Schiit Mjolnir 3 Impressions

Y'all read between the lines here. IMO (also) this is an amp for planars. Those of us from Austin who went compared notes and nobody really loved it with all manner of Sennheisers we brought, but it woke up with the LCD headphones it was presented with. It's like even Schiit itself was dropping hints like crazy.

Further evaluation is necessary, but initial impressions and Marv's hints all match up.

 

That is good news and makes me less salty about no 230V version.

 

Wondering too if this would power and gel with the OG/new gen HE-6, Susvara. I’m thinking this would be expensive for just planars, but then people have been chasing that complementary amp and spending gobs to find a fit.

 

I ordered an MJ3 early Thursday AM, but am still waiting for it to ship. Looking forward to trying it with my various HPs - HD6XX, HD600, Focal Clear, HE6SE (non V2), and Auteur Classic. As time allows I will share thoughts/comparisons between MJ3, Piety, Rag 2.

Trying to figure out what Dac to pair it with. I have an OCD streak that really doesnt want to pair black and silver together. Am trying to order a black Bifrost 2 cover.

 

I haven't heard one or been at the meets where the Mjolnir 3 was initially demoed, but are we sure at this stage that we can draw a blanket conclusion that it's just a planar amp?

Reading between the lines, and having used planar speakers for many years, what I take from the discussion so far is that this amp is probably better for headphones that require more current, not necessarily those that require more voltage (like higher impedance Sennheisers). The Mjolnir 3 can obviously produce a ton of current given it has a massively overbuilt power supply and an output stage with 32 10A output transistors (16 per channel). So for current-hungry planar headphones, and depending on listening levels, seems that it would be a good match on paper.

But what about other headphones that have a lower-ish nominal impedance and would benefit more from higher current output than higher voltage, and still need an amp with lower output impedance? Focal Utopia / Clear?

Recall discussion from years back about the design differences between the ECP T4 and DSHA-3F (my emphasis added):

What about other lower impedance dynamic headphones (Focal Stellia?) that may not work well with DHSA-3FN, as others have reported on SBAF (one example I remembered/found)?

This is what I'm more interested in. We have impressions so far calling Mjolnir 3 precise, detailed, accurate, even, dynamic, slammy, no treble f*ckery, transparent (but not to DSHA-3F/N levels), and involving (but not to Eddie Current Black Widow 2 levels). On paper, it seems like it would mesh well with those kinds of headphones, especially those with potential treble issues on certain amps, at a much lower cost.

In my experience with speaker amps today (admittedly mostly for Maggies, but also some with dynamic drivers at dealers), the best-sounding amps have been super heavy and run hot. They have massively overbuilt power supplies and super beefy output stages that can pass a ton of current. They run exclusively in Class A or are Class A/B amps that are heavily biased into Class A. Coda and Plinius for example. The Mjolnir 3 seems like a miniature version of those kinds of amps (especially due to the massively overbuilt output stage), running pure Class A, which all has me very intrigued.

 

See the "further evaluation is necessary" portion of my comment.

I'd be surprised if @schiit wouldn't consider a SBAF loaner, given how much Schiit of theirs we purchase collectively.

 

Agree, also curious. I had the thought that I wanted to try MJ3 with Focal Clear Mg and Utopia. MJ2 and Focal is from what I have tried a bad combo because of treble fuckery and wack cohesion.

 

Dammit you buncha hoofnuggers, I'm trying to get off the nervosa trainwreck of powering my OG HE-6. I don't need another fomo fotm to wank over

 

It's a shame this amp is not available in 230V for use outside the US.
I was looking forward to it for my Code-X.

 

Get a transformer?

 

I would read Marv's and erro's (first) posts again. heard at schiit meet II in w various combinations of transducer and settings, and ya, they both spot-on.

 

It’s not ideal to have your 230v Schiit together with your 110v Schiit because one day you’ll mix your Schiit up and Schiit will be all over the place.

 

Wait, they are not planning to release a 230v version? I thought it's just the first run for some reason.

 

Not to perpetuate stereotypes, but, first impression is that it sounds good with Audeze.

 

I don’t think a clear response was ever given with regard to a 230V version: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-8254#post-17692514

and I was always under the impression that there would only be one run (like folkvangr). Unless sales were good enough to sell out quickly or something.

 

Which Audeze are we looking at here? LCD-X, I can see. The others are the LCD-2 and LCD-3? Thanks!

 

Unfortunately, no 230V version is currently possible without changing the transformers to provide acceptable hum and vibration.

If there are more crazy people who want Mjolnir 3 than expected, however, I will keep the door open for a second run, where we can plan for 230V. Don't get too excited. We're in a "wait and see" mode on this for now.

 

Yes, an LCD-X and LCD-2, both "modified" with the foam taken out of the backside of the ear cups, and then an LCD-2 Classic (unmodified). No LCD-3 here, unfortunately.

 

On the condition that a second run did occur, would silver be a "maybe"?

 

This is a bit of a noise post so skip past if you're doom scrolling MJ3 content for flowery audiophile nonsense.

Mine is supposed to show up tomorrow. I'm not expecting much as I wasn't exactly thrilled with the last Schiit HP amp I heard that garnered generally positive reviews here, Lyr3. So my expectation bias on dynamic cans (all I've got...) are for flat staging, somewhat v-shaped tonality and a general lack of engagement compared to either my Elekit or EC Af. If it usurps my old second hand MJ1 I'll be mildly impressed, but that's about it. In my rigs, it's competing directly with Piety and MJ1 (both livable sins of commission amps, tho), as so few SS HP amps have gotten things right for my tastes driving mostly HD600, 800S, and ZMF VC, Auteur Classic, and Aeolus. Stating my mileage since yours may vary.