Schiit's First Phono Preamp - The $129 "Mani"

It's an excellent phono preamp with rave reviews and probably thousands of happy users. If you wind up with noise, people here will be happy to troubleshoot the issue with you, but I wouldn't let the experiences of a relative few scare you.

 

That's what I'm thinking too Gabe, mine is supposed to be delivered today so I'll give it a shot over the weekend to see how it plays. Now am I wrong (or does it matter) I believe I have read someplace that it is a good idea to plug the preamp into a different plug from the one the table is plugged into, is that correct? I'm far from an electrical engineer but am wondering if maybe that could be the cause for any excessive noise or hum people have experienced?

 

Hope you enjoy it! I think you're referring to a ground loop, and that issue is outside my experience.

 

Ha! Yeah same here. My table is only a two prong outlet and I'm have no idea yet if the mani is a 3 prong or two so i honestly have no idea!

 

2 prong if in US

 

Would using the Lounge as a preamp with the Sprout's analog input for my Rp3 be a good idea? Would this add definition and tighten up the bass boost present in the Sprout?

 

Anyone know when the preamp will be available agian? thx

 

Looks like it's officially available now on their site. I ordered it a few weeks ago when it was out of stock and received mine this week

 

One correction to what I wrote above: the Mani has adjustable gain, but not adjustable loading. Sorry for any confusion.

And an addition: the Mani's power supply is linear, not switching.

 

Mine arrived last night, I hooked it up and honestly I'm very impressed. You can do a lot worse with your money as far as I'm concerned if that means anything. Definitely worth the price paid so far.

 

Greetings everyone! This is my first post on the forum and it is the Schiit Mani that brought me here. I received my Mani earlier this week too and like it, but unfortunately, I'm one of the people experiencing the hum, hiss, and it's making me nuts. I'm trying to find a solution. I think it's a power problem, possibly the wall wart, but I really don't know for certain. I have a Pro-ject Carbon Debut Espirit SB turntable with an Ortofon 2m Red cartridge and an Onkyo receiver. The sound of the hum increases when my finger gets close to the interconnects or turntable cartridge. I would like to keep the Mani, but the hum, hiss may be a deal breaker if I cannot find a solution.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

Additionally, I discovered that if I remove the interconnects (RCA, red and white) from the back of the turntable, but leave them plugged into the Mani and leave the ground wire attached between the TT and the Mani, the hum, hiss, buzz, goes completely away. Not sure if this is telling or not.

 

I went through 2 and they both had the same issue. I ended up with a Lounge and couldn't be happier.

 

Thank you Vinyl Addict. The Lounge looks cool, and I'm sure it sounds good too, but that 300 dollar price tag. I don't think my wife would be too happy about that. I'd probably have to wait until Christmas.

 

Do you get the hum when the interconnects and ground wire are completely disconnected at both ends?

What interconnects are you using?

 

I'm using the interconnects that came with Pro-ject turntable.

Also, I've done a little more experimenting and discovered that regardless of whether the turntable is plugged into and grounded to the Mani or plugged into and grounded to the Phono input of my Onkyo receiver, the buzz persists.

Additionally, I made a ground wire from 14GA speaker wire. I used a different RCA audio cable as my interconnect between my TT and the Mani. Then I did the same thing between my TT and the Phono input of my Onkyo receiver, the buzz persists.

Then I switched turntables. I swapped my Pro-ject with a modified AT-LP 120 (I had removed the built-in phono pre-amp and installed a Nagaoko MP110 cartridge). Plugged it into the Mani and still had a buzz.

Granted, in every configuration, the buzz is at higher volume levels 40, 50 or 60. It depends on the Mani's gain adjustment.

Honestly, I think it's either the turntables, the interconnects or the environment. Not the preamp.

Any thoughts?

 

You could try some better interconnects (better shielding) but if you have a ground loop or some piece of equipment/electronics near your stereo and the preamp is causing interference that won't help. Ditto if you live near a radio station.

A friend of mine (who does NOT use a Mani) lived in an old house that was converted into a duplex. It had old wiring that was probably jerry-rigged as I don't think most of his outlets were even three prong. He would get hum no matter what he tried when using a turntable.

 

Yes, I'm beginning to think the interference was always there, but the Mani, which I had set to 48dB the first time I used it, amplified the interference enough for me to finally notice it.

I too was thinking maybe some higher quality interconnects might help, but I don't know. Our house is only ten years old, so maybe that would make a difference. Any recommendations?

Regardless, I think I'm keeping the Mani. It does sound good.

 

Try Blue Jeans Cables for interconnects. If you can, maybe post a picture of how you have things set up. Someone might be able to pin point the source of interference. If you have anything with a transformer inside it that is too close to the Mani or the turntable, or if you have everything plugged into the same wall socket, rearranging your equipment may help.

 

Patient_ot, I really appreciate your help, and now that you mention it, my Onkyo TX-8020 receiver is equipped with a "Massive EI transformer Compatible with the DS-A5 AirPlay RI Dock for iPod/iPhone/iPad". My turntable sits on the top of a three tier media stand about fifteen inches above the receiver that sits on the bottom tier. A CD player is on the second tier. Maybe that transformer is the culprit?

 

A few things to try:

Set the Mani's gain switches to low, both of them. This will give you 30dB of gain, which should be fine for the Nagaoka. Like it, my 2m Blue has 5mV output, and it sounds sweet with only 30dB gain from the Mani.

Make sure your interconnects are shielded end to end. Ideally you should be using a phono cable between the turntable and the preamp.

See what you can do with equipment location and outlet usage. Even simple things like making sure power cables don't cross interconnects or speaker cables.

 

It could be. I also keep my integrated amp on the bottom shelf - but I have a 4 shelf rack that is maybe a little taller than yours. CD player on the second shelf, Mani and DAC on the second, and turntable on the top.

I would also recommend following @Gabe Walters advice about lowering the gain on the Mani. Another thing you could try is ferrite beads on the power supply and phono ground cable, but I would only do that after a process of elimination and trying everything else first. Also do some research and find out if you live near a radio station. Another thing: some people have figured out that TVs can cause interference if they are too close to the turntable.

 

Yeah but that's a very well spent $300 (if you've got $300 that is).

 

Thank you for the recommendations. By the way, I switched my turntables back to the original configuration. The Pro-ject Carbon Debut Espirit SB is now on deck. It is equipped with a 2m red which also has the 5mV output, so maybe I'll switch to the 30dB gain and leave it for a while. I'm using the connection cable supplied with the Pro-ject. I'm pretty sure it can be considered a phono cable, it has the ground wire "built-in" to the cable.

 

Yeah, that should be a proper phono cable, but Pro-Ject are notorious for making flimsy cables that aren't well shielded. A good after market cable should give you better results. (I say this as a Pro-Ject owner.)