@LittlePlant888 I own 7 Schiit amps and 5 DACs and haven't had one issues other than scratchy sounding volume knob on one amp that goes away after a few turns.
The Midgard may have only 4w but its a legit 4w @ 2v's, unlike the bullshit 6w power ratings on S.M.S.L and Topping's amps. That's reason enough to buy the Midgard over the competition.
Thank you for your review, much appreciated! If there is a possibility, I would love to see more reviews of "lower" priced AMPs and DACs (let's say under 1000USD), I think many of us would love to see more content like this! :)
With Focal Clears or Senn HD600's, I notice no difference between the two outputs. This replaces a THX 789 amp, and it's much more pleasant to listen to for long sessions.
No and No. I had 'em. I broke them in. Then I sold them or would have returned. I had high hopes and they were dashed in about the first couple minutes. Nice look, but see.... I just can't say anything else nice about them. I really did try.
@@NightFlight1973 I also own a pair and I think they’re outstanding. My entire household loves them, even my notoriously picky partner. There’s just nothing wrong with the sound, to me. Not saying your opinion is invalid, everyone has a different preference and HRTF
can you please describe the difference soundwise? I need very clean and close to the source amp without any coloration with great datails! Which one you would recommend for me?
You should know, Schiit has a quality control issue with their volume knobs. I replaced my Magni with an updated version recently, and the volume knob was super scratchy (in a nails on a chalkboard kind of way). I pulled off the knob from my old Magni and put it on the new one, and it was smooth again. I noticed the plastic case inside the knob was offset on the new one, so the metal was rubbing against metal. Anyway, great review!
Now do some objective FR measurements and blind A/B/X test between different amps. All the subjective points in this video sound like complete hog wash until you can prove there are audible differences.
At least for me there is a noticeable difference between having halo and not. But i suspect it's effect is going to vary depending on the headphone and the individual. This is why some people says it works and some says it does not. Testing on my closed back meze 99 with modded pads, it is very noticeable that the Halo circuit side has a much wider sound stage. It made the usual closed back headphone sound for me closer to an open back sound signature. Halo seems to open up the sound stage more but if you already have headphones with pretty wide sound stage its effect is probably going to a lot less noticeable. It's probably not measurable with standard means because whatever the feedback from the halo circuit is doing is not in the electrical measurement since it does not change the overall electrical characteristics of the amp. I feel like it may be a side effect of the time delay between the ground loop feedback being sensed and the feedback from that being modified and returned to the headphone. This is affecting some individuals in how they process this temporal difference in their wetware thus resulting in a different and sometimes better sounding result. It's akin to those 3D optical illusions pictures that otherwise look like a random image.
I have the Bifrost 2/64 and THX 887. I'm looking for a new amp as I find the 887 too sterile. This was one of the amps I was considering. I have the LCDX. I'm glad you touched on planer-style headphones as that was a concern, as well as if Halo even actually does anything and I lose my balanced hookup. But if it sounds great it may be worth it anyhow.
At time of this amp's release, the Schiit CEO acknowledged that they couldn't measure any value to the Halo feedback process. But, some of the gear's users still claimed that they could hear and liked the results. So the Midland was put on sale at a very attractive price for an outstanding headphone amp / preamp and asked their users to provide feedback. I have been using a Midland as a preamp to a monobloc pair of Gjallarhorns and have been very happy with the results.
What are you using for DAC and what do you have for speakers? I used the midgard as a preamp as well with a schiit modi multibit as dac and only one ghorn amp. I have Kef Q150s for speakers. Overall for some reason the midgard made my kefs sound kinda lean, dynamics was there but it didn't have as much imaging as before and also for some reason the midgard made my sennheiser 660s sound a little harsh on the treble. But once I switched my dac to my emotiva stealth dc-1. It was a whole different ball game. Midgard seemed more full and punchy. Imaging was better too.
@@gabrielgarza863 I am using a Geshelli J2 DAC (fully loaded with the AK4499 chip set. For speakers I have Klipsch RP600m speakers. I did not like these speakers when used midfield, but near field and obviously run at lower output they sound terrific. The impact of DAC choice never fails to amaze me.
I have the Modius>Midgard stack and it powers the hd6xx's to the best I've ever heard them. Looking forward to hearing the Midgard as preamp to either the Adcom 555 or NAD 208thx.
I've been using one for a couple of months and absolutely love it. I have it hooked up to an ADI-2 DAC via XLR and HD800S. It sounds fantastic, especially compared to the Topping A30 Pro I tried before it. For the price it feels like a no-brainer!
Great and clearly explained video as always! I have one question though. I've been slowly upgrading my main IEM collectionto the point I'm currently rocking a pair of Monarch Mk 3's for my mains. I have been using the same amazing Magni and Modi stack for the last couple of years. Considering my most power hungry headphones are a pair of Sundara's, is it worth upgrading to a more expensive DAC and AMP combo whether it be Topping or another Schitt stack or is the difference going to be negligible?
Negligible for sure! I have the Monarch MkIIIs as well, and a pair of Arya Stealths with your same setup and upgraded to the magnius and modius and the only difference I noticed was the balance output upgrade. Picked up less interference.
@@mitchy5994 Thanks for sharing your experience! I just keep seeing all these new Dac's and Amp's coming out and I was wondering if my overall Audio experience was being hampered by not upgrading my current stack as well. 🤜🤛
Good name choice. Midgard, or Midgård (midgawrd) in one of the original Nordic languages (Swedish), or Middle Earth, tells me that Schiit is saying “we’re not totally into op-amps so we’ll meet you halfway”. Ergo, Midgard.
If you have a Sennheiser HD800 I would put that on the head, very detailed dynamic arguably the best of all time. If Halo does ANYTHING the HD800 should show it.
@The Headphone Show If you pull the nobs off slightly so there is a slight gap between the case and the knob the scratchy feel goes away. My Magni does the same thing.
Schiit never has impress me as I was looking at AEGIR 2 but noticed a number of posts on distortion issues, the FREYA+ looks interesting, but as a tube guy, I am using Real Tube gear. Thanks for the review.
Went to see Emotional Oranges the other night Cameron. In Glasgow, was pretty excellent, had a conversation with the sound engineer about how they are massive in the Hi-Fi community, and he said he would feed that back to their management. Found them because of you.
Thanks for the video. Was interested in the part you said not really relevant for iems. So could you guys possibly do a video of best or appropriate dacs/amps in different price ranges or different levels of features for iem users.
So Golden much respect... but kinda cold water on all those Head-Fi guys reporting easy heard differences with the outputs. Due to impedance differences? Even on planners? Riddle me this though: how can the power output be identical on both 1/4" & 4-pin out puts with different impedances (.1 vs 2) per Schitt? New physics or it's outta my amateur understanding...
@@enjoshi-godrez8775I was being sarcastic. DMS slapped a clickbait "this changes everything" on an earlier video about this and when the community challenged him, he shot back that we must just not be as excited about audio as he was. Everyone saw it from a mile away that this was nothing, he chose to clickbait and double down on it.
Why do you feel that fully balanced matters for an amp like this? This amp produces just as much power as the magnius did while being single ended. At normalize power output, balanced and single ended make no sonic difference
This might sound...silly...but could something like the Midgard plug into a Motu M2 Audio Interface? I use XLR microphones daily for content creation. Or, would the Midgard just be able to do everything with it's XLR inputs?
The M2 can certainly act as a DAC for the Midgard, if that’s what you’re asking. It has a very good DAC as interfaces go. You’ll get the best performance using the M2’s balanced outputs, for which you’d need a pair of 6.35 mm TRS to 3-pin XLR male cables.
@@radioactivehalfrhyme I've been using the XLR inputs on the Motu for my 2 microphones and the headphone in when I need to use it. I guess I could also use the motu for a set of near field speakers too.
@@ScreaminpirateEDC Sorry for the slow reply! So to be clear, I’m referring to the TRS outputs on the back of the unit (where it says “Monitor,” to the right of the red and white RCA ports). Those are the balanced outputs, and they take 6.35 mm TRS instead of 3-pin XLR. The XLR ports on the front are input only. If you get a Midgard, you could use it as a pre-amp for your speakers using the analogue output. That’s what I do with my Singxer SA-1. Your chain would be: Microphones connect to the front of the M2; audio signal goes USB -> M2 TRS output -> 6.35 mm TRS to XLR male cables -> XLR input to Midgard. Speakers connect to the back of the Midgard (XLR or RCA, it probably doesn’t matter if you’re using powered speakers), headphones connect to the front. I hope that makes sense-I know it can be confusing!
I returned mine. With my 6xx's and my LCD-2's. I used balanced and unbalanced and they did not have enough of improvement for the purchase, albeit pretty cheap, also same sound as the Magni+. There was circular feedback noise at certain levels and the soundstage is average. A good amp, but not a nutter. I put in a few more bucks and got a HIFIMAN EF400 which is phenomenal.
Looking for this answer. The Asgard 3 with internal dac is all I could ever need, but the slimmer design and full black of Midgard appeals to me. As well as having the Lokius option.
@@timbeneton8068 nice, detailed but bright. A nice alternative to my Sundara. I have also heard the ETA Ada. Less bassy than the O2 and a bit more midrange. I prefer the Ada.
Why are op-amps not cool? I don't get it? It's a hardware implementation to somehow lower noise (have no idea about electronics just stating what I observe), it works as intended. I don't understand the hate for op amps and products that use them.
Opamps aren't bad. They're great tools and plenty of fantastic products using them. I've just found that products designed pretty much solely around the use of immense amounts of feedback (often with opamps inside the feedback loops of other opamps) don't sound great subjectively.
Gm ☕️ Great review, thank you. Not for me , I’m done with looking for a new headphone amplifier…and the only Schitt prod I have is the lokius ..that i rarely use… Take care 🍻
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.82[1/2] แก๊ง 3 สาวเพื่อนซี้บุก CAMPปลิ้นครั้งนี้ห้ามเสียอาการ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_6WUjXHe1TM/mqdefault.jpg)
When I come to look for evidence that I can trust a Schiit amp, the fact that one of your sample copies died is pretty discouraging.
Right? Doesn’t do anything to dispel the narrative their QC is awful. Would love to try it but don’t feel like I can trust Schitt.
Agreed. I've heard too many horror stories regarding schiit products failing.
@LittlePlant888 I own 7 Schiit amps and 5 DACs and haven't had one issues other than scratchy sounding volume knob on one amp that goes away after a few turns.
The Midgard may have only 4w but its a legit 4w @ 2v's, unlike the bullshit 6w power ratings on S.M.S.L and Topping's amps. That's reason enough to buy the Midgard over the competition.
Thank you for your review, much appreciated! If there is a possibility, I would love to see more reviews of "lower" priced AMPs and DACs (let's say under 1000USD), I think many of us would love to see more content like this! :)
That view is supported.
Ehhhh. I think other channels do that quite well
With Focal Clears or Senn HD600's, I notice no difference between the two outputs. This replaces a THX 789 amp, and it's much more pleasant to listen to for long sessions.
I remember your interview with him, I wasn't expecting the halo to do much but I'm very excited to hear that as an amp it's great.
Finally a good, thorough review of this amp!
Love those white DW6’s in the background
YES, those Zu Audio speakers and in-house drivers are just BADASS 🔊
No and No. I had 'em. I broke them in. Then I sold them or would have returned. I had high hopes and they were dashed in about the first couple minutes. Nice look, but see.... I just can't say anything else nice about them. I really did try.
@@NightFlight1973 I also own a pair and I think they’re outstanding. My entire household loves them, even my notoriously picky partner. There’s just nothing wrong with the sound, to me. Not saying your opinion is invalid, everyone has a different preference and HRTF
I replaced a Magni+ with the Midguard. It was well worth it. Plenty of power, but totally silent when nothing is playing.
can you please describe the difference soundwise? I need very clean and close to the source amp without any coloration with great datails! Which one you would recommend for me?
Thank you for sanity checking subjectivists. Even if measurements aren't everything, the least people can do is blind AB or ABX.
I have had two schitt products die on me which is two too many.
They should name their next product “Fucki”.
You should know, Schiit has a quality control issue with their volume knobs. I replaced my Magni with an updated version recently, and the volume knob was super scratchy (in a nails on a chalkboard kind of way). I pulled off the knob from my old Magni and put it on the new one, and it was smooth again. I noticed the plastic case inside the knob was offset on the new one, so the metal was rubbing against metal. Anyway, great review!
... what Amp and Dac would you recommend for the ZMF Caldera?--also do you sell ZMF? Thank you, Tom
5:08 QC issues? So soon? 😒
Now do some objective FR measurements and blind A/B/X test between different amps. All the subjective points in this video sound like complete hog wash until you can prove there are audible differences.
Or even simpler, do an amp null test comparing the Midgard to the Magnius.
At least for me there is a noticeable difference between having halo and not. But i suspect it's effect is going to vary depending on the headphone and the individual. This is why some people says it works and some says it does not. Testing on my closed back meze 99 with modded pads, it is very noticeable that the Halo circuit side has a much wider sound stage. It made the usual closed back headphone sound for me closer to an open back sound signature. Halo seems to open up the sound stage more but if you already have headphones with pretty wide sound stage its effect is probably going to a lot less noticeable. It's probably not measurable with standard means because whatever the feedback from the halo circuit is doing is not in the electrical measurement since it does not change the overall electrical characteristics of the amp. I feel like it may be a side effect of the time delay between the ground loop feedback being sensed and the feedback from that being modified and returned to the headphone. This is affecting some individuals in how they process this temporal difference in their wetware thus resulting in a different and sometimes better sounding result. It's akin to those 3D optical illusions pictures that otherwise look like a random image.
"wiggly air enthusiast" XD
I have the Bifrost 2/64 and THX 887. I'm looking for a new amp as I find the 887 too sterile. This was one of the amps I was considering. I have the LCDX. I'm glad you touched on planer-style headphones as that was a concern, as well as if Halo even actually does anything and I lose my balanced hookup. But if it sounds great it may be worth it anyhow.
I wonder ..what you would pair with an HD800s as an amp / dac with E.Q.
The finishing quality once again hurts my eyes. It`s just a tin can. I would never buy this.
At time of this amp's release, the Schiit CEO acknowledged that they couldn't measure any value to the Halo feedback process. But, some of the gear's users still claimed that they could hear and liked the results. So the Midland was put on sale at a very attractive price for an outstanding headphone amp / preamp and asked their users to provide feedback. I have been using a Midland as a preamp to a monobloc pair of Gjallarhorns and have been very happy with the results.
What are you using for DAC and what do you have for speakers? I used the midgard as a preamp as well with a schiit modi multibit as dac and only one ghorn amp. I have Kef Q150s for speakers. Overall for some reason the midgard made my kefs sound kinda lean, dynamics was there but it didn't have as much imaging as before and also for some reason the midgard made my sennheiser 660s sound a little harsh on the treble. But once I switched my dac to my emotiva stealth dc-1. It was a whole different ball game. Midgard seemed more full and punchy. Imaging was better too.
@@gabrielgarza863 I am using a Geshelli J2 DAC (fully loaded with the AK4499 chip set. For speakers I have Klipsch RP600m speakers. I did not like these speakers when used midfield, but near field and obviously run at lower output they sound terrific. The impact of DAC choice never fails to amaze me.
What dac would you pair with the midgard?
Thanks for the review, can you compare midgard with Topping A90 Discrete please? Thanks fir answer.
👍🌟👍
I have the Modius>Midgard stack and it powers the hd6xx's to the best I've ever heard them. Looking forward to hearing the Midgard as preamp to either the Adcom 555 or NAD 208thx.
I have a few headphone amps, and one of them is shit.
Had a Modi and Jotunheim die on me shortly after purchase. Never buying Schiit again.
Yup, my Magni started humming a year after purchase
I've been using one for a couple of months and absolutely love it. I have it hooked up to an ADI-2 DAC via XLR and HD800S. It sounds fantastic, especially compared to the Topping A30 Pro I tried before it. For the price it feels like a no-brainer!
I keep going back to this or the lyr. I am planning on getting the HD800s soon but i feel for the price its hard to pass this one up to get going.
This vs the Atom stack?
Do i still need DAC? What about vs magni unity?
Yes, you'll still need a DAC with the Midgard. I've heard good things about the Magni Unity but haven't listened side by side so I can't say for sure.
Great and clearly explained video as always! I have one question though. I've been slowly upgrading my main IEM collectionto the point I'm currently rocking a pair of Monarch Mk 3's for my mains. I have been using the same amazing Magni and Modi stack for the last couple of years. Considering my most power hungry headphones are a pair of Sundara's, is it worth upgrading to a more expensive DAC and AMP combo whether it be Topping or another Schitt stack or is the difference going to be negligible?
Negligible for sure! I have the Monarch MkIIIs as well, and a pair of Arya Stealths with your same setup and upgraded to the magnius and modius and the only difference I noticed was the balance output upgrade. Picked up less interference.
@@mitchy5994 Thanks for sharing your experience! I just keep seeing all these new Dac's and Amp's coming out and I was wondering if my overall Audio experience was being hampered by not upgrading my current stack as well. 🤜🤛
Hello!
what passive speakers would you recommend to pair with the modius/midgard stack? will using an active/powered speaker be a waste?
Good name choice. Midgard, or Midgård (midgawrd) in one of the original Nordic languages (Swedish), or Middle Earth, tells me that Schiit is saying “we’re not totally into op-amps so we’ll meet you halfway”. Ergo, Midgard.
If you have a Sennheiser HD800 I would put that on the head, very detailed dynamic arguably the best of all time. If Halo does ANYTHING the HD800 should show it.
@The Headphone Show If you pull the nobs off slightly so there is a slight gap between the case and the knob the scratchy feel goes away. My Magni does the same thing.
Schiit never has impress me as I was looking at AEGIR 2 but noticed a number of posts on distortion issues, the FREYA+ looks interesting, but as a tube guy, I am using Real Tube gear. Thanks for the review.
Looks mid
I think they did say though that it ‘May’ reduce distortion. Not claiming that it would. We need to read through these claims as consumers.
Professor Einstein the volume knob it is adjustable so pull back on it a little bit and it won't be scratchy Einstein
Can I use this as a preamp for my Yamaha HS7 studio monitors?
still very happy with my modius + asgard 3 stack (i use the balanced outputs for my iLoud MTM speakers)
Went to see Emotional Oranges the other night Cameron. In Glasgow, was pretty excellent, had a conversation with the sound engineer about how they are massive in the Hi-Fi community, and he said he would feed that back to their management. Found them because of you.
I've been waiting for mine to arrive, very excited.
did you get it? How it sounds?
@@timbeneton8068 haven't got it yet
@@timbeneton8068 it sounds pretty great. Plenty powerful and clean
I see someone got some shiny new Zu speakers...welcome to the club GS! You will not be disappointed!
Interesting to see, but I'm not a fan of the CS when it comes to Quality Control issues.
Thanks for the video. Was interested in the part you said not really relevant for iems. So could you guys possibly do a video of best or appropriate dacs/amps in different price ranges or different levels of features for iem users.
does harmonic distortion above 10khz even matter at all?
Were they ever gone?
Exactly. Wondered the same thing.
Some Shitt marketing there with the Halo feedback.
Would love to see Smirnoff's DF metric for that.
Good Schiit
So Golden much respect... but kinda cold water on all those Head-Fi guys reporting easy heard differences with the outputs. Due to impedance differences? Even on planners? Riddle me this though: how can the power output be identical on both 1/4" & 4-pin out puts with different impedances (.1 vs 2) per Schitt? New physics or it's outta my amateur understanding...
Why does headfi have any credibility here? Why are you even suggesting that? Lmao
This changes everything accorrding to DMS. Why not let him review it. He was really, really excited about it.
And say the same thing? The feature didnt do anything.
@@enjoshi-godrez8775I was being sarcastic. DMS slapped a clickbait "this changes everything" on an earlier video about this and when the community challenged him, he shot back that we must just not be as excited about audio as he was. Everyone saw it from a mile away that this was nothing, he chose to clickbait and double down on it.
@@thelastrhino2581 its a youtube analytics thing. Yea, it should be made fun of, but you shouldn't believe that he genuinely thought that. He didn't
Anyone paired these with Susvaras?
Anyone know which eartips are on the moondrops?
Schiit just got real!
This review is a Schiit Show. In a good way!
Now if only Schiit would make a discreet-based Magnius 2, (so it's fully-balanced again) and finally give it to us in brushed aluminum.
Why do you feel that fully balanced matters for an amp like this? This amp produces just as much power as the magnius did while being single ended. At normalize power output, balanced and single ended make no sonic difference
what are those white speakers behind you?
I wonder how it would stack up against my Schiit Asgard 3? I pair it with the bitfrost 2 and it was not cheap.
Same
Pentaconn would have been nice if they have a feature that asks for balanced headphone connection.
Take a shot each time he says Schiit.
This might sound...silly...but could something like the Midgard plug into a Motu M2 Audio Interface? I use XLR microphones daily for content creation. Or, would the Midgard just be able to do everything with it's XLR inputs?
There's a headphone jack on the Motu. Do you mean to use the RCA outs of the Motu into the back of the Midgard?
The M2 can certainly act as a DAC for the Midgard, if that’s what you’re asking. It has a very good DAC as interfaces go. You’ll get the best performance using the M2’s balanced outputs, for which you’d need a pair of 6.35 mm TRS to 3-pin XLR male cables.
@@radioactivehalfrhyme I've been using the XLR inputs on the Motu for my 2 microphones and the headphone in when I need to use it. I guess I could also use the motu for a set of near field speakers too.
@@ScreaminpirateEDC Sorry for the slow reply! So to be clear, I’m referring to the TRS outputs on the back of the unit (where it says “Monitor,” to the right of the red and white RCA ports). Those are the balanced outputs, and they take 6.35 mm TRS instead of 3-pin XLR. The XLR ports on the front are input only.
If you get a Midgard, you could use it as a pre-amp for your speakers using the analogue output. That’s what I do with my Singxer SA-1.
Your chain would be: Microphones connect to the front of the M2; audio signal goes USB -> M2 TRS output -> 6.35 mm TRS to XLR male cables -> XLR input to Midgard. Speakers connect to the back of the Midgard (XLR or RCA, it probably doesn’t matter if you’re using powered speakers), headphones connect to the front. I hope that makes sense-I know it can be confusing!
power switch on the back noooooo
I returned mine. With my 6xx's and my LCD-2's. I used balanced and unbalanced and they did not have enough of improvement for the purchase, albeit pretty cheap, also same sound as the Magni+. There was circular feedback noise at certain levels and the soundstage is average. A good amp, but not a nutter.
I put in a few more bucks and got a HIFIMAN EF400 which is phenomenal.
how much is the EF400
@@RatchetRorschach $600 shipped. Quite a bit more but it serves as my DAC as well so I sold my old DAC, the Modius to help costs.
Why is there a need for more and more colourless amps?
Why is there a need for coloured amps?
Promo'SM 🌈
no shit ?
Oh Schiii...
hiloe
Das good schiit
Jotunheim 2 or Midgard?
Jotunheim is better in terms of Schiit's in-house sound. It's also more truly balanced.
Now if only Schiit could start putting the on and off switch in the front and not in the back.
how does this compare to the asgard 3?
I'm curious about this too. By the given the sound signature description, it really seems like Asgard 3's sound signature if I had to describe it.
@@elwis74id agree, but id wonder how they differ specifically
Looking for this answer. The Asgard 3 with internal dac is all I could ever need, but the slimmer design and full black of Midgard appeals to me. As well as having the Lokius option.
holy schiit!
I am interested in whether you do speaker reviews as I have seen them in the background a few times. Sorry if you have covered this.
Ordered mine a week ago. I am anxious to see how they sound with my ETA O2. I would like to see more reviews on anything discrete, R2R, multibit.
how does it sound?
@@timbeneton8068 nice, detailed but bright. A nice alternative to my Sundara. I have also heard the ETA Ada. Less bassy than the O2 and a bit more midrange. I prefer the Ada.
Why are op-amps not cool? I don't get it? It's a hardware implementation to somehow lower noise (have no idea about electronics just stating what I observe), it works as intended. I don't understand the hate for op amps and products that use them.
Opamps aren't bad. They're great tools and plenty of fantastic products using them. I've just found that products designed pretty much solely around the use of immense amounts of feedback (often with opamps inside the feedback loops of other opamps) don't sound great subjectively.
Gm ☕️
Great review, thank you.
Not for me , I’m done with looking for a new headphone amplifier…and the only Schitt prod I have is the lokius ..that i rarely use…
Take care 🍻
The Midgard is just that… mid… like everything else from schiit and that isn’t a bad thing based upon their pricing.
Schitt just got real.
No shiit
No more schiit, tired of schiit.
I really don't understand why they can't put a smooth feeling/sounding volume knob on these things.