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. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    I have gone back to using high gain with my HD800S. This is after using it for a few months in low gain. I find it that the Asgard 3 sounds more natural and immersive in high gain mode. In low gain there is such a small margin between the amp sounding too subdued and then becoming shouty that it is hard to find that sweet spot. This is kind of counter-intuitive because the low gain gives you a much more granular volume control, but it all sounds a bit unengaging despite an increase in volume until it gets too loud and distorted.

    The volume control area in high gain mode is less granular and narrower because the gain is higher, but the sweet spot where the amp and the HD800s synergize is much wider. Very hard to explain without listening, but suffice it to say, I am not looking for a different amp for my HD800S.
     
  2. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Most all Schiit headphone amps sound much more engaging in High gain.
    Low gain is flat and lifeless (by comparison).
     
  3. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    I know, that's been my experience for a long time as well. I bought a tiny little bit into the THD propaganda and I kept convincing myself for months that HG was all placebo and ran it in low gain. Kept trying to believe that lower distortion and better channel matching (at higher potentiometer volume settings) must sound better. Listened to my headphones for 15-30 minutes before getting bored. As soon as I switched to HG and volume-matched it to my usual preferred volume level, it was like listening to a different amplifier/headphones. I have been listening for 3 hours and counting now....

    Funny how convincing myself that low gain must sound better for months did not work. It DID NOT make things sound better no matter how hard I tried to believe in it. Strange how this bias and placebo only seem to work in certain circumstances ;)
     
  4. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Deep down, you knew... :D
     
  5. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    hmm so i have a slightly different opinion / experience, though i’ve only owned the asgard 3 for a few weeks.

    i’m finding that depending on the dac & headphones used, it gives me different flavors. here’s some stream of consciousness/ rough thoughts…

    with my various hd 580 modded headphones, using the akm module, the low gain gives more soundstage / air / space. things are thinner but appear finer in detail, but all the liveliness and musicality is still there. when on high gain everything is much more forward, significantly smaller soundstage and feels more intimate, more full, slam, way more energy but can be a bit much depending on what i’m listening to. i actually prefer low gain on the 580

    however if i switch to the modi multibit, low gain is a bit murky / flat / stiff across the board, whereas high gain becomes more liquid / full / layered and dynamic.

    but if i’m using the hd6xx kiss modded, or the aeon flow closed v1 or the tape modded he5xx, all of these sound way better with high gain. it’s like breathing life into otherwise sterile music. this is regardless of Modi Multibit or the internal card.

    i’m waiting for my jot 2 to eventually do a comparison. order seems to be backed up to march because of the modius that i ordered.

    side note it feels like for the asgard 3 keeping it on makes a massive difference, not just for the amp but the dac unit as well. not sure if placebo, but it sounds waaaay better after leaving it on a week later than when i first turned it on.

    first time i turned it and comparing to my Modi Multibit & mcth setup (hd580 and hd6xx), the asgard and dac sounded rough and shouty, fatiguing & flat/lifeless. i actually was about to return the internal dac card, But then my opinions changed a week i’m finding i actually feel like the akm card is super musical, even more so than the Modi Multibit/mcth. every day i find my self listening more and more to the asgard with the internal card, rather than with the Modi Multibit / mcth

    any way those are my rough 2cents for now, gotta listen more.
     
  6. North Pole Cowboy

    North Pole Cowboy New

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    How to remove the volume knob? No holes anywhere.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  7. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    There's a hole on my Asgard 3 volume pot for a hex screw. It's visible from the top if I have the volume rotated fully either way.
     
  8. North Pole Cowboy

    North Pole Cowboy New

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    thegunner100, mine has no holes for hex screw :eek:. I removed 4 screws on top but can't remove volume knob, damn.
     
  9. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    That's weird. All of the medium sized schiit products I own/owned have had holes on the volume knob.
     
  10. cameng318

    cameng318 Friend

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    There's no screw on my Jot 2 neither. Probably they just updated all the knobs for the ease of assembly. I pulled uncomfortably hard to pop mine out.
     
  11. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    I’m pretty sure Schiit switched to pressure mounted volume knobs a little while ago (especially for new products, not sure about older ones).
     
  12. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    Just give it a good hard tug and it will come off.
     
  13. North Pole Cowboy

    North Pole Cowboy New

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    Thanks y'all for help. Finally managed to remove the knob :)
     
  14. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    You just got to pull your knob really hard :)

    Sliding a microfibre cloth in-between the knob and the casing and then wrapping it around the knob before tugging on it is the best way. Comes from years of experience pulling knobs off Stratocaster-type guitars LOL.
     
  15. shambles

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    Yeah I've had my A3 for a few months now and I have also found the effects of high vs low gain to vary depending on the headphone used. Can't comment on effects of DAC/source in my case, since I have only used it with my Modius.

    With my HD6XXs I also find high gain to be clearly more engaging and fuller/weightier sounding, with low sounding a bit thin, flat and lacking dynamics (mainly macro, but also micro). I guess this also fits with @bboris77 and his experiences with the HD800 in the sense that they are both high impedance Senns. There is perhaps a slight increase in space when switching to low, but this is not a problem area with the HD6XXs anyway and I don't notice any increase in detail, so the net effect is for me clearly a negative and I stick with high gain.

    On the other hand, with my X00s I do not notice the same negatives when switching to low gain - dynamics are left unchanged and there is no obvious loss of weight to the sound. I am volume matching by ear, so I guess there may be differences induced by slight inconsistencies in level, but I have done a lot of back and forwards and it seems pretty consistent. With the X00s I do however notice a positive change in air/space and a slight improvement in detail on low gain, so overall I prefer it.

    For the first month or so I used high gain on everything based on comments here and elsewhere. Was kind of a pain with the X00s, because I needed to use my SYS to attenuate volume to get usable range on the pot. Just goes to show (as always) that you can only trust your ears with these things.

    Yep my A3 is also the new type knob (mine shipped Jan). I can't claim to be an expert knob fondler like currawongdong (tbh he seems to have moved on from fondling these days), but it does feel a little plasticky/cheap and a little sticky to me - the old type looks nicer in the photos. I assumed it may be pandemic-related supply issues that forced the change, rather than a conscious choice.
     
  16. RedFuneral

    RedFuneral Facebook Friend

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    My love affair with the Asgard 3 has come to an end, it has been supplanted by the Drop AAA ONE Linear.

    My system is as follows: Gustard X16 -> A3/AAA1 -> Audeze LCD2CB. As of late I've been EQing the Audeze with a subtle boost @ 80hz & a more prominent boost across the uppermids focused @ 4K. I've used the same EQ settings with both amps and in both cases prefer it switched on. I've also experimented with the EQ settings on a basic level to see if I could bring into the Asgard the traits I prefer from the Drop. I mention this to point out what I'm hearing isn't a FR difference despite it subjectively sounding like one. Testing was done with the A3 with both gain-settings(preference is for LG with current system) and the Drop on the middle setting.

    In short the my system lacks synergy with the Asgard, it seeks different virtues than the Gustard & LCD2CB holding them both back. The Gustard is the catalyst here as I've previously owned clean chip amps with my LCD2CB and disliked the result. I attribute my previous praise of the A3 in that it does an amazing job fixing the sound of meh DACs.

    Pros for the Drop AAA One Linear
    • Replacing the A3 with the Drop shows a more studio clear(cold?) atmosphere where the A3 engulfs you in warm backdrop, I struggle to describe this trait as it's almost secondary to the music but extremely important to me. This is the main reason I'm making the change over. IME the whole system needs to be capable of this crispier/colder atmosphere or it just ends up sounding warm. Every R2R or AKM velvet DAC I've owned has made previous clean amps sound more like the A3 in this regard.*
    • The A3 sounds notably rolled off up top(and further recesses the Audeze uppermids) in comparison. The overall dark sound of my system combined with the above has been killing my enjoyment of music as of late. I doesn't sound right for modern recordings(metal music.) In spite of the fact I prefer my music a touch softer/forgiving my enjoyment of such is dependent on a brighter shimmery treble; using EQ to drive the treble higher on the A3 just makes it loud without any hint of the sunlit sound I'm shooting for.
    • The Drop amp is faster or maintains superior resolution of complex passages however I do think the A3 in low-gain is sometimes faster in the bass, the THX amp is doing something I can't quite put words too where the bass can't always keep up with the upper ranges. The A3 is coherent across the range.
    • The Drop can do hard cracks with kickdrums whereas the A3 slams. Both are on equal footing in macrodynamics trading blows with different tracks. My attention is more often called to the Drop's dynamics in general.
    Pros for the Asgard 3
    • The Asgard takes its share of wins as well having a more interesting timbre & the slightest extension to note decay rendering the sound more correct or live sounding.
    • The A3 is the thicker more wall-of-sound style amp, despite my specific preferences I acknowledge this may make it the better rock/metal amp in general. The Drop is thinner in tonal weight and this can take away the powerful feel of heavy music. This also gives the A3 more forward momentum(even more so in high-gain which further thickens the sound.)
    • The Drop is guilty of over-separating notes which is likely just a side-effect of its great speed rather than a unique trait, I may just be repeating what I wrote in the previous section but the Drop renders tremolo picked guitars more a string of quickly picked notes while not offering kickdrums the same instead blending them more together. The A3 is more continuous with its rendition which makes it an easier listen.
    • While both amps have provided satisfying all day listening in my system I did hear sibilance once from the One. It may be more prone to harshness(I have a high tolerance for brightness so this may crop up more with others.)
    Overall it makes sense to me that these amps sell for the same price, they're evenly matched and the choice will come down to preference. My priorities toward a colder brighter background & high speed make the choice for the Drop THX amp which matches brilliantly with the Gustard and a drier planar headphone.

    *I've been running this over my mind for the entire time I've been typing this trying to find a good simile for this effect. It is much like a film grain combined with a subtle vignette. Without some post-processing video shot with a digital camera can be a bit stark or hyperealistic but with it there can be a constant almost subliminal distraction where your eye can't quite adjust to the image.
     
  17. señorhifi

    señorhifi Friend

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    Did anyone here ever get to compare the iFi Zen Can to the Asgard 3? I'd be curious to hear impressions on this.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Oh my. A3 is what I would run HD800 and Utopias with.
     
  19. michty_me

    michty_me New

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    So, I had originally planned on getting an Asgard 3 as an upgrade from my Sound blaster G6 (I'll likely use the G6 as a DAC for now) but then wondered how much better it would be than the Magni 3+. I keep changing my mind on getting one or the other.

    It appears importing from the USA will get me a 5 year warranty but the Asgard 3 will cost me $360. If I buy in the UK (If they ever get stock) I'll get a 2 year warranty and cos maybe $30 less.
    I'm just unsure if I should opt for a magni 3+ or bypass the budget end and jump in to start the journey with an Asgard 3.

    Is there a noticeable difference between the two? Worth the extra expense?
     
  20. shambles

    shambles Facebook Friend

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    As you already saw I replied to your post in the general advice thread, but thought it might be sensible to paraphrase the relevant parts of what I said there in case anyone else had a similar question later and came here looking for answers.

    Or, TLDR: there is a noticeable difference between the two amps. For me, different = better and worth the extra expense given my musical preferences/tastes and chain. For you and indeed others it may not be...

    Also the Vali 2+ gets a lot of love from some round here too, so in the context of other cheap Schiit amps you might want to read up on that too.
     

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