Jimster480
Major Contributor
That would be great for ASR (and the web as a whole) . @amirm usually you have to DM him and he will send you the details to send it in
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Schiit Magni Unity DAC/HP Amp Review
- Thread starter amirm
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mikeonamobile
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Thanks - sent him a DM.
I like the magni.. I had non-audio criteria in choosing it. I use it as the output device for a little rasp pi running roipeee and I wanted a small single-box solution. DX1 was an option but I was suspicious that the R pi USB would not provide enough power (DX1 is USB powered as I understand).
I have a JDS element 3 as well which I enjoy very much. For this particular use case, it's too large and the top controls would be inaccessible.
I'm kind of interested in how Schiit is implementing the "MESH" dac across the various units it comes in - Magni card, standalone Modi and the Mimir - but that's a degree of measurement granularity/obsessiveness that is probably beyond the pale. I had thought about getting some version of it, but I'm not unhappy with my current dac resources and I doubted that my setups + 67 year old ears would hear anything new. (But I do hope they measure well in the end, and that Schiit did not take a step backward with the new items.) Jury is out. But as always, good to have this site and Amir's rigorous testing.
My understanding is everything Mimir and up (Jot3 card, etc) has the Forkbeard implementation, the ones in the Magni and Modi are just the DAC without the digital functionality there.
Yes please - winner or loser, would just be great to get the measurements on paper.
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The new or current version is the Magni 5 Unity with or without MESH dac card. The discontinued part is whatever the slightly older dac card was called. I purchased and installed the MESH dac card and to my ears it sounds a lot better than the old card.
mikeonamobile
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Amir has received my 2026 edition and when he has time to test it, we'll see if it measures differently.
All true, and it is a little disheartening to see a step back in performance, but I keep in mind that the product is 1). relatively inexpensive and 2). the measurements are inaudible.
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Is Topping designed and manufactured in the United States? That is a measurable quality that some value.
And yes, I understand you are excluding subjective context.
But in this forum, where ~80% will not be able to hear the difference between the Magni Unity and the best, subjective qualities begin to carry more weight.
The measured differences between the Magni Unity and “the best” are below the threshold of audibility will not be able to be heard by 100% of people.
That being said, I believe there is utility for manufacturers to keep striving for lower and lower distortion and noise figures in electronic components, especially when it can be done without dramatically increasing the price.
But even then, when a high-priced product pushes the envelope of what is measurable and advances the state of the art, its development is admirable and worthwhile—just as not impressive as when a cheaper component does so.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
Magni Unity as tested here doesn't have clean linearity. It definitely has audible differences vs technically accurate DAC's. Linearity is the most important test when it comes to overall quality of reproduced sound.
It’s 1dB down at -110dBFS. No human on earth could hear that.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
It will be much worse in music. This is exactly how the modi multibit tested and it sounded like trash for the highs.
This is literally how amir and I came up with the linearity test, in figuring out how to measure the artifacts in the modi multibit.
It has since gone on to be personally the most accurate of all of the tests when it comes to the actual sound quality of any DAC. Because if it doesn't nail the linearity, then the sound inevitably has artifacts or corruption / inaccurate reproduction.
Did anyone get a new version of the Magni Unity with the MESH card version sent in to Amir? Just curious.
I looked back to see how the (2018) Modi 3 dac did on linearity; it too has a bit of unevenness after -100 dB, but far less of a concern (no drop-off per se) than the measurement Amir got with this version of the Unity amp.
I looked back to see how the (2018) Modi 3 dac did on linearity; it too has a bit of unevenness after -100 dB, but far less of a concern (no drop-off per se) than the measurement Amir got with this version of the Unity amp.
It's in, he's just likely backlogged with a bunch of other stuff.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
Modi 3 was a great improvement, especially because it wasn't the multibit version. That one was using an R2R chip that was mostly used in weapons applications, and was actually not designed for audio use, which is part of the reason that it has such poor linearity, which is quite important for sound reproduction.
I actually purchased both a Modi 3 and a Magni 3, and while the performance improvement was good, I still did not find that it had better audio reproduction than my O2 amp, combined with my SMSL M8, which is what I was using at the time along with a Topping D30/A30 stack. After getting fed up with the Fulla2 and Magni2 and Modi Multibit.
I hope someone did send in the new version because it would be good to put this issue to rest and have the most updated performance available, especially since the product does not have multiple names.
He is always super busy, so I don't think that would surprise anybody here.
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That makes no sense. Do you understand what the linearity measurement actually measures? Any non linearities in the transfer function are going to be buried in the noise.
On DAC Linearity Measurement
There's been a lot of discussion about DAC linearity measurements in various threads, so I thought I'd throw in my opinions and a few observations to support my thinking. I want to start by thanking Amir, who has generously shared project files, filters, and anything else I've asked for to try...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Jimster480
Major Contributor
Yes, I understand it. And it has historically always been the measurement that actually shows whether or not there is error in the DAC in music reproduction. The multi tone helps to show the cumulative distortion and how clarity can be lost.That makes no sense. Do you understand what the linearity measurement actually measures? Any non linearities in the transfer function are going to be buried in the noise.
On DAC Linearity Measurement
There's been a lot of discussion about DAC linearity measurements in various threads, so I thought I'd throw in my opinions and a few observations to support my thinking. I want to start by thanking Amir, who has generously shared project files, filters, and anything else I've asked for to try...
OP
- Thread Starter
- #138
I don't know how you arrived at that certainty. Take the jitter test:
There is a ton of interference in that measurement. They don't rise to level of audibility in my test system. But in another, they could very well if say, they are induced over USB bus. Once there, you will "hear your computer activity" and become a hell of an annoyance. This indeed has been observed for other DACs where in one system they were quiet, and another, were not.
Note that such interference would exist without anything playing so you can't use masking and such to dismiss it.
Further, many such systems are used with IEMs which can be incredibly sensitive. They block outside noise as well which makes the situation much worse.
Net, net, there is no way you can state what you did with certainty.
I do not know what you mean by “hear your computer activity.” Please explain. Looking at the graph you reproduced above, as you state, the jitter is “not an audible concern.”I don't know how you arrived at that certainty. Take the jitter test:
There is a ton of interference in that measurement. They don't rise to level of audibility in my test system. But in another, they could very well if say, they are induced over USB bus. Once there, you will "hear your computer activity" and become a hell of an annoyance. This indeed has been observed for other DACs where in one system they were quiet, and another, were not.
Note that such interference would exist without anything playing so you can't use masking and such to dismiss it.
Further, many such systems are used with IEMs which can be incredibly sensitive. They block outside noise as well which makes the situation much worse.
Net, net, there is no way you can state what you did with certainty.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #140
What transmits over USB ground is determined by the activities of your computer. Push the GPU and the noise changes. Push the SSD, and the noise changes. To the extent the DAC outputs such noise, you will then hear noise that is accompanying what the computer is doing.
I explained that already. In my system, the level of interference is very low and hence that comment. But since every PC is different, that noise could be much higher. You just don't know. What you do know is that there are no solid barriers against such interference. In sharp contrast, see this $199 DAC on the same test:
The noise floor is so low and clean that you see the low order bits of a 24 bit signal toggling on the left!!!
If there is sloppy engineering in keeping noise low, you are just going to have that chance of audibility.
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