[artur9]

I think they are also working on a new MB DAC module.

 

[cirodts]

I had the Asgard 3 with the previous DAC module available on the release of the product. The amp was quite nice, but the DAC module was a bummer in my opinion. I saved a couple bucks and bought a Bifrost 2 months later. That was a very enjoyable combo with an HD6XX. Based on my experience, my advice would be to get the used Asgard with the module, but update the DAC as soon as you can. I had to spend considerably more to upgrade from that Schiit stack later (Burson Timekeeper 3i now), but even then it’s a different sound, not necessarily better. Just make sure to plug the damn amp to the wall socket directly. I had it for a very good while plugged to an extensor cord with the computer connected to it as well, and the sound opened up quite a bit when plugged to the wall.

Have you heard the difference between plugged into the wall and a power strip?
Could it be better with a professional power strip?

 

[Chastity]

Have you heard the difference between plugged into the wall and a power strip?
Could it be better with a professional power strip?

https://www.amazon.com/Accell-Power-Flexible-Protector-Conditioner/dp/B093N98Y19/ref=sr_1_3

 

[pneumonia]

Truly one of the best amps for the price.

 

[wolfwalker78]

Did anyone ever figure out or discern a pattern as to why there seem to be so many people that complain of a lack of volume with these?
If you google "asgard 3 volume" the first page has a number of similar cases. I went from a 2 to a 3 and had a similar experience. I still
have the 3 with one of the new(good) DAC cards and it's fine but it's never felt as strong as it's advertised. I don't have any particularly hard to drive
or overly high end headphones but something like the Hifiman HE400SE that has reasonable impedance but pretty low sensitivity, I still find myself
on high gain with the volume well over 3/4. It's loud there(and clean), but somehow not what I expected. Headphones with higher sensitivity but similar impedance seem to fair better of course but it's still not the "umph" I seem to remember being so impressed with on the Asgard 2.
I also notice that last 10% or so of the volume knob seems to have a lot of increase in volume which always seemed a little odd. I wondered if this wasn't something to do with the hybrid class A/B design?

Or my hearing is worse than I thought and my headphones are more resistant to blowing up? lol....

 

[morpheus69]

Did anyone ever figure out or discern a pattern as to why there seem to be so many people that complain of a lack of volume with these?
If you google "asgard 3 volume" the first page has a number of similar cases. I went from a 2 to a 3 and had a similar experience. I still
have the 3 with one of the new(good) DAC cards and it's fine but it's never felt as strong as it's advertised. I don't have any particularly hard to drive
or overly high end headphones but something like the Hifiman HE400SE that has reasonable impedance but pretty low sensitivity, I still find myself
on high gain with the volume well over 3/4. It's loud there(and clean), but somehow not what I expected. Headphones with higher sensitivity but similar impedance seem to fair better of course but it's still not the "umph" I seem to remember being so impressed with on the Asgard 2.
I also notice that last 10% or so of the volume knob seems to have a lot of increase in volume which always seemed a little odd. I wondered if this wasn't something to do with the hybrid class A/B design?

Or my hearing is worse than I thought and my headphones are more resistant to blowing up? lol....

Your source is feeding the DAC at 100%?

 

[wolfwalker78]

Your source is feeding the DAC at 100%?

Yep, I've been using external audio from PC for ages, it's all 100%

 

[morpheus69]

Yep, I've been using external audio from PC for ages, it's all 100%

when I switch to the internal dac on my Asgard I only need to switch to high gain for the 600ohm HPs. The ess dac module.

 

[cirodts]

the clear mg sounds good with low gain asgard 3, yesterday I tried high gain, the sound is more powerful, more open and detailed but... a little hard to listen to, let's say a little tiring, I set the asgard volume to half and adjust the volume from my external DAC and so I got a powerful, detailed and non-fatiguing, perfect sound.

 

[holden4th]

My rule of thumb about setting device/media player controls has been set the ones coming from the source at 100% leaving just one device (the amp) to control all of your volume.

At the moment I have Qobuz playing the Ravel G major PC and I've got Qobuz set at 100%. I do the same with Foobar, VLC player, etc.

This is outputting to my Schiit Modi3+ whose volume is also set at 100%. (You can do the same with the sound card module).

This goes to my Asgard 3 on high gain and this is where I vary the volume. At the moment it is sitting a little above 9:30 into my near field speakers. Swapping those out for my SennHD580s (which are hard to drive) I'm now at 11:00

So the questions I'd ask are:

Is the DAC volume set at 100%? (this is the output that comes from the PC or other source)

Is the source (streaming audio/mediaplayer/CD player/etc) set at 100%?

If the answer to both of those is yes then "Houston - we have a problem"

 

[Neweymatt]

My rule of thumb about setting device/media player controls has been set the ones coming from the source at 100% leaving just one device (the amp) to control all of your volume.

At the moment I have Qobuz playing the Ravel G major PC and I've got Qobuz set at 100%. I do the same with Foobar, VLC player, etc.

This is outputting to my Schiit Modi3+ whose volume is also set at 100%. (You can do the same with the sound card module).

This goes to my Asgard 3 on high gain and this is where I vary the volume. At the moment it is sitting a little above 9:30 into my near field speakers. Swapping those out for my SennHD580s (which are hard to drive) I'm now at 11:00

So the questions I'd ask are:

Is the DAC volume set at 100%? (this is the output that comes from the PC or other source)

Is the source (streaming audio/mediaplayer/CD player/etc) set at 100%?

If the answer to both of those is yes then "Houston - we have a problem"

I take a rather different approach, and use the source PC or Mac to control volume.

This is mainly because I like the flexibility of being able to control volume per app on the source, as well as the fact that if I max out at around 70% or so on the PC/Mac, then I get more fine-grain control on the amp. I listen as much or more with IEMs these days, some that are rather sensitive, so this works very well. Add a pre-amp into the chain, and I've got even more options to get volume just right.

 

[morpheus69]

I take a rather different approach, and use the source PC or Mac to control volume.

This is mainly because I like the flexibility of being able to control volume per app on the source, as well as the fact that if I max out at around 70% or so on the PC/Mac, then I get more fine-grain control on the amp. I listen as much or more with IEMs these days, some that are rather sensitive, so this works very well. Add a pre-amp into the chain, and I've got even more options to get volume just right.

Try it the other way and see if your amp sounds proper. If it is I still suspect that not feeding your dac at full is the issue. Perhaps you can set the usb to 100 and then still use your individual app volumes as you wish.

 

[Neweymatt]

Try it the other way and see if your amp sounds proper. If it is I still suspect that not feeding your dac at full is the issue. Perhaps you can set the usb to 100 and then still use your individual app volumes as you wish.

Amp sounds the same, that is to say, outstanding, either way; it's never been an issue for me.

As I said, I'd much rather drop the source volume into the DAC so that I've got more control on the amp volume knob.

 

[wolfwalker78]

100% on everything out of the PC, always.

 

[Riversalt]

Has anyone tried a FiiO k7 as a dac for an Asgard, could you tell me if they look good?

I have this fiio k7 and I wouldn't want to spend money on a dac, but rather take advantage of its dac by adding an asgard for more power and emotion.