Schiit Asgard

[mypasswordis]

I was curious but had to start reading the review with my eyes rolled, which made it difficult to continue.

First off I have to admit: I’m becoming a huge fan of headphone amps.

Really, posting that on a headphone forum? No way.

The seller describes the design of the M-Stage as being a fully discrete Pure Class A design. It appears that the left and right channels share the same power supply and then things break down to a dual mono design from there, although of course they share the same PCB. It uses high quality parts such as Nichicon KG capacitors, a smooth ALPS potentiometer, a Burr/Brown OPA2134, etc.

I stopped reading after that.

[El_Doug]

You should have a listen to my NOS DAC - it uses 8x oversampling

I was curious but had to start reading the review with my eyes rolled, which made it difficult to continue.

Really, posting that on a headphone forum? No way.

I stopped reading after that.

[luvdunhill]

Justin:

ha! Didn't you know a cmoy breaks down into dual mono at the output jack?

[n_maher]

Justin:

ha! Didn't you know a cmoy breaks down into dual mono at the output jack?

Don't forget that it's fully discrete class A despite using an opamp.

[Nebby]

Didn't notice that one....funny.

Oh yea, isn't every amp a cmoy "essentially"?

[luvdunhill]

Didn't notice that one....funny.

Oh yea, isn't every amp a cmoy "essentially"?

Win!

[aerius]

Not to derail the thread, but what is your guy's opinion on the Matrix M-Stage (another discrete amp). Matrix M-Stage amp review: simple, cheap, and excellent. - Head-Fi.org Community I know I shouldn't trust head fi but this was a convincing review. Seems like it could be an alternative and I haven;t read about noise/heat issues for it either.

Fishy. An amp which allegedly runs in class A but doesn't even get warm, yeah. Either it's a very low powered amp or it's not class A.

[Nebby]

specs from the ebay listing I saw for a ver 2 Matrix M-Stage:

Frequency Response: 10 Hz (-0.3dB) ~ 35kHz (-1dB)

Signal to Noise Ratio: >95dB (0dB)

Distortion: <0.001% (6 mW/300 Ohms)

Input Impedance: 47 kOhms

Output Impedance: Line-out 60 Ohms, Phone-out 5 Ohms

Output Power: 200 mW/300 Ohms, 400 mW/60 Ohms

Power Support: AC 220-240V/100-120V (Please specify)

Front Panel Color: Black/Silver (Please specify)

Weight: 2 kg

Device Dimension: 280 x 110 x 42mm

Seriously though, a 15 page review for a $250 amp?

[Shahrose]

Seriously though, a 15 page review for a $250 amp?

I skipped all his technical mumbo jumbo and went straight to his amp comparisons...which as I said, were pretty informative.

[The Monkey]

No they weren't.

[morphsci]

Neither informative nor accurate, but who the fuck cares on HF.

[The Monkey]

That's actually a pretty good tag line for HF.

[morphsci]

I thought so, but then again I just got back from the hotel bar.

[Silenced]

ok, so from the reaction, I am going to assume that the M-Stage is not viable competitor to Schitt amps.

[The Monkey]

Why would you assume that?

[HDen]

ok, so from the reaction, I am going to assume that the M-Stage is not viable competitor to Schitt amps.

I think what you should do is ignore that review you pasted and try to find other information about the amp or another review.

[blessingx]

How to make good headphones sound great | The Audiophiliac - CNET News

[Voltron]

How to make good headphones sound great | The Audiophiliac - CNET News

Congrats to the Schiit boys!

[The Monkey]

What a Schiitty review!

[Yikes]

Why do I suspect that S.G.'s review on CNET is just slightly hyperbolic. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not getting the measure of my HE-5LE headphones with any of my amplifiers and S.G.'s review of the Asgard has me reaching for the CC hoping that the Asgard might be a magic match for a very low price. As Heinlein used to say TANSTAAFL, now $249 isn't free but it's certainly dirt cheap by high End standards. Is 15 days enough time? and I hate returning anything.

I'm going to wait. It's summer and I use my Headphones even less during the Summer so I think I'll let the dust settle a little before I bite on the Asgard hook; besides I've been selected as a Beta tester for the new PS Audio Network Bridge so that should keep me busy for a while.

[Nebby]

15 days is enough, just make sure to turn it on and let it burn in for a while in a ventilated area, as the initial smell of electronics it gives off is a bit strong imho.

[skullguise]

I've liked some of SG's writing in the past. He also worked at Chesky as a producer IIRC.....some decent resume material IMO. So I'm happy for Schiit (or is that "as" Schiit?) to hear he likes this and that a mainstremer like CNET gives them some good marketing.

But there is probably a bit of hyperbole involved. Part of it is likely finding a nice amp like this at such a low price; it causes the "wow" factor to go haywire....

I'm still enjoying mine, but still also using my other amps more. The glare I heard at about 30-40 hours HAS seemed to lessen somewhat (I don't think it's my ears adjusting to it, as I am using my Stax and Millett during this time as well). Still there, but a slight bit less.....

[atothex]

Homeboy lists Phiaton among his favorite headphones. I just found that amusing.

Maybe I should check em out?

[Yikes]

Snob.

Me too.

[atothex]

Hey, they might be awesome for all I know. Seriously, I haven't read much of anything about them.