[ev666il]

Wasn’t it in this thread that somebody linked to a website that described an experiment with a distortion box? IIRC the guy built a box that could increase or decrease second-harmonic distortion at will, and verified that increased second-harmonic distortion was very euphonic. The high gain setting in amps measures worse and, to the best of my knowledge, it does especially so in the second harmonic department. This would explain why high gain is often perceived as better sounding.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

I can't detect the difference, with my tinnitus ravaged ears.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...-a-frank-discussion-on-the-future-of-a-format

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...-is-officially-dead-according-to-its-creators

 

[Licht]

I'm still grinning from the overall sound out of the Asgard 3, but with my HD660S, I keep going back and forth between high gain (seems to sound a bit better, but pot stays around 9 o'clock) and low gain (better volume range, but slightly dampened sound?). Seems the impedance on those cans is an awkward number for the A3. Is it just in my head that the sound is a bit compromised on low gain, or is that just the volume level placebo? Is there something architecturally going on in the design that changes the sound quality between the two gain levels?

I remember Jason mentioning of it, and he said he always use high gain if possible by his preference.
However he also explained that low gain always measures better, since low gain has more negative feed back.

To me, I prefer sound of low gain over high gain on Mjolnir 2 with Ether 2 or Ether Flow.
But on Magni 3+ and DT990 edition 600 ohms, I definitely prefer high gain (by sound).

This is just my opinion,
on Mjolnir 2 with Ether 2, high gain sounds livelier and punchier and fun type of sound to me, but low gain feels more airier and more controlled to me which I prefer in this case,
but on Magni 3+ with DT990, high gain has more body while low gain is too thin which I'll never use in my setup, in my opinion.
(source is both from Gungnir Multibit Gen 5 USB)

 

[thebmc]

I know I have a weird and limited use-case, but I go back and forth on my Vali 2 with HE400i (Modi 2U as dac). Some tracks I perceive a clearer image and separation of instruments in low gain; some tracks have more presence and impact in high gain. With vinyl through my old yamaha receiver as preamp, I always prefer high gain. I'll wager by the numbers, with the sensitivity of my headphone, I should use low gain all the time, but I dont notice any channel imbalances or issues with my volume down around 9 o'clock, so whatevs.

 

[tafens]

My remaining question is, am I making another trade-off by being at the low position of the pot in high-gain? I've heard about some amps having worse channel balance with the pot in the early positions...

There may be imbalance issues at the very low position of any volume pot, but I haven’t noticed any such imbalance in the larger pots that Asgard/Lyr/etc uses, not even at the very lowest volume/vanishing point. Not with the HD6XX headphones I use, anyway..

 

[bcowen]

We still have the ABBA and BoneyM punishments.
But you made me very curious of what the guy really did.
Was he maybe the one de-flowered with maybe one of your warm toobz?

ABBA is harsh but I could probably live through it if I had to. Haven't even heard of BoneyM, and I'm guessing I don't need to.

The kid thought it would be a great idea to toss a softball around in the living room. His girlfriend (my wife's friend's daughter) told him to not even think about it, to which he replied "think fast" and threw it to (or at) her. Unprepared, she missed and the Koetsu was the tragic victim. No dustcover on the Nottingham, and I guess I should be happy it didn't bounce off the Nott after killing the Koetsu and smack my KR 300B's. But then I begin to worry about myself when I'm thinking there was something good that came out of this. I don't have an issue with the girlfriend, just wondering why in the hell she hangs out with this loser.

 

[bcowen]

I believe the phrasing is "jury of your peers". I imagine your peers should be able to handle a simple blind listening test of various tubes and identify what they are, so I feel that would be a reasonable test to implement when selecting jurors.

I totally agree. Unfortunately our legal system here in the US considers "peers" to be any humanoid type entity with a reasonably steady pulse.

 

[bcowen]

I heard that the display would be NOS Nixie tubes.

Now you're talking, Sam! Hope Jason is paying attention.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

ABBA is harsh but I could probably live through it if I had to. Haven't even heard of BoneyM, and I'm guessing I don't need to.

The kid thought it would be a great idea to toss a softball around in the living room. His girlfriend (my wife's friend's daughter) told him to not even think about it, to which he replied "think fast" and threw it to (or at) her. Unprepared, she missed and the Koetsu was the tragic victim. No dustcover on the Nottingham, and I guess I should be happy it didn't bounce off the Nott after killing the Koetsu and smack my KR 300B's. But then I begin to worry about myself when I'm thinking there was something good that came out of this. I don't have an issue with the girlfriend, just wondering why in the hell she hangs out with this loser.

mmm, just let the guy pay.

 

[bcowen]

mmm, just let the guy pay.

He doesn't earn that much in a year.

 

[KoshNaranek]

... Haven't even heard of BoneyM, and I'm guessing I don't need to.

I was that way once. Would that I were again.

 

[Balthazar B]

I don't have an issue with the girlfriend, just wondering why in the hell she hangs out with this loser.

In your heart of hearts, you know why.

 

[438555]

This makes me think again about the high-measuring Monoprice 887 I had for a few days and how despite all its objective performance, it just didn't have the punch, transient dynamics, and clarity of even the Magni 3+, let alone the Asgard. Not that the Schiit units measure poorly either, but indeed, seems merely pursuing perfect measurements is missing the point.

My remaining question is, am I making another trade-off by being at the low position of the pot in high-gain? I've heard about some amps having worse channel balance with the pot in the early positions...

I've never been able to notice any channel imbalance with Jotunheim, or Asgard 2 pots. On the magni and the Hel, I can notice imbalance starting around 8-9 o'clock and below, but that's common with smaller pots. The only transducer's that's ever been a problem with is my IEMs, as even on low gain, I have the pot down quite a bit. So I like the Jotunheim (or my Mojo) for IEMs

 

[PurpleAngel]

Picked up the Fulla 3 last week, needed a semi-portable DAC/amp.
So far, no regrets buying it.
Good value.

 

[Ripper2860]

I believe the phrasing is "jury of your peers". I imagine your peers should be able to handle a simple blind listening test of various tubes and identify what they are, so I feel that would be a reasonable test to implement when selecting jurors.

Following the 'jury of your peers' logic would mean that a representation of @bcowen 's jury would be...