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Schiit Magni 3+ and Heresy Headphone Amp Reviews

Occamsrazor

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RME ADI-2 DAC owner here, but with very little headphones experience...
How do you think the 3+/Heresy would fare connected to this DAC? Would it represent an improvement over the ADI-2's own headphone output? Or would the additional electronics just add additional scope for decreased THD and sound quality?
 

solderdude

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The ADI-2 volume control is much better.
Power wise they are on par. (well the Schiit has a few dB moar power)
The IEM output on the ADI-2 is a pro.

I would keep using the ADI2 DAC headphone out IF I had one but I am sure others think differently.
Pairing a top DAC with the lowest option Schiit amplifier may not be the wisest decision one can make.
 

bboris77

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The + means - indication LED... ?
very Wyrd indeed as on the picture of the 3+ board there is an LED.. they forgot to punch the hole for it ?

Jason actually responded to this on Head-Fi - it is a design choice for the Magni 3+ and they will be eventually phasing it out on the Heresy as well. I honestly don't care either way as I have resorted to using LightDims on most of their equipment anyway.

I can only assume it is a cost-saving measure since they don't have to punch a hole in the top cover and, more importantly, line up the damn LED with the hole when assembling the unit. I remember the nightmare when I had to line up all 3 LEDs on my Bifrost when I upgraded it to Gen5 USB.

All this being said, I do think the red LED is kind of cool on Heresy.
As a compromise solution, perhaps they can keep the LED inside the unit so it shines through the top grille, like on the Asgard 3.
 

kaka89

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Some Schiit products are actually measured good, like the SYS passive pre-amp and Mani phono.

Gald they made another good product in terms of both value and performance!
 

FrantzM

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Hi

This is a superb illustration of the value of criticism and most importantly superb response by a company. Schiit has been the butt of jokes on this forum. These products show they know a thing or two about engineering ... and .. marketing.
Now they will certainly come with a DAC with similarly superb performances, they have shown they can, with these products (Magni 3 and Heresy).. then an issue for their marketing department: how to continue to sell more expensive gears ? I have no doubt that the magazines and Internet fora will help .. the question is no longer clear cut .. But they know their .... err... marketing Shciit, they'll probably find a way ..
Good Schitt
 

JIW

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RME ADI-2 DAC owner here, but with very little headphones experience...
How do you think the 3+/Heresy would fare connected to this DAC? Would it represent an improvement over the ADI-2's own headphone output? Or would the additional electronics just add additional scope for decreased THD and sound quality?

@MC_RME addressed this here:
I would like to clarify this a bit more because people often ask about using the Atom or THX with the ADI, seeing that those devices have partly much better specs. The Atom (and THX) are both analog devices and are measured that way. The ADI's Extreme Power stage can not be measured like that, as one always has the included DAC in the signal path. The ADI's phones output stage is much better than the values the DAC provides. If not then we would not be able to deliver the DAC's data sheet specs at the phones output.

Putting the Atom or THX behind the ADI, connected via RCA or XLR, will limit their performance to that of the DAC. In this regard the above comparison of noise between Atom and DAC might be a bit misleading. Connecting the Atom to the DAC's XLR output would not result in less noise at all. Nor would one get to see the super low THD values of the THX.

Therefore the Atom behind the ADI-2 Pro or DAC is a setup that brings no improvement at all (instead it bypasses the various protection mechanisms that the Extreme Power stage offers). The THX on the other hand has more power and offers balanced operation, which can be a valid reason to add it to a setup.
 

jjcooke

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@T.M.Noble Any intention to send in Asgard 3 for testing? I have seen a lot of those being bought and they look good, would be curious to see how it stacks up against the Magni considering they are both SE.
 

dropbear

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I like these two little baby amps, nice job, I like when Jason is playing around, why not. I am not sure if I am not even more impressed from Magni 3+ than from Heresy, 3+'s discrete design looks very competitive in general, I mean, at least from the point of SINAD...isn't it the only amp with a discrete design with SINAD over 100dB?

But then again...we have Geshelli Archel 2 (I wonder how 2.5 will do) Pro, the little beast of headphone amplifiers.
 

solderdude

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Last edited:

JRG

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an issue for their marketing department: how to continue to sell more expensive gears ?
Could be by adding more connectivity and features, such as balanced inputs and outputs, remote control, several inputs to select, multiple headphones connectors... or even touch screen (as does benchmark with the HPA4).
 

VeerK

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That’s the ASR effect baby, I called it years ago. Good to see more strong performers at the $99 price point, more competition is better for the consumer. That being said, the Heresy is garish, don’t understand why there isn’t an option for the standard silver.
 

Veri

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solderdude

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The Schiit reports are not as easy to read for sure and don't do similar tests.
 

jtwrace

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They actually joined the forum and made the offer in another thread. Both them and us have come a long way!
Maybe @Superdad can come a long way too.

I'm happy to see that Schitt now believes in what you and ASR are doing to send you products to test. It has clearly up'd their game in the audio world from when you first tested their ****** product. Great job @amirm!
 
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