Schiit Audio Midgard
Clean, crisp and full-bodied, the Midgard brings weighty bass, tactile vocals and sharply focused images to a compact desktop rig. Passion for Sound heard greater clarity, separation and space from its 4-pin XLR output, while The Headphone Show praised its natural, fatigue-free presentation, potent drive and low noise. Add analogue preamp flexibility and distinctive Halo feedback, and this is exceptional value.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
91/100
Build Quality
87/100
Features Usability
85/100
Value for Money
95/100
Pros
Clean, detailed sound with strong image focus, separation and a sense of space, especially through the 4-pin XLR output.
Weighty, hard-hitting bass and a tactile, natural vocal-focused midrange without bloom or mud.
Powerful enough for the vast majority of headphones while maintaining a quiet background for sensitive IEMs.
Excellent value at $219, with discrete circuitry, balanced and single-ended connectivity, plus preamp outputs.
Cons
Its presentation is more intimate and vocal-focused than especially airy or expansive-sounding rivals.
The Halo feedback system produced no clear measurable reduction in headphone distortion in testing.
The volume knob was reported to have a scratchy, less pleasant adjustment feel.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 91/100
Reviews describe a clean, crisp and highly detailed presentation with strong image focus, full-bodied weight and an engagingly tactile midrange. Its sound is more intimate than especially airy rivals, but reviewers found it natural, fatigue-free and exceptionally capable for the price.
Transparency Resolution
91/100
The Headphone Show found detail retrieval and outright resolution very good for the money. Passion for Sound likewise heard a clean, clarity-focused presentation that made instrumental textures and individual sonic characters easier to distinguish.
Tonal Balance Musicality
90/100
Reviewers characterize the Midgard as clean without sounding sterile, combining crispness with musical soul. It has a somewhat warm, full-bodied and vocal-focused balance, with weighty bass and a tactile midrange rather than an ultra-airy presentation.
Dynamics
91/100
The Headphone Show describes the bass as weighty and hard-hitting without bloom or mud, and reports sufficient power for the vast majority of headphones. The amplifier is presented as lively and substantial rather than strained, particularly with headphones that suit its intimate, textural character.
Noise Floor
90/100
The Headphone Show found the noise performance quiet enough to use comfortably with quite sensitive in-ear monitors. No reviewer reports audible hiss, hum or other background-noise problems in normal listening.
Headphone Compatibility
91/100
The Headphone Show reports that the Midgard should drive the vast majority of headphones while remaining comfortable with sensitive IEMs. Its low- and high-gain settings, single-ended output and 4-pin XLR output offer useful flexibility, with reviewers particularly enjoying the balanced output's added separation and space.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
87/100
Head-Fi describes robust metal construction and discrete circuitry in this American-made amplifier. The available reviews offer little further reporting on control feel, connector durability or long-term reliability.
Features Usability
85/100
The Midgard combines headphone amplification with preamp functionality, two gain settings, a conventional 6.35 mm output and a 4-pin XLR headphone output. The Halo implementation on the balanced output is a distinctive feature, though this remains a focused analogue amplifier without onboard digital inputs, DAC or remote control.
Value for Money
95/100
At $219, The Headphone Show calls the Midgard excellent value for money. Passion for Sound calls it an absolutely fantastic choice at its asking price and says they cannot think of a better headphone amplifier for that money.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Specifications
- Power
- plenty for all headphones except maybe Tungsten
- Noise
- inaudible on all headphones and IEMs
- Distortion
- unmeasurable at normal listening levels; 1000x lower than the typical headphones you're using
- Heat
- amp gets slightly warm
- Size
- desk-friendly
- Frequency Response
- 20Hz-20Khz, +/-0.01dB
- 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
- THD+N, Low Gain
- Less than 0.0001% (-118dB) at 4V RMS into 300 ohms
- THD+N, High Gain
- Less than 0.0003% (-108dB) at 4V RMS into 300 ohms
- IMD, Low Gain
- Less than -112dB at 4V RMS into 300 ohms, CCIF
- IMD, High Gain
- Less than -110dB at 4V RMS into 300 ohms, CCIF
- SNR, Low Gain
- Greater than 128dB, referenced to 4V RMS
- SNR, High Gain
- Greater than 118dB, referenced to 4V RMS
- Crosstalk
- Less than -80dB, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 300 ohm load
- Output Impedance, SE ¼” TRS output
- less than 0.1 ohms
- Output Impedance, Neutrik 4-pin XLR output
- approximately 2 ohms
- Output Impedance, Preamp output
- 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 for Neutrik 4-pin 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 lb
- APx555 Report for Midgard
- Report available at /public/upload/PDF/APx555 Test --Midgard.pdf
Manufacturer's Description — Schiit Audio
Midgard is simply the best measuring, highest power discrete headphone amp we’ve ever made. But that’s not all. Midgard’s new Halo™ topology also offers the potential for higher performance where it matters—at your ears.
Introducing Halo: Breakthrough or Illusion?Halo is a mixed-mode feedback topology that incorporates your headphone driver into the feedback loop, offering the potential for better control at driver resonance and improved acoustic results. However, since confirming that would require years of research and still have everyone arguing about it, we decided to do something crazy: introduce this amp at a great price and let you decide.
Try For Yourself; Measure For Free
Want to try Halo? Plug in to the front panel XLR. Compare to the front panel TRS, which doesn’t have Halo, because Halo requires separate ground returns. See what you think. We’ll also go further: if you have an acoustic measurement rig and want to publish your results (positive or negative, we don’t care), contact us and we’ll get you a Midgard to measure.
A Great Headphone Amp, Period
Halo or no, Midgard is completely over the top in terms of value and performance. It delivers nearly 5W into 32 ohms through either the ¼” TRS or 4-pin XLR connectors with near state-of-the-art measurements. It’s quiet enough for super-sensitive headphones. It has smart protection to safeguard your headphones (and itself). And it has a top-of-class Alps RK27 volume pot for smooth control and fantastic tracking. Aaaaand it’s made in Texas.
Flexibility for Your Entire Desktop
Midgard isn’t just a headphone amp. It also has balanced and single-ended preamp outputs, so you can connect to powered monitors for a complete system. It also has both balanced and single-ended inputs, and two gain levels. And all these connections use best-in-class Neutrik connectors, together with Alps signal switches, for ultimate integrity and reliability.
Perfect Pair With Mimir
If you’re looking for a great-sounding, great-measuring balanced DAC to pair with Midgard, look no farther than Mimir to create an end-game desktop stack. These two components are exactly the same size, and stack perfectly on a desktop.
Designed and Built in the USA
By “designed and built in the USA" this is what we mean: the vast majority of the total production cost of Midgard—chassis, boards, assembly, etc—goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our chassis are made in California. Our PCBs are made in California or Nevada, and it all comes together in our Corpus Christi facility.
2-Year Warranty, 15-Day Easy Returns
Midgard is covered by a 2-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor. And if you don’t like your Midgard, you can send it back for a refund, minus 15% restocking fee, within 15 days of receiving it.
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Schiit Audio Midgard
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Addicted to Audio — online and in-store — Epping, Victoria, Australia (website)
- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- Class D Audio USA — online — United States (website)
- Golden Acoustics — in-store — Athina, Greece (website)
- Schiit Audio — online and in-store — Los Angeles, California, United States (website)
- The Analog Shop — in-store — Victor, New York, United States (website)