Schiit Mjolnir 3 vs Schiit Ragnarok 2

Short answer

  • More power: the Schiit Ragnarok 2, with 6.00 W into 32 Ω; the Schiit Mjolnir 3 has 1.00 W (balanced: 24.00 W against 2.00 W). The Schiit Ragnarok 2 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Schiit Mjolnir 3 cannot (Symphonium Titan).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: no headphone here hisses audibly on one and not on the other.
  • Price: the Schiit Ragnarok 2 costs $300 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are desktop amplifiers, $1199 against $1499.

The Schiit Ragnarok 2 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Schiit Mjolnir 3 on 566.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationSchiit Mjolnir 3Schiit Ragnarok 2
Power into 32Ω1.0 W6.0 W
Power into 150Ω488 mW1.3 W
Power into 300Ω500 mW625 mW
Power into 600Ω250 mW313 mW
Output impedance0.13 Ω0.1 Ω unverified
Output noise25.18 µV1.5 µV unverified
Price$1199$1499
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		566567
Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancedSchiit Mjolnir 3Schiit Ragnarok 2
SocketXLR4XLR4
Power into 32Ω2.0 W24.0 W
Power into 300Ω1.0 W2.5 W derived
Output impedance0.25 Ωnot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		567567

Through the balanced sockets the two are level on the same test: each reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

LoadSchiit Mjolnir 3Schiit Ragnarok 2
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩPublishedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. Schiit Mjolnir 3 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; Schiit Ragnarok 2 at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the Schiit Mjolnir 3 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Schiit Ragnarok 2 but not on the Schiit Mjolnir 3 — Symphonium Titan.

566 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the HiFiMAN HE400se: Schiit Ragnarok 2 has +28 dB of headroom there against +20 dB. 8 dB is about 6 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Schiit Ragnarok 2 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsSchiit Mjolnir 3 headroomSchiit Ragnarok 2 headroomSchiit Mjolnir 3 hissSchiit Ragnarok 2 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+38 dB+46 dB42 dBnot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+18 dB+26 dB22 dBnot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+29 dB+35 dB21 dBnot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+29 dB+31 dB16 dBnot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+20 dB+28 dB15 dBnot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+23 dB+24 dB9 dBnot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+19 dB+20 dB5 dBnot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+11 dB+18 dB3 dBnot published
What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Schiit Ragnarok 2 costs $300 more than the Schiit Mjolnir 3. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model driven to 100 dB.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Next

Both pages in full

Each in full: Schiit Mjolnir 3 and Schiit Ragnarok 2.

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