Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp Review

[oleg87]

Here we are, 2 years later, and the Magnius still appears to be here. What's the deal, what's current?

Huh? Where? Schiit replaced it with the Midgard a couple years back.

 

[Deltrus]

Huh? Where? Schiit replaced it with the Midgard a couple years back.

How embarrassing for a first post back after so long. lol sorry, I was looking at the wrong thing.
I was getting Midgard and Magnius mixed up, especially since they look so similar. Guess I need to research the Midgard.

 

[aasearles]

@Deltrus - If you want a deal, Magnius pops up on eBay for under ~$150 every so often. Got mine at the beginning of this year in near mint condition, love it.

 

[john61ct]

Huh? Where? Schiit replaced it with the Midgard a couple years back.

Typo errors on the Schitt "choosing a headphone amp" page

 

[john61ct]

For some reason I started looking for good deals on Magnius rather than Midgard, pairing with Mimir and for balanced output.

but now I can't remember why! (yes I'm old)

Maybe the ability to disable preamp output? But a simple switch can compensate for that right? (suggestions welcome).

Maybe the end to end "truly balanced" internally?

I do need long interconnects, and electrically noisy environments are an issue in some use cases...

Any feedback or suggestions welcome...

 

[john61ct]

Yes it was to have an end-to-end truly balanced, both as wired preamp and HP amp. Found a good one at a fair price on eBay.

In asking Hart Audio to make me a custom plug to fit their modular mini-XLR interconnect standard

for the 4-pin balanced HP output jack, I see this in the manual:

use a 4-pin male XLR plug conforming to the K1000 output jack wiring specification.

Google says:

Pin 1: Left positive (Left +)
Pin 2: Left negative (Left -)
Pin 3: Right positive (Right +)
Pin 4: Right negative (Right -)

Is this an industry standard for balanced headphone pinout? So my adapter can be used on other HPamps with that feature using big XLR?


Next:

Ensure no pins are shorted to each other or tied to ground, or bad things can happen

I will trust Hart in this, but for my own education...

Rule to follow - ONLY use that 4-pin XLR output jack for balanced HPs wired as above.

If you tried an unbalanced connection there, an adapter ties pins 2 and 4 to a shared ground, most likely would damage the Magnius.

Please confirm, have I got that right?

 

[dreadknot]

is my Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp enough to drive the Monolith M1570C ?
and is the
TOPPING E50 with 1/4 to xlr connects a decent upgrade to pair with the magnius over
my grace balanced dac from drop ?

 

[john61ct]

James reviewed this and confirmed yes to all of it.

Do not try to use such adapters for HPs not designed to be balanced capable.

 

[solderdude]

is my Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp enough to drive the Monolith M1570C ?

Yes, more than enough.

and is the TOPPING E50 with 1/4 to xlr connects a decent upgrade to pair with the magnius over
my grace balanced dac from drop ?

Side grade, nothing wrong with the Grace DAC.

 

[Oldson]

just bagged a used Magnius to pair with my RME dac.
as i already use the xlr outputs from the RME to feed my Genelec active monitors, i was hoping to use the single ended outputs to feed the Magnius.
would this be a downgrade against balanced connection?
if so i guess the best solution would then be an xlr switch box?

 

[TheLavenderBaron]

just bagged a used Magnius to pair with my RME dac.
as i already use the xlr outputs from the RME to feed my Genelec active monitors, i was hoping to use the single ended outputs to feed the Magnius.
would this be a downgrade against balanced connection?
if so i guess the best solution would then be an xlr switch box?

If you look at this review, it's a pretty big performance drop from balanced to single-ended. If you don't intend to use this balanced there are better options.

 

[Svperstar]

just bagged a used Magnius to pair with my RME dac.
as i already use the xlr outputs from the RME to feed my Genelec active monitors, i was hoping to use the single ended outputs to feed the Magnius.
would this be a downgrade against balanced connection?
if so i guess the best solution would then be an xlr switch box?

Get a XLR Y splitter cable. I'm using one now.

https://a.co/d/04AgfWJI

 

[staticV3]

would this be a downgrade against balanced connection?

Only if, as a result of using RCA, you're running into common-mode noise like mains hum, or gain limiting (full volume still not loud enough).

If not, then RCA won't be a downgrade in any way.

 

[gino1961]

Hi i have a question about this difference in performance between rcas and xlrs
Can someone explain it to me?
I knew about noise reduction with balanced circuits but not thd
I wonder why

 

[solderdude]

I knew about noise reduction with balanced circuits but not thd
I wonder why

RCA is single ended and depending on the amplifier circuit used the signal will be distorted in real world circuits.
Even harmonic distortion means the top and the bottom of the signal are 'flattened' asymmetrical.
So any amp circuits that are not fully symmetrical by design will have dominant even order distortion.
In the case of balanced (usually) the input is phase inverted and then fed into a similar amp.
Because of this the top and bottom of the signal also are flattened asymmetrical but in different polarity.

At the balanced output the result becomes symmetrical clipping and thus lowering even harmonic distortion but usually at the expense of creating higher odd harmonic distortion (odd harmonics is symmetrical).
This, of course, is all highly circuit dependent how this all works out.

(I assume this is what you were asking ?)

 

[gino1961]

RCA is single ended and depending on the amplifier circuit used the signal will be distorted in real world circuits.
Even harmonic distortion means the top and the bottom of the signal are 'flattened' asymmetrical.
So any amp circuits that are not fully symmetrical by design will have dominant even order distortion.
In the case of balanced (usually) the input is phase inverted and then fed into a similar amp.
Because of this the top and bottom of the signal also are flattened asymmetrical but in different polarity.

At the balanced output the result becomes symmetrical clipping and thus lowering even harmonic distortion but usually at the expense of creating higher odd harmonic distortion (odd harmonics is symmetrical).
This, of course, is all highly circuit dependent how this all works out.

(I assume this is what you were asking ?)

Hi thank you for the very kind and valuable explanation
Yes this what I needed to know
The thd drop from rca to xlr is really impressive indeed
On this basis i would consider to use only balanced units
Kind regards Gino

 

[solderdude]

Well there are people that believe the even order harmonics are what sounds 'nicer' than odd harmonics.
It is said to create the 'tube sound' and thus people associate higher 2nd harmonic than 3rd harmonic and a gradual decay of higher harmonics with 'the pleasant tube sound'
Tube circuits usually have much higher asymmetrical distortion (2nd mainly).
There are also balanced tube amplifier designs which have higher 3rd harmonic than 2nd harmonic distortion. Yet these amps are also said to sound 'tubey' so it can't be the harmonic structure (2nd higher than 3rd etc).
The fact that you still see some 2nd harmonic in those tube amp designs is caused by the tube being used as phase inverter as this will add some distortion that is not being 'cancelled'.
Transformers (unless some DC is running through it) have symmetrical distortion mainly odd harmonic so also not a 'magical even harmonics generator'.

 

[gino1961]

Well there are people that believe the even order harmonics are what sounds 'nicer' than odd harmonics.
It is said to create the 'tube sound' and thus people associate higher 2nd harmonic than 3rd harmonic and a gradual decay of higher harmonics with 'the pleasant tube sound'
Tube circuits usually have much higher asymmetrical distortion (2nd mainly).
There are also balanced tube amplifier designs which have higher 3rd harmonic than 2nd harmonic distortion. Yet these amps are also said to sound 'tubey' so it can't be the harmonic structure (2nd higher than 3rd etc).
The fact that you still see some 2nd harmonic in those tube amp designs is caused by the tube being used as phase inverter as this will add some distortion that is not being 'cancelled'.
Transformers (unless some DC is running through it) have symmetrical distortion mainly odd harmonic so also not a 'magical even harmonics generator'.

Hi not me
I much prefer the zero thd+noise approach
The only problem i see with balanced circuits is the need to have four identical circuits
Easily done with one dual opamp per Channel
I guess almost any decent opamp should provide astonishing performance

 

[solderdude]

Yes that is a downside.
The main benefit is the coupling between devices which is less sensitive to disturbances from outside.
This is particularly handy in professional circumstances where long cables are common (stage and to mixing consoles and active speakers) certainly when combined with cables for lighting and mains power close-by.
Not so much for home audio but ... whatever the pro uses MUST be 'better' for home audio as well .

Balanced (differential outputs) for speakers and headphones can make sense as there is a potential doubling of output voltage = quadrupling of output power (when there is no current limiting) which can be handy if there is a limited power supply present and the designer does not want to resort to using DC-DC converters.

For headphones balanced operation can have a real world advantage of not having a 'shared' return wire which, when relatively high in resistance opposite the drivers, can affect stereo imaging. This is the downside of a 3-pin/wire headphone connection.
This is solved by using 4 wires instead of 3 in a headphone cable so not a specific advantage of 'balanced' out but rather the amount of wires in the headphone cable.
In a 'balanced headphone out' situation the wire has to be 4-wire.

This 4-wire condition is what the 'midgard' uses in their 'Halo' circuit where they use the 'return wire' of the headphone for 'current sensing feedback' on top of the the usual 'output voltage feedback' every amplifier already has.

A gimmick that in practice does not do much in most situations other than for some low impedance impedance dynamic headphones that have a substantial varying impedance.

 

[gino1961]

Yes that is a downside.
The main benefit is the coupling between devices which is less sensitive to disturbances from outside.
This is particularly handy in professional circumstances where long cables are common (stage and to mixing consoles and active speakers) certainly when combined with cables for lighting and mains power close-by.
Not so much for home audio but ... whatever the pro uses MUST be 'better' for home audio as well .

Balanced (differential outputs) for speakers and headphones can make sense as there is a potential doubling of output voltage = quadrupling of output power (when there is no current limiting) which can be handy if there is a limited power supply present and the designer does not want to resort to using DC-DC converters.

For headphones balanced operation can have a real world advantage of not having a 'shared' return wire which, when relatively high in resistance opposite the drivers, can affect stereo imaging. This is the downside of a 3-pin/wire headphone connection.
This is solved by using 4 wires instead of 3 in a headphone cable so not a specific advantage of 'balanced' out but rather the amount of wires in the headphone cable.
In a 'balanced headphone out' situation the wire has to be 4-wire.

This 4-wire condition is what the 'midgard' uses in their 'Halo' circuit where they use the 'return wire' of the headphone for 'current sensing feedback' on top of the the usual 'output voltage feedback' every amplifier already has.

A gimmick that in practice does not do much in most situations other than for some low impedance impedance dynamic headphones that have a substantial varying impedance.

Thanks a lot again I am interested in this topic because simulating some extremely basic circuits usable for line stage duties i have some problems in keeping the THD very low (that is my obsession actually) I like that rare feeling of having a direct connection from the source to the speakers with nothing in between
Therefore a circuit with extremely low THD+noise is mandatory
Now i understand that the balanced approach could be the solution Dac sources with XLR outs are quite common these days
I will have to use power amps with XLR ins ... not an issue My idea is to use decent pro amps stable on 2 ohm
Thanks again and have a nice Sunday
Sunday Sunday ... So good to me