artur9
Headphoneus Supremus
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k, no more impressions until after I get mine, please and thank you. I'm not sure I can take anymore ... 
Schiit Mjolnir 3 - Impressions Thread
- Thread starter XERO1
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BigTonkotsu
New Head-Fier
So I just received my Mjolnir today and I am quite impressed. Great energy, dynamics, and soundstage. Thoroughly enjoying it so far. My issue is I am working on desktop organization and found it would be much more beneficial to have my Bifrost/Lokius stacked over the Mjolnir. Heat being a possible problem, I decided to elevate the stack, with speaker isolation feet, on top of Mjolnir giving about 1.5 inches of clearance. Wondering if there is any issue with that weight being localized to one side of the amp or is the chassis rigid/stable enough? Possible silly question but my ocd/anxiety are gnawing at me.
Fortunately, no-one is paying any attention !k, no more impressions until after I get mine, please and thank you. I'm not sure I can take anymore ...
SirIppo
Head-Fier
I want this, now I just gotta see if i can make space for it on my desk. Already have my jot 2 and bifrost 2 but those are pretty small.
SirIppo
Head-Fier
I'd be scared I would tip it over somehow. I just need to see what I need to remove.
Yeah, I guess it’s safer with Yggdrasil sized chassis (thicker) or Bifrost (not as tall)…
You could 3D print some feet to stabilize it.
Huntersknoll
100+ Head-Fier
I'm thinking this will be great for my ZMF Atrium Closed
arftech
500+ Head-Fier
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I wonder what the synergy would be like with the Focal Utopias?
DavidSerig
100+ Head-Fier
Mjolnir 3 is a more general purpose amplifier than Folkvangr.
Not as hot as expected. It did make my dac toasty, so I put some empty boxes for clearance. Folkvangr seems to give off more heat above, M3 may generate more heat below.
The price is very reasonable for what you get. I would guess most companies would charge 2 to 3x the price, and no one would say it's overpriced.
Music sounds gorgeous on this thing. More liquid, with less STUFF between the ear drum and the notes.
With Grado Hemp ... Mjolnir 3 is silent in low and high gain without PP or FB. Channel matching is perfect at the lowest levels. I can hear barely a little hum with PP enabled, with music playing this will be inaudible, and otherwise this thing is silent. Most headphones this 'hum' is not present even in PP mode.
Focal open back, 32 ohms, reasonable sensitivity, sounds great. Synergy is the word that comes to mind. These headphones have not impressed me as anything special until now. XLR.
ZMF Auteur open back, 300 ohm, moderate sensitivity, sounds like Nolan Ryan throwing a wiffle ball. Not bad, just different than I'm used to hearing ZMF. XLR.
Mjolnir 3 does toast bread, but if you want burn marks you'll have to leave it on the heatsink overnight. I'm not that committed to this experiment.
Not as hot as expected. It did make my dac toasty, so I put some empty boxes for clearance. Folkvangr seems to give off more heat above, M3 may generate more heat below.
The price is very reasonable for what you get. I would guess most companies would charge 2 to 3x the price, and no one would say it's overpriced.
Music sounds gorgeous on this thing. More liquid, with less STUFF between the ear drum and the notes.
With Grado Hemp ... Mjolnir 3 is silent in low and high gain without PP or FB. Channel matching is perfect at the lowest levels. I can hear barely a little hum with PP enabled, with music playing this will be inaudible, and otherwise this thing is silent. Most headphones this 'hum' is not present even in PP mode.
Focal open back, 32 ohms, reasonable sensitivity, sounds great. Synergy is the word that comes to mind. These headphones have not impressed me as anything special until now. XLR.
ZMF Auteur open back, 300 ohm, moderate sensitivity, sounds like Nolan Ryan throwing a wiffle ball. Not bad, just different than I'm used to hearing ZMF. XLR.
Mjolnir 3 does toast bread, but if you want burn marks you'll have to leave it on the heatsink overnight. I'm not that committed to this experiment.
ckhirnigs113
Headphoneus Supremus
Could you explain this analogy? Do you mean there’s a lot of hiss? I’m trying to imagine a plastic ball going 100mph, but that doesn’t give me a clue to what you meant here, haha.
DavidSerig
100+ Head-Fier
The individual notes seem to hit faster and leave quicker, and are more distinct from other notes and other instruments -- in space and in time -- than I am used to hearing ZMF. Of course it could be I'm expecting this from solid state and exaggerating how strong this effect is.
The bass notes especially hit with more impact, not deep impact, just a sense of more mass behind the note, which makes the music sound snappy, if you will. I'm used to tubes with ZMF, not the snappiest tubes at that.
Imagine a big man driving a child's toy firetruck. Too much everything, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Sennheiser 6xx does it's magical 'scales with everything' thing with m3. Somehow keeps up with the 4-figure competition not at all embarrassed. Veil? I don't hear no stinking veil! Rips that veil right off! And there is SOUNDSTAGE!
Trouble finding the soundstage in your Sennheiser 650? You need Mjolnir 3.
Mjolnir 3: when mere gorgeous midrange isn't quite enough ....
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An update. The M3 has now been burning in 24+ hours. If you know the Lyr3, this has the same type of ``meat on the bones`` sound, but without any grain and way more ``liquidity`` with a great mid range and easy sounding highs. The sound flows beautifully with much detail that is not in your face. All my listening has been bal from my Auralic Vega using the M3 in class A, low gain, no feedback and bal output to the HE100SE.
The amp is warm to the touch, no more, with a cute orange glow coming out of it`s air vents. Beautiful.
The amp is warm to the touch, no more, with a cute orange glow coming out of it`s air vents. Beautiful.
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I totally agree with you. I got to try MJ3 today with my Auteur Classic at the Schiit meet in Ohio. I have a Lyr+ and was curious whether the MJ3 would be significantly better. For the Auteur Classic, I can say the answer is yes. As you described, the music has a sort of lush / liquid / rich texture to it that's lacking in most solid-state amps. I should note that I only heard this in no-feedback mode. Feedback mode was a big disappointment and I would never use it. I think the Lyr+ is OK with Auteur Classic, but a little too laid-back, a super soft listening experience with rounded note transitions. MJ3 really emphasized the transitions and seemed to have a better control over the drivers. I also felt that the midrange was much more prominent on MJ3, which is a plus for me as I think Auteur Classic has great midrange when powered with certain amps.
I came away thinking I want to own this amp but can't justify the purchase ... most of the headphones I plan to own in the future are power-hungry planars so I am a little worried that "only" two watts is not enough. I understand that there is a lot more to good sound than a high wattage rating but when you are blind-buying headphones costing several thousand dollars, you want to make sure you have an amp that is powerful enough. I think that's going to be a stumbling point for a lot of buyers who are unsure whether the MJ3 is a match for their expensive planar headphones that (allegedly) require small nuclear reactors to drive. But, ultimately I am really glad this product exists and Schiit took the time to make it, knowing that it would never be a big seller. It definitely opened my eyes to what is possible with solid-state designs and different topologies.
Another thought I had is that this amp is NOT "too big", "too heavy", "too hot" or whatever. It failed to light the surrounding furniture on fire and in fact I could put my fingers right above the heat sink, and even touch the heat sink! I expected it to have the mass of a neutron star but it was disappointingly easy to carry.
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