Schiit Midgard Balanced Headphone Amp Review

[gvl]

@amirm the Magnius didn’t do too well when fed single ended inputs. Would be interesting to see the situation here.

 

[amirm]

@amirm the Magnius didn’t do too well when fed single ended inputs. Would be interesting to see the situation here.

OK, was at the bench so quickly tested it (in the review):

Due to needing just 2 volts in, and producing the same, distortion actually goes down. So no issues here.

 

[gvl]

Great, thanks!

 

[solderdude]

@amirm can you test the difference in distortion and frequency response between SE and XLR 4 with say ... the HD650, which has a varying impedance, as an actual load in parallel to the AP on 200kohm ?

Requires a splitter and having both XLR and TRS jack Sennheiser cables.

This is when the XLR outputs are supposed to differ and would actually be showing the effect of the 'Halo' circuit. (THE feature of this specific amp)
With a resistive load or planar like the Stealth the differences (at least in FR) will probably be smaller.

You could be the first to show what that circuit does.

 

[dzerig]

Yes for a headphone amplifier. Why not?
Especially when it has preamp section.....

I have long cable for my Exapanse I like to lay in a comfy chair and be able to change volume and not getting up every time. It's called convenience. Not everything has to be cheap and made just to look good on graphs.

I usually have my head amp within arms reach.

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

I would guess it has something to do with the whole Halo deal.

 

[Veri]

Of course for the vast majority of planar headphones the XLR out and TRS out will be exactly the same, an exception being the Expanse.

How come?

 

[ocinn]

Doing this with discrete circuitry and at this price point for a USA built product is frankly unbelievable. I have no idea how they pull it off.

I saw this review pop up and rubbed my hands together in the evil villain pose ready to make the “Schitt put the MID in Midgard” joke but there is really nothing negative to say aside from the rear power switch which is infuriating.

 

[oscar_dziki]

That's some good shiit right there!

 

[solderdude]

How come?

Because it has an impedance hump in the lows. The exact reason for that I do not know, probably a result of different damping to create the Harman bass boost.

 

[Veri]

Because it has an impedance hump in the lows. The exact reason for that I do not know, probably a result of different damping to create the Harman bass boost.

Ooh. And that sets it apart from other planars that don't exhibit this. Got it, thanks

 

[bobross]

I just bought a Magnius. Is there anything here that makes it worthwhile to exchange? Any thoughts on why Schiit decided to discontinue, other than what they stated on their website (i.e. it's not discrete)?

 

[solderdude]

Nothing wrong with the Magnius. Enjoy !

Why have 2 similar looking amps in the same price class.
For the same reason the SS Freya has been replaced by the Kara.

Besides they want feedback on the 'Halo' thingy which the Magnius can't do.
Basically the Midgard is a (discrete) Magnius with the extra 'Halo' feature for people owning balanced headphones.

 

[staticV3]

Besides they want feedback on the 'Holo' thingy

*Halo

 

[solderdude]

corrected...

 

[Billy Budapest]

Them having a sister company is news to me.

I’ve known it since AMR announced they were launching iFi years ago.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Them having a sister company is news to me.

See here:

About AMR | AMR Audio

amr-audio.co.uk

“We noticed the shift from static audio devices to smaller, portable ones – so we created our sister company iFi audio, so listeners could enjoy live quality audio on the go.”

 

[Billy Budapest]

Lol, really? Time to ask them for my salary then.

Jokes off, those are only (?) two compamies (well, maybe DROP/THX counts, not sure) who are West-based

There are many U.S. based companies making similar products in the budget realm with excellent performance. JDS Labs and Geshelli Labs are two prominent examples.

 

[Billy Budapest]

They utilise US made transformers in several of their direct mains powered products.

Sure, but that’s not what I was talking about.

 

[Jimbob54]

Well-ordered one. Lets see how it stacks up against the THX 789.

 

[David_M]

Well-ordered one. Lets see how it stacks up against the THX 789.

But you know that the THX789 has higher power and much lower SOTA distortion due to its THX AAA circuitry, right? I fail to see the reason why you'd want to switch. The THX AAA circuitry is responsible for the lowest distortion in HP amps and power amplifiers today (Benchmark AHB2).