Headphone Pairings
Oomphing out up to 8 Watts (continuous RMS) the Mjolnir should drive any compatible headphone on the planet. The ultimate test of contemporary headphones is the Hifiman HE-6 which many hardcore enthusiasts claim cannot sound to their fullest potential without being plugged into a powerful speaker amp. However, I find the Mjolnir/HE6 to be quite nice. Actually, when I connected HE-6 to the binding posts of my Creek 5350SE 85 Watt speaker amp, I really couldn’t tell much of a difference to the Mjolnir.
I also used the Hifiman HE500, Shure 1840, LCD-3 and Sennheiser HD650. I found them all to work very well with the Mjolnir. Actually, the biggest surprise was how good it sounded with the HD650. Those who claim the HD650 is a veiled headphone should definitely listen to them on the Mjolnir. The Mjolnir also does a very good job with the LCD-3, it definitely doesn’t make these flagship Audezes sound lesser than they deserve.
Amplifier Comparisons
I did pretty extensive comparisons between the Mjolnir and three other amplifiers and have published them as separate reviews. Comparing the Mjolnir and these renowned headphone amplifiers, track by track, headphone by headphone, I describe my subjective findings on the fly.
Compared to the Violectric V200, the Mjolnir is less mellow and more of a detail-pusher. V200 has a pretty big advantage in presenting a deeper soundstage, whilst the Mjolnir paints it wideer. Mjolnir also generally has a tighter grip on the bass. However, the V200’s smooth, yet detailed way of presentation is almost in a league of its own. Read the full Mjolnir vs Violectric V200 review here.
The WA22 balanced tube amplifier has a very nice warm tone and great imaging capabilities. One of my absolute favorites. Compared to the Mjolnir it looses out a bit on the bass, tough. Mjolnir is really having a comparative advantage in the low end registries. Read the full Mjolnir vs Woo Audio WA22 review here
When I brought in the Auralic Taurus (mkI), the Mjolnir suddenly became the relatively smoother sounding one, whilst the Taurus became the detail freak. Taurus combines some of the imaging capabilities of V200 and WA22 with extra pinpoited detail. This is mostly a pro, but sometimes I found the Mjolnir blending the elements of the music into a more of a whole in a more pleasant way. Read the full Mjolnir vs Auralic Taurus mkI review here
