Schiit Magnius Headphone Amp

This review is interesting, not so much as a review of Magnius but a general statement against the "measurements tell the whole story" movement:

 

Agreed. As someone who prefers to tinker in the DIY side of audio I've come to judge components/parts based on my response over time. I am not surprised that differences in a short-term blind test would be categorized as small.

Swapping in a ClarityCap vs. a cheap Bennic for instance isn't life changing, there isn't an OMG moment and if asked to assess right away I would likely say (just using as an example - application dependent of course) 'No, there's not a huge difference'. But *over time* the Bennic's slightly grainy top end emphasis in a tweeter circuit is going to grate; I'll find myself having shorter listening sessions or for some reason playing tracks that aren't as hot in that region, whereas the CC is just smooth and clear and (application dependent) I never think about it again once it's there. So when I listen to gear or work on projects my impressions and choices factor in all that prior experience with emphasis on long term listening fatigue.

As for blind tests themselves I think there is so much left to learn. I'd love to participate in (a properly conducted) one. To me it sounds fun! This is a hobby. Listening to music is an act of pleasure and anything we can do to further our knowledge of this miraculous cognitive experience should be encouraged.

 

There's some fairly good synergy with Modius E and Magnius. Not going to be a popular opinion here, but I'm enjoying this combo more than the Bifrost 2 and Jotunheim 2 - what I'm hearing is a better stage and treble that isn't bothering me. I can easily recommend this stack if someone wants something affordable and no fuss or warm up time. Especially if you have a noisy source as balanced removed any type of background noise.