Two nights ago, I was listening to some old headphones with a new set up. An old track came on, and the first couple of notes, then I what sounded like furniture creaking behind me, which was impossible. I restarted the song, and heard it again. Something that in 30 years I’ve never heard in this track.
The headphones? Nad HP50, considered decent in a sea of decent cans. The headphone amp, a Schiit Audio Asgard 3. This amp is really becoming my favorite with the class A design. I bought it with the dac multibit card, but prefer the stand alone Multibit modi dac running through it. I've read that Schiit can't fit all of the circuitry of the multibit design on the small card. The Modi has it all, though.
The Nads are on the warm side, the Asgard is said to be pretty neutral, with good detail and clarity. In the current very competitive amp market, the manufacturers have been putting out better and better entry level headphone amps.
I’ve had the Schiit Magni 3, and the Vali 2. The Vali 2 with modi multibit was delicious(sold it when I upgraded to the Asgard). Gorgeous sound for the money. But I never heard this finer detail with this set up that I described above. I have great respect for the Vali 2, but the Asgard 3 is a superior amp, definitely getting into higher end stuff.
Schiit Audio is really making some great sounding gear. For a one box solution, the Asgard or Jotunheim can each be ordered with their dac multibit card for a price of $399 or $599 price points. But for the best sound I’d recommend the Asgard with no dac card($200) and the Modi multibit($250), both in black. Sit the modi on top of the Asgard in the back corner, and connect with some decent RCA interconnects, I had a Audioquest Sydney sitting idle, and there is good synergy. The results are amazing with good files. And any of these options would be well within the budget
I’ve got the Nad cans, as well as 2 pairs of Bose, the better sounding one being the QC15($350 new). My favorite cans are the Grado SR125e, and for outside yard work I use the Koss Portapros. The Asgard sounds good with all of them. It does reveal, though, that the weaker Bose was not worth buying.
The headphones? Nad HP50, considered decent in a sea of decent cans. The headphone amp, a Schiit Audio Asgard 3. This amp is really becoming my favorite with the class A design. I bought it with the dac multibit card, but prefer the stand alone Multibit modi dac running through it. I've read that Schiit can't fit all of the circuitry of the multibit design on the small card. The Modi has it all, though.
The Nads are on the warm side, the Asgard is said to be pretty neutral, with good detail and clarity. In the current very competitive amp market, the manufacturers have been putting out better and better entry level headphone amps.
I’ve had the Schiit Magni 3, and the Vali 2. The Vali 2 with modi multibit was delicious(sold it when I upgraded to the Asgard). Gorgeous sound for the money. But I never heard this finer detail with this set up that I described above. I have great respect for the Vali 2, but the Asgard 3 is a superior amp, definitely getting into higher end stuff.
Schiit Audio is really making some great sounding gear. For a one box solution, the Asgard or Jotunheim can each be ordered with their dac multibit card for a price of $399 or $599 price points. But for the best sound I’d recommend the Asgard with no dac card($200) and the Modi multibit($250), both in black. Sit the modi on top of the Asgard in the back corner, and connect with some decent RCA interconnects, I had a Audioquest Sydney sitting idle, and there is good synergy. The results are amazing with good files. And any of these options would be well within the budget
I’ve got the Nad cans, as well as 2 pairs of Bose, the better sounding one being the QC15($350 new). My favorite cans are the Grado SR125e, and for outside yard work I use the Koss Portapros. The Asgard sounds good with all of them. It does reveal, though, that the weaker Bose was not worth buying.