Schiit Asgard 3 Headphone Amp with Continuity Output Stage

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Vtory, Aug 28, 2019.

  1. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Jason has stated they are not planning to put Unison in Eitr and actually plan to discontinue Eitr. That was a few months ago now, so not sure if anything has changed or not.
     
  2. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    Yep. Current plan is:

    Unison USB in Bifrost 2: now.
    Unison USB in Bifrost, Gungnir, Yggdrasil: January 2020.
    Unison USB in cards: who knows? Maybe a year from now? Depends on many other things.
    Eitr, Wyrd: dead when they sell out.
     
  3. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    I need a little clarification here. When did any usb solution automatically trump coaxial spdif? Let's say that I have a pc with noisy usb issues but works great with an EITR. Can I expect that unison usb will be better than what EITR offers me? Just trying to get educated here.
     
  4. Baten

    Baten Friend

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    Supposedly, it is at least as good as very good spdif.
     
  5. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    From https://www.schiit.com/products/bifrost-1

    [​IMG]

    Could be more marketing, very likely more marketing, but I've found for all the Schiit-talk they never really talk straight-up shit, which is why I just about had to pick my TMJ-plagued jaw off the floor laughing at this.
     
  6. Audionics

    Audionics New

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    @schiit @Jason Stoddard Will Yggdrasil get another upgrade around the same time as the Unison USB rollout?
     
  7. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    It kind of does trump coaxial spdif.

    Unision is better than EITR.

    I believe that both EITR is transformer isolated as well as Unision. What makes Unision great is the way they are treating the clocks with their own implementation that is unbelievable. Mike was even wanting multiple USB input switchers and now considering this kind of thing better than even AES/EBU. Once anyone hears it, you will want it. I think it is one of the most incredible things Schiit has ever done...groundbreaking.
     
  8. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    I noticed that Bitfrost 2 is under production (available 7~9 days) and description says that true multibit and use same dac chips as Gungnir Multibit. And, it has better USB implementation. Does this mean that Bitfrost 2 is very close to Gungnir Multibit in terms of sonic performance and cost almost half of Gungnir Multibit?
     
  9. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    This is the Asgard 3 thread.

    But you can check out Marv's comments about Bifrost 2 here - https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-bifrost-2.8226/page-2#post-269871
     
  10. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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  11. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    This is the Asgard 3 thread.

    No Unision here.
     
  12. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    @purr1n Did you get time with this as well? I understand the topology is similar to the Aegir, so would Aegir sound descriptions roughly translate?
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's cheap enough that we can buy one for the loaner.
     
  14. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    20190830_190558.jpg
    Well well, look what the mail brought in.

    Impressions to come.
     
  15. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    We want impressions now, and we want you to say it sounds just like Aegir for headphones! Don’t disappoint!
     
  16. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    Quick Early Impressions:

    Despite owning an Aegir, I'm not sure I'm the person to ask to see if the Asgard 3 resembles an Aegir for headphones. I have essentially no experience with various speaker amps outside of Aegir, and I've only tried the Freya+ and Euforia as preamps. I'd really need more time with my speakers (Klipsch Heresy III) and different gear to really assess. But I'm reasonably certain that the two somewhat resemble each other, but have some key differences. I'll be extrapolating a LOT of sonic characteristics of Aegir from both my limited experience and the Aegir thread, so boulders of salt are required (especially since honeymoon period).

    That being said, the Asgard 3 is frickin' legit.

    Allow me to start by saying what Asgard 3 is not. Asgard 3 is not clinical or analytical. Asgard 3 is not the king of fast transients. Asgard 3 is not for those who go for super sharp edges in attacks. Asgard 3 is not for ultimate treble extension/air. Asgard 3 is not for uber bass slam and headbanging.

    The characteristics of Aegir that Asgard 3 has is heard in the way it renders treble and midrange, along with its transients. Treble is smooth and non-fatiguing, but ultimately not super sparkly, perhaps even the slightest bit rolled. Midrange is dynamic, both micro and macro, and is utterly seductive (I can hear all the rasp in my Aerosmith recordings; nice!). Overall detail that isn't actually that far behind something like the DNA prototype. Pretty good at layering; again, behind the DNA amp, but still satisfying. Transients are a touch soft and rounded, just like Aegir.

    Timbre was slightly warm, which is what I perceive from Aegir. Staging is typical Schiit; upfront, but with good width and depth. I don't think it quite matches good tubes here, but it's far from claustrophobic and tiny. A part of this might be the fact that it doesn't have that last bit of airiness, but personally I don't care for that.

    The one thing that really surprised me was the amp's bass performance. Certainly had good heft and slam (with Auteur, it monstered modern dance music). Again, the attacks were slightly rounded, but it sounded supremely natural. Bass texture was kind of reminiscent of its midrange texture, but not quite as good (you know how the Aegir has supreme midrange performance and how that doesn't fully translate in bass? Kind of like that).

    Where the Asgard 3 isn't as great is when music gets really busy; while I wouldn't call it congested, it just doesn't seem to be able to layer the instruments as effortlessly as my speaker setup (which does have Aegir). This is especially telling in rock/pop songs where there's a harmonic part on top of the melody; it kind of sounds like the melody with the barest hint of melody. On my speakers or on the DNA/Euforia with synergistic headphones, it's easy to pick out.

    With Asgard 3, I found myself trying to draw comparisons to Euforia and the DNA amp. Scarily so, it's not that far behind those two, to the point where I'll still be pleased even though I have to wait for the production versions of the DNA amp (an argument can be made that it's better than Euforia because the Euforia is just so synergy-dependent, whereas Asgard 3 is a good generalist). The value proposition seems astronomical, but I'll need more time to really see what I think.

    More to come later with more detailed comparisons.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  17. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Nice. Have you heard Jotunheim?
     
  18. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    Only briefly at CanJam Micro, and I think that was a later revision? Basically no, so I have no idea how it compares to the other Schiit headamps other than Magni 3 (and this sounds pretty different than the Magni IMHO).
     
  19. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Ahhh wth I'm in too.

    Will compare with my rhead for IEMs (THX 789 wasn't quite right to me)...
     
  20. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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