Schiit Asgard 3 Headphone Amp & DAC Review

[bboris77]

Its probably the best use of a 2k+ power cable. To play your music in the bathtub just one last time.

To quote Sean Connery: “Shocking! Positively shocking!”

 

[Soniclife]

Finally a cable for these guys.

 

[Jimster480]

It has a ton of power for difficult to drive headphones. You can't replicate that with other amps no matter how much lower their distortion may be.

Here is Atom:

Here is Asgard 3:

Atom produces 250 milliwatts whereas Asgard 3 goes up to 650 milliwatts or nearly three times as much.

The Asgard 3 also has a metal case that stays put and has built-in transformer rather than a big chunk externally.

Atom is wonderful and great value at $99 but there are different reasons for it existing beside Asgard 3.

Ah I realize that its actually 300ohm here. When I first saw the graph I thought it was 32 ohm not 300 ohm.... had a brain fart I guess. That is a decent amount of power for 300 ohm considering the price. Not sure if anyone would need that much power but its always nice to have!

 

[orangejello]

Does this company deliberately riff on toilet jokes? The reason I ask is that it is a pretty easy permutation of Shiit Asgard to Sh*t As*gard.

 

[Jimster480]

I already own an Asgard 3 and a Modius. I’m trying to understand the graphs more clearly so I can correlate what I’m seeing with what I’m hearing. I also own an Element II, which to my ear sounds pretty much identical to the Asgard paired with the Modius.

Once you have 95+db its hard to hear a difference with most content.

True, there are cheaper options that measure a bit better for low impedance and high sensitivity headphones. In practice though, that probably doesn‘t make much of a difference. I wouldn‘t specifically recommend this thing with analog volume control and mediocre noise for those kinds of headphones, but it isn‘t bad either, there are worse options for a lot more money for sure.

That is also true. There are definitely worse options for more money.

 

[Jimster480]

Does this company deliberately riff on toilet jokes? The reason I ask is that it is a pretty easy permutation of Shiit Asgard to Sh*t As*gard.

Yes basically everything about the company is toilet jokes. Including the performance of many of its product which can be considered to be "in the toilet".

 

[KeithPhantom]

Ah I realize that its actually 300ohm here. When I first saw the graph I thought it was 32 ohm not 300 ohm.... had a brain fart I guess. That is a decent amount of power for 300 ohm considering the price. Not sure if anyone would need that much power but its always nice to have!

Is so powerful that I don't see the point, high gain is enough to make me use my most demanding headphones at 9 o'clock.

 

[Jimster480]

Is so powerful that I don't see the point, high gain is enough to make me use my most demanding headphones at 9 o'clock.

I don't disagree. Even with my "heavy planars" I dont need more than 11 oclock volume on my Geshelli Archel2 Pro on low gain for most music. However if I am listening to some streamed live news broadcast with horrible audio I might use like 2 oclock. But this isn't the fault of the amp, just the horrible broadcast.
When it comes to my 789 I use the mid gain (level 2) at 11 oclock for my heaviest headphones.

 

[Zensō]

I want to know how many, if any , audio sommeliers we have amongst us.

Very few. In this blind test with over 500 participants, perhaps only one or two. A vast majority of audiophiles are imagining things (myself included).

https://cdvsmp3.wordpress.com/cd-vs-itunes-plus-blind-test-results/

 

[Theriverlethe]

Is so powerful that I don't see the point, high gain is enough to make me use my most demanding headphones at 9 o'clock.

I use -6dB or more gain reduction for EQ/DSP. Combined with some recordings that might average -10dB or less, it’s nice to have the extra range on tap. I don’t think I’ve gotten much past 3 o’clock, though.

 

[odyo]

Low gain max power at 33 ohm is only 150mw vs high gain 3400mw. Interesting. Is high gain usable with Ananda ? 25 ohm 103db/mw sens

 

[KeithPhantom]

Low gain max power at 33 ohm is only 150mw vs high gain 3400mw. Interesting. Is high gain usable with Ananda ? 25 ohm 103db/mw sens

Is more than you need, I even use my LCD-2 in low gain. Planars need more current than voltage. Use this website to see your power needs: https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

 

[Theriverlethe]

Is more than you need, I even use my LCD-2 in low gain. Planars need more current than voltage. Use this website to see your power needs: https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

Doesn’t that depend on the specific drivers rather than type? Eg., LCD-4 is 200 ohm.

 

[KeithPhantom]

Doesn’t that depend on the specific drivers rather than type? Eg., LCD-4 is 200 ohm.

It is a combination of voltage, current, impedance, and sensitivity. That was a generalization since most planars are low impedance, but the specifics of each driver determine their needs.

 

[odyo]

Is more than you need, I even use my LCD-2 in low gain. Planars need more current than voltage. Use this website to see your power needs: https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/

150 mw is low though.

 

[KeithPhantom]

150 mw is low though.

No, you can get your Ananda up to 103 dB with 1 mW, that's rather high.

 

[odyo]

No, you can get your Ananda up to 103 dB with 1 mW, that's rather high.

This is interesting read about power from Audeze: https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation/sensitivity-impedance-and-amplifier-power

The overall purpose of a higher powered amp isn’t necessarily to play music as loudly as possible, it’s more about maintaining the accuracy of the loud transient peaks and preserving the recording’s dynamic range. This makes the presentation of those complex musical sound waves as natural and clean as possible without clipping, resulting in high quality, distortion-free sound.

Also LCD headphones manual: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhrOGVh3y0krft1OguEBOmAzkQPq4pWp/view check out amp recommendation.

 

[KeithPhantom]

This is interesting read about power from Audeze: https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation/sensitivity-impedance-and-amplifier-power

I understand what you're saying (I've read that article already), but this amplifier has more than enough headroom for any transient you want to play (at least if you don't want to blow your ears). My LCD-2 are more insensitive than your Ananda (only 93 dB/mW) and I use them in low gain (better performance in terms of distortion and SINAD), I don't go past 12 o'clock in this setting with these headphones. High gain is more useful for headphones that have more impedance (they need more voltage and less current). Trust me, you won't clip this amp with the Ananda unless you want to blow your ears in the process.

 

[odyo]

I understand what you're saying (I've read that article already), but this amplifier has more than enough headroom for any transient you want to play (at least if you don't want to blow your ears). My LCD-2 are more insensitive than your Ananda (only 93 dB/mW) and I use them in low gain (better performance in terms of distortion and SINAD), I don't go past 12 o'clock in this setting with these headphones. High gain is more useful for headphones that have more impedance (they need more voltage and less current). Trust me, you won't clip this amp with the Ananda unless you want to blow your ears in the process.

''Here’s why that’s important for reproducing transient sounds: transients can have loudness peaks of 30, 40, or even 50dB greater than the average SPL. Knowing what we do about logarithmic scales, this translates into current requirements which are FAR greater than what’s needed to simply reproduce an average SPL. If an amp can’t supply enough power to reproduce those large peaks, it will “cut off” the transients. ''

Checking out power calculations from your link it says 500mW for 130db, 5W for 140db. Let's say we are listening around 80-90db and have a loudness peaks like 40-50db as Audeze mention. It means we need that headroom. 80+50= 130db, 90+50=140db. Asgard 3 low gain has only 150mw. My soundcard already has around 400mw completely clean power. Buying Asgard 3 and using it at low gain is pointless if you ask me. It cant even compete with Topping or THX amps when it comes to cleanliness for sensitive headphones. Asgard looks good if it has good volume attenuation range at high gain and clean output to sensitive headphones.

 

[maverickronin]

hecking out power calculations from your link it says 500mW for 130db, 5W for 140db. Let's say we are listening around 80-90db and have a loudness peaks like 40-50db as Audeze mention. It means we need that headroom. 80+50= 130db, 90+50=140db.

If you actually listened to something with 140dB peaks you would very soon find yourself unable to listen to anything at all...