Question is, what doesnāt work with the A3?
OTL tube is the big flavor shift to have as secondary amp, the question that poses is - do you have the cans for it?
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He6se. Thatās it
Iām going to try this again, as I just had that thought. I also have been unable to refuse two turntables over the last few weeks that lack a built-in preamp.
I intend to put one into my desk setup where A3 lives, and could add the phono card to that unit, or go external.
Just curious if anyone has experience with A3 Phono Input?
I ended up getting a Pro-ject Phono Box DS2, so canāt speak to the Schiit phono card. Assuming itās similar quality to their Mani, which is a common budget rec, it should be decent.
What headphones and DACs do you have in your collection? I just got the Asgard 3 in last week along with the the Jot 2 enjoying them both. Another tube amp lands tomorrow. For $200 the Asgard is very enjoyable to my ears.
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I have the HD6xx and Blon b20s. Iām thinking of eventually upgrading the blons to potentially an elex, and then I might consider selling both to go with a ZMF maybe? Iām pretty sensitive to 8-10k peaks it would seem, and to 2-5k range. In fact the HD6xx can sometimes be a little harsh in that area Iām finding, but not too much as long as Iām playing at a normal volume. I feel like the 6xx has a fuller presentation overall while the blon b20s feel technically a step forward, with less veil of course, but FR wise can sometimes be just a tad bright.
I tried a beyerdynamic dt 880 600 ohm and really didnāt like that at all despite thinking I would, as well as the meze classics which were essentially beats in a nice package. I also tried an akg k371 to see what the Harman curve would be like but it was awful lol, just the worst timbre and unnaturalness Iāve heard in a headphone to date. Perhaps there was something wrong with my copy or perhaps I just hate harman tuning.
I probably put timbral accuracy at the top of my list of importance, and then technical ability (since hifi ought to have some technical benefit for the price), as well as the ability to sound good across a wide variety of genres since I mostly use headphones for making a wide variety of genre playlists.
Iāve heard ZMF plays well with tubes, and I already enjoy Sennheisers for the most part so I feel like tubes could be a safe bet, something like a crack+speedball, but I also wouldnāt mind exploring a different direction altogether. As for other headphones, Iāve thought about dan clark aeon 2c/Noire, Audeze 2c or fazor/pre, as well as potentially focal clear mg since it may be tuned better for my ears compared to the original Clear. The Hagerman Tuba, Lyr 3, Monolith LP have all been on my radar at one point or another.
Any insights are much appreciated, thanks!
Also out of curiosity, would anyone know if the Asgard is considered a āwetā sounding amp? I keep A/Bing my Blon B20s with my LG G8 and I notice the sound is a lot more blurred together on the asgard/modius than on my phone. Itās also a bit shouty on the amp as well compared to the phone which I find odd.
Perfect example - Iām listening to Eastern European Gypsy Punk tracks right now where the trumpet is very fast and rhythmic and precise. The instrumentation really seems to blur together on the amp/dac combo, which I figured would be the opposite effect with the phone, but perhaps thereās something Iām missing here in my interpretation of the sound?
Could that be a timing/jitter issue or just a āwetā sounding reverb quality of the amp/dac? Perhaps this is caused by the difference between the ESS Sabre ES9218P Quad DAC in the LG G8 and the AKM AK4493 in the Modius?
BHC with speedball sounds awesome with the 6XX as well as ZMF. One of my favorite tube amps under $1k. I also really enjoyed the Hagerman Tuba. The LYR3 is very good for the money too but it is also very neutral solid state sounding and doesnāt give you much of that tube flavor.
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How is the volume pot on the Asgard 3 in terms of channel balance, anyone had any problems with it?
Iāve never had any issue with it
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Itās pretty much perfect on mine. Even at like 7-8 oāclock (barely turned up) there is no perceptible imbalance.
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Volume pot is awesome. A significant improvement from that on the Heresy/Magni 3+. On three different models of these amps (two Magni 3+ and one Heresy), I would get static and buzzing whenever I would turn the volume pot on these; tried the fixes Schiit suggested. Too lazy to send in; they didnāt seem as helpful as I would have liked frankly. YMMV.
Asgard 3 is build like a champ though. Love it dearly. Stillā¦ considering upgrade to the Lake People G111ā¦
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Ok thatās good to hear, thanks for your responses.
I have a SMSL SP200 that has gone from bad to worse over time for channel balance and is becoming unusable.
Leaning towards the Asgard as a replacement.
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Agree - I have static on my volume pot when turning on my Magni 3, but Iāve had my Asgard 3 for months now and nothing of the sort (yet). Still loving it
The Volume Pot is an ALPS RK27, which is a very well regarded pot. I personally have nothing but positive things to say about the Asgard 3. It really is a price to performance beast and is very versatile as far as DAC pairings.
It is much better sounding to me than any of the THX amps that Iāve heard and I consider it an upgrade over your SP200.
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I had a slight buzz on Magni 3 pot when changing levels. A3 is dead silent.
Also effectively no channel imbalance unless youāre really trying to dial in that first millimeter off bottom.
Is there any difference in sound quality - even subtle - between the RCA in and the XLR in?
On the Asgard 3 there is no xlr inā¦ Only rca in and rca out
Ah, shit my mistake - thought this was the Lake People G111 board - I already have the Asgard 3 heh.
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Been there done thatā¦ No Biggie