Schiit Magnius Modius Stack

[William_D]

Looking to get these to upgrade my listening experience. (Have been putting off getting an amp to properly run my HD 650s) Im wondering if this stack will have any downside effect when i game on the same system?

If so, any dac/amp that doesn't have this downside?

[rice guru]

tahts a super clean sounding stack built on great measurements. while personally Im a fan of the modious cause its a nice DAC that does Balanced for $200 and competers well with other offerings I dont quite like the magnius a little too linear sounding for a headphone like a 650  which likes a little warmth. Instead of the magnius I would switch out with the asgard 3 a great amp that isn't quite class A but sounds the part and to me is a better pairing with the 650 than the magnius. another good paring with the 650 specifically is the ifi zen DAC and zen Can . specifically the zen can signature which is an amp specifically designed to pair well with the 650. 

[HumdrumPenguin]

On 3/31/2021 at 1:42 PM, William_D said:

Looking to get these to upgrade my listening experience. (Have been putting off getting an amp to properly run my HD 650s) Im wondering if this stack will have any downside effect when i game on the same system?

If so, any dac/amp that doesn't have this downside?

There are no downsides of going with external gear, especially at that price. Keep the volume on windows at 100%, and adjust the sound directly on the amp.

 

On 3/31/2021 at 3:52 PM, rice guru said:

tahts a super clean sounding stack built on great measurements. while personally Im a fan of the modious cause its a nice DAC that does Balanced for $200 and competers well with other offerings I dont quite like the magnius a little too linear sounding for a headphone like a 650  which likes a little warmth. Instead of the magnius I would switch out with the asgard 3 a great amp that isn't quite class A but sounds the part and to me is a better pairing with the 650 than the magnius. another good paring with the 650 specifically is the ifi zen DAC and zen Can . specifically the zen can signature which is an amp specifically designed to pair well with the 650. 

Agreed on that. The Asgard 3 will be a better match. Albeit I don't have the Asgard any longer, I used it with the 650 and a Bifrost 2 for quite a while, and it was a decent setup.

[HumdrumPenguin]

On 4/1/2021 at 7:17 PM, HumdrumPenguin said:

Agreed on that. The Asgard 3 will be a better match. Albeit I don't have the Asgard any longer, I used it with the 650 and a Bifrost 2 for quite a while, and it was a decent setup.

I did exactly the same for my pc setup and it was pretty decent. The Asgard holds back the Bifrost though.

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

I did exactly the same for my pc setup and it was pretty decent. The Asgard holds back the Bifrost though.

it does kinda. debating getting a bifrost myself now to paur iwth my liquid plat. and possibly  future bryson BHA-1 if I ever get dedicated more into the hobby and want to do a big upgrade for me solid state setup

[HumdrumPenguin]

48 minutes ago, rice guru said:

it does kinda. debating getting a bifrost myself now to paur iwth my liquid plat. and possibly  future bryson BHA-1 if I ever get dedicated more into the hobby and want to do a big upgrade for me solid state setup

Nothing that I've heard touches the Bifrost 2 in its price point. I've also only realized how lively it is once I got the Hegel H120, as it has an extremely neutral DAC. If I were to spend more on another head amp I know exactly what it would be: Feliks Euforia. Kinda curious about Hugo TT2 + M Scaler as well, but I wouldn't drop 10k on that as I'm into speakers now. 

[H713]

I can see no downsides to that combination. Both are excellent performing devices.

 

I am highly skeptical that anyone can hear a real difference between an Asgard and a Magnius in a blind test. The THD+N on both amplifiers is below 0.001%, and both are more than powerful enough for this application- you won't even come close to clipping either. I agree, the amplifier on the Asgard is probably preferable (mostly based on output power), but the Magnius has balanced inputs- and there are a lot of reasons why that is preferable.

 

 

[rice guru]

52 minutes ago, H713 said:

I can see no downsides to that combination. Both are excellent performing devices.

 

I am highly skeptical that anyone can hear a real difference between an Asgard and a Magnius in a blind test. The THD+N on both amplifiers is below 0.001%, and both are more than powerful enough for this application- you won't even come close to clipping either. I agree, the amplifier on the Asgard is probably preferable (mostly based on output power), but the Magnius has balanced inputs- and there are a lot of reasons why that is preferable.

 

 

the differences is less about quality more sound signature. the magnius goes for a more "clean" THX neutral bright sound to it, but to me its more pleasant than a THX amp much less offensive to my warmer liking self kinda like a more direct upgrade to the jds labs atom.  while the asgard leans warmer more characteristic of the pseudo class A design. Ill admit I haven't actually blind tested them but having heard both just plainly AB testing them the differences to me were obvious enought that most people especially those with trained ears that know what to look for will easily catch the differences. in regards to level of detail I didnt really notice a difference ubut I do know a few people in my audio circle adn that have compared the 2 hearing more detail out of the asgard. and some fo them regarded the magnius a pretty pointless product because the asgard is just so good for the price point