[hodgjy]

The hum is caused by the windings vibrating.  Power cords won't fix that, unfortunately.
 
Quote:

i would not put a transformer on the pcb by the way. 
A separate box with a good umbilical it is a common solution as the amp is not portable so one more little box is a non issue.
All transformers have vibration.
Is a power cord without ground effective in taming the noise/hum ?
Thanks and regards,
gino

 

[Sophonax]

Quote:

I would have to vehemently disagree with the A2 and "high noise floor" in Low Gain mode with low impedance phones. 
 
I use Grado RS1's and the A2 is absolutely dead quite.  My source player is rated at -115dB signal-to-noise and my preamp that is chained to the A2 is rated at -97dB (not excellent).  I have an A2 with the transformer hum and it is still...you guessed it -- dead quite.

 
My A2 also has the mechanical transformer hum issue, but the headphone output in low gain mode is very quiet.  No appreciable noise to be heard with my SR60i or HD598.
 
High gain mode, on the other hand, is a different story.  With either of the aforementioned headphones, there's a pretty good amount of background noise.  I can still hear a little bit of background noise on my K702 65th Anniversary.  With my 600-ohm DT880, I don't hear any noise.
 
Ultimately, this works just fine for me.  The A2 is able to swing plenty of power in the low gain mode to drive my SR60i, HD598, and K702.65.  I only ever flip it up to the high gain mode with my DT880/600.  No noise floor to be heard with any of those setups.
 
A couple interesting things to note from Schiit's website:
 

1. SNR: More than 102db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS, in low gain mode
2. Topology: Fully discrete, single-ended Class A with single voltage gain stage, no overall feedback in high gain mode, 12dB feedback in low gain mode

 
The SNR figure is given for the low gain mode, indicating that this is presumably the better of the two modes in that regard.  I could be wrong, but I suspect the better SNR figure is achieved due to the 12dB of feedback they used in the low gain mode.

 

[john57]

102db, unweighted is not a bad S/N ratio to have. Part of the reason you are getting mechanical transformer hum is that since the amp is class A the transformer drawing quite a bit of current even at idle. So in class A amps you have to over-engineer the power supply more than class A/B so that you do not get hum or buzz at idle.

 

[hodgjy]

I'm expecting the next batch of A2s to have all the problems sorted out.  I think it got rushed out the door the first time to keep customers happy.

 

[benk97]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what voltage should I choose for driving my LCD-2's or does it even matter?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Quote:

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what voltage should I choose for driving my LCD-2's or does it even matter?

 
set gain to high unless you are fine with low gain

 

[MattTCG]

An ortho like the lcd2 will need high gain on the A2 to sound it's best. 

 

[zazex]

Just checked the site, today 4/8, and for the Asgard 2 it still says
 
"STATUS: In production. Backorders will start shipping the week of 4/1
and orders placed now are expected to ship in 5-7 business days."
 
 
Maybe I'll just go for a Valhalla.

 

[hodgjy]

For which headphones?  The Valhalla is best suited for high impedance headphones (> 250 ohms).
 
Quote:

Just checked the site, today 4/8, and for the Asgard 2 it still says
 
"STATUS: In production. Backorders will start shipping the week of 4/1
and orders placed now are expected to ship in 5-7 business days."
 
 
Maybe I'll just go for a Valhalla.

 

[Aerocraft67]

I was pretty hopeful about getting mine last week according to my revised backorder date and "in production" status on the web site, but my order fulfillment date got bumped back another week. This and the drama surrounding my Meridian Explorer has left me pretty discouraged about early adoption of desktop audio products. I'm actually burning through the 30-day trial period on my Airmotiv 4s waiting for this amp. As I posted earlier, though, I can't come up with a superior alternative, and I can live with these first-world problems in the meantime. 

 

[zazex]

Quote:

For which headphones?  The Valhalla is best suited for high impedance headphones (> 250 ohms).
 

 
Thanks for that input.
 
I want to use it for a variety of headphones; AKG 702's, Sony MDR 7520's,
and others.  ('My Profile' has a list.)
 
But I'm not sure how much better the Valhalla will sound than my Asgard 1
across the board.
 
IMO they're not handling the Asgard 2 situation as well as they could be -
but ultimately, I think, they'll fully sort things out.  When they do, I'd really
like to buy one (an A2).

 

[benk97]

I just ordered the Asgard 2 to power my LCD-2's pretty excited! I also bought a Modi and was wondering if they came with a usb cable or will I have to buy the PYST cable.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

I just ordered the Asgard 2 to power my LCD-2's pretty excited! I also bought a Modi and was wondering if they came with a usb cable or will I have to buy the PYST cable.

You need to get both, peace

 

[benk97]

Hmm...thats disappointing. 

 

[benk97]

Just to make sure the USB I need is a type A Male to type B Male right?

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