Schiit Midgard Balanced Headphone Amp Review

[amirm]

@amirm will you be reviewing the new Schiit Skoll phono pre amp soon? Im extremely interested in how well their higher end phono performs.

Maybe.

 

[restorer-john]

Bummer, this kills it for me. I wouldn't want the preamp sending signal to my speakers when I'm listening to headphones, and I wouldn't want my headphone powered when they're sitting on the hook and I'm listening to speakers. This seems like a very odd design choice.

Just a simple output on/off switch is all you need for the line output. Unplug the headphones when not in use. Best of both worlds and no unnecessary relays or switched HP sockets.

 

[restorer-john]

How do the preamp outputs work? Do they mute when you plug headphones in?
Nope. They're on all the time.

What a stupid decision. No idea what they were thinking.

You can't just turn off the connected amplifier when it's not in use as the unbiased devices in the front end may cause distortion in the connected preamp depending on the design.

 

[uwotm8]

Honestly amazing for a great price. I'd choose Schiit or, say, iFi over any Chinese company if they are performing roughly on the same level

 

[uwotm8]

What a stupid decision. No idea what they were thinking

iFi Zen/Zen Air works the same way.
I'd prefer to have a relay-based switch - CLICKING! - as it was on good old Asus Xonar STX.

 

[majingotan]

For a headphone amplifier? I don't think they make any headphone amplifiers with a stepped attenuator other than the Ragnarok 2, which has 60 watts of speaker love and possibly the headamp in Kara?

The chapter from Jason on this is around here somewhere.

Schiit uses the motorized stepped attenuator with remote control for their lyr+ headphone amp

 

[staticV3]

For a headphone amplifier? I don't think they make any headphone amplifiers with a stepped attenuator other than the Ragnarok 2

Here are a few headphone Amps with stepped attenuator:

Spoiler: List

http://www.sabaj.com.cn/en/productshow.asp?id=82
http://www.sabaj.com.cn/en/productshow.asp?id=86
https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/1009982.html
https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/852442.html
https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/907857.html
https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/725.html
https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/730.html
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/hpa4
http://www.audio-gd.com/HE/HE9MK2/HE9MK2EN.htm
http://www.audio-gd.com/Master/Master19/Master19EN.htm
https://www.bursonaudio.com/shop/soloist-3x-gt/
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/soloist-3x-performance/
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/...ced-class-a-headphone-amplifier-pre-amplifier
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/...ca-balanced-headphone-amplifier-pre-amplifier
https://www.kitsunehifi.com/product/holoaudio-bliss-headphone-amplifier/
https://www.kitsunehifi.com/product...-headphone-amplifier-aluminum-remote-control/
https://www.soncoz.com/pd.jsp?id=45
https://www.soncoz.com/pd.jsp?id=39
https://sparkoslabs.com/product/aries-headphone-amplifier-base/
https://sparkoslabs.com/aries-headphone-amplifier-and-preamp/

 

[dzerig]

Schiit uses the motorized stepped attenuator with remote control for their lyr+ headphone amp

You can turn off the tubes on that one, right?

 

[Catsmeow]

Most of their headphone amplifiers don't do this, Jotenheim has a switch on the front for example, Asgard 2 shuts off preouts automatically as does Magni+ ...

Why do this on the Magni and not here? There must be a reason.

 

[solderdude]

On these cheaper amps the RCA out is simply routed through the TRS jack connector.
This amp has 6.3 and XLR so that method is not available.
It would require an extra switch.

I believe the main purpose here is headphone out, and actually the 'magic' is only present on the XLR out, not on the SE out (and thus also not on the outputs on the back side)

The whole idea of this amplifier is the 'Halo' circuit which ONLY works on the XLR-4pin output on the front.
There appears to be a 2ohm resistor in series with the drivers (the - connections) and the voltage across that is also used as feedback or is used as an insert for an additional signal. They are, of course, a bit vague about that.

This means the TRS Jack output will always be 'normal' but the frequency response of the XLR may differ depending on the impedance of the headphone.

So the measurements on the XLR4 out can actually only be done acoustically via a headphone test fixture.
Amir could do such a test when he has balanced headphones (with XLR4 connectors).

This amp thus differs (on XLR4 only) from other amps and is the major selling point. Not the TRS out nor the pre-amp out.

If I had any balanced cables or headphones I would gladly take them up on their offer:

Try For Yourself; Measure For Free
Want to try Halo? Plug in to the front panel XLR. Compare to the front panel TRS, which doesn’t have Halo, because Halo requires separate ground returns. See what you think. We’ll also go further: if you have an acoustic measurement rig and want to publish your results (positive or negative, we don’t care), contact us and we’ll get you a Midgard to measure.

 

[GWolfman]

@amirm is back! Lol j/k
Thanks for the review, hope all is wel!

Looks like a great amp for decent money. If I needed one now, I’d probably just get this one.

 

[majingotan]

You can turn off the tubes on that one, right?

Yes, but you still need to remove the tubes since the heater is always on regardless of the operation mode

 

[Ra1zel]

I'd choose Schiit or, say, iFi over any Chinese company

Everything by ifi is made in China btw

 

[solderdude]

You can turn off the tubes on that one, right?

Shiit FAQ:

Do I have to pull the tube out to switch modes?
No. If you have a tube installed, you can switch between tube and solid state modes via the remote. You can also press and hold the gain switch for 4 seconds, and when you release the button, it will switch modes. With no tube installed, Lyr+ only allows you to use solid state, of course.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Great performance while not using opamps !!
Impressive for a SE discrete design with so few parts.

Proof again that Schiit has the engineering chops.

Their dedication to U.S.-sourced parts and U.S. manufacturing and ability to keep prices low for most products is equally impressive.

One gripe: the wall warts they use are made in China and/or Taiwan. I inquired if it would be possible for them to locate a supplier in the U.S. for wall warts, or design one themselves and have it custom manufactured in the U.S., and their response was “why would we do that?” Pretty nonsensical considering they take pride in manufacturing the rest of their componentry in the U.S.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Everything by ifi is made in China btw

True, although components from their higher priced sister brand, Abbington Music Research (AMR), are manufactured in the UK.

 

[GWolfman]

True, although components from their higher priced sister brand, Abbington Music Research (AMR), are manufactured in the UK.

Them having a sister company is news to me.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Its nice to see that the west can produce an amp at the price range that the chinese can, but lets be realistic, is a tad under the 789/887 performance and those amps have been on the market for quite some years now, and this is not criticism per se, just saying that it is actually very hard to compete in this market at affordable prices.

 

[Noske]

So, all components, other than the wall wart, are not manufactured in China or Taiwan, but in the USA.

And that Schiit has a "sister" brand operating in the United Kingdom that is not disclosed on its website.

Interesting.

 

[frogmeat69]

So, all components, other than the wall wart, are not manufactured in China or Taiwan, but in the USA.

And that Schiit has a "sister" brand operating in the United Kingdom that is not disclosed on its website.

Interesting.

iFi has a sister company in the U.K., not Schiit.