[jinu117]

When I had the Ares 2, I tended to use a USB audio bridge to convert it to coaxial. Still using it as a way to get multiple USB sources into the BF2/64. But that bridge was better than the native USB implementation of the Ares. Anyways, there was something special about the midrange with the Ares 2 and the Mjolnir 3. Compared to the BF2/64, the Ares 2 had a more clearly defined negative space around the elements in the mix, whereas the staging on the BF2/64 is more diffuse or less precise. Ultimately, the Ares lacked the bass response I was looking for, which is why I sold it. Now, I've never heard any of the higher end Schiit DACs like the Gungnir or any version of the Yggy. So I can't speak to how they sound, other than to say if there's any "flaw" in the source, the Mjolnir may expose it. Gently. It's that combo of revelation and smoothness that I find so appealing in the Mjolnir 3. I have a lot of poor recordings in my music library and the Mjolnir plays nicely with a surprising amount of it.

Just wondering if your Ares 2 is the 12th-1 edition or prior to (now Enyo)? Thanks!

 

[PopZeus]

Just wondering if your Ares 2 is the 12th-1 edition or prior to (now Enyo)? Thanks!

Ares 2, now considered Enyo. Haven't heard the Ares 12.1 yet. If Denafrips fixed the lack of bass from the Ares 2 for a later revision, it'd really be the only thing wrong with that DAC, especially after the 2023 firmware update did enough to open up the top end on the Enyo/Ares 2.

 

[OhmsClaw]

Live From the Schiitr

 

[theveterans]

How’s the Schiitr experience?

 

[DougD]

Live From the Schiitr [px removed]

Those of you (us) who are close enough to the Schiitr to do a day-trip are very very lucky.

Sadly, I am not.

Which ... to put a positive spin on what is otherwise a tragedy & a miscarriage of justice ... does help me maintain some degree of budget discipline on this hobby.

 

[OhmsClaw]

How’s the Schiitr experience?

Loved it! The Mojolnir 3 is amazing. Will note that the feedback takes some of the edge off but also some of the magic(kind of a plus for extended listening/casual time). I did hook up legend evo 4.4>3.5>1/4" ran single ended no feedback low gain. Amazing. I just would never swap between push pull and single ended with iems plugged up. Did get a solid amount of volume travel with iems in low gain. This amp is the real deal, it's just big, hot and $1200 (and currently backorder 2 weeks for build+ship).

The vali + mimby combo surprised me the most; much better than magni heretic and 3. Really excellent for the price and sound.
Edit 2: Reminds me that Piety is worth it in the small SS form factor; low gain for clarity, high gain for fun (and what makes it worth 50$ more than a Magni).

The Lyr3+ SS mode is not great(unpleasant), tube mode decent.

Jott2 w/ ESS no Bueno. Jott2 + 2/64, much better.

I picked up a Valhalla in black (last call!) and a box of coasters (I will build one).
This bad boy was better than Jott2, Lyr and Midgard(Modius attached) and gave me an excuse as it's a SE triode tube pre-amp .

MJ3 will most likely be regular production.

Gumby may return from the dead.

If I'm free next Thurs I'll go meet Mike and Jason and ask em about Gumby rumors and a FET output LIM Yggy (like OG stage).

PS: based on Roon stats, IU gets play at the Schiitr

 

[theveterans]

Loved it! The Mojolnir 3 is amazing. Will note that the feedback takes some of the edge off but also some of the magic(kind of a plus for extended listening/casual time). I did hook up legend evo 4.4>3.5>1/4" ran single ended no feedback low gain. Amazing. I just would never swap between push pull and single ended with iems plugged up. Did get a solid amount of volume travel with iems in low gain. This amp is the real deal, it's just big, hot and $1200 (and currently backorder 2 weeks for build+ship).

The vali + mimby combo surprised me the most; much better than magni heretic and 3. Really excellent for the price and sound.
Edit 2: Reminds me that Piety is worth it in the small SS form factor; low gain for clarity, high gain for fun (and what makes it worth 50$ more than a Magni).

The Lyr3+ SS mode is not great(unpleasant), tube mode decent.

Jott2 w/ ESS no Bueno. Jott2 + 2/64, much better.

I picked up a Valhalla in black (last call!) and a box of coasters (I will build one).
This bad boy was better than Jott2, Lyr and Midgard(Modius attached) and gave me an excuse as it's a SE trident tube pre-amp .

MJ3 will most likely be regular production.

Gumby may return from the dead.

If I'm free next Thurs I'll go meet Mike and Jason and ask em about Gumby rumors and a FET output LIM Yggy (like OG stage).

PS: based on Roon stats, IU gets play at the Schiitr

Wow thanks for detailed report!

Congrats on your Valhalla 2! It'll be an amazing preamp for sure!

I went there a few weeks ago and happy to see IU still shows up on Roon stats

Glad you enjoyed the MJ3! It's on top of the Gumby which by itself gets pretty warm so the MJ3 will be cooler when it's on its own. So did the MJ3 convince you to order it as a reference headphone amp?

Funny you mentioned about the Vali 2++, yes it's actually Schiit's secret weapon for IEMs. Some IEMs sound like magic with the Vali 2++ especially the Campfire IEMs and hybrid IEMs

Hold up, Jason will be at Schiitr on Thursday? I was so close to predicting that they'll use the MIB chip, but went with LIM instead for the discrete stage

 

[artur9]

PSA:

This amp plays so cleanly that use of the volume knob may be done recklessly.

Watch your volume, protect your hearing. (advise I'm finding hard to follow at the moment, with my early 80s rock...)

 

[OhmsClaw]

Wow thanks for detailed report!

Congrats on your Valhalla 2! It'll be an amazing preamp for sure!

I went there a few weeks ago and happy to see IU still shows up on Roon stats

Glad you enjoyed the MJ3! It's on top of the Gumby which by itself gets pretty warm so the MJ3 will be cooler when it's on its own. So did the MJ3 convince you to order it as a reference headphone amp?

Funny you mentioned about the Vali 2++, yes it's actually Schiit's secret weapon for IEMs. Some IEMs sound like magic with the Vali 2++ especially the Campfire IEMs and hybrid IEMs

Hold up, Jason will be at Schiitr on Thursday? I was so close to predicting that they'll use the MIB chip, but went with LIM instead for the discrete stage

I will be ordering one when I move into my final duty station up in WA, that sucker is TOO big and my car is already jam packed as is (and the desk at the Navy Lodge is only so big XD). I wish the store had another Yggy to hook up to the MJ3 but with limited stock he's only got one flavor and it's the MIB in the stereo room .

I tried to do some backwards sleuthing with Gumby serials for which version they were A1/A2/Unison ETC. but I couldn't find an easy place as my Google-fu was lacking. I noticed they had some regular BF2's collecting dust on the shelves T_T.

Of course, that was you playing Lilac! Yes, next Thurs at 6PM will be a Schiitr meet (if I remembered that correctly, definitely next Thurs, not 100% on that time ESP since that's retail closing time. But that makes sense too).

 

[RobWilde]

So after a week of MJ3 ownership, a hundred hours of burn in and plenty of listening, I have reached a personal conclusion.

When I began a hi end headphone journey, I went after detail, and had Audeze cans, but after a while I prioritised comfort and non-fatiguing listening. I now work in a home office with headphones on for over twelve hours a day, and after trying a lot of equipment I settled on a Chord M Scaler / Dave into a McIntosh MHA200 into Meze Elites. The Meze are superbly comfortable and I can wear them all day, and the system was wide and deep. I’ve had this for eighteen months. (For reference, I preferred the MHA to a Burson Soloist 3X GT.)

But there’s a problem. In my lounge I have the pride and joy of my setup, a Sugden A21SE Signature Pure Class A Amp. It’s just the most musically brilliant bit of kit and endgame for me. If it breaks I won’t browse, I’ll just buy another one.

The problem, was the headphone setup lacked that magic. When I heard Schiit was making a pure class A headphone amp for class A nuts, I was interested. When this thread said it worked well with Chord and Meze I decided to try it and have one imported into the UK…. And I’m impressed. In fact I’m thrilled. Its still wide and deep, there’s detail but it’s an organic sound, you can listen to it all day and at the end you’re still thrilled to be doing so.

I haven’t tried the high gain, feedback and push pull settings yet, and I will, but I’m sold on this basic configuration. After Christmas, the MHA will go into the classifieds. The MJ3 is a wonderfully musical bit of kit, at a really great price.

 

[newToAudio100]

Any mj3 owners have a kara or freya+ to compare the mj3 to? What about valhalla?

I have a speaker setup at a different location than my headphone setup. I'm using tekton electron se speakers and was considering my pre options. I took advantage of hifimans sale and also ordered a sundara stealth refurbished to have as a headphone at the second set up away from my 1266/susvara setup.

 

[Grunt66]

Ordered two wide monitor stands from Amazon for use with my Schiit stack. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M8P9436?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 . Due to the width of the Folkvangr and MJ3 both at 16" there were limited options.

 

[OhmsClaw]

So after a week of MJ3 ownership, a hundred hours of burn in and plenty of listening, I have reached a personal conclusion.

When I began a hi end headphone journey, I went after detail, and had Audeze cans, but after a while I prioritised comfort and non-fatiguing listening. I now work in a home office with headphones on for over twelve hours a day, and after trying a lot of equipment I settled on a Chord M Scaler / Dave into a McIntosh MHA200 into Meze Elites. The Meze are superbly comfortable and I can wear them all day, and the system was wide and deep. I’ve had this for eighteen months. (For reference, I preferred the MHA to a Burson Soloist 3X GT.)

But there’s a problem. In my lounge I have the pride and joy of my setup, a Sugden A21SE Signature Pure Class A Amp. It’s just the most musically brilliant bit of kit and endgame for me. If it breaks I won’t browse, I’ll just buy another one.

The problem, was the headphone setup lacked that magic. When I heard Schiit was making a pure class A headphone amp for class A nuts, I was interested. When this thread said it worked well with Chord and Meze I decided to try it and have one imported into the UK…. And I’m impressed. In fact I’m thrilled. Its still wide and deep, there’s detail but it’s an organic sound, you can listen to it all day and at the end you’re still thrilled to be doing so.

I haven’t tried the high gain, feedback and push pull settings yet, and I will, but I’m sold on this basic configuration. After Christmas, the MHA will go into the classifieds. The MJ3 is a wonderfully musical bit of kit, at a really great price.

When I saw Currawong lament the MJ3 was just better than every solid state he owns/has auditioned that sealed it for me. Luckily, I could drive down 3 hours and hear it for myself. I used to want a GSX-Mini in Purple satin and settled for a SA-1 (I had just bought my Verite Closed and my wallet was hurting), then the Bliss came out. Now the MJ3 exists for $2,600 less AND is end game Class A.

That MHA200 with improved volume pot is really a piece of art plus the 3x impedance matching output transformers! Someone's going to be happy they don't have to import one! Now you're going to have to audition the new Meze Empy 2

 

[newToAudio100]

When I saw Currawong lament the MJ3 was just better than every solid state he owns/has auditioned that sealed it for me. Luckily, I could drive down 3 hours and hear it for myself. I used to want a GSX-Mini in Purple satin and settled for a SA-1 (I had just bought my Verite Closed and my wallet was hurting), then the Bliss came out. Now the MJ3 exists for $2,600 less AND is end game Class A.

That MHA200 with improved volume pot is really a piece of art plus the 3x impedance matching output transformers! Someone's going to be happy they don't have to import one! Now you're going to have to audition the new Meze Empy 2

It really is that good. I've owned the bliss kte and sold it. I also bought the Niimbus and plan on doing the same with a few other high end solid states. Buying and selling to try them. Niimbus is crystal clear and has more detail and separation on soundstage than mj3 but mj3 has more heft to the sound with a hint of warmth. I was mainly using mj3 for a while but now I'm mainly using Niimbus. Also the Niimbus is 5x as expensive as the mj3 new. Curious to see how headamp cfa3 will be. I also might try using the mj3 as a pre to the Niimbus just for fun.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

It really is that good. I've owned the bliss kte and sold it. I also bought the Niimbus and plan on doing the same with a few other high end solid states. Buying and selling to try them. Niimbus is crystal clear and has more detail and separation on soundstage than mj3 but mj3 has more heft to the sound with a hint of warmth. I was mainly using mj3 for a while but now I'm mainly using Niimbus. Also the Niimbus is 5x as expensive as the mj3 new. Curious to see how headamp cfa3 will be. I also might try using the mj3 as a pre to the Niimbus just for fun.

Sounds like the value proposition is head-and-shoulders better on the MJ3. That makes me cherish mine even more!