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Schiit Asgard: Unboxing and First Impressions - Page 6

post #76 of 1699
6/22/10 at 5:33pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Eddy View Post


 


The trannies are PC mount not chassis mount. And you wouldn't be able to add any isolation material to the standoffs because all the inputs, outputs and volume control are all PC mount so the height of the board can't change.

 

Personally I wouldn't worry about it. By all accounts you can't even hear it unless you're within a foot or so of the unit. Simple solution to that. Don't put your head within a foot of it listening for hum. 

 

se

 

 

I really don't get all the fuss either hehehe. If it was a 50/60hz ground loop hum that was audible through headphones then that would be a different story.

 

I'm waiting for either buyers from countries with 2 prong ac outlets like the philippines to see if it won't have a groundloop problem in those countries. Just like those valab dacs, their 110 volt versions were fine but the 230 volt versions were humming like hell. dunno if it was due to a grounding problem of the design or if it was just because the 230 volt versions werent as good as the 110volt transformers they used...hmmm.

 

I should probably ask mr Stoddard directly if the Asgard will have those grounding problems with countries without a third ground prong on the plugs. 


Edited by donunus - 6/22/10 at 5:41pm
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post #77 of 1699
6/22/10 at 5:48pm

received the unit today. i'm impressed with the built and the SQ is

outstanding considering its price point. (heavy as a brick) i've heard the hr-7,

and the canamp before and the asgard betters them in power and

equals them in resolution, imo. it's not as powerful as the wa6SE

but i think the bass is slightly tighter/better focused. unfortunately,

the mids and highs are not as airy, buoyant and refined as the

former tube amp. also, the weight of the notes are not as heavy;

especially noticeable with piano pieces. boesendorfers sound like

steinway and steinways sound like yamaha thru the asgard.

i suspect this has to do with power supply.

 

but i'm comparing a $249 solid state amp to a $1050 tube amp. also,

i've only 40 min. on the unit. as the caps burn-in more, i expect the

SQ to improve slightly.

 

on the ortho-cans, the he-5 and lcd-2, the asgard drives them

effortlessly. the bass quality is fantastic and goes LOOOW but

with vise-grip control.

 

i'll chime in again, after more critical listening, next week.

 

asgard00.jpg

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post #78 of 1699
6/22/10 at 6:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by takezo View Post

received the unit today. i'm impressed with the built and the SQ is

outstanding considering its price point. (heavy as a brick) i've heard the hr-7,

and the canamp before and the asgard betters them in power and

equals them in resolution, imo. it's not as powerful as the wa6SE

but i think the bass is slightly tighter/better focused. unfortunately,

the mids and highs are not as airy, buoyant and refined as the

former tube amp. also, the weight of the notes are not as heavy;

especially noticeable with piano pieces. boesendorfers sound like

steinway and steinways sound like yamaha thru the asgard.

i suspect this has to do with power supply.

 

but i'm comparing a $249 solid state amp to a $1050 tube amp. also,

i've only 40 min. on the unit. as the caps burn-in more, i expect the

SQ to improve slightly.

 

on the ortho-cans, the he-5 and lcd-2, the asgard drives them

effortlessly. the bass quality is fantastic and goes LOOOW but

with vise-grip control.

 

i'll chime in again, after more critical listening, next week.

 

asgard00.jpg


Which Grado are you listening with?

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post #79 of 1699
6/22/10 at 6:13pm


 

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus View Post

 

I really don't get all the fuss either hehehe. If it was a 50/60hz ground loop hum that was audible through headphones then that would be a different story.

 

 

Exactly.

 

Quote:

I'm waiting for either buyers from countries with 2 prong ac outlets like the philippines to see if it won't have a groundloop problem in those countries. Just like those valab dacs, their 110 volt versions were fine but the 230 volt versions were humming like hell. dunno if it was due to a grounding problem of the design or if it was just because the 230 volt versions werent as good as the 110volt transformers they used...hmmm.

 

I should probably ask mr Stoddard directly if the Asgard will have those grounding problems with countries without a third ground prong on the plugs.

 

Actually, it's the safety ground (that third pin on the plugs) that's single most common CAUSE of ground loop problems.

 

On those Valab DAC, were they using toroids?

 

I'm wondering if the problem with them may have been interwinding capacitance. That can be an issue with toroids that don't include an electrostatic shield, and most all of the off-the-shelf toroids don't include them.

 

Nice thing about the split bobbins used in the Asgard is that they have very low interwinding capacitance and provide better isolation.

 

It could have been that putting the primaries in series instead of parallel increased the interwinding capacitance compared to their being wired in parallel for 110.

 

se


Edited by Steve Eddy - 6/22/10 at 6:16pm
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post #80 of 1699
6/22/10 at 7:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by takezo View Post

received the unit today. i'm impressed with the built and the SQ is

outstanding considering its price point. (heavy as a brick) i've heard the hr-7,

and the canamp before and the asgard betters them in power and

equals them in resolution, imo. it's not as powerful as the wa6SE

but i think the bass is slightly tighter/better focused. unfortunately,

the mids and highs are not as airy, buoyant and refined as the

former tube amp. also, the weight of the notes are not as heavy;

especially noticeable with piano pieces. boesendorfers sound like

steinway and steinways sound like yamaha thru the asgard.

i suspect this has to do with power supply.

 

but i'm comparing a $249 solid state amp to a $1050 tube amp. also,

i've only 40 min. on the unit. as the caps burn-in more, i expect the

SQ to improve slightly.

 

on the ortho-cans, the he-5 and lcd-2, the asgard drives them

effortlessly. the bass quality is fantastic and goes LOOOW but

with vise-grip control.

 

i'll chime in again, after more critical listening, next week.

 

asgard00.jpg

Brb, buying a HE-5 and a Asgard. Also, you're comparing a Woo Audio with a 250$ amp, they're in entirely different leagues.

 

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post #81 of 1699
6/22/10 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Eddy View Post


 

 

Exactly.

 

 

Actually, it's the safety ground (that third pin on the plugs) that's single most common CAUSE of ground loop problems.

 

On those Valab DAC, were they using toroids?

 

I'm wondering if the problem with them may have been interwinding capacitance. That can be an issue with toroids that don't include an electrostatic shield, and most all of the off-the-shelf toroids don't include them.

 

Nice thing about the split bobbins used in the Asgard is that they have very low interwinding capacitance and provide better isolation.

 

It could have been that putting the primaries in series instead of parallel increased the interwinding capacitance compared to their being wired in parallel for 110.

 

se

Actually on the valab, its actually more of a voltage problem that made the dac hum. Any fluctuation in the voltage from the wall outlet caused a hum. I had a stax 2050 system which had the ground loop problem wherein if you touched the amps chassis, the hum would go away. The same stax I had didn't have the ground loop problem when plugged into some other outlets.
 

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post #82 of 1699
6/22/10 at 10:11pm
Thread Starter 

I just want to reiterate that the mechanical noise is, as kwkarth also said, very mild.  I also want to say again--to avoid any confusion--that this is purely mechanical, and not coming through the output.

 

Again, the noise (given how virtually inaudible it is, as I'm using it) is not a problem for me at all.  I did, however, find it reasonable (and prudent) to mention it.  When I talked to Jason Stoddard about it, he actually suggested I mention it.  Though I was already intending to mention it, I found that an admirable request from the manufacturer.

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post #83 of 1699
6/22/10 at 10:54pm

Some people just get too paranoid when minor things like this are mentioned  Its just the nature of the hobby I guess.

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post #84 of 1699
6/22/10 at 11:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by donunus View Post

Some people just get too paranoid when minor things like this are mentioned  Its just the nature of the hobby I guess.


Sadly too true.

 

se

 

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post #85 of 1699
6/23/10 at 1:12am

I own a Meier Concerto, and it has extremely mild mechanical noise. In fact, I only noticed it because another head-fier had mentioned it. So I highly doubt it would be something to worry about as many other much more technically qualified members are saying.

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post #86 of 1699
6/23/10 at 2:52am

I'd be willing to buy and try this out given their 15 day return policy but Google Checkout says they do not ship to Canada.

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post #87 of 1699
6/23/10 at 3:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kite7 View Post

I'd be willing to buy and try this out given their 15 day return policy but Google Checkout says they do not ship to Canada.


Email them for an invoice because google checkout doesn't do intl very well. Thats what I was told to do when I asked about buying one.

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post #88 of 1699
6/23/10 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jude View Post

I just want to reiterate that the mechanical noise is, as kwkarth also said, very mild.  I also want to say again--to avoid any confusion--that this is purely mechanical, and not coming through the output.

 

Again, the noise (given how virtually inaudible it is, as I'm using it) is not a problem for me at all.  I did, however, find it reasonable (and prudent) to mention it.  When I talked to Jason Stoddard about it, he actually suggested I mention it.  Though I was already intending to mention it, I found that an admirable request from the manufacturer.


If I can't hear it with a set of cans on playing my favorite tunes who cares!

 

Bill

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post #89 of 1699
6/23/10 at 10:49am

For those more sensitive to mechanical noise--not you kwkarth--blu tak works wonders.. (flame on!)
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by kwkarth View Post



The lamination buzz is so slight on my sample that it's not audible at more than a foot away in a normal room.  Not a big deal for me.
 

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post #90 of 1699
6/23/10 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rdr. Seraphim View Post

For those more sensitive to mechanical noise--not you kwkarth--blu tak works wonders.. (flame on!)
 


 

Blu tak would NOT be appropriate in this case.  It would be completely ineffective.  
 

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