Schiit Asgard 3 Headphone Amp with Continuity Output Stage

Yes absolutely, Definitely good information from your last post.
I thought I should ask in the main thread for each amp for the other owners too. I think I've fully read through both threads now too.

At least I've managed to whittle it down to the two amps now. Just need to make my decision pretty much then get it ordered.

 

I finally dusted off my Asgard 3 that had been sitting neglected on the floor since the pandemic to give it a listen. I mean literal dust. Caked. The hobby hasn't been a priority and I've been very happy with my modded Sunrise III. Now that I have some room in my life/brain for audiophilia again I figured it's time to switch things up and put the Asgard back in rotation.

I am so glad I did. I love this amp. I mean I LOVE this amp. I didn't know what to expect since I first wrote about it here 2 years ago (yes it's been gathering dust for almost 2 years AKA 1000 Covid/Orange Guy years). I liked it alot then and just took it for granted it'll be there when I needed it. Well, I guess I need it now 'cause it's bringing me so much joy.

I have it paired with 6XX and a DIY Soekris 1021. Source is my PC/Jplay/Foobar. Many changes have been made with the setup over the 2 years including new mobo/cpu, probably Soekris tweaks, I can't remember all the details from the Before Times.

Point is, the Asgard still sounds amazing. I'd say even better than previously but I know - and agree - that should be taken with a barrell full 'o salt given the amount of time that's passed. I've re-read my earlier impressions and believe the core attributes remain (low noise floor, black background, Class A ease). What I hear now is a more 'organic' presentation on top of all that, whereas before there was a slightly dry, flat character. So something upchain has helped IMO.

Regardless, what I really love about this amp is that it dials in all the characteristics I prefer. It doesn't excel in any one necessarily (except maybe that low noise floor), but the whole just ends up being greater than the sum of its parts.

I know there are better amps out there of course and I want to convince myself to buy something better, but... I just don't want to. I love this amp. It's my buddy (that I neglected for 2 years and treated like a homeless person, which is probably a sad reflection on how I treat my friends, yikes).

I don't know what Schiit has in store down the road, but I think there's something special about the Asgard.

 

That is, until I decided to not accept the Asgard for what it is. In what I thought would show my level of commitment to the Asgard, I went and ordered the ES9028 upgrade module. I installed it and let it cook overnight. My impressions 'out the box' and 16hrs later haven't changed: I'm not a fan.

As an aside let me add I prefer ESS out of almost all the Delta Sigma dacs. I've listened/owned a lot of the <~$500 options over the years and even the most clinical implementations like ODAC/SMSL/Topping are preferable (but not necessarily good mind you) to me than say Burr-Brown or AKM. So I'm not a tough sell on their 'house sound'.

In a word I would call the presentation from the ES9028 module 'unrefined'; which is surprising in that I usually experience average ESS implementations to at least have a refined clarity through the mids followed by upper frequency sizzle. I double checked the output settings in Windows and Foobar, played with buffer settings. Since it's Unison based I read there was no point fiddling with ASIO or something like JPlay, which is my go to USB playback software. So tweaking is limited; what I hear is what I hear [Edit: for the record it did sound noticeably less rough with Jplay] .

Setup: HD6XX, 3900X-based PC, USB 3.0, Foobar.
Demo Tracks: Heart "Even It Up", Yes "Rhythm of Love"

With Heart's "Even It Up", the vocals sound congested, blurring with the guitars and horns. I'd say separation is so-so. Upper end extension is good, not much sizzle. Low end definition is decent as well, kick drum is tight. But overall the track sounds 'busy' and I have a hard time separating vocals and instruments. With my other dacs mentioned below I can more easily differentiate the two sisters in chorus. The module's presentation collapses the vocals.

Similarly with "Rhythm of Love". Starts out okay when there's just the vocals and then percussion (again, snare and kick drum nice and tight, good impact), but once everything else comes in the presentation is congested and flat.

For comparison I have on hand a heavily modded DIY Soekris 1021. I also have a Sabaj Da3, which is a tiny dual es9018 dac which amazingly also has balanced out and sounds much better than it's price would indicate (I know people tend to lump in Sabaj with SMSL\Topping etc. but their Da3/D5 do not share that DNA and actually sound like they were designed by someone with a good ear).

The Schiit module definitely tames the upper frequencies and doesn't have the 'hard' digititus of typical budget dacs. But both the Soekris and the Da3 - heck even my Xonar DGX PCI-E sound card - sound less congested and cleaner through the mids with much better separation, width and depth. At worst, the Xonar (CS4361 chip) has some typical DS hardness in mid-treble and slight sizzle, but otherwise is pretty impressive through the Asgard.

So the module is likely going back. I thought maybe I could have it all instead of appreciating the Asgard for its standalone qualities. Lesson learned.