[tincanear]

@Neweymatt @CarlosAudio51 thanks for providing details about your HP's and findings as well as your listening preferences. This info is valuable to help others understand if the A3 is likely to be a good fit (or not) for various setups and listening preferences.

 

[CarlosAudio51]

@Neweymatt @CarlosAudio51 thanks for providing details about your HP's and findings as well as your listening preferences. This info is valuable to help others understand if the A3 is likely to be a good fit (or not) for various setups and listening preferences.

+1

Based on the value of the info for others, I guess I should clarify that my last post on this thread was mainly echoing @Neweymatt 's experience with bass heavy cans. By no means is that the entirety of my opinion on the Asgard 3. So, in the interest of adding more info for others in the future, I'll copy over my post from the Schiit Happened thread about my initial impressions with the Asgard 3 paired with the HD 6XX. Bear in mind, that my only other standalone headphone amp is the Vali 2 so this is more of like a first impression/comparison to Vali 2.

Since then, I have tried it with my HE-4XXs as well. Another good pairing, in my opinion.

Finally, my Asgard 3 arrived. First impressions:
-It's heavier than it looks. A good thing, if you ask me.
-It does not run as warm as it's made out to be. My Vali 2 runs slightly warmer.
-As far as I can tell, it's less warm than the Vali 2 (with Amperex PQ 6922). Small but noticeable. On the other end of the frequency spectrum, it's has slightly more treble without being bright. Midrange is slightly less forward than Vali 2 (at least with the 6XX - which I think is a good thing, more to my preference).
-Two aspects clearly favor the Asgard 3: soundstage and detail retrieval. Soundstage is ever so slightly wider but noticeably deeper. Details stand out more, details that I'd glossed over with the Vali 2. They were still present on the Vali 2 but did not stand out as on the Asgard 3. When I went back to the Vali 2, the same details were like: "Oh, there you are. Wonder why I haven't heard you before. Hmm."

Oh, yeah, the pot. Smooth! What a difference compared to the Vali 2 pot.

Need more time with the Asgard 3 but needless to say, I'm very happy with it.

 

[SMOTOJO]

I think all these posts about "high/low gain" all make very good sense. After all, we all hear differently, have different tastes for what we hear or want to hear, have different phones that no doubt sound different, hell-the only thing in common is we all like the A3 and most probably for our own/same reasons. So in sum-the Schiit Man did one hell of a job giving us this product for all the right reasons, in no specific order, quality feel, price/value, aesthetics, warranty, fine sounding, no distortion, dynamic, etc. etc. etc. This list, with very little imagination is almost limitless to me and I hope you too??? Oh crap, I almost forgot, it also has a "high/low gain switch". I'm know there's much more to be said about, but I hope you get the point.

 

[blackdragon87]

this 199 amp is one of the best deals in headphone equipment in my opinion. pairing it with my bifrost 2 and either my hd 600 or hd 650 makes for some great listening. highly recommended

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

this 199 amp is one of the best deals in headphone equipment in my opinion. pairing it with my bifrost 2 and either my hd 600 or hd 650 makes for some great listening. highly recommended

I'm looking forward to owning one. I'm ordering one Friday and if I like it, which I'm sure I will, my Asgard 2 will go on Ebay.

 

[GearMe]

this 199 amp is one of the best deals in headphone equipment in my opinion. pairing it with my bifrost 2 and either my hd 600 or hd 650 makes for some great listening. highly recommended

Would agree...replaced my Valhalla 2 with the Asgard 3...glad I did!

 

[Chastity]

Would agree...replaced my Valhalla 2 with the Asgard 3...glad I did!

You still have any tubes on your system?

 

[GearMe]

You still have any tubes on your system?

TBH...I got tired of tube rolling/matching hassles. Still have a Cavalli/Drop CTH. One tube is livable...just replace it when it fails.

 

[tafens]

this 199 amp is one of the best deals in headphone equipment in my opinion. pairing it with my bifrost 2 and either my hd 600 or hd 650 makes for some great listening. highly recommended

I agree completely, the performance / price ratio is sky-high on this one

 

[blackdragon87]

You still have any tubes on your system?

i hve both the v2 and asgard 3 and love them both equally with my hd 600 and 650 lol

 

[GearMe]

i hve both the v2 and asgard 3 and love them both equally with my hd 600 and 650 lol

Yeah...I enjoyed the V2 as well...just not the mental and time investment of rolling tubes. Simplifying gear to keep the focus on listening to music!

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

If you have an Asgard 3 with a AK4490 card in it can you override the card using a coaxial cable? Thanks for your input.

 

[tincanear]

If you have an Asgard 3 with a AK4490 card in it can you override the card using a coaxial cable? Thanks for your input.

you can use an external DAC (like Modi, Modius, Bifrost, etc...) with Asgard 3's two analog RCA inputs fed from your external DAC's analog RCA outputs. flip the front panel switch on the right to the down position to select the analog RCA inputs / external DAC.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

you can use an external DAC (like Modi, Modius, Bifrost, etc...) with Asgard 3's two analog RCA inputs fed from your external DAC's analog RCA outputs. flip the front panel switch on the right to the down position to select the analog RCA inputs / external DAC.

Thank you

 

[Shroune]

Have any of you guys compared a high end amp like BHA-1 to the A3? How does it compare?