[wirewiggler]

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.

 

[artur9]

.... M3 may generate more heat below. ...

Definitely my experience. The top was warm-to-hot, the bottom was uncomfortably hot-to-hotter.

 

[train3053]

Definitely my experience. The top was warm-to-hot, the bottom was uncomfortably hot-to-hotter.

I have been thinking about getting one, do you think it is possible to use it in a stack or should it be totally separate and maybe get it off the surface a bit to avoid too much heat from below?

 

[Topo47]

I have been thinking about getting one, do you think it is possible to use it in a stack or should it be totally separate and maybe get it off the surface a bit to avoid too much heat from below?

currently my Freya+ sits off the table, not that it's a heat issue, but because I needed more room to occasionally turn the volume knob, as well as the idea to place the Bifrost under the Freya. thats 61.5mm space. Expecting the Urd and the Mule-ear 3 in the next month. Stacking does not seem to be the plan with out space to breath. I'm assuming that Schiit permits chassis to chassis stacking without concern for heat, whether emanating from the top or the bottom. But. I'm audiophilia-nervous...so I'll make space between components...i'm not desk-topping,...rather table-topping with area to spread chassis, and making room to breath..., but I'm just guessing at the future

 

[train3053]

currently my Freya+ sits off the table, not that it's a heat issue, but because I needed more room to occasionally turn the volume knob, as well as the idea to place the Bifrost under the Freya. thats 61.5mm space. Expecting the Urd and the Mule-ear 3 in the next month. Stacking does not seem to be the plan with out space to breath. I'm assuming that Schiit permits chassis to chassis stacking without concern for heat, whether emanating from the top or the bottom. But. I'm audiophilia-nervous...so I'll make space between components...i'm not desk-topping,...rather table-topping with area to spread chassis, and making room to breath..., but I'm just guessing at the future

Thanks! I have a folkvangr already and it gets pretty hot but mostly on top of the unit. I expect the Freya+ is similar. Ive got a desktop setup so I'm not super keen to decrease my space by separating the units, maybe I need to get a self unit or something to allow me to keep the two space heater separate.

 

[Melineous]

I prefer high-gain on MJ3 when driving LCD5 regardless of volume level... just sonically more "impactful"...

Same here. I preferred high gain on both LCD5 and Susvara. It might be a planar thing idk lol. If I get Susvara to approximately the same volume on low gain and high gain. Then high gain will seem to have more bass impact.

 

[artur9]

I have been thinking about getting one, do you think it is possible to use it in a stack or should it be totally separate and maybe get it off the surface a bit to avoid too much heat from below?

I put my Linn Akurate under it with some feet as spacers (and cork to insulate) in my new Line Phono Turntable Stand, extra tall. In that 7" high shelf.

After about 2-3 hours the top of the Linn was warm, like cup-of-coffee-after-15m warm. Seems ok.

I'd like it better if the Linn were less tall so I could have used taller spacers...

 

[evanescent]

Is this a Schiit trait? Be it Lyr 3, Mjolnir 2, Valhalla 2 I always preferred high-gain setting to low-gain setting — irrespective of volume level …

Many Schiit amps implement low-gain by adding global feedback. For example, MJ2 has zero feedback in high gain, and feedback in low gain.

MJ3 is different with seperate gain and feedback switches.

 

[istoneray]

The old CD player balances output to the MJ3, providing a warm, clear sound that is enjoyable to listen to on a wonderful afternoon.

 

[gahan]

Anyone tried this one with DCA Expanse?

 

[newToAudio100]

Trying mjolnir 3 with t+a dac 200 right now and it scales really well with a more resolving dac. Going to pair dac 200 with Niimbus today to really get a sense of how far mj3 can go compared to the most clear amp I've ever heard. Only complain about Niimbus is the volume control distortion as the relay system clicks during adjustment.

I previously compared mj3 to Niimbus off the yggy og a2 but haven't posted about it. I'll compare them both with dac 200 in a few hours.

 

[PopZeus]

If anyone with some experience can answer, I'd be curious to know how good/pointless would it be to pair the Mjolnir 3 with something as endgame as the Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC? There's this weird dead zone with DACs, roughly between $1200-$3000 where there aren't a lot of highly recommended DACs available. Since there are so many options to the Spring, I'm not sure which level is the right fit for an amp like the Mjolnir 3. Would going full-on level 3 Kitsune tuned be overkill or can the amp extract all the nuance and detail from the highest tier?

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

If anyone with some experience can answer, I'd be curious to know how good/pointless would it be to pair the Mjolnir 3 with something as endgame as the Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC? There's this weird dead zone with DACs, roughly between $1200-$3000 where there aren't a lot of highly recommended DACs available. Since there are so many options to the Spring, I'm not sure which level is the right fit for an amp like the Mjolnir 3. Would going full-on level 3 Kitsune tuned be overkill or can the amp extract all the nuance and detail from the highest tier?

Don't own a Holo Audio Spring 3, so I won't be able to offer any meaningful insight on what you actually asked.

With that said…

Gungnir MB, which sat at the lower end of the price range you mention, is a fantastic DAC to pair with the Mjolnir 3. Not just in terms of design and form factor, but also sonically. It's my go-to DAC to use with Mjolnir 3.
I've also used my Mjolnir 3 with my Yggdrasil OG, which sits at the upper end of your price range.

As a personal rule: The better the DAC, the better your overall result. Sure, some people insist that they can't hear a difference between DACs, but I'm not those people. Plugging a $150 Piety into a $3,000 Yggy gives you fantastic results, while plugging a $3,000 headphone amp into some random $150 DAC gives you little more than a headache.

Mjolnir 3 might be the most transparent headphone amp I've ever heard. It pretty much disappears in your chain. What you feed in is what you'll get out.

So, long story short: When it comes to the Mjolnir 3, I wouldn't skimp on the source. If there's a headphone amp that allows you to get the best out of a truly high-end DAC, it's this one.

 

[newToAudio100]

If anyone with some experience can answer, I'd be curious to know how good/pointless would it be to pair the Mjolnir 3 with something as endgame as the Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC? There's this weird dead zone with DACs, roughly between $1200-$3000 where there aren't a lot of highly recommended DACs available. Since there are so many options to the Spring, I'm not sure which level is the right fit for an amp like the Mjolnir 3. Would going full-on level 3 Kitsune tuned be overkill or can the amp extract all the nuance and detail from the highest tier?

I've owned a few pure solid states from magni, hdva600, mj3, bliss kte, and Niimbus. Mj3 is in a lot of cases inbetween bliss and Niimbus inbeing able to extract all of the nuances.

Niimbus presents more resolution and clarity than mj3 and is extremely neutral across the frequency range but it is also more expensive than bliss kte and mj3.

From my experience mj3 is capable of extracting more details than bliss kte especially in the treble region. Bliss kte is still very detailed but it sits on the smooth/warm side over detail.

Mj3 is slightly smooth in the mid range but presents raw detail over being warm and smooth. It will extract a lot of detail even for susvara. Mj3 is not bright and it is not fatiguing. It amplifies in a very beautiful way presenting detailed imagery and has a ton of dynamic power and slam.

If pure resolution is what you seek you might want to look into higher priced amps like Niimbus. If you want detail but also slightly rounded treble and warm/smooth sound look into something like bliss. Mj3 is worthy of owning and an amazing amp. Only way I'll sell mj3 is if I find a setup I want to keep for a few years I like more. I'm trying many amps right now and might sell some of my gear over the next few months such as some headphones and maybe yggy og a2.

 

[PopZeus]

Don't own a Holo Audio Spring 3, so I won't be able to offer any meaningful insight on what you actually asked.

With that said…

Gungnir MB, which sat at the lower end of the price range you mention, is a fantastic DAC to pair with the Mjolnir 3. Not just in terms of design and form factor, but also sonically. It's my go-to DAC to use with Mjolnir 3.
I've also used my Mjolnir 3 with my Yggdrasil OG, which sits at the upper end of your price range.

As a personal rule: The better the DAC, the better your overall result. Sure, some people insist that they can't hear a difference between DACs, but I'm not those people. Plugging a $150 Piety into a $3,000 Yggy gives you fantastic results, while plugging a $3,000 headphone amp into some random $150 DAC gives you little more than a headache.

Mjolnir 3 might be the most transparent headphone amp I've ever heard. It pretty much disappears in your chain. What you feed in is what you'll get out.

So, long story short: When it comes to the Mjolnir 3, I wouldn't skimp on the source. If there's a headphone amp that allows you to get the best out of a truly high-end DAC, it's this one.

I've owned a few pure solid states from magni, hdva600, mj3, bliss kte, and Niimbus. Mj3 is in a lot of cases inbetween bliss and Niimbus inbeing able to extract all of the nuances.

Niimbus presents more resolution and clarity than mj3 and is extremely neutral across the frequency range but it is also more expensive than bliss kte and mj3.

From my experience mj3 is capable of extracting more details than bliss kte especially in the treble region. Bliss kte is still very detailed but it sits on the smooth/warm side over detail.

Mj3 is slightly smooth in the mid range but presents raw detail over being warm and smooth. It will extract a lot of detail even for susvara. Mj3 is not bright and it is not fatiguing. It amplifies in a very beautiful way presenting detailed imagery and has a ton of dynamic power and slam.

If pure resolution is what you seek you might want to look into higher priced amps like Niimbus. If you want detail but also slightly rounded treble and warm/smooth sound look into something like bliss. Mj3 is worthy of owning and an amazing amp. Only way I'll sell mj3 is if I find a setup I want to keep for a few years I like more. I'm trying many amps right now and might sell some of my gear over the next few months such as some headphones and maybe yggy og a2.

So, what you're saying is I better start saving, eh? lol Tbh, I need to upgrade my source first. I wish Mac and iPhone wasn't so closed off from bit-perfect audio, forcing me to consider something like the R7 in my chain in order to make any downstream upgrades worth it. It'll take some time for the Mjolnir 3 to be fully complemented, but I'm glad I'm pretty flippin happy with the current sound.