Schiit Asgard 3 - Impressions Thread
Sep 5, 2020 at 1:25 PM Post #1,381 of 2,863
Funny, but I purchased an Asgard 3 because I wanted to "avoid having a hobby." LOL.

I wanted to have an excellent headphone amp that met or exceeded my (high) standards, could drive 300 ohm headphones easily, had a transparent sound profile, and provided great value. Done.

If I've pursuing a "hobby" it's listening to great music, not chasing gear.

That's just me.

Bill
 
Sep 5, 2020 at 2:11 PM Post #1,383 of 2,863
Difference in the A2 and A3 would be less heat on the A3 and it would have more power if you need it which I do for the Sennhiser and Beyer.
Thanks for your response. The heat isn't an issue, I've been hifi enthusiasts for 50 years and have owned a lot different equipment that got toasty. My primary headphone of choice are the HD650's so maybe the extra power would be nice but at my listening level the A2 seems sufficient. I guess I'll just keep on keeping on with the A2 for now. Thanks again for your input.
 
Sep 5, 2020 at 2:12 PM Post #1,384 of 2,863
I use Asgard 3 with LCD 2 70ohm and HD6xx 300ohm. great amp does amazing with both. Bifrost 2 actually made it even more enjoyable. Asgard 3 has the ability to scale with better dacs it seems. I've never heard Asgard 2 but they knocked it out of the park with this amp. It's just so smooth and dynamic at the same time. Has its own character but let's the sound of different Dacs shine through at the same time. Does not sound solid state.
 
Sep 5, 2020 at 11:07 PM Post #1,386 of 2,863
So people have more than one set of headphones they use at a time?

In my case it just sort of happened. I got one pair for home, another for the office, and then my needs changed, so I got another, etc. It's been a long process. But mostly I just use one and keep the others in a drawer. Every once in a while I'll switch, though more for curiosity's sake. When the Asgard comes I'll take out my old DT880/600 ohm to see what the extra power does for it. Perhaps it will change my view of it.
 
Sep 6, 2020 at 9:45 AM Post #1,387 of 2,863
P.S my idle AS3/MB, just sitting there, measures 100.0F. Seems a bit warm.

That's well within limits and less hot than an Asgard 2 would be. Because the amp Has up to 500 mW class A bias it will be drawing current even at idle, indeed when driving loads up to in excess of 500 mW it will produce less heat than at idle, as the energy will be used by the headphone, rather than expended as heat.

(A pure class A amp produces most heat at idle and least heat when putting out its maximum output, a class AB amp or Continuity amp may produce more heat at maximum output than at idle, depending upon its level of bias and efficiency. Many consumer class AB amps operate at a low bias level, hence low idle heat, and spend most of their time in class B (reduced sound quality); class A only being present to allow them to claim class A operation in their advertising.)
 
Sep 6, 2020 at 1:40 PM Post #1,388 of 2,863
So rather than do a “total” here is the Asgard 3 review or experience, which has been done several times already with this $199 Schitt marvel…this is just about my experience and some of the things that are important to me, my music, tastes and headphones I use day to day.

I use a lot of Schiit stuff here on daily basis. Lyr 3, Jotenheim, used to have a Vahalla 2, OG Lyr, OG Asgard and a Magnius.

One thing that i did notice with the Asgard 3 is that its no longer Class A for the most part, but the first 500 mw is “heavily biased” into Class A and and as Schiit states its like having a 1/2 watt Class A amp with a 3.5 watt Class AB turbo charger…hmm sound like an American Muscle car paradigm!! LOL.

What this means to me is it doesnt run “hot” enough to fry eggs on like the first generation Asgard! I stack it in my Schiit Stack and run it for hours and its just fine…no real heat issues.

The volume knob attached to a nice Blue Velvet Alps is buttery smooth…easy to adjust. One of the first things I do with a new amp is look for hum and hiss at all volume levels with both high and low gains and a wide variety of impedance headphones.

For the most part the amp is very quiet. No audible hiss heard. But one thing I did notice at first was an audible RF noise in high gain at the 3pm to full volume pot position…no other Schiit amps I have exhibited this much of RF pickup or noise!

After a little cable swapping and re-routing the RF noise went totally away. What was it. One of by Blue Jeans interconnects I have had for years was the culprit. Only one of the cable pair was at fault…I will have to take a look at this cable later…it may be its only shield connected on one end and a simple reversal of the direction its connected may fix this RF pickup. So in the end the Asgard 3 here is pretty much dead silent. No internal transformer hum or mechanical transformer lamination noise.

One minor complaint I have is the missing ON/OFF light or led on the front panel that many used to complain about as being too bright…the now usual white led is on inside the unit on the pcb and you can see this thru the ventalation holes on top. But in my stack its not well “visable”…not a big deal sonically at all…just my personal I miss that dang light!! LOL

Like most all of Schiit amps in this smaller form factor, when you lift it up it feels solid and well built. Its a very simple discrete amp with no real frills, the volume knob, the gain select switch and internal I/O or addon adapter switch if you choose to purchase. Mine is the naked Asgard 3…I use the Schiit Bifrost 2 MB dac almost exclusively…its that good IMO.

One thing when I sent back my Magnius and Modius (another story)…I requested Schiit to send me the Asgard 3…and I said color doenst matter…they sent me a silver one! It was like an expectant father not know the sex of a child before birth!! When I opend the box and immediatley said " they sent me a silver one!!" like it really mattered…I wonder what I would have said if it was the “black” version??? Hmmm.

Power wise its stated this will drive most headphones out there…and even Amos from down under even tried his Susvaras on the amp and from his review at head-fi it drove them well!

So for my first listen I used Focal Clears and my Heddphones then onto HD600’s. All were able to be played at very loud levels with the HEDDs being the most difficult load on the amp. With 5 watts etc there is more than enough power to do the job.

With the HEDDs i could actually turn up the volume knob to 100 % on low gain to get them to “come Alive”…this was interesting to me…I dont know if the volume pot is logrithmic or not…on the Magni’s Schiit used log tapers and it helps get you out of the low potential channel “tracking” area of a pot.
I mainly used high gain with the HEDDS at approx 9-10 volume positions. Withe the Clears Low gain and around 9 to 11 oclock positions. The Clears are an easy load more so than the HEDDS. The Senn HD600 needs to be in the high gain position and about 10 oclock.

From the volume pot settings the Jot appears to have more power…ie lower postions on the pot for the same level. This may be due to the Asgard having a log pot? I will ask Schiit this.

So the amp has a lot of power and can drive most headphones, making the amp for $199 and excellent entry level amp that will last a long time…and its a 5 year warranty!! You might say but what about the Magnius…its another good choice if you “need or want” balanced capability…but the Magnius only has a 2 yr warranty…still great but…and the Asgard makes no bones about not having balanced outs…

How does it sound…Side by side the Schiit Jot, plug and unplug. level matched they are very much the same sounding signature to me…I had a hard time telling them apart! Using only SE of of course.

A lot of Jot owners state the Jot is a warmer or softer amp…and I agree there and the Asgard IMO is pretty much similar…its like a gentle high pass filter is being employed…just a little. This pairs very nicely with "bright " headphones…makes things very musical and not fatiguing at all…nothing like the THX sterile sound signature…I dont have any Grados here ATM but this would be a nice amp for them IMO.

The Focal Clears some state has a metallic sounding high end, this amp with the Clears doesnt exhibit this “trait” for me at all…so again maybe a good match for those that experience this?

There isnt much more to say about the Asgard 3 from here…for all its improvements. 3.5X more power than Asgard 2, lower heat due to the Class A and AB design and coupled with the Continuity design to eliminate crossover distortion, an new greatly improved power supply with a 48VA transformer (2x that of Asgard 2) and more AC filtering at a cost that is $50 lower than prior Asgards makes for a brilliant amp for anyone wanting to get into this crazy headphone “thing”…and if your “Really” cheap a B-stock can be had for even less!!!

Alex
:grinning:


a1.jpg

a2.jpg


Note: On the recent Schiit Show at the Schiitr, I asked about the volume potentiometers taper. Jason indicates its a log taper type 10 which mimics the hearing response closely of a human ear....so this is why you have to turn up the vol knob so much at times. Its not a linear "thing" so dont thing because you have to turn up the pot more so that other amps with linear or audio taper pots that this amp in underpowered. It is not.
 
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Sep 6, 2020 at 3:25 PM Post #1,389 of 2,863
Hi guys!

I recently bought a used Asgard 3 (Brand new in July) and received it this Friday. So far I enjoy it very much and like it better than my Magni.

But there is one thing bugging me. I've noticed some hissing/humming. The noise starts at around 1'o clock on low gain and 10'o clock on high. Is this normal?
On my Magni there is no noise with the same cables and in the same outlet.
 
Sep 6, 2020 at 3:30 PM Post #1,390 of 2,863
Check your cables and make sure they are grounded and seat well...

I had a similar RF noise on HIGH gain only and it was one of my interconnects.

I would take the cables from the dac to the amp and remove them and reverse the direction they are plugged in as well....

Some interconnects only have the shield soldered on on end...and its possible one of these is acting as an antenna picking up some RF etc...

I also re-routed my AC power....dead silent on both gains full volume with nothing playing...

last resort send Schiit a note..

Alex
 
Sep 6, 2020 at 5:03 PM Post #1,394 of 2,863
Dead quiet with internal MB card some of my friends had audio hum with other gear because they had cable service with a separate ground that was not tied to the house ground causing an impedance differential.
 
Sep 7, 2020 at 11:47 AM Post #1,395 of 2,863
Fyi...after a few hours I took out my thermocouple and measured the temperatur on top of the Asgard 3 case over the internal power transformer it was 88 def F.
Then I measured the bottom of the case while it was sitting on top of a powered OFF Jotenheim...it was 89/90 deg F.

Also the tope and bottom if myu Bifrost 2 measured the same...

All well within safe semiconductor tolerances...

Alex
 

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