[TsKen]

Do you only have the Liist tubes? Also try it with a different source. I did have a similar problem when I bought a used MJ2. Max volume was still too quiet. Also, switching gain settings put the amp in protection mode. I ended up returning it. I hope you get it working because I know its a great amp and I still want to try it again someday.

I have the stock tubes and the Sylvania tubes as well.
 
I tried it with my Chord Mojo which actually gets loud enough if I increase the volume on my dac(Chord Mojo).
 
But that's not really amping it through the Mjolnir 2 but through the Chord Mojo instead....
 
When I run the Chord Mojo + Speedball crack, I barely have to increaes the volume on the Chord Mojo.
 
It sounds like I have the same problem as you. 
 
Did you have to pay any shipping fees when you returned it?
 
I'm kind of annoyed because first Fedex lost my package and I had to wait much longer to receive my Mjolnir 2. In addition to all of this, my Mjolnir 2 is defective and I probably have to pay $40-50 to ship it back to Schiit.. Hope they don't charge the 5% fee on me for returning a defective product.

 

[watchnerd]

  A question to the Mjolnir 2 owners.
 
I just got mine yesterday and I hooked it up to my modi multibit....
 
Problem is that it doesn't drive my HD 650 or HD 800 loud enough..
 
I'm honestly surprised because I thought the Mjolnir 2 is suppose to be extremely powerful.
 
I have it turned up maxed 100% volume and the knob turned all the way on high gain and it's only moderately loud with my HD 650.
 
Am I doing something wrong?
 
It's surprising that my crack speedball can drive both my headphones and the volume better than the mjolnir 2.
 
I'm using LISST tubes btw.
 
With other tubes, it gets loud enough at MAX volume...
 
did I get a defective Mjolnir 2?...

 
Which gain setting are you using?
 
The MJ2 puts out way more power than you need for Sennheisers.

 

[TsKen]

   
Which gain setting are you using?
 
The MJ2 puts out way more power than you need for Sennheisers.

I'm using the high-gain.
 
The Low-gain is pretty much unusable because it's wayyy too quiet

 

[DivergeUnify]

I'm using the high-gain.

The Low-gain is pretty much unusable because it's wayyy too quiet

are you using xlr or quarter inch?

 

[TsKen]

are you using xlr or quarter inch?

quarter inch

 

[cskippy]

You could email Schiit.  See what they say.  Do try it in another location, different source, power cord, etc just to rule everything out.  Also, don't have anything else hooked up except rca cables and headphones.  

 

[DivergeUnify]

quarter inch

it's not a very powerful amp unless you're using it in balanced configuration via XLR.

Balanced is 8w into 32 ohm.
Unbalanced aka quarter inch is only 2w.

It still should be pretty loud anyways so maybe something is aloof in your PC settinga

 

[Rowethren]

Even single ended max volume should be enough to explode your ears to be honest... I would email support about it.

 

[watchnerd]

Unbalanced aka quarter inch is only 2w.

 
Only 2W, aka 2000mW.
 
Do you know how insanely overpowered that is for most cans?
 
We're talking Sennheisers, here...not the deep end of the pool.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Yeah quarter inch is quite tame. I always need to put it on high gain for the unbalanced Q701 (when I use it, which is rare).

 

[zabzaf]

I've owned M2 and the original before that. Something is wrong. That thing is insanely powerful on every headphone it's driven. Schiit support should be able to assist you.

 

[FLTWS]

I've owned M2 and the original before that. Something is wrong. That thing is insanely powerful on every headphone it's driven. Schiit support should be able to assist you.

 
I agree, never had to set my volume knob beyond 1 o'clock even at the low gain setting on SE input with MJ2 with any of my headphones.

 

[kolkoo]

  quarter inch

HD800 are 300ohm headphones and MJ2 will output ~215 mW into 300ohm single ended and 850 mW balanced.
At 211 mW HD800 driven by an MJ2 SE should be as loud as around 120 dB.
However if you like it really loud and you want 125 dB let's say you will need 667.07 mW!
 
And the above calculation may vary between tubes and LISST as they can have different internal voltage gain.
So yeah what you say is about right high gain + maxed out you will get 120dB with stock tubes generally.
Switch your HD800 cable to balanced. Just to compare the Lyr2 can dish out 660mW SE into 300ohm.
=============
I wanted to ask MJ2 owners that also use it as a preamp a question as I'm considering a purchase - how annoying is the fact that preamp outputs won't be muted when you plug-in headphones?
I know that if I want to I can get another preamp like the Saga and turn it off when I want to listen to headphones, but what are you guys using for this situation?
 
I'm currently using http://www.keene.co.uk/keene-volume-remote-control-worldwide-psu.html with my Lyr 2 as a preamp, but the Keene doesn't mute properly and also can't be turned off and on using the remote, and also produces crackle if my Lyr 2 is above 80% on the volume pot, so I've been wondering if any of you MJ2 users have this figured out.
 
The Saga does seem tempting but this introduces an additional tube I'd have to replace (and I'm already way way way invested into 6DJ8/6922/7308/7DJ8 family tubes) even if I want to just use passive mode it seems that the tube will be needed and will be dying slowly.

 

[Delayeed]

Couldn't you use the preamp output switch as well... "a switch". For example if you have balanced powered monitors/speakers but nothing in the single-ended pre-outs you could switch to single ended for "off" and balanced for "on"?

 

[kolkoo]

  Couldn't you use the preamp output switch as well... "a switch". For example if you have balanced powered monitors/speakers but nothing in the single-ended pre-outs you could switch to single ended for "off" and balanced for "on"?

Does the MJ2 have an output switch? I think all the outputs are on all the time from what I understand.
 
My monitors are SE and I plan to switch my headphones to balanced.