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Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp Review

JeffGB

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If I use the RCA unbalanced inputs and the balanced outputs to drive a balanced power amplifier, will I have the same reduction of performance that using the unbalanced outputs does?
 

mrmoizy

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I think this is a legitimate criticism but there was a lot of thought that went into this. We only use one phase of the balanced output so there is no cancellation of distortion between phases. We could have made the SE measure the same but to be honest it adds parts which adds cost, we didn't like how it sounded when tested and frankly we have an awesome SE amp in Hersey. We made an extraordinary balanced amp at a very competitive price. If you want SE performance, save yourself a hundred bucks and buy Heresy.

I think that's a good point. No need to look here if you just want to handle SE inputs and drive SE headphones, the Heresy is exceptional at that at a lower price point. If you're wanting to walk the balanced side of things, this is awesome. I love the look of it as well, awesome evolution. Way to go, bravo
 

Jimbob54

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If I use the RCA unbalanced inputs and the balanced outputs to drive a balanced power amplifier, will I have the same reduction of performance that using the unbalanced outputs does?

Dont believe Amir tested the rca inputs. Might have to wait for user reviews to come in.

Of course, if you use RCA in@2v , XLR out, it wont be as loud for any point on the knob as if used XLR in @4v. Not sure why performance should suffer though.
 

Veri

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If I use the RCA unbalanced inputs and the balanced outputs to drive a balanced power amplifier, will I have the same reduction of performance that using the unbalanced outputs does?
As Jim says, the output will be lower but the performance should be what you see in the review here from the balanced out.. which is excellent.
 

PuX

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I would like to see repeat reviews of new Schiit stuff (same model, sourced elsewhere) - this amp, Modius DAC, maybe another Freya S.

It just seems strange that they suddenly started making good products. These could be golden samples.

Then again, this one performs great only in 1 mode - balanced. Competitors perform well in all modes.
 

Jimbob54

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I would like to see repeat reviews of new Schiit stuff - this amp, Modius DAC, maybe another Freya S.

It just seems strange that they suddenly started making good products. These could be golden samples.

Then again, this one performs great only in 1 mode - balanced. Competitors perform well in all modes.

Really?!?! They've started posting their own AP measurements on their site. Pretty ballsy move to do that, send Amir a golden sample that matches that and hope no one else on planet earth puts one through a half decent analyser.
 

Jimbob54

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I could not think of a pragmatic way to respond. Thank you for being my avatar. :)

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