[Dutch1Schaefer]

Hey all, looking at getting the Asgard 3, but not sure if I want to go with the $100 ES9028 dac. Only experience I have with a dac is the ifi nano black label (Burr Brown bit perfect multibit) any recommendations for me? Would be willing to spend $200 on a dac.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I like all in one units, so I would go for the ES9028.

 

[dunring]

I had a couple of Asgard 3's, the regular no DAC and the 4490. I tried several DAC's from inventory and the JDS Atom+ was my favorite with it. They all had a similar SINAD so it was just where the filters landed probably, but the Atom+ was best, and Topping d10s for music but the sharp filter wasn't as good for 48khz gaming as the JDS.
Lining out a Sound blaster G6 worked well too, the SMSL M300 was really good using the RCA on it. The Modi 3+ was pretty soft sounding, good for Beyerdynamic or bright headphones but not very exciting with warmer Sennheisers...
Personally I'd go with either the JDS Atom or Khadas tone board if you get a 3D printed case to match the amp. If it's just for music in 44.1khz the Topping d10s has the nice display.

 

[TrumpOrMonkey]

I reckon stay with your iFi iDSD Nano Black Label for now and save up. I don't really feel like there is anything under 200 dollars that will be worthwhile enough of an improvement to spend the money.

Better yet, spend the extra money and get either a Jotunheim 2 or a Lyr 3. I found them to both be significant upgrades over the Asgard 3 - which felt hazy when it came to separation and imaging, and quite muted dynamically in comparison. I feel like spending more on the amplifier will put you in a position where you will be able to upgrade your DAC later and reap more benefits from doing so.

Cheers

 

[fanteskiller]

If you like all in one units you'd go for the ES9028.

 

[Dutch1Schaefer]

I reckon stay with your iFi iDSD Nano Black Label for now and save up. I don't really feel like there is anything under 200 dollars that will be worthwhile enough of an improvement to spend the money.

Better yet, spend the extra money and get either a Jotunheim 2 or a Lyr 3. I found them to both be significant upgrades over the Asgard 3 - which felt hazy when it came to separation and imaging, and quite muted dynamically in comparison. I feel like spending more on the amplifier will put you in a position where you will be able to upgrade your DAC later and reap more benefits from doing so.

Cheers

I like the way you think, as far as a Jot 2 I don’t run anything balanced will I be “wasting” the extra money?

 

[TrumpOrMonkey]

I like the way you think, as far as a Jot 2 I don’t run anything balanced will I be “wasting” the extra money?

Personally I find the Jotunheim 2 noticeably better than the Asgard 3 even in single ended (despite having less power), but the only issue is that I found with sensitive headphones and IEMs there's a noticeable hiss and sometimes a very slight hum from SE which could be an issue for you - unless you run something like an iFi Earbuddy to fix it. The Lyr 3 is completely noiseless though in low gain, and is personally my favorite amplifier to run things in SE so far out of all that I've tried. If you're not against having tubes in your setup, and are willing to pay a bit more for the Lyr 3, that's the direction I would personally go. The Asgard 3 is not a bad amp by any means, and offers the basis of what a good amp should sound like, but I found it didn't have the wow factor that either the Jotunheim 2 and especially the Lyr 3 had personally - IMO its definitely worth shelling out the extra money for the difference.