[ev666il]

The Asgard 3 runs warm but I wouldn't say it's ever out-of-control hot. I used to have it on all the time while stacked on top of my Bifrost 2 and never had a problem.

 

[acbarn]

Thanks for that. I do have the modius at my desktop, paired with the 789, which itself passes through to a Little Dot Mkii. I want to create a similar-yet-different setup in my living room and I very much want to go multibit. I’m worried about keeping a hot Asgard on all day in order to keep the multibit ready to play.

I don’t think the Asgard runs hot enough to be dangerous, but I wouldn’t want to leave mine on 24/7.

 

[Sqmeyer]

I leave my Asgard on all the time on my desk without issue. Regarding the multibit, I’ve often wondered if that might be colored by an assumption based on old school r2r ladders where temperature is confirmed to effect the way the resistors work. Since all of the resistors live inside a chip In the Schiit I wonder if that makes it less temperature sensitive. I use a mimby but have not figured out a meaningful way to test whether warmup makes a difference without having a second one on hand to compare cold to fully warmed up.

 

[GearMe]

Thanks for that. I do have the modius at my desktop, paired with the 789, which itself passes through to a Little Dot Mkii. I want to create a similar-yet-different setup in my living room and I very much want to go multibit. I’m worried about keeping a hot Asgard on all day in order to keep the multibit ready to play.

How about Asgard 3 w/Modi Multibit leaving it on and turning Asgard 3 off when not in use?

 

[Odin412]

How about Asgard 3 w/Modi Multibit leaving it on and turning Asgard 3 off when not in use?

Yes, the Schiit multibit DACs sound better (to my ears at least) when they are left on all the time. I have a Bifrost Multibit feeding my Asgard 3 and I leave the Bifrost on but turn off the Asgard when I'm not listening to it.

 

[NigelJ]

I leave my Asgard on all the time on my desk without issue. Regarding the multibit, I’ve often wondered if that might be colored by an assumption based on old school r2r ladders where temperature is confirmed to effect the way the resistors work. Since all of the resistors live inside a chip In the Schiit I wonder if that makes it less temperature sensitive. I use a mimby but have not figured out a meaningful way to test whether warmup makes a difference without having a second one on hand to compare cold to fully warmed up.

Temperature still affects the on-chip resistors, the view of the designer of the Schiit Multibit DACs, Mike Moffat, is:

...And now for something completely different: Multibit DAC break-in times. On the 16 bit add-in modules, there are break-in time and warm-up time. The break-in time for the 16 bit stuff is on the order of several days, which does not have to be continuous. After break-in, the warm-up is a few hours max. (Similar to the warm-up time of most tube amps – an hour or so to 90%, a few hours to 99%). It is great to have a chance to yak. All the best!

The Multibit Cards for the amps, Modi Multibit and original Bifrost Multibit use 16 bit chips, the Bifrost 2 and Gungnir Multibit use 18 bit chips and Yggdrasil 20 bit chips. Elsewhere, Mike has indicated that the higher bit devices require longer break-in and warm-up times; however I can't seem to find the correct links.

 

[alterndog]

I have an Asgard 3 on the way. I had a question about DACs though. I currently have a Dragonfly Black v1.5 that I plan to use as my DAC with my Asgard. I know that the DF Black is older technology so am wondering if the Modi 3 would be a noticeable upgrade sound-wise? I don’t care much about the extra ports as I’ll be connecting to a computer via a usb connection.

 

[genck]

I have an Asgard 3 on the way. I had a question about DACs though. I currently have a Dragonfly Black 1.5V that I plan to use as my DAC with my Asgard. I know that the DF Black is older technology so am wondering if the Modi 3 would be a noticeable upgrade sound-wise? I don’t care much about the extra ports as I’ll be connecting to a computer via a usb connection.

I've never heard the Dragonfly Black but one thing to note is that the Modi 3 outputs 2V whereas your Dragonfly outputs 1.5V, there will be a noticeable volume increase using the Modi 3.

 

[alterndog]

I've never heard the Dragonfly Black but one thing to note is that the Modi 3 outputs 2V whereas your Dragonfly outputs 1.5V, there will be a noticeable volume increase using the Modi 3.

I didn’t think about that. The DFB actually outputs only 1.2v according to specs so it’s even less (I meant to call it v1.5 for the version I have, not the voltage).

 

[Sqmeyer]

Anecdotally, I had a friend who used both and said that the Modi had more realness or “mass” to the instruments and the sound.

 

[Ichos]

I've never heard the Dragonfly Black but one thing to note is that the Modi 3 outputs 2V whereas your Dragonfly outputs 1.5V, there will be a noticeable volume increase using the Modi 3.

1.2V is acceptable and Asgard is very powerful so it will be not of an issue.

So try it first , listen and then decide if you like it or not.

 

[SMOTOJO]

In my 35+ years in the audio racket I've always been told "If the gear is solid state-leave it on 24/7" for sound and longevity. And for tubes, and you can afford too, the same goes. As for my Asgard 3, turned it on 5/4/20, its been POWERED UP ever since, Daily 3-4 hour use in Hi Gain at 11:00-1:00, stays ONLY warm, NEVER hot, and I think it SOUNDS GREAT through my HiFiMAN HE400i ears!!!

 

[tincanear]

In my 35+ years in the audio racket I've always been told "If the gear is solid state-leave it on 24/7" for sound and longevity. And for tubes, and you can afford too, the same goes. As for my Asgard 3, turned it on 5/4/20, its been POWERED UP ever since, Daily 3-4 hour use in Hi Gain at 11:00-1:00, stays ONLY warm, NEVER hot, and I think it SOUNDS GREAT through my HiFiMAN HE400i ears!!!

@SMOTOJO can you describe how the sound changes when switched to low gain (e.g. tone, soundstage, instrument separation, etc) ? I have an A2 and was considering an A3 to drive my planars. thnx.

 

[SMOTOJO]

Can't speak too much about, as I only tried the low gain once, but it sucks!!! The volume dropped almost in half, to achieve the results as with high gain, volume had to be set to just shy of full, the very pleasing wide, vivid soundstage shrunk considerably, no impact to the sound, a very night and day thing. At that point I thought the amp was broke/D.O.A.??? So I contacted the Schiit people and was told the radical difference between the high and low gain settings was, in all, due to the HE400i's low impedance of 35 ohms, believe it or not!!! If it didn't sound as good, to my ears anyway, as it does in high gain, I would not have believed it-end of story.

 

[yeboyi]

Dear Schiit please release Asgard 4 with THX 789 like functionality.

1- Balanced i/o to stack with Modius
2- Add 3 output 3.5mm, 6.35mm and XLR BAL
3- Use 3 gain settings with reasonable DB's. Currently low gain is 0db, high gain is 15.6 db. Make it like THX 789.
4- We all know low gain sucks with Asgard 3 but high gain is too much for sensitive headphones. Nowadays every headphone is sensitive. Even Beyerdynamic going for 32 ohm for their T1's.
5- Keep the class a, improve the heat and noise/distortion.