I received my Midgard today and spent several hours listening, comparing halo and normal topologies as well as comparing it to a more expensive amp. Let’s cut to the chase with what everyone wants to know: is Halo technology going to turbocharge your enjoyment of music with the One Weird Trick Big Audio Doesn’t Want You to Know™? Will it finally make the long-ago promise of Perfect Sound Forever™ come true?
Er, no. It does sound a tiny bit different though, and I'll give my subjective impressions which may vary dramatically from yours, given the tiny nature of the differences between modes. My very first impression of Halo was a) all instruments sounded more substantial, with greater body and weight and b) the soundstage was larger. As I listened more, the former impression remained while I found out the latter is most likely a false impression from hearing more realistic timbre, slightly better instrument separation, and slightly better detail.
No matter whether I listened with my Focal Clear or ZMF Auteur Classic, I found Halo to make the tone of instruments more realistic and less strident / shrill. The overall sound of songs became less forward, less ragged, and less aggressive when moving from the regular jack to Halo. This effect reminded me of moving from a decent DAC that suffers from “digititis” (Topping D50) to a Schiit multibit DAC with a much more natural tone. If that sounds great to you, let me caveat this by saying the effect I heard is about 20 times smaller than an what I heard switching DACs and it did take me a couple hours of switching back and forth like a madman to settle my impressions.
I also perceived Halo to bring out a little more detail than the normal topology, but this may be a function of more realistic timbre. For example, on the track My Shining Hour from the Bill Charlap Trio’s Live at the Village Vanguard, cymbals and high-hats sounded more realistic and more detailed with Halo on both the ZMF and Focal, but the difference was tiny. In the opening to songs with prominent drum “solos” like Taylor Swift’s Story of Us or the Joy Formidable’s Chimes, I perceived Halo to bring out more detail in the drum strikes.
The effect of Halo was more pronounced with my Focal. Some have criticized this headphone for sounding “metallic”. The largest effect of Halo I perceived was to tame this slight harshness. In the piano solos of My Shining Hour or Diana Krall’s Here With You, piano notes from the Focal sounded less strident and more weighty with Halo. In general, I found this taming of harshness effect to be much less (basically unnoticeable) on the ZMF which is already a very smooth headphone with great natural timbre. I believe that effects of Halo will vary from “able to tell 100% in a blind test” to “completely unnoticeable” depending on the headphone being used.
Overall, my belief is that the Halo effect does exist, but it is very very small. I believe that with the right headphone and practice, you could easily tell Halo from the normal topology in a quick switching blind test. I also believe that most people could easily be fooled if you put it in normal mode and told them it was in Halo mode. I also think that the Halo effect is one of those weird audio things where it’s hard to pin down exactly where the difference is coming from – it’s more of a gestalt difference than something like a wider soundstage or more bass.
But there’s more to the story…
Would you believe me if I said that Halo is the most boring thing about this amplifier?
The Halo debate overshadows the most important thing about the Midgard, which is that it is extremely good for the price. It is so good that if you are reading this now as someone who is new to the hobby and looking for your first amp, you should buy the Midgard without even considering any other amplifier.
To see how good the Midgard is, I compared it against the Schiit Lyr+ I own. All comparisons were level-matched. I was debating which modes to use since both amps have dual modes, but I settled on using tube mode for Lyr because it sounds better than solid-state mode and brings out the unique strengths of the Lyr. I used NON-halo mode for the Midgard because I wanted to see what its performance would be as just a regular amp. I figured that newbies who buy this as their starter amp probably would not have balanced cables. The Lyr+ costs $650 with tube and the Midgard costs $230, so based on The Absolute Sound / Stereophile law of more money spent on audio component = more veils removed and more windows opened on the sound, the Lyr+ should handily beat the Midgard. My impressions by song are below. Note that impressions are averaged between the Focal Clear and ZMF Auteur Classic because I didn’t want to make this post twice as long, and my impressions mostly agreed between headphones.
Here With You by Diana Krall (Live in Paris)
Midgard: notes more well-delineated, sound “sharper”, a bit more forward, aggressive, and solid-state without veering into the sterile and harsh category. Slightly better bass than Lyr, which is a surprise. Not losing much to the Lyr.
Lyr: More realistic sound from all instruments and more detail. Much more laid-back sound as a characteristic of this amplifier. Electric guitar has special halation or inner glow not present with Midgard.
Waka Waka by Shakira (Sale el Sol) - the good remix version, not the meh normal version
Midgard: Lots of very well-controlled bass. Bass almost too much of a good thing with Focal Clear. Vocals sound extremely well-articulated and captivating, but more neutral than the romantic Lyr. Decent detail retrieval.
Lyr: Slightly fuzzier overall sound. More romantic and smooth vocals. Similar level of bass but may be less well controlled than Midgard. It’s difficult to tell any difference in detail retrieval.
I Feel Your Love by Luli Lee (single)
Midgard: More neutral sound than Lyr, but the complex tonality of the vocals and piano is still apparent. Piano notes just as weighty as with Lyr. Vocals go slightly into sibilance territory sometimes.
Lyr: Everything is super-rich with layered tonality that evolves as the note goes on. Super long decays. Could be a bit too dark / romantic for some listeners – like eating chocolate that’s too sweet. Lyr+ makes vocals silky smooth and gives the impression of listening in one’s own personal jazz club.
西邊 by淺堤 (Live On 臺華輪)
Midgard: A bit bright, but sounds good. Again, very neutral presentation with great separation of notes. Bass is just as good as Lyr, which doesn’t seem like it should be possible.
Lyr: Less bright. Both vocals and guitar sound incredibly smooth, absolutely no trace of harshness, and natural timbre. Vocals are sweet enough to make you fall in love with the singer.
My TL;DR is that the Midgard has straightforward, neutral, and unadorned sound compared with the Lyr+, which can make it seem a tiny bit sharp or harsh if you are used to a more laid-back sound like the Lyr. The Lyr has better timbre, more detail, and smoother vocals. I cannot say enough how good female vocals sound from the Lyr, especially with the ZMF. They both have excellent bass. I didn’t try very hard to tell soundstage apart, but they both had pretty similar staging. The Midgard better delineated notes, while the Lyr had slightly rounded transients. Despite having less detail than the Lyr, the Midgard was pretty close in detail retrieval and I actually had a hard time finding details the Midgard missed.
So, the Midgard doesn’t win, but it still sounds pretty good in comparison with the same company’s amplifier that costs more than twice as much. I would be pretty happy with the Midgard as my only amp and intend on keeping it to use as the center of an office hi-fi system. I really have a lot of respect for Schiit pushing the boundaries of performance at a price that most people can afford, as I believe this is a far more difficult challenge than just creating “the best” amp with the ideal topology and world’s most perfect parts that is sold for four, five, ten, or twenty thousand dollars to the 17 lucky people who can afford it.
-Post Script- Along with the Midgard, I also received my Heddphone Two today. After writing up all the above, I tried the Heddphone Two with the Midgard. I didn't do such a detailed comparison but I can say it sounds great and Schiit has made a $230 amp that pairs fairly well with a $2000 headphone.
