I donât have the CAN to compare it to but I do have an Asgard 3 running off a Zen DAC V2 and am enjoying it. I primarily purchased it for my office, but since they delayed our reopen until September Iâve been playing with it hooked up to my test bench PC. If youâre worried about the price difference it looks like theyâve got a black B stock available. You can save a few bucks and get the same warranty as new.
I believe if you already have the Zen DAC you can feed it to the Asgard and have the XBass function pass with the sound of you use preamp mode. @WaveTheory have talked about this before, maybe he can confirm it.
Unfortunately the b-stock Asgards available right now arenât for the American voltage.
I know not everyone here agrees but the Sundara sounds decent on anything. Even a phone or laptop so definitely your JDS Atom and Zen CanâŠ
But the Sundara demands power to run truly good. To sound their best I would not advise getting anything that isnât able to shove 3 watts at 32ohm into those cans. JDS Atom? 1W. Zen Can? 1.6W
I simply wouldnât do it, youâll always think âthese are ood headphones⊠But not actually that goodâ. Especially the bass really tightens and cleans up with more power.
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There was one 115V there when I posted, along with the three 230âs; someone mustâve snagged itâŠ
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câmon Zen Can is way more powerfull then 1.6w . It is in single ended, but in balanced 4.4mm it can give 4 times more at 32ohm.
But then you run it probably on quite low volume so you donât even supply those 3(or even close) Watts to them.
Atom with 2Vrms dac on 3pm on low gain runs sundaras for deafening levels for me. So how giving it more power could work? It would blow my eardrums?
Sorry if stupid question, just canât wrap my head around it
I think that in this regard it is safe to say that your mileage will vary. I have found that for me using my SP200 I place the gain on High and increase the adjustable gain to nearly the noon position to really drive them well. However, That may be an excessive level for someone else. When I have listened at lower levels the phones still sound great but there is minute detail and bass delivery that is slightly lacking. Again, this has been my experience with them.
err, I definitely could never even run those off my phone let alone my crappy motherboard on my laptop⊠barely even get loud and the signature is a disaster⊠so I definitely would say⊠no?
again, I disagree here? The Zen Can over there has quite a lot of power its just mainly in its balanced port⊠and atom powers them just fine, just that there is better options higher in budget that offer a better sound(power does NOT always mean better sound). You donât need ludicrous amounts of power to drive a sundara⊠it is needy but not THAT needy⊠and in most cases the more powerful amp you will barely be turning up the knob at that point.
As I said, not everyone agrees and thatâs fine 
Sound is completely subjective. But Iâve heard them out of an atom and they seemed to miss low end to me.
As for the Zen Can havenât heard them and all I can find is 1.6W out of both balanced and unbalanced (which I know realize is probably pretty shit info) so if you say thereâs a lot more in the balanced port these indeed could be excellent!
Whatever you enjoy. KPH30âs on an iphone 5, Sundaraâs on an Atom or Sennheiser Orpheus through a 40.000$ dac 
Wait so are we saying if I run the Zen Can through balanced then I donât need the Asgard?
What I see on the iFi website is
Balanced:
15.1V/385 mW (@ 600 Ohm)
11.0V/1890 mW (@ 64 Ohm)
S-E:
7.6V/196 mW (@ 300 Ohm)
7.2V/1600 mW (@ 32 Ohm)
So thatâs 1.9 W on 64 ohm (which I guess would be double that at 32 ohm? Not sure why the ohm listings are doubled for balanced vs. SE, but it makes it hard to compare)
Iâd say it depends. If you have a chance to listen to it please do. I personally find them to perform better on higher powered devices. But how high I canât say. I found them lacking on the Atom and love them on my SH9. So somwhere in between lays the minimum that I want them at.
And no. Iâs not double at 32 ohms by default. Power and impendence do not always scale liniaery. (otherwise if 64ohm = 1890mW 600 would be 201,6mW) but you indeed can assume it will be higher.
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@toruc_macta I have the topping e30 dac (2v output) and Asgard 3. With Sundaras and the Asgard on high gain (generally accepted as better sounding than low on almost anything) my preferred volume setting is at 11 oâclock. And I love it!
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Same here - a definite favorite configuration!
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No experience with Schiit due to their schiity stock in europe but I can only imagine. Feed a Sundara well (and slightly warm) and itâs amazing for the price!!
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Iâm using a SMSL stack with the SP200 and the M200. They sound quite good here on low gain and around 11 oâclock but also Iâm not to fond of high volume most of the time.
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Welcome, Victor. Good to know.
Nice dac/amp stack. Welcome to HiFi Guides!
Updates:
I got the Dekoni leather pads for my Sundaras. I find them significantly more comfortable than the stock pads, but I think I have sensitive skin or something because I just didnât like the feel of the cloth material against my skin. That said, they do feel like theyâre made of cheaper materials than the stock pads, but you donât really notice unless youâre holding both in your hands.
I do think they change the sound signature, though I havenât a/b tested it since that would be difficult without two sets of headphones. My impression though is that they make the bass more pronounced. However, I kind of like a bit of enhanced bass, so this doesnât really bother me. All told, I think this was a good purchase.
Also on the amp front, I decided to buy both the Zen Can and the Asgard. Since the Asgard is backordered and I can get the Can immediately, Iâll drive the Cans until the Asgard arrives and then I can a/b test them against each other. Since they both seem to maintain their resale value pretty well, I donât think itâll be an issue to sell off the one that sounds worse.
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