Hmmm, it does seem that Schiit needs to be more straightforward about this. For some users, that reduction in power could be an issue.
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Yea never heard about that, am glad I didnāt get the dac option in there and regret it down the line
Huh, is it a limitation of the AKM chip?
Definitely. Someone on the forums just bought an A3 + multibit dac to go with T60RPsā¦
Itās just not the best implementation of an akm dac imo, I donāt know why, I just think it doesnāt sound as good as like an e30, I just donāt like schiits sigma delta implementation
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Yikes thatās kind of insaneā¦ I feel bad for anyone that doesnāt feel like getting a separate DAC 
The multibit has served me pretty well and Iāve really enjoyed the soundā¦ I wasnāt aware of the power difference but thought something was up with the difference in volume while using external dacsā¦ that said I wouldnāt hesitate whatsoever in recommending it
Obviously itās more than enough for most people, but I donāt even know if it would be enough for my T50RPs, so āFā to everyone who bought an A3 + integrated DAC for their argons, for example.
I thought the 650 mw was for the 300 ohm load. And the 3.4w was for the 33 ohm load. Thatās the power numbers that schiit advertises on their website and is what shows up on ASRās measurements.
Oops. Youāre right, 651mW is for the 300 ohm load. Thereās one graph saying āHP out/RCA inā (651mW @ 300 ohms), and another graph saying āHP outā (RCA in?) saying 3.4mW.
Iāll correct my message (Edit: done). I need to look at the forums to know if Amir measured the HP out power with the RME DAC and the internal DAC to compareā¦ but I wouldnāt even be surprised if itās less than 651mW with the AKM DAC after reading this:
As usual, I start with my tough to drive, low impedance (25 ohm) Ether CX headphone. I drove the Asgard 3 using its DAC input and while I had enough power to drive the CX, I was surprised that I had to max out the volume control to get it super loud. Same thing happened with Sennheiser HD650 headphone. This was puzzling.
I switching things around and drove the Asgard using my everyday RME ADI-2 DAC V2. Wow, what a transformation. I had enough power to once again cause my ear lobes to literally resonate with the bass beats! Power was clean and seemingly infinite. Yes, with the CX I got it to crackle but that was at such a level that hearing damage would occur at any moment. Overall fidelity was superb with fantastic detail, resolution and impressive bass.
And if itās the same result, the same wattage, just less volume because the DAC voltage is lower (?), isnāt it dangerous to pump watts of silence into headphones to get em to playā¦ a bit of sound?
Oh well, whatever, forget Asgard 3ās āmodularityā, get a decent DAC with it instead. Thereās literally a dozen of DACs that actually output the standard wattage via RCA for 100$ or even less now.
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Unless your talking about inaudible frequencies, Iām pretty sure itās not possible to have āwatts of silenceā.
Also Iām sure heās using a synthetic load for his power tests
We need to find some crazy guy who did it to confirm or deny if headphones can explode just by cranking up the volume (with nothing playing) with a speaker-amp-to-RCA-cable. 
I just know that when my JDS Atom amp was broken, at high volume all I heard was background noise but my HD58Xs were crackling.
Iāve had headphones get hotā¦ Blon B20. Long difficult story on that one but yeahā¦ it can totally happen.
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Could someone compare the A3 to the liquid spark? I used to have the LS, I sold it the moment I got my thx789. I bought a3. I have the Modius feeding thx789 and a3. Why I am asking this? I bought the a3 to use with bright headphones as I had my LS, but there is something different I can point out of memory. Maybe the modius+a3 is to warm for my personal preference.
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To my ears the Asgard 3 sounds a little thicker than the Liquid Spark but sound signature is similar except the LS has that slight roll off in the high frequency and sometimes I think the A3 has a slight (very slight) elevation somewhere in the highs but still extremely smooth
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I pretty much agree with @donjklassen here. Iāll add the Asgard brings out more detail than the Spark, too. Also, even though the Spark has that treble rolloff, a really bright headphone like the DT880 actually has more sibilance problems on the Spark than the Asgard.
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I remembered my LS with my dt880 600 all black edition was a beautiful match! I want to rebuy the dt880 and use it with the a3.
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Asgard 3 vs Jot single outputā¦is there a difference? Iām running them both and A/B ing and having trouble picking out anything substantialā¦both off a Bifrost 2.
Power appears to be the differentiator.
Jot - Single -> 32 Ohm : 1.5 W per channel
Balanced-> 32 Ohm 5 W per channel
Asg - Single -> 32 Ohm 3.5 W per channel
Curious if anyone else has compared these two?
I live in the US and mine was also flagged as suspicious so I had to use paypal to complete the transaction. I donāt know what is wrong with their system.
Personally I think the Asgard 3 is the higher preforming amp, I think itās less peaky than the jot with a more refined signature and I think the a3 has better control than the jot, thatās just been my experience
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