Schiit Mjolnir 3 vs SMSL VMV P2 MK2

Short answer

More power: the SMSL VMV P2 MK2, with 2.00 W into 32 Ω; the Schiit Mjolnir 3 has 1.00 W (balanced: 8.00 W against 2.00 W). The SMSL VMV P2 MK2 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Schiit Mjolnir 3 cannot (Symphonium Titan).
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the SMSL VMV P2 MK2 publishes no noise figure.
Price: the SMSL VMV P2 MK2 costs $39 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Schiit Mjolnir 3 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are desktop amplifiers, $1199 against $1160.

The SMSL VMV P2 MK2 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

Specification	Schiit Mjolnir 3	SMSL VMV P2 MK2
Power into 32Ω	1.0 W	2.0 W
Power into 150Ω	488 mW	499 mW
Power into 300Ω	500 mW	300 mW
Power into 600Ω	250 mW	150 mW
Output impedance	0.13 Ω	<0.1 Ω
Output noise	25.18 µV	not published
Price	$1199	$1160
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	567

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	Schiit Mjolnir 3	SMSL VMV P2 MK2
Socket	XLR4	4.4mm / 4-pin XLR
Power into 32Ω	2.0 W	8.0 W
Power into 300Ω	1.0 W	1.0 W
Output impedance	0.25 Ω	<0.1 Ω
Output noise	not published	not published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	567

Through the balanced sockets the two are level on the same test: each reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	Schiit Mjolnir 3	SMSL VMV P2 MK2
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Published	Published
600 Ω	Derived	Published

Both makers publish a power rating. Schiit Mjolnir 3 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; SMSL VMV P2 MK2 at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 600 Ω only the SMSL VMV P2 MK2 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 SMSL VMV P2 MK2 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: SMSL VMV P2 MK2 has +28 dB of headroom there against +18 dB. 9 dB is about 8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for SMSL VMV P2 MK2 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	Schiit Mjolnir 3 headroom	SMSL VMV P2 MK2 headroom	Schiit Mjolnir 3 hiss	SMSL VMV P2 MK2 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+38 dB	+48 dB	42 dB	not published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+18 dB	+28 dB	22 dB	not published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+29 dB	+31 dB	21 dB	not published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+29 dB	+27 dB	16 dB	not published
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+20 dB	+25 dB	15 dB	not published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+23 dB	+21 dB	9 dB	not published
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+19 dB	+17 dB	5 dB	not published
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+11 dB	+13 dB	3 dB	not published

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Schiit Mjolnir 3 costs $39 more than the SMSL VMV P2 MK2, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Schiit Mjolnir 3 handles and the SMSL VMV P2 MK2 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper SMSL VMV P2 MK2 drives one model to 100 dB that the Schiit Mjolnir 3 does not.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: Schiit Mjolnir 3 and SMSL VMV P2 MK2.

↑