Schiit Mani Phono Pre-amp First Impressions

Jim Creek

Jazz, Wine, Electronics
I was desiring a new audio toy without spending too much. So I decided on the Schiit Mani phono preamp for $140 shipped. It arrived today. I will post my early listening evaluation.

I already have a decent phono preamp built in to my Marantz PM8004 amp. The phono section in the PM8004 is all discreet circuitry ( no op amps) and has been reviewed to be very good. I will try to do an A-B comparison later on.

My Pioneer PL-41 plugs into the Mani including the grounding wire. The Mani plugs into the amp's "Record In 1" input. The cartridge is a Denon DL-110 HOMC cartridge.

For the listening evaluation I used Audio Technica ATH-M50X headphones.

The Mani has load dip switches for either 47K or 47.
Gain dip switches for 30db, 42db, 48db, 59db of gain.
I don't have a LOMC to evaluate yet.

I set the Mani to 42db of gain, 47k loading, for my Denon DL-110.

RFI: There have been reports of RFI with the Mani. I heard none, zero, nada. I cranked up the volume knob all the way with no music playing.

Hum/Hiss: I buried the volume knob all the way before I heard hum and hiss. This is very similar to the phono section on the PM8004. At normal listening levels and far far beyond, there is no noise. The Mani was dead quiet.

Sound: Right now, the treble is too bright for my ears. Hopefully that will mellow with break-in.

Music is very lively. My impression was that the Mani was more dynamic than the phono section in the PM8004. The volume of the musical material changes from soft volume to loud more dynamically. Detail was excellent. Bass went very low, and clean and detailed.

Build quality (aluminum case) is very solid but ordinary. The LED is insanely bright. Mani1.jpg

I will give another update after a week or two of listening. I hope the excessive brightness mellows over time.
 
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I am interested in hearing your comparison versus the Marantz. I have a Mani, actually second one, first returned due to hum when Gain 2 was set to hi. This one is much better but I still hear some hum with my Rega. I think it doesn't like the integrated ground in the Rega RP6/DL110. There is no hum with the wire grounded Thorens/SME.
 
I'm curious what is the closet radio or tv Station to you. I have a feeling that if I was to try the Mani I'd experience those dreaded RF problems. I had it happen twice once with an ADC Integra cartridge going through an Adcom 565 preamp and the other was with moving coil cartridge going through a the AD 797.
Good Luck with your Mani
 
opposite of the factory shipped setting, i preferred gain 1s set to low, gain 2s set to hi, maybe you wont like it, but it seems like a cleaner gradual gain increase to me. Could not accept the idea of a hi db boost first in line with a possible noise increase, then a low gain following. love mine hope yours gets good reviews also.
 
I'm curious what is the closet radio or tv Station to you. I have a feeling that if I was to try the Mani I'd experience those dreaded RF problems. I had it happen twice once with an ADC Integra cartridge going through an Adcom 565 preamp and the other was with moving coil cartridge going through a the AD 797.
Good Luck with your Mani

I am in a suburb of Milwaukee. There are no stations within 10-15 miles. EDIT: 20-25 miles is more lilely.
 
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opposite of the factory shipped setting, i preferred gain 1s set to low, gain 2s set to hi, maybe you wont like it, but it seems like a cleaner gradual gain increase to me. Could not accept the idea of a hi db boost first in line with a possible noise increase, then a low gain following. love mine hope yours gets good reviews also.

I have the gain1 dip switch at low, gain 2 set to high = 42db gain.
 
I have had one for a few years now. I like it but was puzzled that people had RFI issues with this unit. I used it in three different cities, in three different states, with no RFI whatsoever.

After my last move, it started to pick up RFI
. You don't need to be directly across the street from a station to get RFI with this unit either. It does happen. Schiit should've designed it better.

There are other phono preamps that are the same price or cheaper that don't have this problem.

When the unit works without issue it does sound very nice though.
 
It's priced as a direct competitor to the Emotiva. I think the load offerings are curious at 47k and 47. There are a whole bunch of moving coils that like 100 to 500 ohms. Emotiva offers 47, 100, 470, and 1000 ohms for MC

I do like that the Schitt has the 48dB gain setting. Definitely let it break in. I would leave it on 24-7.
 
I was desiring a new audio toy without spending too much. So I decided on the Schiit Mani phono preamp for $140 shipped. It arrived today. I will post my early listening evaluation.

I already have a decent phono preamp built in to my Marantz PM8004 amp. The phono section in the PM8004 is all discreet circuitry ( no op amps) and has been reviewed to be very good. I will try to do an A-B comparison later on.

My Pioneer PL-41 plugs into the Mani including the grounding wire. The Mani plugs into the amp's "Record In 1" input. The cartridge is a Denon DL-110 HOMC cartridge.

For the listening evaluation I used Audio Technica ATH-M50X headphones.

The Mani has load dip switches for either 47K or 47.
Gain dip switches for 30db, 42db, 48db, 59db of gain.
I don't have a LOMC to evaluate yet.

I set the Mani to 42db of gain, 47k loading, for my Denon DL-110.

RFI: There have been reports of RFI with the Mani. I heard none, zero, nada. I cranked up the volume knob all the way with no music playing.

Hum/Hiss: I buried the volume knob all the way before I heard hum and hiss. This is very similar to the phono section on the PM8004. At normal listening levels and far far beyond, there is no noise. The Mani was dead quiet.

Sound: Right now, the treble is too bright for my ears. Hopefully that will mellow with break-in.

Music is very lively. My impression was that the Mani was more dynamic than the phono section in the PM8004. The volume of the musical material changes from soft volume to loud more dynamically. Detail was excellent. Bass went very low, and clean and detailed.

Build quality (aluminum case) is very solid but ordinary. The LED is insanely bright. View attachment 954859

I will give another update after a week or two of listening. I hope the excessive brightness mellows over time.


I have similar problems with overly bright LED's. I bought some tinted film as a cover up. Most annoying was the illuminated screen on a FM HD tuner in the bedroom. I frequently use it to go to sleep. Tinted film solved that problem. How big of a piece do you need to try it? Maybe I can mail you a piece.
 
as Bugler says we could mail a small piece to you, i have green and blue.
 

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I had the Mani at the same time as a Jolida JD9. I ended up selling the overly complex JD9 which even with all the mods did not sound better.

My Mani is sensitive to some of my other less shielded gear but it only means that I use a different location on my rack. Given it's small size that's easy to do.
 
You think the reported noise issues are airborne or on the AC line?
Could be something as simple as a cordless phone plugged into an outlet on the same circuit
I've even had problems with things plugged in at a next door neighbors house (somewhat rare, but it happens, large motors mainly, like if they have a hot tub, ancient air conditioner or the like)
If you can identify it as airborne, easy fix
On the line I'd start with a shunt (which would help your whole system as well)
Can someone please post a picture of the Schiit wall wart?
 
Well...I have not posted in this forum for about 3 1/2 years (but have lurked for a little while). This seems as good a place as any to jump back in.

I have been using a Shiit Mani for about 7 months now. I have been very pleased with its performance. On my system, it performs better than my Clearaudio Nano. To use the OP's on words, it is more "dynamic" than the Nano

While it does seem to extend the lower and higher frequencies when compared to the Nano, I never felt it was ever overly bright. But it could just be the combination of equipment you are using. I have used a DL-110 in the past and it does lean towards the brighter side. But i have encountered much brighter carts (looking at you AT 440mla)

I personally do not buy into the whole "break in" period for solid state electronics I think it is more likely you are hearing extended highs the built in preamp was not offering. It might just take some getting used to. Give it a chance.

As far as it being sensitive to RF interference, there is something to that. With my current set up, I had a wireless router sitting about 8" from the Mani. I could easily hear fluctuating static well above the noise floor. It kind of freaked me out....well, not kind of, it did freak me out. When I looked at the system, I could see the indicator light on the router was in time with the fluctuating static. Pulled the router and everything was fine after that.

Overall, I think the Mani is some serious bang for the buck. At least for MM carts (have not tried a MC yet)

P.S. oh yeah, the power led is annoyingly bright.
 
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