[Barra]

  @Barra Hi I would like to hear more of your impressions of the ragnarok and LCD 2 combo you heard and mentioned in this thread.  We might have similar tastes in sound from what little I have read.  Thanks in advance. 

The ROK is a noticeable upgrade from the MOJO, that is for sure - and a better match for the LCD2.2.
 
There are some rare amps that pair well with everything and the ROK is one of them. At our last mini-meet, we were running the HD700, HD800, LCD2.2, HE560, and the HE1000. They all sounded wonderful. However, the HE1000 was the star of the show giving us what seemed to be the best of the HD800 and LCD signature. My second favorite out of that group was my LCD2.2 by a reasonable margin followed by the HD800. The HD800 is a great HP, but its greatness is somewhat limited to classical/acoustic, or as a tool to judge equipment. So out of that group, the LCD2.2 and the HE1000 were winning the race by a good distance. The reason that I tell you this is because while HE1000 won, it was close enough that I have no desire to get the 3x more expensive HE1000 and I can be real happy. This is in part my preference for the LCD's fun and euphoric signature, and because the ROK runs it that well. The other reason I gave you the long story is because the ROK makes everything else sound great as well providing great versatility. With its gain switch, I can even run my CIEMs to new heights. The friend that owns the ROK is running his heavily modded HD800 through them and came from a MOJO, but most people would tell you that the MOJO is not as nice with this breadth of HPs and signatures and certainly not a good match for the HD800. I give the ROK and the LCD2.2 two thumbs up as a great value and both can be had for less than the HE1000.
 
BTW, the Seattle Head-Fi meet is tomorrow, so I will be playing with the ROK/LCD2.2 combo again. I also am hosting the new Eddie Current Zana Deux tube amp which is another magic combo with the LCD2.2. The EC ZD is what I am listening to right now and I can tell you that I would take that over the ROK, but it is double the cost. It again makes all signatures/HPs sound incredible.
 
Two more things about the ROK, the Ygg/Rok stack is a case of 1 plus 1 equals 3. If you can, I would match the two for an otherworldly sound. The last thing is that the ROK has an annoying volume clicking sound due to the volume pot. It is audible and reasonably loud even with no HP plugged in. Just wanted you to know in case you have not heard it in person.

 

[MisterMoJo]

Sweet!  Thanks for the impressions!! 

 

[Shembot]

Has anyone noticed any differences using upgraded power cords with Mjolnir? No cable debates, just personal experiences.

 

[johnjen]

  Has anyone noticed any differences using upgraded power cords with Mjolnir? No cable debates, just personal experiences.

yes
 
JJ

 

[Shembot]

  yes
 
JJ
 

 
JJ, if you don't mind, which cables have you tried and what were the results? 

 

[johnjen]

   
JJ, if you don't mind, which cables have you tried and what were the results? 

Lets see...
 
I have tried the stock POS cable, several intermediate $2-500 cables, shunyata (which I now own) and synergistic research upper end (not their totl stuff), a Silent Source ac cable and several versions of the bottlehead cable kit.
 
After trying the bottlehead kit cables I made several varients using better materials and then 'treated' them by sending them to get cryo treated and then I cooked them on my industrial strength cable cooker.
 
The 4th generation of these remain a 'standard' for me to use as an evaluational tool.
 
It should also be noted that I am running my system on a dedicated 12AWG romex run straight to my electrical panel and I have both a Shunyata and a Synergistic duplex receptacle that my Shunyata power cables plug into.
 
I have also written up an evaluation of the electrical capability of this system and compared it to several other power distribution setups.
 
The results are note worthy.
 
The overall improvements to the SQ are much improved bass, both in resolution and extension down into the subsonic region, better inner details, much greater toe tapping time (emotional involvement with the music), and a host of other improvements, which I have written up as well.
 
JJ

 

[Shembot]

  Lets see...
 
I have tried the stock POS cable, several intermediate $2-500 cables, shunyata (which I now own) and synergistic research upper end (not their totl stuff), a Silent Source ac cable and several versions of the bottlehead cable kit.
 
After trying the bottlehead kit cables I made several varients using better materials and then 'treated' them by sending them to get cryo treated and then I cooked them on my industrial strength cable cooker.
 
The 4th generation of these remain a 'standard' for me to use as an evaluational tool.
 
It should also be noted that I am running my system on a dedicated 12AWG romex run straight to my electrical panel and I have both a Shunyata and a Synergistic duplex receptacle that my Shunyata power cables plug into.
 
I have also written up an evaluation of the electrical capability of this system and compared it to several other power distribution setups.
 
The results are note worthy.
 
The overall improvements to the SQ are much improved bass, both in resolution and extension down into the subsonic region, better inner details, much greater toe tapping time (emotional involvement with the music), and a host of other improvements, which I have written up as well.
 
JJ

 
Wow, comprehensive! Would you mind sharing this write-up, either here or via PM? 

 

[johnjen]

   
Wow, comprehensive! Would you mind sharing this write-up, either here or via PM? 

My write ups (plural) were generated over many months and touch upon a wide variety of related topics including evaluational methods, descriptions of acoustical changes, new 'labels' and 'definitions' for these changes, and results of tests, mostly dealing with the electrical power delivery to my system, and a good deal more.
 
These writeups are all all posted on the PS Audio site in a thread entittled "The elephant in the room"
 
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/the-elephant-in-the-room…
 
I have been a bit remiss in not posting the next 'chapter', but life has intruded into my research.
And additionally I'm poised to implement another major change to my dedicated power feed to my system, which should yeild even more impressive results.
 
JJ

 

[hifimiami]

Shunyata Venom 3...Awesome!

 

[Alphaman0606]

I've searched through this thread to find an answer to my question with no success.  I've seen it asked various times but never saw a real answer.  I'm hoping to get an answer!  I would like to get the Mjolnir but see that it's balanced output only.  I really don't want to convert all my headphones/ IEM's to balanced connections.  I see the benefit in having it for my main non-portable gear.  Has anyone routinely used the 1/4" to XLR adapter successfully with this amp for headphones that didn't have an XLR connection? 

 

[Shembot]

  I've searched through this thread to find an answer to my question with no success.  I've seen it asked various times but never saw a real answer.  I'm hoping to get an answer!  I would like to get the Mjolnir but see that it's balanced output only.  I really don't want to convert all my headphones/ IEM's to balanced connections.  I see the benefit in having it for my main non-portable gear.  Has anyone routinely used the 1/4" to XLR adapter successfully with this amp for headphones that didn't have an XLR connection? 

 
You ​cannot use a 1/4" to XLR adapter with Mjolnir because you can't adapt a single-ended connection to a balanced one. If you tried, then it would be a Bad Day if not for the internal protection of the amp.
 
From the Schiit website FAQ on Mjolnir:
 
That's cool, I'll just use an adapter for my single-ended headphones, right?
One word: boom. Well, not actually, but you will trigger the internal protection.

 

[Alphaman0606]

   
You ​cannot use a 1/4" to XLR adapter with Mjolnir because you can't adapt a single-ended connection to a balanced one. If you tried, then it would be a Bad Day if not for the internal protection of the amp.
 
From the Schiit website FAQ on Mjolnir:
 
That's cool, I'll just use an adapter for my single-ended headphones, right?
One word: boom. Well, not actually, but you will trigger the internal protection.

Thanks!  Sounds like this isn't a good amp for trying out different headphones as most headphones don't come setup with balanced cables.  Sure, I'd invest in having a few of my "best" headphones set up as balanced but not every phone I own.  Hmmm...   Trying to figure out why this is balanced only?   I'm probably not the first to be puzzled by this.

 

[Shembot]

 
Thanks!  Sounds like this isn't a good amp for trying out different headphones as most headphones don't come setup with balanced cables.  Sure, I'd invest in having a few of my "best" headphones set up as balanced but not every phone I own.  Hmmm...   Trying to figure out why this is balanced only?   I'm probably not the first to be puzzled by this.

​
Again, from the Mjolnir FAQ on the Schiit website:
 
​Why ​no single-ended outputs?
The circlotron-style topology is inherently balanced. You can't get a single-ended output from it easily. To do that, we'd have to have an entirely separate gain stage, or sum the outputs, or have some kinda wacked out output-stage-switching arrangement--all of which we tried, and decided they screwed up the basic performance of the amp too much. So, no single ended, sorry.
 
I think the reason others are not puzzled by these questions (and perhaps why they haven't answered them) is that they are already answered on the Schiit website. If you want a Schiit amp that can do both balanced and single-ended and offers endgame-level performance, you should check out Ragnarok.

 

[Eee Pee]

It's explained on their website and many posts on here. Read their FAQ.
 
http://schiit.com/products/mjolnir

 

[Alphaman0606]

Thanks for the replies.  I had been also looking at the Ragnarok.  I saw some disturbing posts about some problems with those so I was really trying to figure out which way to go.  I really didn't want to go into that price range right now especially if it cuts out on me.   We will see what I end up with.