[ku1185]

That's truly impressive. I think Jason started chasing measurements just to shut this crowd up, so they'd realize that yes, Schiit makes good products. But I also think the company could have ignored this segment of the market and been just fine, and in a way, that this was a fool's errand.

Would love to see more Schiit that ignores measurements and focuses more on listening pleasure. BF2/OG did not measure very well but it was a lovely DAC.

 

[XERO1]

That's truly impressive. I think Jason started chasing measurements just to shut this crowd up, so they'd realize that yes, Schiit makes good products. But I also think the company could have ignored this segment of the market and been just fine, and in a way, that this was a fool's errand.

Would love to see more Schiit that ignores measurements and focuses more on listening pleasure. BF2/OG did not measure very well but it was a lovely DAC.

Totally agree. When I spoke with Jason at CanJam SoCal, I brought this up to him and he admitted that he kind of went through a 'phase' where he just wanted to show all the measurement nerds that he could make amps that measured just as good as all the THX-based amps that were getting a lot of attention at the time. But by his own admission, those amps sounded so lifeless and boring that he actually forgot that he had even made one of them (the Magnius)! And he also said that the Mjolnir 3 and the Midgard are a return to form for him, and even though the Midgard does measure extremely well, he's no longer interested in "chasing zeros", especially when the end result is something that you can literally forget about.

 

[starence]

Totally agree. When I spoke with Jason at CanJam SoCal, I brought this up to him and he admitted that he kind of went through a 'phase' where he just wanted to show all the measurement nerds that he could make amps that measured just as good as all the THX-based amps that were getting a lot of attention at the time. But by his own admission, those amps sounded so lifeless and boring that he actually forgot that he had even made one of them (the Magnius)! And he also said that the Mjolnir 3 and the Midgard are a return to form for him, and even though the Midgard does measure extremely well, he's no longer interested in "chasing zeros" if the end result is something that you can literally forget about.

Even though they generally take an objectivist approach, JDS Labs is similar in that they refuse to chase measurements just so they can score points with ASR. Objectivists admit that past a certain threshold there's no audible difference, so what's the point?

 

[adydula]

ASR even if they like the unit for measurements always hangs the hat on the specs
AND
Ties this into a price performance review site for most things.

Not much in his review about listening to music and how this sounds etc..
More charts and graphs etc...and I am an EE type and like charts and graphs.

But they arent everything...dead horse.

Most folks over there missed the HALO stuff for the XLR.
But some want testing to see if this can be measured.
Why?
Because this is what they do.

Np with this. But for me its more than that.

THX AAA is a great example of this...

So here to Schiit and hope they never move that power switch to the back!
LOL!

Midgard real listening review soon!

Alex

 

[Svperstar]

I asked in Schiit story thread but got no reply, can anyone confirm if the Migard is strong enough to drive edge case headphones like the Hifiman HE-6?

Had the chance to listen to the OG HE-6 at a meetup off my setup and my strongest amp the SMSL SP200 on high gain was loud enough to listen too but I had it completely maxed out, no wiggle room at all. Do you have to max out the Midgard to listen to something like the HE-6 or do you have any wiggle room?

 

[Hyde00]

Not much in his review about listening to music and how this sounds etc..
More charts and graphs etc...and I am an EE type and like charts and graphs.

lol I'm all for graphs and stuff but I find reviewing headphone should be similar to reviewing cars.

You shouldn't write a car review without a test drive. Despite having all the 0 to 60 numbers and acceleration graphs.......etc.

So here to Schiit and hope they never move that power switch to the back!
LOL!

lol you mean to the front? Isn't power switch already at the back? Or are you thinking THX AAA?

Midgard real listening review soon!

Looking forward to it!

It's gonna be a "proper" review right? With monocle and top hat and all.

I asked in Schiit story thread but got no reply, can anyone confirm if the Migard is strong enough to drive edge case headphones like the Hifiman HE-6?

Had the chance to listen to the OG HE-6 at a meetup off my setup and my strongest amp the SMSL SP200 on high gain was loud enough to listen too but I had it completely maxed out, no wiggle room at all. Do you have to max out the Midgard to listen to something like the HE-6 or do you have any wiggle room?

I don't know about Midgard but someone swear by HE-6 pairing with EF400 in the EF400 thread. Should take a look.

Wait I guess he has HE6se V2, I don't know what the actual differences are.

 

[Svperstar]

It's one of life's strange ironies that it's virtually impossible to convince a cult member that they're actually in a cult.

As a former Mormon don't get me started on that...

Anyway, you have to believe in measurements to some extent because when building electronic devices, amps included, you have to measure stuff along the way to make sure its working properly. Now saying something that is 105 SINAD sounds like garbage compared to something with 120 SINAD is ridiculous yes but that doesn't mean measurements have no meaning, some of the "subjectivist" community seem to think horrible measurements = better sound quality which is ridiculous.

Years ago I bought an MHDT Labs Paradisea+ DAC for $600, worst sounding piece of gear I have ever owned. I always wondered how it would fair with ASR. Finally Amir measured one of their products and it was the worst measuring gear he ever measured:

I wasn't surprised. I had my non-audiophile friend listen to it and she said "its like there are parts of the song missing". Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[adydula]

I asked in Schiit story thread but got no reply, can anyone confirm if the Migard is strong enough to drive edge case headphones like the Hifiman HE-6?

Had the chance to listen to the OG HE-6 at a meetup off my setup and my strongest amp the SMSL SP200 on high gain was loud enough to listen too but I had it completely maxed out, no wiggle room at all. Do you have to max out the Midgard to listen to something like the HE-6 or do you have any wiggle room?

Looking back to 2011 with reviews stating anything less than 2 watts is well...
YMMV.
OG HE6 are 50 ohms but sens is 83.5 db.
Formulas out there to tell u what the loudness level will be.

Your SMSL SP200 shows:
Output Power: 6W x 2 (16ohm), 3W x 2 (32ohm), 440mW x 2 (300ohm), 220mW x 2 (600ohm)

The Midgard is specd at higher power at 32 ohms 4.8 watts RMS vs 3 watts (RMS???).

So it should be better in this regard.

 

[adydula]

lol I'm all for graphs and stuff but I find reviewing headphone should be similar to reviewing cars.

You shouldn't write a car review without a test drive. Despite having all the 0 to 60 numbers and acceleration graphs.......etc.

lol you mean to the front? Isn't power switch already at the back? Or are you thinking THX AAA?

Looking forward to it!

It's gonna be a "proper" review right? With monocle and top hat and all.

I don't know about Midgard but someone swear by HE-6 pairing with EF400 in the EF400 thread. Should take a look.

Wait I guess he has HE6se V2, I don't know what the actual differences are.

Proper meaning no BS. Yes!
:>)
Alex

 

[Svperstar]

The Midgard is specd at higher power at 32 ohms 4.8 watts RMS vs 3 watts (RMS???).

So it should be better in this regard.

Specced vs measurements. I just saw ASR measured the Midgard I had no idea. This is what I was waiting to see:

I own the SMSL SP200 and I have been on the fence getting a Violectric amp for months just for the ridiculous amount of power they put out, here we see how the SP200 measures at 33 ohm:

2.9 watts. Good.

Now here is the Midgard at 32 ohm:

Don't know if the 32 ohms is a typo and it was supposed to be 33 ohms or not, but 4.2 watts is a lot, sad it isn't 4.8 watts as specced but still 4.2 watts is a lot of power.

Going to probably pick up a Midgard but I am going to wait till it isn't on back order.......which might be a while

 

[Hyde00]

lol remember when 1.5W was enough to cover every headphone needs and "you'll never need another amp again"?

These days 3-4W is slowly becoming the norm.

And here I'm typing this while listening to my Lyr 3 (which is rated at 9W at 16 ohm, at 50 ohm it's still 4W).

 

[XERO1]

On the subject of power output, here's an interesting post I made about it over on the Mjolnir 3 thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mjolnir-3-impressions-thread.969416/page-32#post-17775169

 

[adydula]

lol remember when 1.5W was enough to cover every headphone needs and "you'll never need another amp again"?

These days 3-4W is slowly becoming the norm.

And here I'm typing this while listening to my Lyr 3 (which is rated at 9W at 16 ohm, at 50 ohm it's still 4W).

For most headphones 1.5 watts RMS is MORE than enough. Yup. For sure. IMO. YMMV.
When you pick out one of the outliers like the HE series, well what do you expect?

I have used Susvaras here with amps from 2 - 14 watts with great results.
The position of a volume control knob does not necessarily indicate the power available to a load.

Recently I did listen with the later HE6se's on an amp with 1-2 watts and NO issue driving them at all.
Placed on a 35 watt RMS speaker amp..no real discernible difference.

Crazy hobby, full of opinions, charts and graphs...IMO its my ears that decide and your ears for you..
Might want to look into potentiometer and the various tapers that are used....that can mislead you into thinking an amp is running out of EMF.

Enjoy!
Alex

 

[adydula]

On the subject of power output, here's an interesting post I made about it over on the Mjolnir 3 thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mjolnir-3-impressions-thread.969416/page-32#post-17775169

Ha!

I was there in that room at that meet...
HE6Se handled with authority!

 

[monkey4054]

I asked in Schiit story thread but got no reply, can anyone confirm if the Migard is strong enough to drive edge case headphones like the Hifiman HE-6?

Had the chance to listen to the OG HE-6 at a meetup off my setup and my strongest amp the SMSL SP200 on high gain was loud enough to listen too but I had it completely maxed out, no wiggle room at all. Do you have to max out the Midgard to listen to something like the HE-6 or do you have any wiggle room?

Based on the power figures, it should power the HE6/se fine. Will it be the ultimate synergistic pairing with the HE6? Most likely not, but it should do well, especially for the price and certainly won't be underpowered for it.