This Little Piece of Schiit!

The Schiit Mani.

There's a lot of reviews on the web of this $129 Schiit, this one from Stereophile among the better-written ones.

I don't want to add another review, just want to share how the addition of the Mani made my system more flexible, particularly due to its various gain settings.

The importance of phono gain settings can't be overemphasized in matching carts and amps. Here are two threads from an audio forum that cover this in detail.
(The advantage of forums like this over FB is the archival and search-friendly properties.)

This one is more technical and mathematical, specially in calculating optimum phono stage gain. Selecting appropriate phono preamp gain

This second one is more subjective but no less insightful. The good the bad of too much gain

Going back to my system, the analog input sensitivity of my integrated amp is 200mV. Applying the formula for a 5-mV output cart gave me an optimum gain of 32 dB at the phono stage. Most phono stages have around 40dB gain (my integrated's built-in phono stage has 38dB). Suffice it to say that using the Mani at 30dB gave me the best result for the Shure M55E.

The character of the Mani, described as "Dyonisian," and the dynamics and "ebb and flow of the music" from optimum gain came through in spades. Perfect for sinking into on rainy nights. Or to rock.

 

"And if you listen very hard 
The tune will come to you at last 
When all are one and one is all 
To be a rock and not to roll"