphone (namely the HD800's), completely stupid not to mention the Magni's sound like they have a more brighter sound sig. Even for those looking for a cheaper alternative. 
rolleyes.gif

 
Jan 1, 2013 at 8:25 PM Post #610 of 2,252
600ohm AKG Sextett sounds great with this. Not sure if anyone cares. That thing could use a really clear sounding amp and every bit of treble helps.

Volume is only at about 25%!! Using the ODAC as my source.

Now on to the AKG K601..


My Sextetts are still my fav cans in many respects - so darn lively! Care to elaborate on the differences using the Magni? Thanks!
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 8:43 PM Post #611 of 2,252
Don't have the Modi - just the DF and Magni.  If you don't need the portability, bang for the buck, I'd probably do the Modi/Magni stack. I got the Magni for the additional power over the DF and that it definitely provides.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
Quote:
Would love it if you could share some thoughts on Modi/Magni versus your Dragonfly.

 
Jan 2, 2013 at 4:19 AM Post #612 of 2,252
Quote:
My Sextetts are still my fav cans in many respects - so darn lively! Care to elaborate on the differences using the Magni? Thanks!

 
Biggest difference for me is that they sound much clearer and has a larger soundstage than before. It's imaging/soundstage is impressive compared to the Q701.
I'm still trying to decide if the Magni has slightly more than neutral treble. So far it sure seems like it. I mean it's not painful treble, but it seems to make my DJ100 more trebly than it should be...not 100% sure yet.
The hard thing to figure out is if maybe it's just more revealing of how bad my harsh and treble happy songs are. Who knows...I always called my DJ100 forgiving of such tracks, but no so much with the Magni.
I'm still going to amuse myself and burn this Magni in some more before labeling it as sort of trebly. The treble on my Headroom Micro is just so much smoother and it doesn't roll it off.
 
It is interesting how with more treble you're brain thinks the soundstage increase in size. Maybe it really did. When the soundstage increased in size, there's some tracks where subtle background details go missing in the soundstage. I mean just less present, not missing.
 
BTW my Sextett has always sounded awful. I think it must have been a lemon. I replaced the filter material inside, but with whatever I use it made it too dark(!). I think perhaps someone had used material different than what AKG originally put in there.
Right now mine has no filter foam in place. Sounds a lot clearer than with the filter foam.
 
Also..notice how everyone seems to call all these cold/analytical amps to be "bright". I think I heard that about the O2 numerous times..saying it's not a good match for the Q701 etc.
 
I sure hope it gets better with the Q701...I tried it with the K601 and it just wasn't much fun. Made both a lot thinner than they've been on any other amp.
 
Listening to the DJ100 with the Magni reminds me of EXACTLY how it sounds on the Ipod Touch. Weird. Obviously just some major improvements, but the same general sound.
 
Sorry...I guess I was supposed to talking about the Sextett.
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 7:35 AM Post #613 of 2,252
Quote:
 
So you don't hear a difference in a 128k vs a lossless file? Why do you come to this site?

He didn't say that. He could be referring to 320 kbps MP3 files, and many people here will tell you they don't hear a difference.
 
Anyway, his points are valid. For a proper comparison, one should do a blind listening test (with the mentality that there will be a difference), and it's important to keep factors constant.
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 10:56 AM Post #614 of 2,252
600ohm AKG Sextett sounds great with this. Not sure if anyone cares. That thing could use a really clear sounding amp and every bit of treble helps.

Volume is only at about 25%!! Using the ODAC as my source.

Now on to the AKG K601..


This is making me miss my sextetts
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 11:11 AM Post #615 of 2,252
Don't these 600 ohm AKGs have a sensitivity of about 91 dB SPL @ 1 Vrms?
 
I seriously wonder why Schiit says this amp is fine to drive IEMs. Many on-/over-ear headphones easily reach 115 dB SPL, some in-ears over 130.
This makes the usable volume control range quite small and the channel imbalance probably quite big.
 
:/
 
Anyone using this amp with ~30 ohm headphones?
 

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