Schiit MANI 2 User manual

MM/MC PHONO PREAMPLIFIER
MM? MC? DON’T KNOW? WHO CARES?
MANI 2 IS FLEXIBLE ENOUGH FOR ANY CARTRIDGE.
SERIOUSLY. RELAX. YOU’RE SET.
MANI: PERSONIFICATION OF THE MOON IN NORSE MYTHOLOGY.
YEP, IT’S ROUND. SO ARE RECORDS. WE ARE SIMPLE.
THERE YOU GO.
MANI 2
OWNER’S MANUAL

Mani 2 is simply the most exible, best-
performing phono preamp that you can get,
anywhere near it’s price. With 4 gain levels,
multiple loading options, and selectable
dual-slope passive low-frequency lter, it’s ready
for any turntable and any cartridge. Go ahead
and try it with the uber-priced stuff--we think
you’ll be surprised. Pleasantly, that is.
INTRODUCTION
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
(1) Mani 2
(1) Wall-Wart
(0) Records
(0) Backstage passes
(0) Prestige
(0) Clingy jeans
You get the picture. This ain’t fancy,
but it’s denitely the most exible
phono preamp that can be had for the bucks.
The following is required by the roughly 9,542
government agencies and regulations we have to
comply with. If you have some common sense, they
should seem pretty straightforward. In any case, read these
instructions before proceeding farther, follow all instructions,
and heed all warnings. Or else!
1. If you don’t know how to install audio devices, get a
qualied professional to help.
2. Never use this device near water, and clean only with a
dry cloth.
3. Assure adequate ventilation, do not block any ventilation
openings, or place near heat sources.
4. Use only the supplied power cord or suitable replacement.
Route cords away from trac areas and protect them from
being pinched. Unplug the cord from the outlet if the apparatus
is unused for a long period of time.
5. To prevent electric shock, do not use the plug with an
extension cord, receptacle, or outlet unless blades can be
fully inserted.
6. Refer all servicing to qualied service personnel. Service is
required when the device has been damaged, including cord or
plug damage, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into
the device, the device has been exposed to rain or moisture,
does not operate normally, or has been dropped.
WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR
ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS DEVICE TO
RAIN OR MOISTURE.

GETTING STARTED
1. Choose the right location.
Mani 2 has a lot of gain, so where you put it
matters. If it’s sitting on top of a power amp
with a giant transformer inside, it’s going to
hum. If you wrap a power cord around it, it might
not be all that great either. So:
a. Put it near your turntable.
b. Keep it away from the turntable motor,
especially if it’s one of those that’s big enough
to run a Tesla.
c. Don’t run the AC cord to the turntable around
it or underneath it, or near the cables.
2. Choose the right cables.
You heard that thing about a lot of gain, right?
Well, Mani 2 can also pick up crud that comes
in through the cables from the turntable.
We recommend the following:
a. Choose short, well-shielded RCA cables from
the turntable to Mani 2.
b. Short means short. 0.5m is good. 0.25m is
even better. Or, in USAish, 6-12 inches.
c. Well-shielded means well-shielded. Open
braided cables, even if they’re using yak-hair and
magic crystal insulation, are not a great idea.
You want a 100% coverage shield.
3. Start with the factory settings.
For most turntables owned by actual mortals
(that is, turntables that use moving-magnet, or
MM, cartridges), start with Mani 2 at the factory
settings. We’ve already set it up for 42dB of
gain, and 47pF/47kΩ loading.This works best
for most systems.
IMPORTANT
When changing gains on Mani 2, turn down
your preamp all the way, or, in systems with no
preamp (you are crazy, by the way), turn off your
amp before changing gains.

1 RCA Outputs. Connect Mani 2’s RCA outputs to
your preamp or headphone amp.
2 Ground. Connect the turntable ground to Mani
2’s ground input, if you have hum problems.
3 RCA Inputs. Connect Mani 2’s RCA inputs to
your turntable, using short, shielded cables.
4 Power Switch. Turn on to enjoy your turntable.
But see VERY IMPORTANT to the right.
5 Power Input. Connect the supplied 16VAC wall-
wart to Mani 2 with the attached cord.
CONNECTIONS
VERY IMPORTANT:
Turn on Mani 2 FIRST, before other components
like power amps, or else you may get some very
loud pops through your system.
Turn Mani 2 off AFTER turning off power amps,
for the same reason. (Or just go ahead and leave
it on, that’s ne too.)
DO NOT change gain switch settings with Mani 2
on. Turn your whole system off, change gain, and
then turn on Mani 2 rst, before anything else.
1 2 3 4 5

CONTROLS (EASY VERSION)
Don’t ip it over. No. Just don’t do it. Luxuriate
in the condence of having a device with one
simple power-on light, and no other controls on
the front panel. Connect it as described on the
previous page, and see how it does. Mani 2 is
set up from the factory for most systems, so it’s
fairly plug and play in most cases.
So, does it sound good? Then you’re done.
Enjoy some music, and don’t worry about what’s
on the bottom of Mani 2.
Doesn’t the music sound nice? Yeah. Just enjoy
it. Sit back. Relax.
Oh no.
You’re looking at the Mani 2, thinking “it can’t
be that simple.”
You’re wondering about all these controls on
the bottom.
You’re wondering if things could be any better,
aren’t you?
Well, here’s the thing: probably not, unless
you have something super-weird, like a
Decca cartridge (which needs lower gain), or a
moving-coil cartridge (MC), and specically a
low-output moving coil cartridge, or a low-ouput
moving-iron cartridge like Grado. Then maybe
you could take a look at the gain and loading
options.
Or maybe you have woofers moving furiously
because you have warped records, or some-
thing like that—then maybe the lter settings
could help.
But in most cases, you don’t have to do any-
thing. Don’t ip the Mani 2 over.
No. Seriously. Don’t turn it over.
Ah heck. Okay. Turn the page.

CONTROLS
1
2
3

Flip Mani 2 over to make changes:
1 Filter. Mani 2 offers 6dB or 12dB of low
frequency ltering, which helps tame excessive
woofer excursion with warped records. Most
systems won’t need it. If you do:
a. Switch in the 6DB switches on both channels
for 6dB low-pass lter.
b. Add in the +6DB switches on both channels
(so both switches are set to “I,” or “IN,” for 12dB
of low-pass ltering.
2 Loading. For most systems using MM
cartridges, you don’t need to change this—
with all switches to “O” or “OUT,” the load is
47pF/47kΩ. If you need to change load:
a. Select 200Ω or 47Ω for MC cartridges. Or set
both switches to “I” for about a 38Ω load.
b. Select an additional 47pF, an additional 100pF,
or both, for about 100pF, 150pF, and 200pF
loading respectively.
3 Gain. For most systems, you won’t need to
change these either. They’ve been set at the
factory to INPUT = L, and OUTPUT = H, which
offers 42dB of gain for most moving magnet
(MM) cartridges.
You can also select:
Gain 1 and Gain 2 both L: 30dB of gain
Gain 1 = H, Gain 2 = L: 48dB of gain
Gain 1 and Gain 2 both H: 60dB of gain
IMPORTANT
Unknown cartridge? Try 47 ohms. If your sound
fades to almost nothing, set it back to 47K.
Distorted sound? One or more of the gain
stages is overloading. Switch both INPUT and
OUTPUT gains to “L” and then adjust one at a
time until the distortion goes away.

SCHIIT.COM
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Schiit Audio warrants to the original purchaser that this product shall be free from defects in material
and workmanship for two (2) years from the date of purchase. If a defect covered by this warranty oc-
curs during this period, Schiit Audio will repair the defective product, free of charge. Date of purchase
will be based on customer receipts, otherwise date of manufacturing will be used.
If you believe you need warranty service, contact us rst. Schiit Audio products sent back to us
without a Return Authorization (RA) will be returned to the sender without repair. To contact us and
obtain an RA, email [email protected].
Warranty Limitations. This warranty shall not apply if a product: (a) is modied or tampered with;
(b) is damaged by negligence, accident, unreasonable use, or other causes unrelated to defective
materials or workmanship, or (c) has had the serial number altered or removed.
Any implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability and tness for a particular purpose,
are hereby limited in duration to the warranty period of 2 years. In no event shall Schiit Audio be liable
for consequential or incidental damages resulting from the breach of any implied or expressed
warranties. Some states do not allow these limitations, so they may not apply to you. You may also
have other rights which vary from state to state or province to province.
2-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY
Application for Council Directives 72/23/EEC
Conformity declared for EN60065, EN50082-1