Some New Schiit!!!

[Jason36]

Yep that's right I said new Schiit....literally :rofl: This is my new Schiit Modi DAC and Schiit Magni HP Amp that I took delivery of yesterday.

The Modi accepts up to 24/96kHz music files and the Magni is more than capable of driving the HD650's......in fact the Magni has got gobs of power, and with the volume control at 9.00am that is more than loud enough for general listening.

Including postage and import tax the Modi / Magni combo cost me just under £200.00......but believe me these sound comparable to products at twice that price range........These blow both the uDAC2 and the Arcam rDAC, both of which I have owned, way out of the water!!!!

They are both the same ultra-compact size at 5" x 3.5" x 1.25" and weigh about a pound each, both feature an all metal case and the Magni amp is capable of outputting up to 1.2 Watts.

 

[jjbomber]

They are both the same ultra-compact size at 5" x 3.5" x 1.25"

Thank goodness for that! For a minute I thought you had the World's biggest headphones

 

[quadpatch]

Hey Jason! These look and sound (seem) really great! I was going to get them into review until I realised that they will not be sold here. It seems like the price is not too crazy after shipping and tax too - about the same in pounds as in dollars (£200 / $200). I'm also thinking about getting the HD650 now too, I've been curious about it for ages and it will be useful to be able to directly compare this classic headphone to other things. I've just got the open back SoundMAGIC HP200 for example and it would be nice to compare them to that.

How does the Schiit DAC / amp combo work with your other headphones?

 

[Anonymous]

Some good Schiit you've got there! Particularly interested in the rPac comment, as I've got one.

 

[CnoEvil]

I have to say, it does look Schiit hot.....and probably sounds like the dogs b@!!ock$

 

[bigboss]

and probably sounds like the dogs b@!!ock$

Never heard that sound before! :?

 

[eggontoast]

All change again then ;-)

They look nice and must be a steal a £200 inc shipping and import duty. How are you getting on with your HD650's ?

 

[Jason36]

Hey Jason! These look and sound (seem) really great! I was going to get them into review until I realised that they will not be sold here. It seems like the price is not too crazy after shipping and tax too - about the same in pounds as in dollars (£200 / $200). I'm also thinking about getting the HD650 now too, I've been curious about it for ages and it will be useful to be able to directly compare this classic headphone to other things. I've just got the open back SoundMAGIC HP200 for example and it would be nice to compare them to that.

How does the Schiit DAC / amp combo work with your other headphones?

Hi Quad,

I believe they be looking at a UK distributor at the moment, but it was easier and quicker to actually buy them direct from Schiit. Personally I can highly recommend the HD650.... A lot of people say they sound boring and lack bass, however I have found this to be the opposite. They work with a wide variety of musical genres, and sound exceptionally good with soundtracks. They also scale very well with equipment upgrades, the better the amp and DAC the better they sound.

I haven't tried them with my T70p or 4.Ai yet, mainly because these are terminated to 3.5mm and the Magni has a 6.3mm output, so need to get an adapter. I will,hopefully post some more impressions when I have had a chance to listen with other headphones and also when I have had more time with the HD650.

 

[Jason36]

All change again then ;-)

They look nice and must be a steal a £200 inc shipping and import duty. How are you getting on with your HD650's ?

Hiya mate,

Yeah for the cost this is an absolutely amazing solution and because they are separate boxes it allows me the chance to change either the DAC and Magni independently for potential improvements. However at the moment and for the money I don't think there is much that can touch this combo.

As for the HD650.......I am loving them. They sound really good with the a wide range of musical genres, but especially with Accoustic and Female Vocal stuff. They also sound amazing with film soundtracks....I've been listening to the Dark Knight Rises and also the Inception soundtrack and I'm just blown away by them.

 

[eggontoast]

Personally I can highly recommend the HD650.... A lot of people say they sound boring and lack bass.

Do they really.....I never found them lacking in bass conversely I thought that was their best point, tight, well extended. I was guilty of finding them a tad boring though mainly due to the lack of sparkling treble but this is just my opinion. I purchased a pair of HD600's a while back though and they are much better suited to my taste, they have a brighter presentation than the HD650's and marginally less bass although, this could be due to the brighter presentation the level of bass could be the same.

Be interested to hear your thoughts on the amp and dac after you have tried more headphones and spent a little more time with them.

 

[CnoEvil]

and probably sounds like the dogs b@!!ock$

Never heard that sound before! :?

That's 'cause you haven't met our dog! :shifty:

 

[quadpatch]

Hi Quad,

I believe they be looking at a UK distributor at the moment, but it was easier and quicker to actually buy them direct from Schiit. Personally I can highly recommend the HD650.... A lot of people say they sound boring and lack bass, however I have found this to be the opposite. They work with a wide variety of musical genres, and sound exceptionally good with soundtracks. They also scale very well with equipment upgrades, the better the amp and DAC the better they sound.

I haven't tried them with my T70p or 4.Ai yet, mainly because these are terminated to 3.5mm and the Magni has a 6.3mm output, so need to get an adapter. I will,hopefully post some more impressions when I have had a chance to listen with other headphones and also when I have had more time with the HD650.

Hi Jason 🙂

I see that Mark at www.electromod.co.uk seems to be the official UK distributor of Schiit stuff now. He's also selling PYST RCA cables (Put You Schiit Together) - hehe! Anyway, I am hoping that he will allow me to review the Modi and Magni.

As for the HD650, it turned up the morning and they are stuck to my head right now. Hmm very nice! I'm in a noisy office at the moment but they already sound very interesting. I am powering them from a Fostex HP-A3, which is OK, but I really could do with something a bit warmer and more powerful I think. I will try this out tonight with what I have there, but I think I will be waiting for the Modi + Magni combo and the Grahm Slee Ultra Linear to turn up.

They remind me of a warmer DT880 600 Ohm. The soundstage really jumped out at me straight away though. Anyway, I will report back when I have spent more time with the HD650 at home anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just received a Modi from Mark at Electromod/Highendworkshop. He was very friendly and helpful in my communications with him.

Now just looking forward to getting it home and letting some music flow!

 

[Anonymous]

Damn! No joy.... works perfectly from the laptop, but bootloops on the Joggler. I've 3 other (even cheaper!) DACs that work, so there's something odd going on. I see confused reports about whether the Modi should work with Linux (Ubuntu), so I'll get in touch with Schiit before sending it back... :-(

 

[quadpatch]

I got the Modi and Magni combo earlier in the week (Thanks Mark). I will starting to test them properly very soon. I've had a few minutes play with them so far and they sound really great!

I tried the Modi with my Galaxy phone, but no joy 🙁. I was doubtful that it would work to be honest, I haven't had much luck with connecting DACs to my smartphone. It's supposed to output 'standard USB audio' via an OTG cable, but so far the compatability has been pretty poor. The main issue seems to be a lack of power connected to USB powered DACs struggle with it.

Anyway, I am looking forward to trying out the Schiit combo with a bunch of headphones. I have the Sennheiser HD650, which I'm absolutely loving so far) and all the rest of the kit in my signature. If there is anything in there that anyone is particualrly interested in knowing how it sounds with the Modi & Magni please feel free to mention it and I will do my best to be as detailed as I can in the full review.

 

[Jason36]

I got the Modi and Magni combo earlier in the week (Thanks Mark). I will starting to test them properly very soon. I've had a few minutes play with them so far and they sound really great!

I tried the Modi with my Galaxy phone, but no joy 🙁. I was doubtful that it would work to be honest, I haven't had much luck with connecting DACs to my smartphone. It's supposed to output 'standard USB audio' via an OTG cable, but so far the compatability has been pretty poor. The main issue seems to be a lack of power connected to USB powered DACs struggle with it.

Anyway, I am looking forward to trying out the Schiit combo with a bunch of headphones. I have the Sennheiser HD650, which I'm absolutely loving so far) and all the rest of the kit in my signature. If there is anything in there that anyone is particualrly interested in knowing how it sounds with the Modi & Magni please feel free to mention it and I will do my best to be as detailed as I can in the full review.

Hi mate one thing I have found with the Magni HP amp is that due to the gain, it really doesn't work well with low impedence headphones. For instance my 4.Ai IEM's produce a lot of hiss and the volume even at a low level is to much. There may also be an issue with channel imbalance at lower volume levels (I need to investigate this further though).

Cant wait to hear your impressions though mate.

 

[quadpatch]

I don't really get on with in-ears, but I didn't have any issues with some low impedance portable headphones on the Magni. It is a massively powerful amp for such a small unit!

Anyway, I have finally finished my review of the Modi & Magni. You can check it out here:

http://noblehifi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/schiit-modi-magni-review.html

Enjoy 🙂