Enjoy. I managed to get hold of one with a Modi 2 on the MM here. It really is fantastic for the money.
Magni 3
- Thread starter dt97583
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Enjoy. I managed to get hold of one with a Modi 2 on the MM here. It really is fantastic for the money.
bit of a bump but recently picked up a magni 3 and modi 2 uber and was wondering if anyone uses these with DT 990s?
I am finding the first half of the volume control is pretty quiet and not particularly useful and it is round after 1 o'clock before seeming to come alive. This is with the gain set to high. Have tried from a couple of sources and a different DAC and it makes no difference.
Does this seem normal?
I am finding the first half of the volume control is pretty quiet and not particularly useful and it is round after 1 o'clock before seeming to come alive. This is with the gain set to high. Have tried from a couple of sources and a different DAC and it makes no difference.
Does this seem normal?
Is that one of the high impedance versions of the headphone? I find this with many of my high impedance headphones there is a point on the volume dial where they suddenly "come alive" and before that the bass and treble are collapsed - the Sennheiser 600 series I find particularly susceptible to it.
Also the potentiometer used for the volume control in most audio devices is not linear - most of them have a very different curve either side of ~50% and then suddenly shoot off past 50%:
http://www.resistorguide.com/potentiometer-taper/
It is supposed to mimic a more linear like perception of adjusting the volume but in combination with the above can have quite marked effect.
Also the potentiometer used for the volume control in most audio devices is not linear - most of them have a very different curve either side of ~50% and then suddenly shoot off past 50%:
http://www.resistorguide.com/potentiometer-taper/
It is supposed to mimic a more linear like perception of adjusting the volume but in combination with the above can have quite marked effect.
From what I recall they changed it so it was more gradual and easier to fine tune in the bottom part of the turning. Mines fairly quiet initially. Agreed with Rroff, it's not linear.
Thanks for this, sounds like it is normal operation. The 990s are the 250 ohm so i didn't think they would be particularly hard to drive.
I just found myself turning the magni 3 up higher than I expected and after reading a bit other users had mentioned about never being able to go past 11 o'clock due to the high volume which doesn't match with my experience so was a bit concerned it maybe wasn't outputting the power it should be.
I just found myself turning the magni 3 up higher than I expected and after reading a bit other users had mentioned about never being able to go past 11 o'clock due to the high volume which doesn't match with my experience so was a bit concerned it maybe wasn't outputting the power it should be.
Soldato
While David is correct about the scale not being linear, the actual reason the volume control needs more of a turn is that the Modi 2U only outputs 1.5V, so the amp isn't getting the standard 2V input. As a comparison, my DT1990 (also 250ohm) usually gets pushed to between 10 and 11 o'clock on low gain and my 300ohm HD650s don't require much more. This is using a Modi Multibit and Magni 3, the difference being the multibit does output the full 2V. My advice is don't worry about it, the amp is working in it's sweet spot and is getting a healthy signal, just at lower voltage than it was expecting but this isn't going to hurt the sound quality.
Soldato
I have no idea why Schiit designed the Modi 2 with a non standard 1.5V output voltage when the rest of their DACs all output 2V. There's no real downside, it just means the amp has to work a little harder but it's still well within limits.
You said you tried it with another DAC and you had the same result, unless that was another low output DAC I find that surprising - what was the other DAC out of interest? I'm saying that it's all due to the low output because it's a known issue but if it's the same with a DAC with standard 2V output then there may indeed be a fault.
You said you tried it with another DAC and you had the same result, unless that was another low output DAC I find that surprising - what was the other DAC out of interest? I'm saying that it's all due to the low output because it's a known issue but if it's the same with a DAC with standard 2V output then there may indeed be a fault.
My other unit that I tested with is a zero 09 version DAC/AMP.
Did a bit more testing tonight with swapping bits about and using the Zero as the DAC in place of the Modi 2U. To complicate matters the Zero seems to have two ways to operate, one mode switches the headphone amp component off and only puts sound out the L/R line out on the rear at a fixed volume while the other mode keeps the headphone amp active and only puts sound out the rear L/R when headphones are not plugged in but will increase the output as the volume dial is increased. This second mode behaves the same as the rear outputs on the Magni 3.
So with the Magni 3 connected using the first option, the fixed level out which I normally use for powered desktop speakers, I actually prefer the sound and does seem to generally be a bit louder at the same volume settings as when using the Modi 2U.
In the second mode with the volume on the Zero at max there is a substantial difference and is pretty much what I expected the modi/magni stack to sound like in the first place. On Hi gain taking the Magni past 10 o'clock would be painful. On Low gain 10-11 o'clock is pretty perfect.
Not really sure where this leaves me to be honest.
Did a bit more testing tonight with swapping bits about and using the Zero as the DAC in place of the Modi 2U. To complicate matters the Zero seems to have two ways to operate, one mode switches the headphone amp component off and only puts sound out the L/R line out on the rear at a fixed volume while the other mode keeps the headphone amp active and only puts sound out the rear L/R when headphones are not plugged in but will increase the output as the volume dial is increased. This second mode behaves the same as the rear outputs on the Magni 3.
So with the Magni 3 connected using the first option, the fixed level out which I normally use for powered desktop speakers, I actually prefer the sound and does seem to generally be a bit louder at the same volume settings as when using the Modi 2U.
In the second mode with the volume on the Zero at max there is a substantial difference and is pretty much what I expected the modi/magni stack to sound like in the first place. On Hi gain taking the Magni past 10 o'clock would be painful. On Low gain 10-11 o'clock is pretty perfect.
Not really sure where this leaves me to be honest.
You want to avoid putting an amplified signal from a source DAC into an amp - you can easily drive the amp's input stage into clipping and distortion and even do hardware damage in rare cases.
Though with careful adjustment of the input level (assuming it isn't a digital volume control where lower levels affect the quality such as some 16bit DACs) having a higher output level into a lower gain could result in less noise being amplified into the headphones.
Though with careful adjustment of the input level (assuming it isn't a digital volume control where lower levels affect the quality such as some 16bit DACs) having a higher output level into a lower gain could result in less noise being amplified into the headphones.
Soldato
Apparently the Zero outputs 2V in fixed line out mode, which agrees with your findings of it being louder.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it, the Modi 2U is fine working with the Magni 3, just find a setting that pleases your ears and you're good to go
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it, the Modi 2U is fine working with the Magni 3, just find a setting that pleases your ears and you're good to go
Soldato
Well they seem to like it quite a lot 
Only part way through reading it but he's hooked it up via a 3.5mm to RCA cables so laptop/Mac internal DAC?! Come on, who does thatWell they seem to like it quite a lot
At least pair it with a dedicated DAC surely.
Soldato
I think the problem was that they didn't have anything to compare it to, so all they could do was compare amped vs unamped. They just didn't have another discrete amp in the same price range.
Associate
Got one of these on the way 
Will be wiring it up to my AE-5 sound card with a 3.5mm to RCA. In terms of cables, would it be best to use something of good quality, or does it really not matter with cables?
Will be wiring it up to my AE-5 sound card with a 3.5mm to RCA. In terms of cables, would it be best to use something of good quality, or does it really not matter with cables?
Associate
True, thanks for advice.
I have my Magni 3 now with my K712's. Noticed a slight hiss on the right channel of my 712's when actually turn the volume control up or down. Seems weird, is this normal?
I have my Magni 3 now with my K712's. Noticed a slight hiss on the right channel of my 712's when actually turn the volume control up or down. Seems weird, is this normal?
Soldato
it's just a slightly noisy potentiometer, give it some energetic twisting and it should quieten down