Magni 3 released

I've only had the Magni 3 about an hour or so. I let it warm up for an hour and then started to listen about 15 minutes ago. First reactions:

*there is NO WAY this cost $99...NFW.

*I'm going from Modi Multibit>M3 and then to a Kenzie tube amp with the M3 as a pre amp. Initial reaction to the M3 as a pre amp...pretty good. Need more time to assess.

Hour 2 with the Magni 3:

This amp is impressive even at a higher price point. I've heard amps that cost 2/3x more that didn't sound this good. Treble is a little smoother and effortless now than it was while it was still warming up. It does what a good solid state amp should do...remain pretty neutral and pass on the signal from the source.

It has good power and the pot is nicely linear up to about 2:30 (low gain/hd650). Then there is a glitch. Goes from nice and full at 2:30 to loud pretty quickly. Maybe a little too quickly for my taste. Then if I switch to high gain I'm living towards the 8:00 section of the dial which gets me a little channel imbalance.

Maybe the amps needs a little burn in and more patience with regard to the pot issue. Still it's not a deal breaker and may change with more cook time. Sonically I love this thing.

Pair this with Modi Multibit and it will kick the crap out of setups costing way more. I can see this combo being the go to recommendation for people getting started. Hell, what am I talking about? it's working great for my needs and I'm not just starting out.

Mini Jot? Hmm...maybe. I mean I get the comparison especially considering the similar current feedback topology. I may like the m3 better than the Jot. The treble tonality has a more "expensive" sound. Hard to beat Jot as a total package though. But considering that m3/Modi Multibit is $350 brand new....damn.

So far, I'm exclusively listening with the 650. Next up, the hd800 (SDR+EQ) and to a new planar, not yet announced.

 

Am I reading these comments right? This $99 amp is getting better reviews than the Jot? Can't tell if it's hype, the value aspect, or it's just that good.

 

How does the Magni 3 compare to MD CTH and Jot?

 

Probably a mix of all. There is always a lot of excitement and some hype around any new Schiit product here. It is what it is. Sounds like it truly is a solid product though.

 

I was not a big fan of the original Magni nor Magni 2 for that matter. Magni 3 changes all that. It's much more neutral and tonally correct. Easily better than Asgard 2. Magni 3 competes well with Jot, but I'd actually take the m3 even at the same price point. Reason being, the treble on the Jot bothered me a little and the treble on the m3 doesn't. Also the sound stage on the Jot is a little collapsed. While the staging on the m3 is not huge, it's not collapsed either.

I have not heard the MDCTH.

In fairness, the m3 is not a power house. Someone earlier was commenting that it was driving the hd-6 reasonably well. I'll have to call bullshit on that. The m3 drives the 650 and relatively easy to drive planars well. The Ethers and Aeon are great. m3 is starting to stretch but still fine with lcd-2 and lcd-3. Hex is quite good but he1k is not. He-6 is a fail.

 

+1 on the HEX, been enjoying mine on the M3 since Thursday. Will get around to trying the PM-3 at some point but right now I can't think of a good enough reason to take the HEX off.

UPDATE: Yup, the PM-3 sounds awesome on the Magni 3; this is the most detail and nuance I've heard from these cans. Wish I still had the GO2A to compare to as that was my previous favorite with the PM-3, though from memory the GO2A brought out this crispy almost exaggerated sense of detail... I'm pretty confident the M3 is far and away smoother in the trebles.

So there you have it folks, the key to good amp + headphone synergy is matching the model numbers. Now I need to buy more headphones with 3 in the name.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/73tpbd/review_schiit_magni_3_and_modi_multibit_the/

I went ahead and did my review there. Here's some points:

1) Magni 3 has the Asgard's tonality (though toned back) of being slightly warm and less bright than the Magni 2u. It has the Jot's blackness, resolve, soundstage, and slam, but to a less degree.

2) Modi Multibit does very, very well with it. In fact, the Modi Multibit is better with the Magni 3 than it was with the Magni 2u.

3) Magni 3 is better than the Lyr 2, Asgard 2, and maybe the Vali 2. Though, that last one is up to whatever flavor the person wants.

4) Modi Multibit made owning a Bifrost Multibit redundant to me. It looks like my only major upgrade is several times more expensive (NFB-1, NFB-7, R2R 7, Gungnir Multibit, Amethyst, Yggdrasil, ect.)

Either way, I don't think people are just hyping this schiit up. (Well, they are, but it's warranted this time.) This is tiny $99 amp just cleared out the entire sub-$1000 range, unless you want the Jot's balanced topology or Tubes.

 

Yeah, that was me, regarding the Magni 3 and the HE-6. I did some more listening, over the weekend. With my HE-6 and HE-560 (which are both known to be hard to drive), the Magni 3 did seem a bit fatiguing (and less authoritative in the low frequencies), so you may very well be correct about the power. I'd need to try my old amp again, but I think that I prefer the NFB-1AMP with those cans.

The HD-650 and the LCD-2.2c sound very good to me with the Magni 3 (and much better than with the AGD amp).

Edit: To confirm what I stated above, I tried the HE-560 with the Magni 3 and NFB1-AMP, back to back. They do sound better with the Magni 3 (more low-frequency impact, better detail). So, my recollection was incorrect. The highs still may be a bit fatiguing, but overall it does sound better with the Magni 3. I might need to check out a high-powered (& well-regarded) amp for the HE-560 and HE-6.

 

Recent Audeze cans are made to be incredibly efficient. They're suppose to be driven by your phone (though, it's a big stretch.) Hifiman lies about their efficiency ratings, so I'm not surprised something that SHOULD be able to be driven by the Magni 3 can't be. The HE-6, for example, has an efficiency of 73 or something obnoxiously low (I forget the units for that.)

 

HE-6 is 83 dB for 1mW.

My LCD-XC are 100 dB/mW. Plenty loud from a phone, even for flying. Obviously bass control suffers...

 

I've been listening to the m3 all weekend with Modi Multibit and the Aeon Open. It's just gorgeous sounding. No peaks or wonkiness. Just smooth and effortless. I am perfectly content with what I'm hearing which is amazing on a $99 amp. I would have NO urge to upgrade the amp for this setup with the AFO.

 

That's Hifiman's spec. However, measurements from a couple of people on the discord, as well as innerfidelity's measurements, actually pointed to it being lower than that (in the 70s after the math is worked out.) IIRC, the older LCD 2s (not the new ones,) also had lower-than-spec'd efficiency. Then there's stuff like the BD T1 that actually had an impedance way over the quoted amount (it swung from 800 to 1400 and never actually got to 600 ohms.)

Slightly dumb question I forgot to ask in PMs: How close is the Jot to the Raggy? I haven't found any Solid States that match the Raggy besides MAYBE the Master 9 (and I don't want to put up with the QC lottery.)

 

Thank you for your help. That's I figured reading the guide, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I have some time before I pull the trigger in February, but I mostly know what I'm going for (either the Raggy/Yggdrasil or Kenzie Encore (or IHA-1) with the Amethyst. Though...if I can get a good deal on a Taboo IV...)

 

I'm surprised no one's tried bridging a pair as monos yet...

 

The Magni 3 is costing me nearly USD 230-240 with shipping and duty. The Jot is USD 600. The Valhalla is a bit over 500. Which is the most VFM?

Also, can I keep M3 on 24x7?

I already have the Modi Multibit. The CTH would be like USD 400ish but I can’t wait for months.

 

And is that combo good both with 600 and 650?