Schiit Mjolnir 3 Impressions

I'm going to keep my thoughts relatively short since I don't think I have a whole lot of new things to add to the conversation. This is a hot running vibrating Class A amp that has some quirks that could be dealbreakers depending on your needs.

I ran this with a few pairs of headphones but not everything I own, and mostly used it with my HD650s since those are the 'phones I use more than anything else. I ran it with both SE and balanced cables, primarily in high gain, single ended configuration. My main point of direct comparison was my Folkvangr. My source was primarily Roon over coax to an OG Modi Multibit. I don't have any balanced sources I would consider better (neither the the FiiO K9 or Modius quite match the tone of the MM for me).

I think overall, for sound, this is a really stupendous amp. It delivers far more power than any headphone I own needs, but maintains a clean and open sound. I didn't really hear any sense of congestion or muddiness in the sound with any of the tracks I used. It is fairly direct in that Schiit solid state way, punchy and full and maybe lacking just a bit in finesse. But man is it fun. It's just a great thing to listen to and pairs great with the HD650. I think the sound was better from the balanced output but both that and SE sound pretty similar other than power delivery.

Compared to the Folkvangr it is more direct, more powerful, and probably has more texture on the notes with the HD650. But it's a different presentation. I think the FV has a bit more magic especially in the upper register. Maybe it's just more colored. The MJ3 does seem to do better with lower impedance current hungry headphones; the Folkvangr can sound a little vague and anemic with some pairs.

I think the Schiit FAQ already covers this, but it does indeed vibrate, it's kind of weird to put your hands on the amp and feel it humming. And it's hot. Hot in a way I don't think the Asgard ever was. Hot even in a way I can ignore with my class A tube amps (maybe because so much of their heat is in the tubes themselves rather than the chassis). Schiit mentions this, everyone else has noted it, but it's all true.

And it's big. I don't have room for it in my current setup unless I lost the Fokvangr (I certainly wouldn't stack them). It's a great amp but probably not the right fit for me, though I already miss it.

 

I bought mine the day it first was available for sale, first thing in the morning, and I'm still happily enjoying it over a year later. I'd been meaning to write up a few extra thoughts, just finally getting around to it.

Capacitors are Still Good

Big shoutout to everyone earlier in the thread not only pointing out the potential capacitor bulging issue, but also posting photos on what specifically to look for. I've kept an eye on mine periodically, but have had no issues whatsoever. Figured I'd report that since when a bunch of people report a problem, it's easy to assume it's a big problem, when it could just be a few folks with lemons making a lot of noise while the majority go on without ever saying anything about their gear just continuing to work.


DACS and Cables

You know, early on I tried MJ3 with a Gungnir A1, and I didn't love it, but I read your post a week or so ago and decided to give it another try, and now I like it. To me, this combo really brings out detail, energy and texture in the mids, and is now really fun.

Part of that shift in opinion for me, I suspect, is that using Mjolnir 3 is also the first time I've heard a difference between cables. Basically, my experience mirrored this post from @rhythmdevils on the Headphone Cables thread. I had a Hart cable, and being that I've always been cable agnostic, figured it was fine. Later, I got an Audiophile Ninja cable since they are an SBAF sponsor (or were? I don't see them on the sidebar now), and earlier this year when I was in the middle of a move, I ended up doing a lot of cable swapping as things got packed up and unpacked. Once I heard the difference, I couldn't go back.

I tried swapping the same cables for a bit with my Monoprice Liquid Platinum, but just didn't hear as stark of a difference. So, not sure what's up with that. Can't say I've ever heard a difference in cables before, and it's not something I go listening for, but with Mjolnir 3, and still using the Audeze LCD-2 Classic (although I first heard the difference with a ZMF Atticus), it was striking.

So anyway, that's the whole chain I'm using right now: Gungnir A1 -> Mj3 -> Audeze LCD-2 Classic with A. Ninja cable. Otherwise, I was still enjoying it with the Bifrost 2 OG previously =, as well.


ZMF Atticus

I think I've written about this elsewhere, but I didn't really like the Atticus with MJ3. It had a good detailed sound, but at the expense of dynamics. I think others might enjoy that combo, but I'm not a detail junkie, and I listen to a lot of rock and metal and occasionally classical, and dynamics are what makes music sound "real" to me. So, pretty easy to rule that one out based on my preferences.

Surprisingly, the ZMF Atticus with the new-ish Vali 3 does have the right balance of detail and dynamics I crave. Not sure what's up with that, either.


Warm-Up

As others have noted, this amp sounds its best after it's been on for a while. I ended up buying a wireless smart plug from Tapo, and it was a worthwhile "upgrade" to me. Not only did it keep me from having to fumble around in the back with that little power switch, but it also meant as soon as I thought I might listen to music, I could turn the MJ3 on from anywhere, and it'd already be at least partially warmed up for me. Frequently used first thing in the morning while the amp is upstairs, but I'm busy making coffee and letting the dogs out downstairs.

10/10, would recommend.

 

Wonder if its safe to use both my HD650 and HD800S with one connected balanced and the other single ended when Mjolnirs input is selected to single ended (tho both balanced and single ended cables are connected to dac). I expect volume to be similar given similar impedance and sensitivty specs of these headphones?

Use case is my GF likes to watch me play videogames and so we usually have audio play on speakers via MJ3 preouts so we can both enjoy the game - but some games play better with headphones and I hear thats the case with the Silent Hill 2 remake we expect to enjoy this weekend ^^ so I’d like to have 2 HPs connected

 

hello,
based on the loaner unit:
tl/dr: this is, for me, my end-game solid state amplifier. (once upon a time i believed the Phonitor fit that bill.)

hello again (this will be wall-of-text long),

if i am looking at the headphone space correctly, this should drive just about anything on the market fairly well.
i am certain that there are headphones out there that require contortionist matching to achieve their ultimate potential, i, however, do not have the resources to make that happen.
a kilobuck is a lot of money to spend for toys.
my solid state daily driver is an Asgard 2. i find that i am comforted by that good old Class A heat generation.
besides, i enjoy how Class A amps sound. and i really cannot articulate why.

aside #1:
my desktop stack consists of:
Bifrost Multibit
Sys
Loki OG
Lyr 2 (for that tubey goodness.)
Asgard 2
any loaner headphone is plugged into this.

aside #2:
if i could, two channel:
Luxman L-590AXII or Luxman L-595ASE
JBL 4349 w/JS150 stands
Magico A1 (stands TBD) or KEF Reference 1 Meta w/S-RF1 Floor Stand
(an appropriate JBL, Magico, or KEF sub. if needed)
Technics SL-1200
Technics SL-G700M2 (gotta have that internet radio!)
Blue Jeans Cable to connect all this stuff. (if its good enough for broadcasting, its good enough for me.)

side A: blasting Trent or Jerry and friends under the sun.
side B: Patricia Barber or Uncle Bonsai at The Triple Door.

aside #3::
to get off this merry-go-round:
Yggdrasil More Is Better
Loki Max
Mjolnir 3
and...
get that tubey Schiit going again, Folkvanger?

we all fall into the FOTM trap. some new piece of gear is released and it becomes the must have.
i want to listen to music, i want to buy more recordings, i do not really want to stream.
can a less than the ultimate setup deliver pleasure?

i hope so.

YMMV

cheers!

 

I am participating in SBAF's loaner tour and have only had it for a day but I fuckin love this amp. Immediate impressions (single-ended Class A, no feedback) are that timbral sweetness with this puppy is just remarkable. I especially always get ear-gasms from really well-recorded acoustic sound, i.e. most especially drums and percussion, and I am just getting those feelies from all over the place listening via the MJ3. (So far I've only listened with Verite Closed and HD800s w/ leather ZMF Pads.) Bass is also just so phenomenally delicious via MJ3, there is a chocolatey roundedness that is authoritative yet still incisive that makes the Lyr+ by comparison positively anemic-sounding in the bass department. Bass drums also have an awesome thump to them while not drowning out or losing the more shellac-y slap that really great drum recordings have. The high end is exceptional, but subtly so. Whereas the bass and mids are thick and girthsomely bodied the high end is delicately airy and precise. Cymbals and trebley guitars are so fluffily presented, I keep almost being primed to expect the rest of the soundscape to be anemic (I am reminded of the Meier-Corda Jazz ff I have laying around that also has really nice highs but does so at the expense of impactful mid and bass ranges) but the MJ3 handles the entire soundscape with aplomb.

This is bar none one of the most immediately engaging pieces of kit I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. AND this is all via my trusty Bifrost Multibit w/ Unison -- which I was all but certain I'd hit the ceiling on in terms of scalability. Lo and behold the MJ3 demonstrates it has headroom to spare.

And also yeah temperature-wise it does get warm but not like that warm. My entry into headphone amps was the Asgard 2 which really got piping so maybe I was conditioned to expect worse when I hear Class A -- if I had to guess the MJ3 just has more chassis to disperse heat as only the grill/heatsink components really get to a point that I'd describe uncomfortable to the touch.

 

Wait for summer. It's fine right now but since you're in the valley it'll get toasty unless you have great AC.

I'm in South Bay and still suspect heat brought on the early death of one of my MJ3 channels earlier this year. Schiit fixed promptly but I have some questions if Class A is the smartest choice for me in my no AC living situation. Maybe it was just bad parts, but stuff that runs hotter usually dies younger.

MJ2 survived practically a decade in the same or worse conditions with no issues and I'm bearish MJ3 can have the same longevity.

 

It's interesting, back when I first purchased me Asgard 2 and BFM at the Schiitr, just as I was leaving both Mike and Jason stopped in for a meeting and I had the chance to talk to them really briefly about my purchase. Jason talked for a bit about how the Asgard 2, being Class A and relatively simple engineering-wise, would last pretty much forever because despite getting hot, none of the componentry was really susceptible to failure from being cooked. I'm sure that could be very different with the MJ3 since it's clearly quite a bit more complicated, but the feeling I get is Jason is really aware of the robustness that extra temperature requires.

It was interesting because Jason also mentioned the A2 and the BFM were Mike's favorite combo at that time -- and then about a year later they concurrently released the A3 and the BF2. I always wondered if my brief chat with them about those two particular components might have spurred them to decide to upgrade the two -- doubt it of course, but it is fun to pretend!

 

My Valhalla 2 actually gets hotter than my Mjolnir 3, or maybe it just seems like it because the heatsinks are the only part that gets what I would call hot, whereas the entire case of the V2 is at least as hot as the heatsinks on the Mj3 (I assume because the entire case of the V2 is supposed to act as a heatsink).

 

Interesting note: my Mjolnir 3 drives the Code-X much more effortlessly, with greater oomph and tighter bass than the Stratus. Both have similar rated power output, with MJ3 doing 2W into 32 ohms and Stratus doing 1.8W into 50 ohms in pure class A operation. Even then Code-X felt somewhat underpowered with Stratus, same went for other planars with higher sensitivity. On the other hand, the MJ3 makes the Code-X truly sing, even at low gain / SE / NFB mode. The HE-5 is one of the more difficult-to-drive planars with a sensitivity of 87 dB/mW, but for some reason it seems to do a much better job than my MJ2.

Of course that is not to say that the Stratus is bad, it works even more wonderfully with non-planars such as HD800.

 

I've seen comparisons of Mjolnir 1 to Mjolnir 2. And 2 to 3, but nothing comparing Mjolnir 1 to Mjolnir 3.

I'm thinking of replacing my Mjolnir 1 and getting the Mjolnir 3, but am not sure if I can expect much improvement, sonically. Nothing wrong with my Mjolnir 1; I got 10 years out of it and still happy with it. But if the Mjolnir 3 is noticeable 'better', then i'd like to experience that with my LCD-XC. But if the sound is similarly great between the two, then I needn't bother upgrading. Any thoughts on Mjolnir 3 being a better sounding amp? I know the features have improved, but I'm mostly interested in pure sound quality difference. Or are we going to soon see a Mjolnir 4?

 

I've got both, @Walter Jones, and have the 3 on single-ended Class A with no feedback. I've not undertaken direct comparisons of the two with my headphones, yet. But they're appreciably different. Not night and day; but not so subtle as to require close attention to discern the differences.

The Mjolnir 1 has more slam and has a slightly more aggressive presentation, in part with its slightly more emphasized treble, which can be a bit fatiguing and edgy with the wrong headphones.

The Mjolnir 3 is harder to classify: it's warmer, has a thicker/richer tonality; I prefer its treble; the midrange may be a bit more forward and lush. Where the 1 is slightly drier in tonality, the Mjolnir 3 is wetter.

I've not heard an LCD-XC in a long time but for my preferences, the warmer, fuller, lusher sound of the 3 could well make for a better pairing. To help you get a sense of where I'm coming from, you might want to see my impressions of the XC here: "The MJ1 gives the XC a very clean, clear, clinical sound, one that can be too bright, which itself has a very slight treble emphasis (which typically comes across as a bit of sweetness with darker or warmer headphones like my LCD-2 Classic)." If you don't find the XC bright, then ymmv...

 

I really dug my time with the Mjolnir 3.

Conveniently, my immediate comparison would be the amp below the MJ3 in the Schiit lineup, the Lyr+. Hooking up the MJ3 and listening for the first time, what immediately struck me was the MJ3's sense of lifelike immediacy compared to the Lyr+. This is a very transparent, neutral presentation that feels accurate and 'honest', which is no different from the Lyr -- where it pulls ahead of the Lyr is, to my ear, a sense of liveliness and energy that the Lyr doesn't quite match. 'Lifelike' is the adjective I have a hard time getting away from because there is a roundedness to the MJ3's presentation that just makes music recordings sound very real and material. The entire soundscape of bass, mids, and treble are vigorously represented and serviced; treble renders cymbals splashy and bright and shimmery, distorted guitar harmonics are deliciously articulate and effervescent yet syrupy and rich; the bass is authoritative and muscular, bloomy and radiant yet without losing textural nuance or becoming disembodied from the rest of the music; to my ear the MJ3 is almost a bit mid-forward in presentation, though this impression may be just because there is a subtle sweetening in the mid-range that gives vocals and guitar and drum hits (especially) a sweeping, expansive sense of presence that, again, is just intoxicatingly lifelike. It really does feel just like perfect 'neutral' with a dash of extra excitement or life that makes for a richly rewarding listen.

The bulk of my listening was with the Verite Closed and the Atrium Open -- I would say these impressions are most pronounced with the VCs; though the same characteristics were apparent with the Atriums, that combination became almost too 'realistic' to the point that it was, compared to the VCs, rather boring in comparison. The VCs with their darker, more closed-in sound and excellent driver snap really benefitted from the sense of realism the MJ3 brought to the table. The only other time I can recall hearing an amp and having such an immediate 'Oh, nice' reaction was the first time I heard a tube amp (and Amps & Sound Kenzie rev 1 if I recall correctly).

I also did some swapping between Push-pull and feedback correction modes -- there's some difference between them but not enough that I'd consider it like, a huge deal. The non-feedback correction mode definitely has a little bit of a tubey thing going on, with that sweetness in the mids, but it's not unbelievably pronounced.

Is the MJ3 worth twice the price of the Lyr+? Diminishing returns is a thing here; we're not talking the same jump from Jot2 to Lyr+ (in my opinion) -- but I have to say, I believe the extra cost is justified. As great as the Lyr+ is, the MJ3 really does tango in that realm of amplifier dominated mostly by $2000+ boutique and tube amps -- for my money it bests the A&S Kenzie Rev 2 and DNA Starlett, which are both great but sound, in comparison, unrefined and thin.

I love it. I love it love it. Very possibly my favorite amp experience to date. Thank you @schiit, @purr1n and the rest of the SBAF crew for the loaner tour!

 

Has anyone had their Mjolnir 3 fail on them here? On the headfi thread ppl are reporting some amp failures. One person said it was the second time he had to send it in. I'm not to concerned about it, was just wondering how people faired over here. I've owned a ton of their stuff over the years and haven't had one piece of their gear ever fail on me.

 

I think I posted a while back that I had a failure. I had progressively worsening static in one channel.

I purchased a 1st run Mjolnir and used it for a couple weeks (and it was fine) then had to put it in storage for 6-9 months, then had the issue develop within a few weeks of resuming use. Sent it back to Schiit and they fixed it; I just had to pay to ship it to them. I didn’t observe any bulging caps that others reported on head-fi, but it’s something to be aware of. Oh, and I haven’t had any problems since, and it’s probably been 6-9 months since it was repaired.

 

I had a failure, emailed Schiit, got it fixed in a week or so. I do have alternative amps so it wasn't a big deal.

Mine was an original release version. The web says that the OG Mjolnir3 has some capacitors prone to failure which were redesigned out and the repair addresses it.

 

I bought mine on day of release, so it was in the first run with potential capacitor issue. After a couple weeks I ran into an issue with the gain switch only bumping one channel up to high gain when it was flipped. Sent it back to Schiit who repaired it quickly under warranty. It was solid for months after that, but I have since moved on to other amps.

 

Mine also had some static noise in the other channel. This developed about a week after I started using the unit. European distributor for Schiit wasn't able to reproduce the fault, but I still got a refund.

 

@YMO

 

Some of you guys do rub your balls on your 2A3 t00b amps.