Gadgetory

the Coolermaster Glaser 240 L CPU cooler delivers the convenience of an all-in-one and the performance of a custom water cooler click now to learn more dear support is your company's name really pronounced is there a back story or was it just because it was funny I got a reply from audio co-founder Jason Stoddard personally who happens to be in the process of chronicling their journey as a tiny startup over on head 5 which I'll link in the video description if you're interested and you took a moment to share a very relatable moment with me where early in the process of product development on the ass guard his wife got so tired of hearing him say no I can't do that I have to do that one day she said why don't you just call the new company since that's what you're always doing and that's the back story as a fellow small startup I definitely lolled my wife definitely didn't anyway from a grab your attention standpoint I can see why they did it it makes you go did I just read that and the slogans that they can make up to market their amp and dak products which range from $100 each all the way up to units that are highly upgradable and cost 750 dollars each are pretty much endless alright so with that out of the way what do I actually think of their entry-level amp and dak offering the industrial design is something that you're going to love or hate it's a clean and utilitarian steel box with a curved front and some ventilation holes applied as needed if I had to complain I guess I wish that they stacked a little more gracefully rather than just having one sit on top of the other with little rubber feet on the bottom but the subdued white LED illumination that they've got is a nice touch the units each compact in environmentally responsible boxes that are pretty much all cardboard that include just rubber feet a little pamphlet and in the case of the Magni an AC power adapter that's it I would have liked a USB cable with the Modi and maybe a short RCA cable with the Magni but I understand that to hit these prices with almost all manufacturing including the PCB and production in the US they needed to keep cost down besides while I don't care many audio snobs will prefer to buy their own fancy cables anyway so when it came to listening tests the main competitor I compared to was an objective to an O DAC combo unit from Mayflower electronics a more compact but slightly more expensive solution to the combined stack on paper their specs are priming pretty similar at least they look like it to me and while I through pretty much everything in my arsenal at them from my HD 600 switch I happen to have handy right here all the way down to random gaming headphones in my IE 80 in years when I was done there wasn't much to say they both sound great to me so great that I just couldn't tell the difference with my wife switching them back and forth on me while I wasn't looking I don't have any ortho dynamic headphones yet so I wasn't really pushing either of them to their limits and my conclusion is just going to have to come down to features both solutions are entirely driverless on your PC and pick all the right boxes in terms of specs with their low output impedance making them suitable for everything from very difficult to drive 300 plus old headphones down to IMS the o2 stand-alone can be run off of 9-volt batteries but is more expensive than the Magni the o2 has a gain switch to toggle between quieter and louder output while basically says I don't know use PC volume control or exercise caution with the volume dial when you use your IMS the wall wart for the price equivalent oh - from Mayflower at least plugs into the front of the unit which is kind of unsightly but uses an unusual AC wall wart so it actually goes from 120 volt to 16 volt AC so you can't easily replace it so they both kind of have some trade-offs with the only simple solution to get more features or not deal with the trade-offs being pay more this is a value solution that sounds great let's love it for what it is and quit complaining all right I get that speaking of paying more I really like the style of the guys they've got expensive stuff but with all the usual nonsense in the audio world they take a surprisingly down-to-earth no-bullshit approach to their marketing for example right on the hundred dollar mag knees product page it says it may be the only amp you'll ever need and they're three hundred and fifty dollar Valhalla tube amp product page doesn't wax philosophical about the superiority of tubes it just says and I'm paraphrasing a bit here it's a tube amp if you like tubes you might like this and if you don't liked it then you can swap the tubes up for something else enjoy love it love that approach another thing I liked about them is something I usually can't test but I bought the stack so I was just another customer to them I emailed in about an issue with my HD 280 s that was causing some interference in the left channel whenever I adjusted volume on the Magni they promptly replied and offered to cover shipping for me to send the unit back gave me some sensible troubleshooting steps and explained that some headphones can act as an RF antenna in certain cases it was isolated to my HD 280 s out of 10 plus pairs and only while turning the volume knob so I didn't bother exchanging it overall solid product solid folks over there making it and highly recommended if you like their particular flavor of trade-offs versus the objective 2 and ode AK guys like and share this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment on the Linus tech tips forearm linked in the video description if you want to discuss this product or you have any constructive criticism for me in my team also linked in the video description is our support link with options to buy t-shirts give us a monthly contribution so we can keep making these videos or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on Amazon check it out if you enjoy our videos it helps us out a whole bunch and as always guys thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe