Schiit Asgard 2

First my bias: I am a jaded audiophile for over 20 years who still use my Linn Sondek with Lyra Helikon and all tube Conrad Johnson phono stage and preamp; writing this because it's rare that such a modest and inexpensive product has been so much fun to use for me. This company deserves all the success that will come its way. My first choice is always tube but because this amp is going to be on my desk with all sort of loose things and paper that may cover it up accidentally, I opt for the solid state Schiit.

I use this with 3 in-ear earphones, Shure E3C, Etymotic ER6i, VSonic GR07, and one over-ear headphone, Grado SR80. The amp is fed by my beloved Centrance Dacport. The Centrance Dacport itself is a combination DA converter and headphone amp and as such could be used to feed my earphone directly. In effect I will be comparing Centrance vs. Centrance + Asgard 2. Music is lossless, some straight digital, some conversion from my LP collection.
The amp is *solidly* built and feels so much more sturdy than its humble $250 cost. I love the feel of quality of the volume control - solid and smooth. There is no audible whatsoever through my headphone/earphone. The transformer has a hum only if I have my ear right pressed against the surface of the amp; it is a non issue and I wouldn't even know to listen had I not read about this on the forum. The amp feels very warm to the touch - almost as hot as my Krell FPB 600 LOL (I love it - this implies class A amplification!). Those who own Krell, Classe, etc., I don't need to explain more. Those new to audiophilia: high end power amp runs hot like this - absolutely normal and a sign of high voltage and/or high current. Good stuffs for your phone drivers .

To keep things in proper context, I obviously will not compare the Asgard with my main digital gear through all-tube Conrad Johnson ART preamp, but will concentrate on the improvement of sound over my desktop/laptop computers/ Ipod, and more specifically the Centrance Dacport. The Asgard has a detailed full-range sound typical of a good solid state amp, with hefty bass and wonderful instrument focus and separation. The high frequency does have an extra "sparkle" to it, typical of solid state amplification and unlike the sweet yet still detailed high end of tube amp. This extra sparkle means the Asgard is great if you are a detail freak, but may not be a good match for brighter sounding headphones.

So, with respect to perceived frequency response, a notable difference is higher up on the frequency range, the Centrance is a sweet and mellow, whereas Asgard is brighter and more detailed. Which one you would prefer is a matter of personal preference and headphone matching. At the low end of the spectrum, the Asgard's mid bass is nice and full, yet still very tuneful, not bloated. The solid bass provides a solid foundation to the sound. Here, clearly Asgard is better than Centrance.

Regarding soundstage, as great a product the Centrance is, it really could not compete with a dedicated amp that has a significantly more hefty power supply like the Asgard.  When I switch from Centrance to Asgard, the soundstage becomes noticeably more spacious. Voice and instruments become separated in space instead of flattened together in one layer. It's a very pleasant effect and makes headphone audio that much more fun. Singers sound "bigger," more like a real voice and less "miniature" through Asgard (vs. Centrance).

With respect to earphone/headphone matching:

Asgard + Grado SR80i: the Grado has a lot of sparkle on top, so although it doesn't bother me, I would think a tube amp would be a better match. But then I have a bias for tube stuffs and always recommend tubes to anyone new to audiophilia (there are tube equipments in both of my main audio system - CJ pre for both Krell+Thiel, and VTL+ Magnaplanar). Bottom line is audio about matching and preference: if you are into sweet, mellow sound, best to look for a tube amp for Grado. Those into detailed high end and bass slam, this combination of Asgard + Grado would be fine.

Asgard + VSonic GR07: a match made in heaven, solid, powerful, punchy, detailed, spacious. Bring on all the audiophilia cliche here. This is a highest recommendation, without hesitation.

I am so impressed with the quality of this Schiit that I am tempted to try other products in their line, for example those yummy tube amps (...if I have the space, the wife is not going to be pleased if I have a tube amp next to my laptop on our dinner table). I wish Schiit all the success; they deserve it.

Bought one of the original Asgard 2s from Addicted to Audio in Australia. It had quite an annoying transformer hum, but I thought I would get used to it. I didn't. It was very annoying, particularly when using my powered desktop speakers at a low volume. It wasn't too bad with headphones (even open headphones). But still I really didn't find it acceptable, even at this price range, it should have been noticed before Schiit began shipping them out.

The Asgard 2 looks nice. I didn't love the finish though, it kept getting smudged with oil marks. Would be nice if it had an aluminium  finish similar to a macbook pro. But that's a small issue.

Build quality was average. One annoying thing was the power plug at the back was loose from when I first took it out of the box. Very loose, to the point where it would sometimes randomly turn off while I was listening. Really poor. 

The sound was really nothing special. Couldn't differentiate it from my Audioengine D1 (which is actually a DAC before headphone amp)with my HD600s and HE-400s in blind testing. Quite disappointing. It's not that the sound was bad, it was quite neutral and it definitely gave the headphones the power they needed but so does the D1 for a much lower price. 

Most likely my expectations were too high, but it was rather disappointing. I also didn't like my interaction with Jason from Schiit (although most people here do). He responds promptly, but I found him short and rude. I definitely did not feel like a valued customer. 

Fortunately Addicted to Audio have been great and have taken this very average amp back for complete store credit so I can try something else. 

Bare with me here as I dont write these things for a living or anything...

Just unboxed mine. It was delivered at 1 pm it is 4:15pm and the case is still cold from being in the truck. Must have been frozen in the truck/plane to still be this cold three plus hours later.

No blemishes that I can see, volume pot has smooth motion. Once it warms up a bit more I will give it a good listen with HD650's, HE-500's, SR325i's and report back. I will be using my Modi as the DAC.

Ok, so first and second impressions were not so good. I plugged in the Asgard 2 and let it warm up for 15 minutes or so. Then hooked up the HD650 and got muffled sound and distortion in the right channel at all levels. The Asgard was only warm on one side (right side near the headphone jack). So I figured I better wait till it was good and warm. 45 minutes later it seemed to be warming up nicely. Plugged the HD650 back in and same thing (muffled and distorted).

Let the troubleshooting begin. First thing I did was unplug the USB cable from the laptop and plug it back in. BANG!! Fixed the problem. Not sure what the cause was but it works now. Might have been an initialization issue with USB or the Modi?

So, on with the third impressions. It seems to take a long time to get hot 'n' ready for action, about an hour and fifteen minutes? Maybe it was still frozen on the inside?

I used a soundtrack from Eureka Seven with some tracks I am very familiar with to test. HalCali - Tip Taps Tip, Flow - Days, and Denki Groove - Niji. I listened at an elevated level to analyze the sound, higher than I would normally listen to for long periods.

This is comparing the Asgard 2 to the Magni using the Modi as DAC from an MX11 laptop, Foobar Flac.

Can hear a slight hum when my ear is about five inches from the amp.  Hum is slightly deminishing with time, still there though.  Now my ear has to be half an inch form amp.  Still not noticable with phones on.

HE-500

The Magni drives these phone OK but seemed to be lacking detail and low end punch. Still sound good, though. Just not quite there.

With Asgard 2 the phones prefered the high gain setting. Seemed to get better separation and more punch. Opened up the soundstage a little more. There was more definition and detail. Bass was very good where needed. Mids cleared up some. Highs were more pronounced (could hear a hisssss when "ss" were sung). Like it was maybe a litle bright, but not bad. Definitely felt more lively with the Asgard 2.

On low gain volume pot needed to be at ~2 o'clock, high gain it was at ~11:30 to 12.

HD650

With the Magni It seemed like there was someting between me and the music. I have heard others say veil, or like there was a towel over a speaker that masks the sound. It wasn't quite that bad but it was just lacking energy?

The Asgard 2 cleared most of that away in high gain. It made them wider (soundstage) and deeper and higher. I can hear the separation much better. Gives the bass more energy and clarity (not as punchy as the HE-500 but a good improvement non the less). Again there was a hiss when 'ss' were sung. Maybe a little more pointed that the HE500's but still not bad. Mids are fuller and more distinct.

Volume pot was at ~12 noon only high gain for these phones.

SR325i (G-cush and T-shirt mod)

The Magni does not really like these phones, with the G-cush alone they are way to bright and shrill, peircing and painful for some songs. The T-shirt mod under the G-cush tames that so they are tolerable but I don't typiclly use the Magni with these due to this issue.

I was expecting similar results with the Asgard 2, but that's not the case. The Asgard drives these phones just fine (with the mods). Wide soundstage, good mids and highs, but the bass is not there. The other two phones above are quite a bit more full than these phones. The Grados sound much better with my modded x-fi in my main computer rig and that's probably where they are going to stay.

So, overall the Asgard is a good step up from the Magni, as I would expect it to be. Next I think I will get a Bifrost and see how that changes things.

Hope this helps some of you fence riders jump in this Schiit pile with us...

Added HD800 below only Asgard 2 referenced

So, after about eight hours of listening here are my impressions of the Asgard 2 driving my brand new HD800's as compared to the HE-500's.

First off, I was underwhelmed by the bass when I first started listening. The headphones literally came off the truck and were hooked up mintues later (the UPS dude gave me a funny look when I came running to get the box ). They were very cold from shipping, so cold in fact that condensation formed on the metal part of the head band. The bass was there but not very pronounced. I decided to let them warm up at least close to room temps before starting the eval. I had been listening to the HE500's at the time, also so that might have been a factor (warming the amp up for the HD800's ).

After about half an hour I tried again. Much better but still not a lot of bass there. That's why I decided to give a good long listen. A mix of Asgard 2 and straight form my computer's modded X-Fi. Seven hours later (watching hockey on TV(muted), listening to music. Who needs to hear the commentators anyway, bunch of useless info they spew...well any way back to the task at hand.

The Asgard 2 does a respectable job of driving these phones. Bare in mind this is the first time I have heard them ever, so I am comparing it to the others phones I have (see the earlier post).

Comparing them to the HE-500's there is less bass in the HD800's but what is there is crisper and more defined. The HE-500, um, ?mushes? or muddies maybe? the bass some. Some may want more quantity. I noticed the recording/song style had a lot to do with it, some songs were just fine, others seemed to be lacking. The HD800's have MUCH better mids more ?forward? and pronounced. Very good with vocals (Alison Krauss, Anita Baker). The highs were also more present, but never got to much. Especially liked the attack on guitar strings, made their presence felt. The HD800's felt a lot more balanced in the presentation, showed better separation, and greater detail. Soundstage was slightly bigger.

The comfort of the HD800's is on a whole new level, after half an hour I almost forgot I was wearing them. This is a set of phones for the long haul listener as evidenced by the eight hour session I just completed, could not do that with the HE-500's would need breaks periodically. Also did not have to mod the HD800's as I had to with the HE-500's and Grados for comfort.

The volume pot didn't need to be as high with the HD800's, also. About 10:30 versus almost noon with the HE-500's both on high gain.

So the upshot is that the Asgard 2 does a very good job, IMHO, driving the HD800's and it is very worth trying it out for yourself. I plan to compare this to a friends Bottlehead crack once he gets it built (or maybe I should do one, too? hhmmmm...poor wallet is gonna have fits).

Let me know if there are specific questions.