Schiit Magni Heretic Headphone Amp Review

[don'ttrustauthority]

Schiit laat de rest een poepie ruiken.

Translation : ”Make someone smell a poop” .
Sorry, this makes more sense in the Dutch language..

Maybe legalizing weed in the US isn't such a fabulous idea after all ....

 

[dtaylo1066]

Magni Heresy and Magni + would make a nice stack.

 

[Doodski]

Magni Heresy and Magni + would make a nice stack.

The Heresy has been replaced with the new HERETIC.

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

 

[dtaylo1066]

The Heresy has been replaced with the new HERETIC.

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

Good catch, as some sheer diction heresy and tomfoolery on my part; I meant to say the new Magni Heretic and Modi+ would make a good stack, and for less than $250.

 

[Doodski]

Good catch, as sheer diction heresy on my part, I meant to say the new Magni Hertic and Magini + would make a good stack.

I too find the naming convention confusing at times...lol. Otherwise the model names are kinda cool.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

A serious western alternative to the (pricier) Topping L30 II !

Arguably superior warranty support as well. The cost in international shipping to return a defective Topping unit for warranty work becomes a huge detractor especially at this price point.

 

[ItsJoshh]

Easy - think about after sales support if the device goes wrong. What will it cost to return the topping to China for repair? How long will it take?

Good point. I just emailed their support about if the scratchy pot was fixed with the Heretic. (My friend warned me about his Heresy.)

If they ended up fixing it, I think I'll pick up the whole new stack.

 

[solderdude]

Given the frequency response from DC to > 100kHz it looks like the pot is DC coupled and thereby running the risk of a scratchy pot.
It would also depend on the used opamp.
Opamp with FET input has lower bias current and thus lower scratch noise as opposed to transistor input.
Then again the addition of a simple resistor between the wiper and gain opamp can also lower noise. Lets hope they figured that out yet. Penalty is a bit higher noise level.
When the source has a little DC on it there will always be some 'scratch' noise when adjusting.
With listening tests it may well be detected (with sensitive headphones).

 

[stunta]

Good catch, as some sheer diction heresy and tomfoolery on my part; I meant to say the new Magni Heretic and Modi+ would make a good stack, and for less than $250.

Looks like a lot of us want a stack of schiit.

 

[amirm]

Arguably superior warranty support as well. The cost in international shipping to return a defective Topping unit for warranty work becomes a huge detractor especially at this price point.

For a $109 device, I would only worry about infant mortality. Get it from a place that allows free returns for the 30 days and after that, you are good to go. If it dies, you get another one. Keep in mind that Schiit charges you shipping both ways (when you buy and when you ship back for warranty). Unless you have a commercial shipping account, it is likely easier to just buy a new one that to mess with getting repairs, etc.

 

[charleski]

Gain options also very practical -8dB, 0dB and +14dB ! Progress..

But isn’t this just an IEMagni with slightly different gain values? They’ve got the same 50mV SNR and the dashboard plots look almost identical. That model was supposedly dropped because it wasn’t selling.

 

[charleski]

Spraying the pot with detox-it helps….. but then the issu comes back

My Heresy had a scratchy pot. But I took the top off and sprayed contact cleaner into the small hole on the side of the pot then thoroughly wiped the pot back and forth and it’s been fine for over a year. I decided against sending it back as any replacement would likely have the same problem.

 

[solderdude]

But isn’t this just an IEMagni with slightly different gain values? They’ve got the same 50mV SNR and the dashboard plots look almost identical. That model was supposedly dropped because it wasn’t selling.

Different PCB layout, DC protection, selected volpots (which is indeed an issue). This isn't specifically for IEMs though. It is an improved Heresy (hence the naming)

 

[escalibur]

Congratz Schiit! It's nice to see that you are back in the game with the new releases.

 

[charleski]

Different PCB layout, DC protection, selected volpots (which is indeed an issue). This isn't specifically for IEMs though. It is an improved Heresy (hence the naming)

The IEMagni had dc protection, though the Heretic might offer additional protection. They both use the same opa1656 opamps. The pot scratching on my Heresy only became apparent after a month of use, so I don’t know how much value there is in ‘selecting’ at the time of assembly. Obviously moving the headphone port required a new PCB.

I suppose we’ll have to wait for some sort of tear down, but it does look like they decided to resurrect the IEMagni design for a new product.

 

[Jimster480]

Good to see even Schiit making good products these days.

 

[Veri]

But isn’t this just an IEMagni with slightly different gain values? They’ve got the same 50mV SNR and the dashboard plots look almost identical. That model was supposedly dropped because it wasn’t selling.

It is very very similar indeed but the Distortion+noise is still a lot better on heretic:

 

[charleski]

It is very very similar indeed but the Distortion+noise is still a lot better on heretic:

That’s a good point. Looks like he’s improved power handling into low impedances a lot.

 

[Vini darko]

It is very very similar indeed but the Distortion+noise is still a lot better on heretic:

Didn't Amir say not to compare those graphs as the new one is using a different method.

 

[PeteL]

Didn't Amir say not to compare those graphs as the new one is using a different method.

Yes, I think that deserve a bit more explanation...The scales are the same... which one to trust? @amirm ?