Schiit Midgard Balanced Headphone Amp Review

[Oldson]

i am not sure.
i use the mathaudio plugin on foobar and believe it calculates this automatically, but i cant see how much .

 

[Oldson]

"Balanced between E50 and Midgard will be 50% louder."

i must have glanced over this when i read the full post.
good job i re-read the posts, as i was about to ask the exact same thing again

off to Amazon to find some cables.

thank you

 

[Oldson]

balanced leads sorted me out.
plenty loud enough at 12 o'clock now in hi gain, with Amir's eq profile

 

[staticV3]

balanced leads sorted me out.
plenty loud enough at 12 o'clock now in hi gain, with Amir's eq profile

I'd still recommend you use Oratory's preset.

It's more precise, designed to be adjusted to preference, and doesn't waste headroom the way Amir's does:

Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

This must be a joke. Dynamic driver just sucks VS Planar. Especially when you listen to very fast music like House and Trance and Electronica. I beg to differ. It depends of your taste and the headphones. In my opinion, you cannot say that planars drivers are better than dynamics "per se".

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Oldson]

my Midgard is now surplus since rhe arrival of my RME dac.

if anyone interested in UK, please pm.
will post proper ad in next couple of days

 

[nagster]

Measurement of the input impedance and line output impedance of the Schiit MIDGARD.

 

[staticV3]

Measurement of the input impedance and line output impedance of the Schiit MIDGARD.

Many thanks for the measurements!

So basically:

?

Basic mistakes like that are why I can't take Schiit engineers seriously.
Don't trust, always verify.

 

[nagster]

So basically:
View attachment 449907
?

Yes, my Midgard is as you corrected.
However, I bought it more than two months ago (from Schiit), so I can't rule out the possibility that it has recently become version B...

 

[staticV3]

Yes, my Midgard is as you corrected.
However, I bought it more than two months ago (from Schiit), so I can't rule out the possibility that it has recently become version B...

The Midgard has had that spec since its launch:


Edit:
Ah you mean it's possible you bought a silent revision and Schiit haven't updated the website yet. Got it.

 

[nagster]

The Midgard has had that spec since its launch:
View attachment 449951

Edit:
Ah you mean it's possible you bought a silent revision and Schiit haven't updated the website yet. Got it.

I hope it's been translated well.
If I understand correctly, your sentence before the edit and my original scenario are the same.
However, with your point, my original scenario has disappeared.

The only hope left is the scenario where "I just bought the new version that has recently undergone a minor change, and the official website has not yet been updated." It's exactly as your sentence after the edit says.
If this is not the case, it will be confirmed that the notation of Zin and Zout was full of mistakes from the beginning...

 

[Jimster480]

I hope it's been translated well.
If I understand correctly, your sentence before the edit and my original scenario are the same.
However, with your point, my original scenario has disappeared.

The only hope left is the scenario where "I just bought the new version that has recently undergone a minor change, and the official website has not yet been updated." It's exactly as your sentence after the edit says.
If this is not the case, it will be confirmed that the notation of Zin and Zout was full of mistakes from the beginning...

I would think that even if they made a "silent revision" they would need to update the specs on the site because it is still technically wrong for what someone is purchasing.

 

[nagster]

I would think that even if they made a "silent revision" they would need to update the specs on the site because it is still technically wrong for what someone is purchasing.

Yes, to sum up, "For now, I have high hopes for Schiit. Please fix the specifications soon."

The official specifications must be updated correctly at the same time as the updated product starts accepting orders.
The ideal time lag is 0 seconds.
"Spec changes without notice" are common, but if possible, I would like the details of the specification changes and the date and time of the change to be announced a few months in advance.

This measurement was triggered by a question about the input/output impedance values of other Schiit products posted in another thread.
The photos and screenshots are real, so I posted them. There is no problem in practical use, but fraud is not allowed. I would like to believe that Schiit is making an effort.

It is a bit surprising that it has balanced input and output, BAL/UNBAL mutual conversion, RK27, and preamp, has sufficient performance, is manufactured in the USA, and costs 219 US dollars. The XLR3 Zout is 600ohms, which is not the norm these days, but the low range is flat, so it is probably not a problem.
I measured the left and right volume deviation in several places and found that it was very small. The specimen sent to Amirm does not seem to be a golden sample.

I sometimes see APx screenshots from other manufacturers that are fragmented or have unclear measurement conditions, but Schiit publishes the report output of the APx software as is. (At least the measurement conditions are clear.)

 

[Jimster480]

Yes, to sum up, "For now, I have high hopes for Schiit. Please fix the specifications soon."

The official specifications must be updated correctly at the same time as the updated product starts accepting orders.
The ideal time lag is 0 seconds.
"Spec changes without notice" are common, but if possible, I would like the details of the specification changes and the date and time of the change to be announced a few months in advance.

This measurement was triggered by a question about the input/output impedance values of other Schiit products posted in another thread.
The photos and screenshots are real, so I posted them. There is no problem in practical use, but fraud is not allowed. I would like to believe that Schiit is making an effort.

It is a bit surprising that it has balanced input and output, BAL/UNBAL mutual conversion, RK27, and preamp, has sufficient performance, is manufactured in the USA, and costs 219 US dollars. The XLR3 Zout is 600ohms, which is not the norm these days, but the low range is flat, so it is probably not a problem.
I measured the left and right volume deviation in several places and found that it was very small. The specimen sent to Amirm does not seem to be a golden sample.

I sometimes see APx screenshots from other manufacturers that are fragmented or have unclear measurement conditions, but Schiit publishes the report output of the APx software as is. (At least the measurement conditions are clear.)

Schiit has made an effort to do better in the recent years. While they aren't a company that I like; I can respect their efforts.
They keep the prices down by doing large bulk runs and then sitting on inventory for a while. Therefore they don't keep many full time staff and only hire people to help with assembly for a short period of time. They posted about this years ago to explain their business model.
The specs being wrong is an interesting thing, because they are taking the time to measure the units they are developing.... so you would think that they would measure every aspect of it and then publish those measurements... So maybe it is just an error, unless this has happened many times....

 

[eyal1983]

Quick question -

Using low impedance HPs (e.g. IEMs, Austrian Audio, Focal, Sony, etc.);

Will I hear any difference between using the Schiit Magni Unison and the Midgard? (using as AMP only)

My listening levels never pass 80dB of course.

Also, might there be an audible difference for me (same question) if I'm considering the DROP SMSL HO150x?

Thanks!

 

[staticV3]

Using low impedance HPs (e.g. IEMs, Austrian Audio, Focal, Sony, etc.);

Will I hear any difference between using the Schiit Magni Unison and the Midgard? (using as AMP only)

My listening levels never pass 80dB of course.

No.

Even a worst-case headphone like the DCA Aeon RT Closed (13Ω, 78dB/mW) needs barely more than 0.001W per channel to reach 80dB.

That is peanuts that every somewhat modern headphone Amp can provide with ease (including devices like the Apple headphone adapter), so there's no chance for audible differences to emerge.

 

[eyal1983]

Is the same regard to HO150X vs Magni?

(I read about Topping and THX AMPs being very 2D in their sound presentation)

 

[staticV3]

Is the same regard to HO150X vs Magni?

Yes.

(I read about Topping and THX AMPs being very 2D in their sound presentation)

Utter nonsense

 

[Svperstar]

(I read about Topping and THX AMPs being very 2D in their sound presentation)

This is fake internet talk. A THX was my main amp for years, upgraded from an Asgard 2. Plenty of clean power on tap. The only issue is my SP200 has a channel imbalance at very low listening volumes, so I switched to the Midgard for planar/dynamic listening.

 

[Jimster480]

This is fake internet talk. A THX was my main amp for years, upgraded from an Asgard 2. Plenty of clean power on tap. The only issue is my SP200 has a channel imbalance at very low listening volumes, so I switched to the Midgard for planar/dynamic listening.

Exactly. The 789 is one of the greatest amps ever created.

 

[Veri]

I quite disliked the 'noisy' volume pot though. It's like you hear the dust inside of it over time .
Topping L30 or A90 for me! As a natural development after the 789 release, I mean OR the superb A20h but it seems it is end of life : (