The Halo-X jack will sound different when used with low impedance headphones.
Has nothing to do with the power of suggestion.
There is extra feedback based on the current the headphone draws which depends on the headphone impedance.
Headphones are designed to be voltage driven and not (partly) current driven so it is an added 'effect' that may or may not work out as an improvement but can result in a different sound (headphone impedance dependent).
The 'see if you like it' is apt here.
Lots of users report the Halo can sound different, very much depends on the headphone pairing.
And whether it's an improvement or not, is all over the place.
The Schiity guys just say "try it and see, let us know what you think!"
If there is anything to it objectively yes it's a feedback loop self-adjustment "thing" not a balanced output
Interesting. I'm listening with relatively low impedance headphones (he560v1.2 are around 50 Ω), my highest impedance headphone at the moment. Furthermore, I think planar headphones might not be the best candidates for the "halo effect."
As best you can deduce: if the difference in sound is due to using low impedance headphones, what differences should I be hearing? What would you predict I should hear?
Here's what I'm hearing subjectively. The non-halo headphone jack has a very rich, dark, thick, saturated sound that is very pleasing but not at all neutral. Meanwhile, the halo jack is almost the exact opposite: it is hyper-clear and very, very quick. The non-halo output sounds almost viscous by comparison.
I find this most curious: within classical music, Baroque music sounds best through Halo. For instance, Bach harpsichord and organ music, duo and trio sonatas with piccolo cello and clavichord, Handel coloratura arias. Halo has a bright, clear, quicksilver quality that makes baroque instruments and fast HIP playing shine.
However, I find halo problematic for orchestral recordings. Compared to the holographic 6.35mm port, the soundstage on the halo becomes narrower and flatter and the richness you hear from the 6.35 is gone.
What I find curious is how the ports seem to complement each other by design, as they are almost polar opposites: bright, lean, quick vs. dark, heavy, rich.
EDIT: From what I read, with Midgard, the difference was very slight (if not inaudible), while with Asgard X the difference is night and day, chocolate and vanilla, almost as if the Schiit guys said, if you didn't hear a difference with Midgard, we're going to make sure you hear it with Asgard. Or did those with low impedance headphones also hear the huge difference on a Midgard? Conversely, according to your prediction, would a high impedance headphone on the halo of the Asgard sound similar to the 6.35mm? Because that is not what people are reporting. The difference is very stark regardless.
