Which new Headphone Amp should I buy

[Raex]

You do not mention your price range, but I'll put in a plug for the 887 or 789. Plenty of power, as clean as you could ask for, and excellent versatility to drive anything from iem's to higher impedance headphones with 3 gain levels, and again versatility with XLR/RCA inputs, and XLR, 1/4 inch and 3.5mm outputs. As an owner of the 887, there are a few factors which gave a slight edge for it over the 789.

However, Drop just lowered the price from $400 to $300 on the 789, which to me makes it a no brainer proposition with such excellent value.

Thanks for your suggestions, I did however mention that I don't want to spend more than 220€ and don't need xlr/balanced as I don't have anything that could make use of it.

I know the THX amps are really good, if I upped my budget I'd probably go for the SP200.
But I have read some reviews where people state that the Heresy sounds pretty much identical to the SP200....so I don't want to spend double the price for the same or just slightly better performance with features I can't use

Regarding the price of the Asgard 3 I managed to find a used one (just a few days old) for 210€ including shipping and warranty.

 

[solderdude]

The Asgard is just about 60€ more so I am wondering if it's worth the extra cost (sound wise)

For €60 more you get a bigger more substantial enclosure (the Heresy is really small), no wall wart, the option to put in a DAC card (don't use the MB card) a better and longer lasting volume control, gain switch on the front, a more substantial volume control knob not so close the the headphone socket.

 

[Raex]

Doesn't sound too bad, plus a little more headroom for hard to drive headphones (which I'll probably never need) could be worth the extra money.

If the Asgard was just a tiny tad warmer (+ with no dips in the low end) than absolute neutrality I'd be very pleased I guess

 

[Nango]

+1 the Heresy, after reading this: https://tlrtechnology.com/2020/01/09/schiit-happens-magni-heresy-review/

 

[Diable]

Warm, smooth, fun, musical...

People say all sorts of things. Many subjective audio forums are like audio Dungeons and Dragons for adults.

The 'leader' or 'forum master' says; 'Oh this amp sounds blah blah blah.'

And the followers listen and also say 'Oh yeah, it does sound blah blah blah', even though it is all imagined.

This is why science is important.

It's like that here except the leader posts measurements that 99% of his followers don't understand. That's why they start thread after thread asking if "X is better than Y" instead comparing the two products using his measurements.