[theveterans]

After reading this thread, I'm very curious about the Midgards HALO tech at this point. I'm thinking of using my Hifiman EF400 for DAC duty and hook up to the Midgard using the balanced connections. Thinking that might have some serious synergy with the Himalaya R2R DAC onboard. I think my only other option for balanced would be the DAC built into my Monoprice THX 788 all in one which uses AK based dac chips. My Schiit MMB2 sounds pretty promising as well.

My biggest question, has anybody tried IEMs yet with HALO, do IEMs work well with Halo? Most of my cables are all balanced and I can do a XLR to 4.4 adapter which is pretty much what I have to do with some of my other amps that lack 4.4mm. I am also wondering about AMT headphones and if anybody has tried those?

Low gain on Midgard definitely works well with IEMs due to its super low noise floor and enough low gain and the synergy between the warmth of Hifiman R2R matches the neutral-reference signature of Midgard Halo. Not sure if you can run hyper low impedance Campfire Andromedas though (2 ohms at 20-100 Hz), but I think senstive IEMs that has a very low impedance load (6 ohms for example) but has LID implementation will work perfectly fine with Midgard on low gain. Grab some Furutech 4-pin XLR to 2.5mm adapter and you'll be golden

Keep the adapter fully balanced to ensure Halo is working perfectly. The cable has to be wired balanced for Halo to work . Also avoid any adapter with wire in between to minimize signal alteration and signal loss

https://www.moon-audio.com/custom-4-pin-xlr-headphone-adapter.html

 

[Rambone]

Low gain on Midgard definitely works well with IEMs due to its super low noise floor and enough low gain and the synergy between the warmth of Hifiman R2R matches the neutral-reference signature of Midgard Halo. Not sure if you can run hyper low impedance Campfire Andromedas though (2 ohms at 20-100 Hz), but I think senstive IEMs that has a very low impedance load (6 ohms for example) but has LID implementation will work perfectly fine with Midgard on low gain. Grab some Furutech 4-pin XLR to 2.5mm adapter and you'll be golden

I love me some Furutech products, great cables! Which reminds me that I need to pickup some extra Furutech adapters off Ali.

Glad to hear HALO has positive effects with IEMs and can handle low impedances. I do most of my listening on IEMs these days and could use a more neutral leaning amp which I think the Midgard will do splendidly here. I hope HALO works well with AMT headphones, I would assume it will.

 

[Saaki]

I've only used my IEMs single ended with the Midgard but they work beautifully. That said I only have the Truthear Zero Reds so my experience is somewhat limited.

 

[KlausInDK]

After reading this thread, I'm very curious about the Midgards HALO tech at this point. I'm thinking of using my Hifiman EF400 for DAC duty and hook up to the Midgard using the balanced connections. Thinking that might have some serious synergy with the Himalaya R2R DAC onboard. I think my only other option for balanced would be the DAC built into my Monoprice THX 788 all in one which uses AK based dac chips. My Schiit MMB2 sounds pretty promising as well.

My biggest question, has anybody tried IEMs yet with HALO, do IEMs work well with Halo? Most of my cables are all balanced and I can do a XLR to 4.4 adapter which is pretty much what I have to do with some of my other amps that lack 4.4mm. I am also wondering about AMT headphones and if anybody has tried those?

You don’t need to use the balanced in to Midgard to get the Halo effekt, so your MMB2 will also be fine. In relation to low impedance IEMs the output impedance of the Midgard XLR of 20 Ohms might be a problem?

 

[tincanear]

You don’t need to use the balanced in to Midgard to get the Halo effekt, so your MMB2 will also be fine. In relation to low impedance IEMs the output impedance of the Midgard XLR of 20 Ohms might be a problem?

Yes, Midgard 4-pin XLR output Halo mode works with both the XLR 3-pin and SE RCA inputs. Just needs a true balanced (4-wire) hp cable, WITHOUT any SE (TRS) adapters in the hp out signal path.

Output impedance from the 4-pin XLR is 2 ohms, and is part of the Halo mixed-mode feedback loop.

guessing that low impedance IEMS should be OK due to their very high efficiency (> 105 dB/mW), so very little power is needed (likely the Class AB output stage of Midgard will still be in "class A" operating region) unless one is listening at unsafe levels.

 

[Xerosnake90]

My Midgard is up on classifieds along with my Modius E in case anyone is interested!

 

[CallMeDaddy]

Just ordered one to replace an ifi sig hfm amp. The outputs on the zen are getting super loose and the audio cuts in and out.

Gonna be a few days but I can't want for it to arrive!

Holy cow, it got delivered today! Thanks usps! ground from TX to mid Atlantic in 2 days. Gonna be listening to it with optical out from evga nu audio gotopping e50, trs to xlr into a mixer, then monitor out xlr feeding the Midgard.

Will be using 4pin xlr to 2.5mm balanced primarily for Ananda nano and kiwi ears orchestra lite iems.

Only had about 15 min with the Ananda before I had to get to work but really enjoyed it for music and part of masters of the air on apple.

Can't wait to get home and do a proper a/b and extended listen.

Dual trs to 4.4mm balanced from control room out of mixer will feed ifi zen can as well as rca from e50 to test rca difference.

 

[gefski]

Good sign for first day running it in on ripped albums. Occasionally “dropping in” has me wanting to continue listening to whatever album is playing. No desire to search for something else. Realistic timbre, touch, texture, and overall presentation. Only the setup shown at this point; will slide in other cans down the road.

 

[CallMeDaddy]

So I don't think my Halo XLR output is working? I plugged in my Amiron with my Audiophile ninja cable, at first I thought it didn't seat right so I got some 3.5mm adapters. I plug in the headphones and if I turn the volume all the way up I can HEAR music coming from the port but it's nearly whisper quiet. This is with or without the adapters. I don't have another XLR cable to test out but this one was working just fine when I was using it with my Jot 2 and Aryas. It's just been coiled up neatly since then

I've got a Lyr+ on the way so I'll wait until I get that but I might have to ask them to repair this one

Do you have the correct input selected? I noticed the same thing when I first got the Midgard. I cranked the volume pot all the way up and could hear a tiny signal. and then nearly blew my eardrums when I flicked the input switch from rca to xlr.

Thanks to you folks who replied. Will reach out to Schiit.

Any input from schiit? I have a balanced 2.5mm cable off amazon that works great connected via 4pin xlr to 2.5mm female adapter.

I ordered a hart audio modular cable so I can go between 4pin xlr and 2.5mm on my dap. also got a 3.5mm interconnect but I'm afraid to try to use it on the Midgard 6.5mm output. I would be using either the sundara or Ananda for a 2nd person.

unfortunately the stock se hifiman cables are total garbage. I don't know why they thought 90* plug on a long cable was a good idea but both my sundara and Ananda stick cables are unusable.

I thought my drivers were dying until I got balanced cables.

 

[Xerosnake90]

Do you have the correct input selected? I noticed the same thing when I first got the Midgard. I cranked the volume pot all the way up and could hear a tiny signal. and then nearly blew my eardrums when I flicked the input switch from rca to xlr.

Yea, I had everything selected properly. I have an Arya coming in and will have a chance to properly test it so I'll take a look then. Either way I've snagged a Lyr+ and the Midgard/Modius stack is for sale since it didn't Integrate well with my recording station

 

[Xerosnake90]

Did some more comparisons between Lyr+ in Solid State Mode vs Single End of the Midgard due to my boredom. It's a much more fair comparison between the two. I should be getting my Aryas on Friday so if I still own the Midgard at that point I'll be comparing Halo as well

To start off I have to say that these two amps are both very close. Almost to the point that choosing between the two could come down to what flavor of amp you want.

Tonality: The Midgard is a solid V shaped amp that leans slightly bright without being too dry. The Lyr on the other hand is neutral warm and fills in those mids for you without muddying things up

Timbre: Here's where the Lyr wins hands down. The Timbre is really great. Every sound is more textured/nuanced. I suppose you can say life like. It's not that the Midgard sounds bad in this regard the Lyr just beats it thoroughly and for this alone it's worth owning the Lyr over Midgard

Bass: Due to having less warmth than the Lyr the bass of the Midgard stands out just a tad more. The Lyr's Timbre however creates much more diversity in how bass textures can sound. They're both punchy and satisfying

Mids: Lyr fills out the space with some warmth and adds some musicality and fullness. The Midgard as said doesn't sound dry but certainly perceived as slightly thinner

Treble: The Midgard is quite sparkly, I'd venture to say this is an issue with the neutral tonality of the Bifrost 2/64 and the 1990s I'm using which also lean towards a slightky neutral bright sound. It's too sparkly, and would probably pair better with the OG Bifrost 2. Both amps are excellent at detail with the Midgard just being easier to listen to

Staging/Imaging: I perceived pretty much no difference here between the two. They're both flat but decently wide. I didn't pick up and height or depth in either.

With that being said it's all about how you wanna pair the Midgard and what flavor you want out of it. IMO I prefer to add warmth through the amp and use a more neutral headphone. From the "warm" headphones I've heard I've found that just tends to mean less detail for warmth, while adding warmth at the amp stage gets you all the details with added musicality. Granted I haven't listened to higher end "warm" headphones so who knows if that still applies. Having had a warm DAC before (Bifrost 2 OG) it didn't really work out for me when I added a tube amp, it was way too thick and colored.

IMO the Midgard stands really well next to the Lyr in SS mode. That being said, no one should be using the Lyr exclusively in SS mode and the tube mode from the Lyr is unfortunately no match for the Midgard. With my Psvane UK6SN7 tube the Lyr turns the flat staging into a beautiful holographic stage full of dynamic sounds. So I'm curious to see how Halo stacks up against Tube mode and hopefully I get a chance to report back with that

 

[GeorgeF89]

SPECS:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.01dB
Output Power:
Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 5.5W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 4.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 3.2W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 750mW RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 375mW RMS per channel
Output Impedance:
6.35mm TRS output: 0.1 ohms
4-pin XLR output: 2 ohms
Preamp outputs: 75 ohms
Input Impedance: 50K ohms
Gain: 1 (0dB) or 5 (14dB)
Topology: Fully discrete, DC coupled, highly linear open-loop with low loop feedback, Halo™ topology mixed-mode feedback only for 4-pin XLR output
Protection: Failsafe DC power input and muting relay, overcurrent sensing and output lift
Power Supply: “Wall wart” style 14-16VAC transformer, stacked rails of +/-20V and +/-30V regulated voltage rails, 10,000uF total capacitance
Power Consumption: 3W idle, 16W max
Size: 9" x 6 x 1.5”
Weight: 2 lbs
_________________________________

https://www.schiit.com/products/midgard

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-8540#post-17770909
_________________________________

The Midgard is Schiit's fully-discrete replacement for the (by Jason's own words) very forgettable op-amp based Magnius. It also has a pretty cool trick up its sleeve with its Halo topology circuit, but it's only active from its XLR4 output.

Price is $219.00

Is this amp enough for the focal utopia 2022? I"

 

[Xerosnake90]

Well I finally got the chance to try out Halo briefly and I'd have to say that it's a nice step up from Single End. As others have reported the staging gets more spacious and imaging is better. It still doesn't compare to the true holographic sound of the Lyr+ but compared to other SS amps it's quite impressive. I wonder if my desire to grab the Lyr+ would've been curbed having heard it earlier. I didn't notice much of a difference past the presentation but I didn't spend that much time with it.

Overall it's a pretty solid amp at the price point, value for money is there. I wish I could do a more direct comparison with the Jot 2 but I'll leave that up to someone else Midgard still up for sale if anyone wants one

 

[CallMeDaddy]

Well I finally got the chance to try out Halo briefly and I'd have to say that it's a nice step up from Single End. As others have reported the staging gets more spacious and imaging is better. It still doesn't compare to the true holographic sound of the Lyr+ but compared to other SS amps it's quite impressive. I wonder if my desire to grab the Lyr+ would've been curbed having heard it earlier. I didn't notice much of a difference past the presentation but I didn't spend that much time with it.

Overall it's a pretty solid amp at the price point, value for money is there. I wish I could do a more direct comparison with the Jot 2 but I'll leave that up to someone else Midgard still up for sale if anyone wants one

Great now I want to try a lyr+

 

[Saaki]

And so the great wheel of audiophilea spins on...