Magni 3 released

Just a follow up. After spending a good bit of time with the m3 this week, my appreciation for it remains just as high as I originally assessed it. The m3 is simply a very neutral amp that doesn't muck anything up. The value proposition of the m3/Modi Multibit is class leading to say the least.

The m3 only has one real weakness as far as I can tell...power. It drives the 650, Aeon (open and closed) very nicely. The jury is still out on the hd800 as I haven't listened to the 800 much this week. It may be that the m3 comes up short to drive the 800. But it does run out of power when you get to the harder to drive cans. And it does play nicely with iems as well. The m3 is clearly better than the Asgard IMO. And just comparing the amp section, I'd take m3 over the Jot. The only Schiit amp that is solid state that I'd consider over the m3 would be the Rag.

Gripes:

*I'm not a huge fan of the mini chassis. I mean, I get it. They are keeping the price down. Sacrifices have to be made. I don't like the amp moving around when I try to plug headphones in.

*I also don't really like the wal-wart configuration, but again I understand why.

My pipe dream for m3? A chassis that is exactly the size of 2 m3's placed side by side with an internal high quality PSU. While you're at it do the same for the Modi Multibit and let me stack 'em. Now there's some sex appeal just thinking about that schiit stack.

 

Can you please elaborate on which IEMs you tried with it? A desktop setup that plays nicely with sensitive IEMs would be awesome.

 

The only iems that I have here are the jh13 pro v and isine 20.

 

I'm assuming you had the first few Jot batches?

 

I owned one early and one later batch. Now I'm trying to decide if the m3 is my favorite schiit amp regardless of price or topology. The mjo 2 with nice glass is better. The dynamics on that amp are a show stopper even at low levels. So if money were no object I'd take the mjo 2 over the m3.

 

One small issue popped up with the m3. When using the amp in low gain, moving the pot from 2:00 to 3:00 gives a huge volume increase. It's not linear at all between those two points. This is not a big issue for me but I thought it should be pointed out.

 

After spending most of the day with m3 and the hd800, as much as I like the m3 the pairing with the hd800 is just not that good. In fact, if you are looking for an amp for your hd800 you'll want to pass on the m3. There is just not enough power there or synergy. m3 is too neutral for the hd800. I tried to make it a better pairing with EQ and mods, but at the end of the day it's a fail.

 

Wait to keep it real, ice man.

 

Nah, it's modded and EQ'd as I mentioned. But hell, it was worth a shot anyway. I'd rate the Vali 2 pretty damn good considering the price which is just a little more than the m3 so really not that far fetched really. Schiit has pulled off such minor miracles before. So don't be a Mr. Grumpy Pants @jexby.

 

@Ice-man : this is an interesting finding nevertheless and your attempt / expectation to pair m3 successfully was legit. From reading the impressions on the forum Vali 2 is an acceptable amp. Going by the specs sheet Vali 2 delivers 270mA in 300ohms while m3 delivers 430mA in the same load. By other senior members reports m3 sounds warmer than Vali 2, so it's a little unexpected that M3 does not do a decent job with the HD 800. Thanks for the report!

 

@Ice-man, just a thought.... as you're using EQ with your HD800 are you also reducing the output volume in software to give some clipping headroom (which would give the m3 a harder time with them)? Maybe doesn't make much difference, though before I sold my HD800 I was using - 5.5dB out to the dac which could be an issue with lower powered amps.

 

Very good point. My estimation is that you'll around 10-20% of the output volume when using EQ, roughly. But I don't see this as a major factor in the ability of the m3 to drive the hd800. It's just too neutral of an amp.

 

I think it's a big ask anyway, most SS amps don't really do the HD800 many favours, much less something the size of a DAP and costing $99.

 

If you are looking for surprising impressions @jexby and @Marvey

 

I suspect that this is an outlier.

 

Hence the surprise factor.

 

Hey im having an issues with my Magni 3 when ever its plugged in i cant hear any game sounds everything else works fine any advice ? i know this probably isnt the correct place for this but im not sure who i can ask for help

 

OPpen up the volume mixer on the windows (the speaker icon on the bottom right) and make sure the game noise is being played through your DAC.