Schiit Magni Unity DAC/HP Amp Review

[NDRQ]

Seems like they went back to the schiit way. :/

 

[johny_2000]

In a world where anyone replicates ESS,TI and AKM datasheets adding some sauce is kind of interesting to have outliers design-wise.
It still ends-up at the same inaudible "improvements" in their working range but breaks boredom I guess?

Not everyone is simply copying integrated circuit datasheets. Take Topping and Holo Audio, for example; they have R2R and descrete 1-bit DACs in their product lines. At least their deviations from integrated circuits show results that are no worse than the latter. And Schiit's products remind me of those from Audio-GD. They also have many discrete components, a distinctive design philosophy, and lousy measurement results at the output.

 

[oleg87]

Saved the world from delta-sigma? I assume they are just joking here given how all their marketing gimmicks are just about how silly and quirky they are.

Old news, it would seem. Their new ToTL DAC (the so-called Biggy) is a homebrew delta-sigma, so I guess it’s ready to be inflicted upon the world.

 

[aagstn]

Thank you for this review. Schitt discontinued the Heretic to release stuff like this. Easy to put this company back on my avoid list. When I read about their Mesh filter on the new DAC release I was immediately skeptical of how it could improve sound and I'll stick with that skepticism as they certainly haven't improved their headphone amp sound.

 

[JSmith]

Closer look at the DAC (Mesh) add-on module;

I think it's a ES9018K2M... hard to see for sure.

Thanks for another cracking review @amirm! A shame the DAC part was a bit sub-par.


JSmith

 

[Joe Smith]

Thank you for this review. Schitt discontinued the Heretic to release stuff like this. Easy to put this company back on my avoid list. When I read about their Mesh filter on the new DAC release I was immediately skeptical of how it could improve sound and I'll stick with that skepticism as they certainly haven't improved their headphone amp sound.

Boy, it depresses me how quick many of you are to throw Schiit under the bus because of one middling (not awful) product that still fills the need of many folks at a decent price point. Schiit products in general have measured very well of late. Yes, they tweak constantly and change product versions, but so do Fosi, Topping, SMSL, many others. Those companies have some better items, some not as good, too. While I wish this one item tested a bit better, I still respect them as a company trying to make good things for a decent price point.

I agree with Amir's conclusion in the review - we now expect better from them, and they can do better. But I keep their whole product range in perspective in my opinion about the company as a whole.

 

[amirm]

Yes, they tweak constantly and change product versions, but so do Fosi, Topping, SMSL, many others.

There is no comparison there when it comes to DACs.

 

[Joe Smith]

There is no comparison there when it comes to DACs.

True. Given all of their language about the wonderfulness of the MESH approach, it seems unlikely that they would be happy with the results you noted in the review. I wonder if they will update the card as production continues. It's weird to me that they would release this nearly at the same time as the Mimir dac and have such different results.

 

[Jiraya369]

for good us made stuff jds labs reigns supreme. Schiit is just for audiophools now. I heard jds have better service compared to schiit as well so there's that.

 

[Joe Smith]

for good us made stuff jds labs reigns supreme. Schiit is just for audiophools now. I heard jds have better service compared to schiit as well so there's that.

See, this is what I think is just massive overstatement/"dumping" following this middling Unity review. I am no giant Schiit fanboy, but they make many good things. I like JDS Labs too, of course.

 

[Jiraya369]

See, this is what I think is just massive overstatement/"dumping" following this middling Unity review. I am no giant Schiit fanboy, but they make many good things. I like JDS Labs too, of course.

have you seen any of their more expensive products? have you seen how much they cost/how they perform? i havent seen jds labs pull that shit and they have better customer service as well based on what my mate said

 

[Joe Smith]

have you seen any of their more expensive products? have you seen how much they cost/how they perform? i havent seen jds labs pull that shit and they have better customer service as well based on what my mate said

In my experience, Schiit has quite good customer service and is responsive to general questions as well. Yes, JDS Labs is exceptional - I think perhaps that John only sleeps 4-5 hours a night, as he surely does respond to e-mail questions with great speed. But consider as well the size of Schiit's operation and scope of products compared to JDS. It's exponentially larger, there's a lot more stuff being made.

I recently steered a questioner towards the Atom 2 stack with JDS - I think for the money, it's the U.S. product-manufactured value leader right now in the headphone amp space. But their all in one product, the Element IV, costs over $500 and some people do want an all in one unit that's not that pricey.

The pace of product release at Schiit may be too high - I personally think they would be better to keep their line more stable, focus on great entry level stuff and great higher end stuff, and probably avoid the middle cost ground (which overseas manufacturers pretty much dominate right now). And I think everyone SHOULD look at each product, read reviews, make good choices, as everything they drop is not gold. I'm just saying the company is pretty good, and I hate to see all this negative sentiment poured out just because of one of Amir's reviews.

I sincerely hope Schiit will reach out to Amir and provide an alternate unit for re-testing, as the MESH dac results he got just seem like bad enough that I could imagine it's just a bad unit.

 

[Curupira]

Not everyone is simply copying integrated circuit datasheets. Take Topping and Holo Audio, for example; they have R2R and descrete 1-bit DACs in their product lines. At least their deviations from integrated circuits show results that are no worse than the latter. And Schiit's products remind me of those from Audio-GD. They also have many discrete components, a distinctive design philosophy, and lousy measurement results at the output.

It think that is a bit harsh. Schiit's "let's reinvent the wheel" type of designs, when not explicity and intentionally poor measuring (tube amps and the like), are still near the CD standard for THD+N. Whereas Audio GD...

Review and Measurements of Audio-GD R8

In past measurements we have confirmed that even discrete R2R can perform very well. However, many devices using the same type of technology perform poorly, which is why I mentioned in my previous measurements that I instinctively hate discrete R2R. Today we have ushered in such a unit...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd NFB2 192 DAC

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio-gd NFB2 192 khz DAC. It is on kind loan from a member. It costs US $450 from Audio-gd website. The overall package while heavy and functional, is not that exciting: The back panel has the usual connection plus the current mode "ACSS"...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd DAC19 DAC

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio-gd DAC19 DAC. It is on kind loan from a member who sent me two of their DACs for review. The DAC19 costs US $640 plus shipping from the company's website. The design of DAC19 is similar to the rest of the Audio-gd line: Controls feel...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd NFB-27.38 DAC and Headphone Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements and comparison of Audio-gd NFB-27.38 DAC and headphone amplifier. It is on kind (and patient) loan from a forum member and ex-Microsoft colleague. The current website price is USD $1,688 plus shipping from China. There is no shopping cart which I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Joe Smith]

It think that is a bit harsh. Schiit's "let's reinvent the wheel" type of designs, when not explicity and intentionally poor measuring (tube amps and the like), are still near the CD standard for THD+N. Whereas Audio GD...

Review and Measurements of Audio-GD R8

In past measurements we have confirmed that even discrete R2R can perform very well. However, many devices using the same type of technology perform poorly, which is why I mentioned in my previous measurements that I instinctively hate discrete R2R. Today we have ushered in such a unit...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd NFB2 192 DAC

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio-gd NFB2 192 khz DAC. It is on kind loan from a member. It costs US $450 from Audio-gd website. The overall package while heavy and functional, is not that exciting: The back panel has the usual connection plus the current mode "ACSS"...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd DAC19 DAC

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio-gd DAC19 DAC. It is on kind loan from a member who sent me two of their DACs for review. The DAC19 costs US $640 plus shipping from the company's website. The design of DAC19 is similar to the rest of the Audio-gd line: Controls feel...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Measurements of Audio-gd NFB-27.38 DAC and Headphone Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements and comparison of Audio-gd NFB-27.38 DAC and headphone amplifier. It is on kind (and patient) loan from a forum member and ex-Microsoft colleague. The current website price is USD $1,688 plus shipping from China. There is no shopping cart which I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Yeah, I mean, c'mon...thanks for posting...those test results are truly bad and across many different products. Not the same thing as Schiit at all.

 

[Matias]

The problem is that they are going backwards with their newest Super Duper™ design.

See their previous off the shelf Modi+, still measures better than the RCA out of the inner DAC board here.

Schiit Modi+ DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Modi+ stereo USB DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $129. There are three inputs and are nicely stepped through using the momentary switch. The white LED that indicates the selected input is nice but alas, there is some...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Joe Smith]

It would be interesting to test the new standalone Modi dac and see how it does in comparison to the Magni card version…

 

[Mocie]

Comparing any CS to John Seaber is pointless, that dude hasn't slept in years and is the gold standard by every metric. That being said, Schiit CS has been great for years now. I say that having dealt with them personally and speaking to other Schiit owners.

On the Unity: would be keen to see another unit tested, but that's obviously on somebody else to send it to Amir and not for him to chase down. Would also like to see that E3 distortion test blinded as Amir aluded to.

 

[aagstn]

I sincerely hope Schiit will reach out to Amir and provide an alternate unit for re-testing, as the MESH dac results he got just seem like bad enough that I could imagine it's just a bad unit.

I think that DAC is performing exactly as designed. How could their MESH filter be superior to a Sharp Rolloff filter? Schitt has always been negative towards good measuring devices. When they made a headphone amp right they named it Heretic to point out how wrong a good measuring device is in their minds. The Modi + measured very well but they then made the inferior sounding multi-bit DAC and marketed it as superior and worth twice the price of the Modi +. They add just enough noise and distortion to make it sound different and thus better since people tend to like that warmer sound. I'm not saying their devices sound bad, most of that noise and distortion is outside human hearing. However, making good measuring devices has never been anything they claimed or someone like Jason Stoddard would aspire to do. They are just as into the snake oil as other companies, especially as you go up the tier in price. You want an American made product stick with JDS Labs. They focus on quality and don't have weird issues with things like DSD support.

 

[Jimster480]

Thank you for the detailed review.

Your conclusions above are highly suspect regarding the design quality of the device. A test of another or more copy of the same device would be useful to check if there indeed a problem inherent to the design indeed, or if this behavior it is related to the particular copy that was sent to you.

This is always the issue with Schiit products... back when I had the displeasure of dealing with this schiity company they pushed the same nonsense. All their garbage that doesn't work right is just a "sample size of 1" issue. The other "people enjoying the product" are more important than the actual poor performance, poor design or poor build quality issues that you are experiencing.
After I had my Schiit products switched out more than once, they started making outlandish claims about dirty power in my house or "outside magnetic interference" which I thought was laughable then.
If a company cannot produce a device that works properly; they shouldn't be selling it. If the price needs to be higher to hit the proper quality required; then they need to raise the price not sell schiit.

 

[Jimster480]

I think that DAC is performing exactly as designed. How could their MESH filter be superior to a Sharp Rolloff filter? Schitt has always been negative towards good measuring devices. When they made a headphone amp right they named it Heretic to point out how wrong a good measuring device is in their minds. The Modi + measured very well but they then made the inferior sounding multi-bit DAC and marketed it as superior and worth twice the price of the Modi +. They add just enough noise and distortion to make it sound different and thus better since people tend to like that warmer sound. I'm not saying their devices sound bad, most of that noise and distortion is outside human hearing. However, making good measuring devices has never been anything they claimed or someone like Jason Stoddard would aspire to do. They are just as into the snake oil as other companies, especially as you go up the tier in price. You want an American made product stick with JDS Labs. They focus on quality and don't have weird issues with things like DSD support.

Their devices do sound bad. After having owned and listened to various models; they have audible distortion components, grounding issues and problems with feedback. In general they 100% live up to their name and should be avoided. If you want something from the USA then buy Geshelli, Benchmark or JDS Labs (not necessarily in that order as they all make different products at different price points).
Buy Schiit get schiit, its literally in the name.