[aamer23]

Just to update you guys I have bought a NuForce HA 200, I was able to demo it in Dubai, it was very close between HA 200 and the A2.HA 200 Cost was $350 the Schiits A2 would be approx.  the same cost including the shipping. this amp is very much the similar to the A2 a SS class A amp but with one main difference that the HA 200 can be used in balanced mono block configuration allowing for upgrade path should wife ahem i mean Life allow such things in future (God Willing). I do agree with most of the comments about not judging something by its low price. as i have had and used the Bifrost for the last 3 years and am very pleased with its performance, I also have a Loki too so i do Like Schiits Schiit a lot too. and the XS'sss were bought to use as portable cans for use with a phone, however these are the only cans i have as i cannot work out which ones i want. Apha Dogs, Fostex TH 900, TH 600 or Audeze 2.2 thanks for the advise it was all good and helped me to keep it real 

 

[Byrnie]

I think you'll be very pleased with the Asgard 2 and down the road if you feel the need to upgrade you can always pickup the $899 Yulong A18, the $1899 AURALiC Taurus MK2 (I've read great things about both these amps) or another offering from Schiit Audio. 

I don't think you'll find the A2 lacking in any of the categories you listed when used with headphones that will allow it to shine. If down the road you find that you'd like to have more power on tap you may want to give the Lyr 2 a listen...or one of the amps mentioned above by other members. Good luck! 

As an aside, the Asgard 2 runs nice and warm/hot just like a real Class A amp is supposed to. 

Yea the Taurus runs so much cooler lol.

I also agree with the above comments as well in conjunction with the XS. You will be pleasantly surprised at the sound!

 

[OkawaiiO]

Okay Im going to say something about this amp that other people might not of said or noticed.
 
Its hot... Okay we all know that, but If your room isn't the big or super well ventilated having the Asgard 2 on, has a very noticeable difference in your room temperature. In this winter,spring,autumn its fine. but in the summer my room goes up at least 2 degrees C(probably more) with Asgard on. I live in Canada where its 28 degrees max.... imagine a 2 degrees increase in a 35 degrees environment... Again my room isn't very big so this doesn't apply to everyone but yea. This has to be the biggest issue i have with Asgard 2 until now. lol

 

[madwolfa]

  Okay Im going to say something about this amp that other people might not of said or noticed.
 
Its hot... Okay we all know that, but If your room isn't the big or super well ventilated having the Asgard 2 on, has a very noticeable difference in your room temperature. In this winter,spring,autumn its fine. but in the summer my room goes up at least 2 degrees C(probably more) with Asgard on. I live in Canada where its 28 degrees max.... imagine a 2 degrees increase in a 35 degrees environment... Again my room isn't very big so this doesn't apply to everyone but yea. This has to be the biggest issue i have with Asgard 2 until now. lol

 
I'm in Kansas. 35-40 C is a norm in summer... I'm OK. Just crank up the AC and put some woolen socks on. 

 

[OkawaiiO]

you guys have ac, because my place is never hot so no one has ac..... #1 first world problem

 

[Sonic Defender]

you guys have ac, because my place is never hot so no one has ac..... #1 first world problem

Where do you live?

 

[OkawaiiO]

vancouver

 

[reddog]

you guys have ac, because my place is never hot so no one has ac..... #1 first world problem

In some ways it must be nice to live up In Canada, where it does not get hot here in Florida or some other state like Kansas or Arizona. However the cold you live with would shock this thin blooded audiophile. When in college, out in New Mexico, I once encountered -15 with wind chill and boy I was not to happy to be walking in it. Have a good night.

 

[OkawaiiO]

o no vancouver goes from -2 to 28 its never cold or hot

 

[reddog]

Ok sorry my grand father lived on a farm near Montreal. I visited Vancouver once and it was the nicest city I have been in.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Ok sorry my grand father lived on a farm near Montreal. I visited Vancouver once and it was the nicest city I have been in.

Montreal is very nice, stupidly beautiful women and very good food to boot. I live 2 hours from Montreal; and it gets as hot here as it does cold. We are in a humid continental zone and the summers are typically very humid with humidex values often making it feel over 40 degrees Celsius which is pretty darn hot. I remember one particularly hot summer when we had that huge blackout that stretched from Ontario down much of the eastern Seaboard in the US I served some tourists from Texas who couldn't believe how hot it was up here. This summer is nice, we have had I think only about 5 days over 30 degrees and my AC has been used only a handful of times. Good for reducing greenhouse gas. 

 

[KLJTech]

In some ways it must be nice to live up In Canada, where it does not get hot here in Florida or some other state like Kansas or Arizona. However the cold you live with would shock this thin blooded audiophile. When in college, out in New Mexico, I once encountered -15 with wind chill and boy I was not to happy to be walking in it. Have a good night.

 
I live in Florida too, its HOT as Hell here...its a lot like Vietnam but without the charm.  
 
The A2 is supposed to run hot as it's Class A and real Class A gear runs hot. Those older huge Krell amps had gigantic fins for a reason...talk about space heaters.

 The term Class A gets thrown around a lot nowadays yet the Class A gear I grew up loving always ran very warm to hot. (Of course, an amp doesn't have to be Class A to sound great...but we're talking heat here)
 
A nice writeup with good technical info on the Bifrost and Asgard 2: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/headphone-amplifiers/headphone-amplifiers/schiit-asgard-2-headphone-amplifier-and-bifrost-uber-dac-review.html

 

[StanD]

I don't know what can get better. The A2 has distortion levels far below what any human being can perceive, has a flat FR and is absolutely clean. From what I can see the design is the result of meticulous work by experienced people. There were missteps (lack of output delay relay) with the first version of the A1 but that is different model/design and is distant history, in the end they made good on it. The A2 uses careful design to achieve exceptional linearity rather than falling back on easy to do corrective negative feedback loops. That takes effort that I can appreciate. One thing that you don't see manufacturers spec is transient distortion, this amp is a champ in that department and is a pleasure to listen to.

 

[Kozic]

Hi all
I'm looking at a pair of Beyer T90 anyone try them with the Asgard 2? If so how did they sound?
Thanks

 

[freedom04]

Question: I have a sennheiser HD600, which would be a better pair, the Asgard 2 or the Valhalla 2? And would it match well with the Schiit Modi? I don't have DSD files, only 320kbps MP3 and Apple Lossless. Thanks a lot!