Hello all. First post here!
I'm struggling to decide between the Asgard 3 with 4490 dac and something like the Topping D50S + a JDS Labs Atom. These will be my first ever DAC/AMP purchases and I intend to drive my Grado 125i + AT50s. I understand that these are both easy to drive headphones but I could expand the collection in time. I'm hoping to hear these headphones "open up" a little or provide a bit more resolution, sound stage and all the other things we try to describe HiFi with. I know I shouldn't expect miracles but I think the time is right to buy a DAC and Amp because it's chicken or egg if I want to buy harder to drive cans.
Asgard Likes:
- A E S T H E T I C - The Asgard 3 looks fantastic and will integrate into my desk set up well. I LOVE the Schiit style and build quality.
- All in one - Something about having one box just seems a little cleaner. I don't have a great amount of space but similar to the last point, I feel like the unit will be heavy enough to not slide around when plugging things in.
- Cheaper - After shipping and taxes Asgard 3 ends up being slightly cheaper. I haven't tallied it yet but probably a good $30-$40 bucks is my guesstimate right now.
- Integrated PSU - I don't know for sure but it looks like the power supply is contained inside the unit. This means I'm getting a single thick power cable vs two bricks.
- Test Drive - I can try it out and if I decide I can't tell the difference between a nice amp and my admittedly very satisfying sounding MOBO, I can send it back. (No really, Z-97-A by Asus had a ton of refinement and separate amps for front panel and rear. It blows the door off most of my Aux jacks on all my devices. 75% is ear damaging with the Grados.)
D50S/ATOM Likes:
- More Input Functions - The D50S can accept SPDIF, Optical, AND Bluetooth with a variety of high quality codecs. This will be nice if I want to switch over to my phone or If I want to plug a console into my DAC. Great features that I can see myself using.
- Measurements - PLEASE! I am not trying to start a war in this thread, but if we take the advice of the measuring inclined folks, this combo performs better on some metrics that may or may not be significant within the scope of human hearing. I don't know what to think here, but I am inclined to believe in things I can measure.
- Less Power Hungry - The Asgard 3 is rated for 30w on Schiit's website. Asgard 2 was known for being a toasty piece of kit. Looking at the power supplies for this stack it should consume less than half of the Asgard 3. I like my electronics to be efficient and cool as my living space is usually too warm and electricity ain't free.
So there's all my thinking. I'm interested to know what you all think and if you think that the Schiit gear will sound substantially better than the alternative or visa versa. I'm concerned I won't be able to hear the difference between the new gear and my motherboard audio without a more resistant set of cans.
I'm leaning towards Schiit but its a super close call right now because the extra inputs on the Topping DAC are a great feature. I would not consider going with the Schiit Modi for the extra inputs. If I go for two boxes I'm getting the D50S/Atom.