[Solude]

I'll throw up the other comparisons when the kids are sleeping.  Back soon.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I'll throw up the other comparisons when the kids are sleeping.  Back soon.
 

 
Up next:   The new GS-X and the BHA-1?

 

[Solude]

No  Up next... Guild Wars 2  And getting my Dynaudio situation handled.  Without saying too much, American Musical Supply is terrible and never again will I go down that road.

 

[Solude]

Comparisons incoming versus the Mjolnir...
 
Soloist:  Slightly less detail retrieval, more mid focused, tons less dynamic, slightly better separation and staging, somewhat lifeless
 
B22:  Bottom tilted, tons more rounded, better separation but lower resolution and clarity, imparts itself on the music, less dynamic, better staging
 
Trafomatic:  Probably the most Mjolnir of the bunch, similar tonal balance, slightly less detail, greater staging, similar separation
 
GS-1:  Similar to the Soloist.
 
WA22:  Similar to the B22 with a more 3 blob stage
 
Which if we do the math makes the Mjolnir a great value for that style of character.

 

[hodgjy]

So, it sounds like the HD650 might be a good match for the Mjolnir. Would others agree?

Does the Mjolnir have any turn on/off thump?

Does the topology of the Mjolnir allow it to be run without having a load from the headphones (for power cycles)?

@Sol, how does the Mjolnir compare to the Trafomatic?

 

[Girls Generation]

You mean me? 

Quote:

 
The short of it is the Peak is staying and the Mjolnir is up for sale to the next lucky Canuck.
 

 
Thank you for the insightful A/B.

 

[wotts]

Quote:

Does the Mjolnir have any turn on/off thump?
 

 
I'd say the thump is inconsistent and barely audible. I think I noticed it more with the T1 than my HE-6.

 

[Solude]

Quote:

@Sol, how does the Mjolnir compare to the Trafomatic?

 
Look up  I didn't listen for or notice any thumping.  The power supply is the nice overbuilt type that continues to power the amp after power off for a good 10-20 seconds.

 

[hodgjy]

Well, I'll be.... I looked at that post for a good five minutes and didn't even see that! Thanks!

Look up  I didn't listen for or notice any thumping.  The power supply is the nice overbuilt type that continues to power the amp after power off for a good 10-20 seconds.

 

[Blurpapa]

All 4-pin XLR connectors that I have seen have numbers on the pins. Schiit follows the standard convention as follows:
Pin 1 = Left +
Pin 2 = Left -
Pin 3 = Right +
Pin 4 = Right -
Note if you are rewiring a typical 1/4" plug (TRS) and assuming there are four wires in the cable (Sennheiser, Audeze, etc.), the two wires that are attached to the sleeve are the "-".

Thanks Wilcox! Really appreciate the confirmation.
I re wired my Audeze cables to a mini XLR 4-pin female so will be looking to build a normal 4-pin from the Mjolnir to a mini 4-pin male as an adapter.

Are you planning to build your own interconnects for a balanced connection between your DAC and the Mjolnir too?

Thanks again!

 

[WilCox]

Are you planning to build your own interconnects for a balanced connection between your DAC and the Mjolnir too?

Nope, I've reterminated my HD 800, LCD-2, HD 650, SRH-1840 with 4-pin XLRs, but I'm using Blue Jeans Cable XLRs between my DAC and amp. It's easy to make the balanced interconnects, but when it comes right down to it, I'm lazy I guess.

 

[Blurpapa]

Nope, I've reterminated my HD 800, LCD-2, HD 650, SRH-1840 with 4-pin XLRs, but I'm using Blue Jeans Cable XLRs between my DAC and amp. It's easy to make the balanced interconnects, but when it comes right down to it, I'm lazy I guess.

Yeah. Nothing beats having someone make them for you.

 

[Gary in MD]

Quote:

And the official A/B is complete.  Here we go...
 

 
The short of it is the Peak is staying and the Mjolnir is up for sale to the next lucky Canuck.
 
The long of it is a little more involved.  As with all my reviews this is in comparison, not global.  The Mjolnir is a detail and dynamics monster.  No question it will show you things that went unnoticed, clarify others and just flat out give you jaw dropping detail retrieval.  In the global sense of the word, its likely neutral as well.  But where it falls apart is in separation and staging.  The Peak is more natural, if a touch bottom tilted but what it does well is detail, though not at Mjolnir levels, and separation.  Things just never blend or become a wall with the Peak.  The Mjolnir despite great detail, tended to blend the bass lines into the mid mix.  Staging was mostly left to right, with comparatively more 3 blob staging than the Peak.
 
So in the end it becomes a trade off.  The Peak is more natural sounding, trading some detail and clarity for better separation and staging.  The Mjolnir has more detail retrieval and likely more neutral as well but can feel top tilted and fatiguing if, like me, you are sensitive to that.
 
Bring on the statement amp so I can drop my favourite tube in to tilt it back in my favour and have the best of both

Solude:
 
Thank you for saving me from the brink... at least for the moment.  Despite the fact that I couldn't tell the difference between my old Adcom preamp's HP jack and the Burson HA-160, I was drifting toward the edge of the ledge and was about to jump into a $750 pile of Schitt.  Now I'll at least think about it for a while, because I have found that my overall taste in equipment is very similar to yours (after comparing lots of HPs head to head, I ended up with the LDC-3s, as you might recall), plus my Emotiva DAC is already somewhat top tilted, and I too am sensitive to high frequencies. 
 
Of course, in the end, the siren song of a really nice (if not perfect) balanced amp for $750 might still cause me to take the leap, but first I think I'd rather put the next bucks into some backup cans, such as HD650s or T1s (or both, in the long run).  By then maybe the statement amp will be out, or some other fine piece of hardware will entice me, or I'll just try a Mjolnir... I mean, the landing will only hurt a little, and just for a short time...

 

[Kremer930]

For what it is worth....every time that I get excited and buy some back up cans....I always end up ignoring them too much and the eventually sell them for lack of use. I just can't bring myself to keep a second tier rig. Once I know that it can sound better then it stops getting head time. The only exception to this rule so far has been my portable rig.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Well, I'll be.... I looked at that post for a good five minutes and didn't even see that! Thanks!

 
You'll be what?
 
Horn swoggled?
 
Just wondering, that's all.