AudioAficionado.org - Schiit Asgard 2

Once again I felt compelled to share my impressions with another Schiit product. :D

Earlier today another package arrived from Schiit Audio. This is quickly becoming a habit but there are much worse habits to have. At these prices I don't mind playing around and it's actually good for my health (at least mental)...:D

The contents of the Schiit Box contained the Asgard 2 Headphone amp.

As some may have noticed, Norse Mythology is the theme for Schiit naming their products. So Asgard 2 it is.

What is Asgard in Norse Mythology?

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Asgard is the mythological city, an enclosure if you will, of the fortress of one of the tribes of the Gods, the Aesir. Located in the heavens, it is one of the Nine Worlds.

The -gard element in Asgard’s name is a reference to the ancient Germanic concept of the distinction between the innangard and utangard. That which is innangard (“inside the fence”) is orderly, law-abiding, and civilized, while that which is utangard (“beyond the fence”) is chaotic, anarchic, and wild.
This applies both to the geographical plane and the human psyche; thoughts and actions can be innangard or utangard just as readily as spatial locations. Asgard is the ultimate model of the innangard, while Jotunheim, the “Homeland of the Giants,” is the epitome of the utangard.

Bitfrost by the way, (one of the DAC offerings from Schiit) is the bridge that connects "Asgard", city of the Gods and "Midgard", the world of humanity, by the rainbow bridge "Bifrost". Another appropriate name. Have to admire Schiit team's creativity for naming their products. :yes:

Having got that out of the way, the "Asgard 2" headphone amplifier is appropriately named and I will expand on that topic some more at the end of this "Initial Impression"

Once again, the sturdy box protected the Asgard 2 from the journey in the hands of the FedEx "Utenguards". the Giants that are often destructive. There was a nice size hole punched through the side of the sturdy box, so one of the Utangardian FedEx employees must have tried to crush the Asgard amp but fortunately DID NOT SUCCEED. The Asgard was safe and sound inside the protective foam insert cage. :thumbsup:

Unpacking the Asgard and setting it atop my Salamander rack, AKA, the "Schiit Rack" it was nice of Schiit to have thought this through. Asgard comes with little rubber stick on feet that are separate in the box so one can decide to place the Asgard in a horizontal or vertical position to conserve space on their desk where it would likely be used and then apply the little feet. :thumbsup: I chose the vertical position as my MacBook Pro shares the upper shelf. See pictures attached.

Without further delay, I plumbed the Asgard with my tried and true Blujeans RCA cables which are well constructed, sonically neutral and inexpensive and have served me well in certain applications over the past 8 years. Keeping it real, the way most would probably use this product, No expensive cabling was used here for a $249 Headphone amp. :no:

The stock power cord (oh the horror! :D) was plugged into my tried and true Richard Grey RGPC 600 power conditioner/surge suppressor. The RGPC 600 powers my audio gear while the little brother RGPC 400 is used on all the computer and other electrical "stuff" to isolate them from each other.

My MacBook Pro, using the optical tosslink and OPPO 83, using coax S/PDIF and used as a transport, provided the musical bits to the outstanding Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC, aka "Gumby". Gumby was providing the low level signal that was in turn amplified by the preamp/amp section of the subject of this mini-review/initial impression, Asgard 2.

Would be appropriate to mention what Asgard 2 is.

Straight from Schiit Audio website:

"Asgard 2 is the next generation of one of the most popular headphone amps in the world, boasting higher performance and convenience features such as switchable gain and preamp outputs. It’s a versatile control center for your desktop system, ideal for most headphones from IEMs to orthos, and with pre outs for powered desktop speakers.

Significantly Improved Performance

We used what we learned in Mjolnir to significantly improve Asgard 2’s performance. A high-voltage, cascoded JFET gain stage feeds a high-current Class A MOSFET output section.

The 80V rails on the gain stage allow us to reduce distortion, while retaining Asgard’s no-overall-feedback design in high-gain mode.

Additional Versatility: From IEMs to Orthos to Active Monitors
Asgard 2 offers two gain settings. The low-gain mode is perfect for high-sensitivity IEMs, while the high-gain mode is ideal for most other headphones, up to and including many orthodynamics.

In addition, the preamp outputs can easily be connected to powered speakers, for a complete desktop system"

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I was really looking forward to auditioning the Asgard 2 in my home with my headphones. No better place As Schiit Audio website suggests:

"Try Asgard 2 in your own house for 15 days. If you don’t like it, simply send it back for a refund, minus a 5% transaction fee. Try spending 15 days in an audio store. They’ll kick you out. Unless you buy them donuts. Maybe." :D

I am a big fan of Class A and MOSFETS. To my ears, this topology just sounds RIGHT! Musical, smooth, rich and ultimately very enjoyable. Is it the best topology for all? Is there such a thing in AUDIO that something is universally accepted as the standard or BEST? My ears are my ears, your ears are yours and we have our taste in music and SOUND. It just so happens that my ears seem to agree with Class A and MOSFETS. :music: Left side of the brain agrees with my ears. Right side is happy this was a $249 purchase. :D

The 80V rails on the gain stage that allowed Schiit Audio to reduce distortion, while retaining Asgard’s no-overall-feedback design in high-gain mode, should make my Sennheiser HD600 300 ohm impedance headphones happy! So of course my trusty, musical, warm, rich sounding headphones were first in line to insert their eager 1/4 plug into the Asgard "musical pleasure jack". Nice to meet you! :tiphat:

Even though Asgard 2 was stone cold off the FedEx truck, no later than 10 minutes it was already plugged in, powered up and ready to please. I cued up a few tracks just to warm things up a bit and put my HD600 on my head.

Right away I smiled because even cold and not broken in, the Asgard 2 impressed me with it's relaxed, smooth, musical presentation. After cuing up a few tracks to get a feel for what the HD600 would prefer, I settled on no feedback high gain for these 300 ohm headphones.

The Asgard 2 easily drives the HD600 to a very dynamic and lively level and beyond where one starts to worry about doing damage to their hearing, not that I ever abuse my ears with levels like that. Point being, the Asgard 2 has plenty of power on tap to bring out the dynamics of the HD600 which are not very efficient and present a rather tough load of 300 ohms for portable headphone amps.

After spending a few hours this afternoon listening a variety of music and genres, a bit of Jazz, a bit of Blues, a bit of the typical audiophile favorites like Diana Krall, Patricia Barber, Katie Melua, etc.. etc.. I threw in some Classical Rock, some Reggae and felt I got a pretty good impression of Asgard 2.

Switching to Focal Elear and even throwing the Utopia into the mix, although headphones such as the $4K Utopia will typically not be partnered with a $249 headpone amp! Switching back and forth between my current reference Bryston BHA-1 headpone amp, revealed some rather impressive sonic traits of the Asgard 2 to me.

Asgard 2 impressed me the most with it's smooth and natural Class A MOSFET sonic signature, digging rather deep if not to the absolute bottom to bring out the bottom octaves out of the HD600, Elear and Utopia and doing it quite nicely without running out of steam, bloating or loosing grip, seduced me with silky smooth and engaging mids and very pleasant, natural sounding highs with no trace of hardness of notes anywhere in a typical Class A fashion.

I found the midrange to be the particular strength of Asgard 2, rich, smooth, seductive. The Asgard to my ears is very close to the Bryston BHA-1 which in itself is a well designed Class A headphone amp, typical of Bryston build quality. I did not expect classy tubey sound such as the BROCKSIEPER EARMAX that I used to listen to for years on my HD600 but was pleasantly surprised the little Asgard 2 in combination with the HD600 sort of reminded me of that listening experience that could go on for hours at a time with no fatigue.

Where the tubes may round off the leading edges of the transients a bit, give you a billowy, fluffy harmonic clouds, the Asgard does not sacrifice the dynamical contrast, reproducing the transients with speed, crispness and accuracy but in a smooth, class A style. Very much to my liking. In a blind listening test one could actually think they were listening to a more neutral tube amp. Yes, that smooth. :music:

Listening to Leonard Cohen's Alexandria Leaving track for example, I was mesmerized by the uncanny ability of the Asgard to reproduce Leonard's deep, darkish, coarse voice in contrast to his silky smooth female co-singer's voice as such a congruent whole, conveying the emotional content of the song and the charm of Cohen's voice that made him so popular, in that classy, sexy, Class A fashion. I've listened to this track many times on my previous full range systems of all flavors and budgets and the Asgard impressed here as well. :yes:

I think that the Schiit Gungnir besides being a fantastic, very smooth sounding DAC synergizes with the Asgard 2 and together they bring out the very best in each other. Makes sense these products are designed and voiced to compliment each other.

In summary and this is "Initial Impressions" only, since it needs to break in some more and may perhaps bring about some sonic changes, I am impressed beyond words that at $249, Schiit can pull off such an impressive design and package. I don't know how the can do it but Bravo! :applause:

The Asgard 2 lives up to it's name as the place of "order and civility".
It just sounds so right, so musical that one can easily get lost in the music with their favorite headphones for hours on end just like I did this afternoon, and that my friends is what this audio hobby is all about. :music:

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