Schiit Magni Mesh DAC Review

[Joe Smith]

Case in point, Amir often/usually posts subjective impressions at the end of reviews. Why do that at all if the ONLY thing we are supposed to think about here is measurement?

 

[confucius_zero]

Where there is a major subjective component involved, the listening experience, enjoyment, being involved in the music and happiness, at least one hopes for happiness.

Yes but there are other spaces for such subjects. This is a site for electronic implementation...

 

[confucius_zero]

Amir often/usually posts subjective impressions at the end of reviews.

Could be useful to remove them for the sake of the goal of the website? That's a test bench update worth discussing.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Could be useful to remove them for the sake of the goal of the website? That's a test bench update worth discussing.

OK, so no discussion at all about sound of audio equipment, designed for listening.

So how would we ever really know if the bear does shit in the woods?

What’s next? Replace Amir with AI???

 

[amirm]

It seems counterproductive to the overall aims of the site for any of us to generalize about a manufacturer.

There was no generalization in what I wrote. All you have to do is look at the corner of head-fi forum they own, the thousands of posts and stories, on top of personalities they have built. Their marketing power in audio is unrivaled and accounts for huge amount of their success. Technical execution is only there to serve this, than the other way around.

 

[amirm]

OK, so no discussion at all about sound of audio equipment, designed for listening.

It is core to our mission to discuss proper listening tests. What we don't have use for is yet another person saying he is right because of what he heard with no protocol, i.e. you.

 

[amirm]

So how would we ever really know if the bear does shit in the woods?

Use your nose....

 

[Joe Smith]

Well, I guess like Cordelia, I will just “love, and be silent.”

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

It is core to our mission to discuss proper listening tests. What we don't have use for is yet another person saying he is right because of what he heard with no protocol, i.e. you.

I would never be so presumptuous to say I was right, I was just expressing an opinion. Even proper testing does not guarantee an outcome. Because the listeners are still human and there’s other biases or other opinions or other things that could affect how they react after listening. What if they lie and say they heard something when they didn’t really hear it. Or because they were working for a certain organization they still tend to be biased. This could also skew the listening. What if they’re being paid, and they will say what they think the company wants to hear so they can keep their job. Times are tough people need to eat.

 

[confucius_zero]

I was just expressing an opinion. Even proper testing does not guarantee an outcome.

Can this be moved to a thread specific on debating such subject? definitely off topic from the measurement results of this product.

 

[amirm]

I would never be so presumptuous to say I was right, I was just expressing an opinion.

You claimed people buy Schiit products because they sound good. I asked how you know that and you said it sounds good to you. You have not done any proper blind testing against any other DAC as to create a proper data point for anything. Nor do you have the same to present from anyone else.

The only fact in front of us is that measurements show the Schiit DACs, the two variants I have tested, have design problems. Problems that could lead to audible noise and buzz from the computer. This is not acceptable. Nor is company's response which is to deflect and ignore. I don't care if you think some of their products sound good. I am not going to recommend Schiit products to anyone given their reversal in seeking engineering excellence. If you want, without verification from me, to still recommend their products because they "sound good" to you, go ahead. But this is not welcome here and certainly not arguing it back and forth.

 

[kyuu]

Could be useful to remove them for the sake of the goal of the website? That's a test bench update worth discussing.

Amir only provides listening impressions for the speaker reviews, and that was discussed to death early on if I recall my perusings of the forum's early threads correctly.

 

[Joe Smith]

It’s a shame, I will be here less. These pronouncements from on high don’t sit well with me. I am more of a live and let live kind of guy.

 

[amirm]

Your role and mine are very different. Had I not taken this stance before, we would have had far worse products from Schiit. Heck, they were using obsolete analyzer to verify the little bit that they were doing on measurements. You don't need to come along for the ride if you don't want to. But if you think me not recommending Schiit means there is nothing else useful to read here, then by all means, move on.

 

[Deleted member 92621]

It’s a shame, I will be here less. These pronouncements from on high don’t sit well with me. I am more of a live and let live kind of guy.

Amrim really cries when hit. Too bad really becauae it drastically diminishes the information he has to offer. If he really has the high road then he should take it.

I don't think he has _the_ high road but certainly a beneficial one. Observation is a valid measurement system and observation is how many, many advancements are made. Those are then turned into more objective evaluations as possible.

 

[amirm]

Too bad really becauae it drastically diminishes the information he has to offer.

Really? You can't read the measurements or my explanations of science and engineering because I am "hit?"

Let's do away with absurd debating tactics. I am not emotional about such things. I test a ton of products with different outcomes. I have no motivation other than getting to the bottom of what a product is about. As such, I state my opinion without fear or worry. I would be doing the same whether there is one of you here or the couple of million we have per month. Don't confuse my motivations with what would motivate you. We are not similarly situated.

 

[Deleted member 92621]

Really? You can't read the measurements or my explanations of science and engineering because I am "hit?"

Let's do away with absurd debating tactics. I am not emotional about such things. I test a ton of products with different outcomes. I have no motivation other than getting to the bottom of what a product is about. As such, I state my opinion without fear or worry. I would be doing the same whether there is one of you here or the couple of million we have per month. Don't confuse my motivations with what would motivate you. We are not similarly situated.

Yes. Ignore the rest of what I said and what I hear from you in this is my 14 year old whining.

You do have much to offer. Stay out of the mud when the pigs are wrestling in it (also be real, not snide, about apologies when you do get it wrong)

 

[amirm]

Yes. Ignore the rest of what I said and what I hear from you in this is my 14 year old whining.

Then you are not listening. I am not here to compromise my standards because your feelings are hurt. Nor do I change saying what is right because someone wants to quit over it. This is me. I am not fearful of standing by my principles. If your 14 year old is acting like me, kudos to him. Otherwise, you need to look at yourself with the complaining you are doing here.

 

[VientoB]

Case in point, Amir often/usually posts subjective impressions at the end of reviews. Why do that at all if the ONLY thing we are supposed to think about here is measurement?

He usually only does that for speakers and headphones, where the measurements show you there are differences which could be audible.

 

[solderdude]

Amir actually wrote this about the Magni Unity (a listening test)

Schiit Magni Unity Headphone Listening Tests
I did some listening tests using my Dan Clark E3 headphone which has a 27 ohm impedance. Up to about 3:00 o'clock on the volume control, the sound was excellent on my reference tracks. Above that, which starts to become loud, distortion started to set in with sound getting brighter and crunchy. To be sure it was not the headphone, I switched back to my Topping DX5II unbalanced out. Not only the Topping get louder, it stayed gorgeously clean and produced dynamic range far beyond the Magni. I know, not a fair comparison given the $100 price difference but just making the point that the Magni is not the "end game" the company says it is.