Schiit Magnius Balanced Headphone Amp Review

[gino1961]

https://www.stereophile.com/content/quad-esl-63-loudspeaker-measurements

Fig.6 Quad ESL-63, 1kHz squarewave response on listening axis at 1m (5ms time window).

not perfect SWs i agree but quite like-looking ... i guess taken by a microphone with signals travelling through the air

 

[troggg]

So I have Sennheiser HD600 open back for listening, mixing, and recording MIDI stuff, and use Sony 7506 closed back for recording audio to prevent leakage. Obviously I can expect great performance from HD600 + Magnius. My question is will 7506 + Magnius still sound better than what I'd hear through prosumer headphone jacks found in gear like audio interfaces? Or could Magnius' emphasis on balanced sound make the unbalanced (I think; in any event they hardly need any power) Sony phones sound worse? Thanks.

 

[Shazb0t]

Incredibly unlikely that you'll hear any differences with your 7506. Unless what you were previously using has some sort of an audible issue that isn't present in the Magnius. They will sound the same.

 

[Diable]

Troggg, while the single ended output on the Magnius is a notch below the Heresy, THX or Atom it's still better than any Focusrite level audio interface. Your 7506's will not sound worse on the Magnius.

 

[garbulky]

@amirm How much power does the Magnius single ended headphone output deliver in to 300 ohms? I'm considering using it for my HD800S

 

[ivardj]

I ordered this and the Modius as a pair predominantly as this has preouts and I already have the Mani (for my Linn LP12, which has some sunk cost fallacy attached to it (along with the 3000 vinyls my dad gave me), but then second guessed if it is the right match for the March Audio P252 I already have? Is there such a thing as too great a ration between pre out impedance and power input impedance (470k x in this case if I'm reading specs right)...

 

[Helicopter]

@amirm How much power does the Magnius single ended headphone output deliver in to 300 ohms? I'm considering using it for my HD800S

Should be about 190mW into 300 ohms if my math (dividing balanced power by 4) is reflected by reality.

I would get the IEMagni for single ended. Better yet, get an XLR-4 cable for the HD800S.

 

[charleski]

Is there such a thing as too great a ration between pre out impedance and power input impedance (470k x in this case if I'm reading specs right)...

The 0.1ohms output impedance specced for the Magnius is referring the headphone output (which you want as low as possible). I can't find any measure of the output impedance from the pre-amp outs, but I think it's safe to assume that it'll be a sensible level, probably on the order of 100ohms, and will be fine with your March amp. Lower output values (and thus a higher in/out impedance ratio) won't cause any problem, you only run into issues when the impedance ratio is too low (i.e less than 10).

 

[ivardj]

Thank you @charleski . Appreciate the education, as always been a bit uncertain on the technical specifics of these things. I also confirmed the same with Alan March - so now I am just waiting...

 

[Luke Lemke]

I would like to use the Magnius with my current Modi DAC. I would connect the two with RCA cables but would use only the balanced output from the Magnius with my headphones. Will I lose performance/audio quality since I'll not be using the balanced input of the Magnius? I would not like to spend extra $100 just to get the Modius DAC. Can anyone help me with this question?

 

[Veri]

I would like to use the Magnius with my current Modi DAC. I would connect the two with RCA cables but would use only the balanced output from the Magnius with my headphones. Will I lose performance/audio quality since I'll not be using the balanced input of the Magnius? I would not like to spend extra $100 just to get the Modius DAC. Can anyone help me with this question?

The balanced output on Magnius is very much better than the 1/4 out. The inputs don't matter as much. I'd say it's 100% fine to do as you envision.

 

[Shazb0t]

I would like to use the Magnius with my current Modi DAC. I would connect the two with RCA cables but would use only the balanced output from the Magnius with my headphones. Will I lose performance/audio quality since I'll not be using the balanced input of the Magnius? I would not like to spend extra $100 just to get the Modius DAC. Can anyone help me with this question?

Guess I was wrong. You won't get the fully balanced output power and you won't have the benefit of a fully balanced audio chain, but you will get the higher SINAD performance.

 

[Veri]

If you don't use adapter cables to the balanced inputs on the amp then you're not going to get any of the benefits of balanced output with single ended input.

? He's going to get a proper balanced output all the same. Just not as high of a maximum power output due to the lower output voltage. Routing that to the balanced input is not going to change anything.

 

[Luke Lemke]

Thanks guys.,I'll go ahead and get the Magnius then. Maybe in the near future I can upgrade the DAC to the Modius so I have the proper pair.

 

[Chromatischism]

I searched first but only saw a brief convo about IEMs with @Helicopter and not any other users.

How are these with IEMs? If I use 24 ohm unbalanced IEMs, should I be concerned about the (maybe audible, maybe not) IMD? I believe I can put a balanced cable on these, but then at 114 dB sensitivity at 1 mW, this amp would be operating at the low end of its capability where THD+N is between -60 to -90 I reckon. And, if I have to use very low levels on the dial when the IEMs are in use, I wonder if I would run into channel imbalance issues, even with the work Schiit put into it.

They mostly aren't used for critical listening at home, but for monitoring audio during videoconferencing or recording. But you never know if I'll feel like firing up some music.

And, how has this unit done in the field over the last year? Bugs, defects?

 

[Helicopter]

I searched first but only saw a brief convo about IEMs with @Helicopter and not any other users.

How are these with IEMs? If I use 24 ohm unbalanced IEMs, should I be concerned about the (maybe audible, maybe not) IMD? I believe I can put a balanced cable on these, but then at 114 dB sensitivity at 1 mW, this amp would be operating at the low end of its capability where THD+N is between -60 to -90 I reckon. And, if I have to use very low levels on the dial when the IEMs are in use, I wonder if I would run into channel imbalance issues, even with the work Schiit put into it.

They mostly aren't used for critical listening at home, but for monitoring audio during videoconferencing or recording. But you never know if I'll feel like firing up some music.

View attachment 152965

And, how has this unit done in the field over the last year? Bugs, defects?

No issues with mine. It seems totally transparent with IEMs to me, but I despise IEMs because of how they feel in my ears. If I enjoyed IEMs, I would probably go for IEMagni over this. I have a Heresy from before Magnius came out that I have kept in the system for better SE performance, and I would ratger IEMagni with its DC protection, and, if I could stand IEMs, the third volume mode. I would say this or IEMagni should be fine in terms of sound quality, with basically anything. The big question is whether you want to run a true balanced DAC and system for better noise rejection, more power. Magnius/Modius is a sweet stack on its own. You could get those and add IEMagni later if you decide you want better numbers with IEMs. I would not expect an audible difference though, and volume adjustments are fine enough for me with the Magnius and IEMs.

 

[Chromatischism]

Just dropping a section of the Magnius FAQ here to preface input to a future rev2 of this product...

How do the preamp outputs work? Do they mute when you plug headphones in?​

Nope. They're on all the time. ​

... please include a switch (on the front) to flip operational mode/outputs.

The current always-on behaviour is a usability issue for those of us with powered studio monitors.

Thanks for your work here @T.M.Noble

This is the only thing that would bother me...

How do the preamp outputs work? Do they mute when you plug headphones in?​

Nope. They're on all the time.​

No switch, and no auto mute when headphones are connected, means you'll need another way to mute your iLoud monitors.

There is a really easy fix for this that I've been using for years. If you haven't found a solution yet:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQELHBS/

And connect both speakers to one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-Outlet-Splitter/dp/B01K3ADXX2/

I would be more concerned if this behavior increased power usage unnecessarily. Anyone ever hooked up a Kill-A-Watt?

 

[Chromatischism]

No issues with mine. It seems totally transparent with IEMs to me, but I despise IEMs because of how they feel in my ears. If I enjoyed IEMs, I would probably go for IEMagni over this. I have a Heresy from before Magnius came out that I have kept in the system for better SE performance, and I would ratger IEMagni with its DC protection, and, if I could stand IEMs, the third volume mode. I would say this or IEMagni should be fine in terms of sound quality, with basically anything. The big question is whether you want to run a true balanced DAC and system for better noise rejection, more power. Magnius/Modius is a sweet stack on its own. You could get those and add IEMagni later if you decide you want better numbers with IEMs. I would not expect an audible difference though, and volume adjustments are fine enough for me with the Magnius and IEMs.

Ahh, but Magni lacks the balanced XLR for my powered speakers. The Modius and Magnius would be paired in this scenario.

I find IEMs can be made to be comfortable for hours but it really comes down to the design and especially the type of tip you use. The better ones come with many so you can find one that works best. For me, it is better than wearing headphones on-head or on-ear which really does bother me, and are more intrusive in a video setup.

 

[Chromatischism]

Rear balanced XLR preout:

Generator Level: 4.000 Vrms

Signal to Noise Ratio:
Ch1 127.474 dB
Ch2 127.497 dB

THD+N Ratio vs Measured Level:

 

[eboleyn]

I searched first but only saw a brief convo about IEMs with @Helicopter and not any other users.

How are these with IEMs? If I use 24 ohm unbalanced IEMs, should I be concerned about the (maybe audible, maybe not) IMD? I believe I can put a balanced cable on these, but then at 114 dB sensitivity at 1 mW, this amp would be operating at the low end of its capability where THD+N is between -60 to -90 I reckon. And, if I have to use very low levels on the dial when the IEMs are in use, I wonder if I would run into channel imbalance issues, even with the work Schiit put into it.

They mostly aren't used for critical listening at home, but for monitoring audio during videoconferencing or recording. But you never know if I'll feel like firing up some music.

...

And, how has this unit done in the field over the last year? Bugs, defects?

YMMV, but I'd say be a bit careful about the combination of high sensitivity and low impedance (less than 33 ohm, but not sure where it's a real problem) with the Schiit Magnius. I bought one and figured I could use it as a balanced source for my Shure SE-846's which are high sensitivity (112db/mW I think) low impedance (like 11-ish ohms average!), and bummer, I can hear noise/crackling on it.

I admittedly have sensitive ears and like low-level listening, but I still figured it wouldn't be that audible, sigh. I even sent it back for service figuring that was a flaw, and they sent it back saying it passed their tests.

After pondering this a bit myself, I took a look at the distortion charts for various impedances, you'll note that the distortion increases as the impedance decreases, and extrapolating down based on the 300 ohm and 50 ohm charts, I presume 11-ohm is say 10db worse than the 50 ohm chart, so start at -85db (-ish) for 1mW, then decrease 112db down to 60-70db, and you get a noise floor of only -35 - -45 db. I.e. I could kind of see where that might be a problem.

It is Irritating though since I've used the SE-846's on several other "high-quality/IEM" headphone amps and had no notable noise issues on any of them as long as I bring the inputs down to the level I need. I've used an Objective 2, the Sabaj D5 headphone amp output (even balanced), and a Topping A50s balanced output (which is an absolute crystaline beauty on the SE-846's!)... I didn't note any noise.

Having said the above, I'm not knocking the Magnius (it's a smoking deal for what you get), just pointing out the weakness in the combination of high sensitivity and low impedance. It's built like a tank and for driving outputs which do not fall into that weakness zone, it's been great. It sounds awesome on the other balanced headphones I've tried it on (most notably my 2 Hifimans, an HE-6se and HE-500), and for higher-power delivery it has rocked, even driving what is effectively a speaker amp for my SR1a headphones, see my post on the SR1a thread if you're curious... eboleyn's post about Schiit Magnius driving Raal SR1a's.