Headphones amplifiers — Schiit Audio MAGNI

The Magni is the entry-level desktop headphone amplifier from Schiit Audio, the California company founded in 2010 by Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, whose first product was the Asgard headphone amplifier. The Magni name has run through several generations, each raising output and lowering distortion at a similar low price. This version brings three gain settings and 2.5 W of output to a compact chassis made in the United States.

Key specs that matter

Maximum output is 2,500 mW per channel into 32 ohms, 1,500 mW into 50 ohms, 415 mW into 300 ohms and 220 mW into 600 ohms. Gain is switchable between 0.3x, 1x and 5x, which is about -10 dB, 0 dB and +14 dB. THD is below 0.0003% at 1 V RMS into 300 ohms, signal-to-noise ratio is 122 dB, and crosstalk stays below -80 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The chassis is a small aluminium box measuring 127 x 89 x 32 mm, with a front volume control, a 6.35 mm headphone socket and rear RCA inputs.

Engineering and use context

The three gain settings address a practical issue with desktop headphone amplifiers. Sensitive in-ear monitors need very little voltage, so with a single high-gain setting the usable volume range sits at the very start of the potentiometer's travel, where channel balance is least accurate. The 0.3x negative-gain setting moves normal listening levels further round the volume control, while the 5x setting supplies the voltage needed by high-impedance dynamic headphones and the current needed by low-sensitivity planar-magnetic models. The low noise floor matters most with very sensitive earphones. The amplifier runs from an external wall-wart transformer, which keeps mains wiring out of the small chassis, and its footprint matches Schiit's compact Modi DACs, so the two stack neatly on a desk.

Pairing

The Magni needs a line-level source, most often a small DAC such as the Modi, a streamer or a computer audio interface. Its rear preamp outputs, active when no headphones are plugged in, can feed powered desktop speakers, turning the amplifier into a small control centre for a desk system. Thanks to the gain range, it handles everything from IEMs to power-hungry planar-magnetic headphones and 600-ohm studio designs.

Alternatives

The Asgard is a larger Class A headphone amplifier from Schiit Audio for listeners who want more output and a bigger chassis.