Yes. The 4 screw is brighter and supposedly better from a technical standpoint (faster, more detailed, etc). Many people think the 4-screw needs modding to tame the treble and bring it to its full potential. Congrats on finding a unicorn. I thought my 6 screw was a 4 screw when I bought it...

Yeah, I generally agree but I think I've tried all that. I have tried all USB ports and a different cable. I also upgraded the software drivers to the latest XMOS ones, and the DDC does not show up in the XMOS-specific device manager associated with the latest driver in windows. No. Nor is it...

I have an older USB DDC from Breeze Audio that used to work well. Pretty sure it's XMOS. I'm using it to feed an older Theta DAC that doesn't have USB. I haven't used it for a while and now I can't seem to get any playback device to recognize the DDC for audio out. I have tried two windows...

Ah, okay, this makes a little more sense. The sub-bass extension is better on the Caldera is better, but bass overall is better on the Atrium although some hear it differently. The Caldera is more detailed and has better clarity, but the Atrium is more dynamic with a more open/expansive...

Have you asked ZMF directly? No offense, but almost everyone is looking for an "immersive" headphone and either of these will sound amazing. What does the rest of your chain look like? What other headphones do you like? What do you dislike? Do you like planar dynamic headphones? Personally...

All PMs replied to, Gumby still available for now.

For sale is my Schiit Gungnir multibit DAC (A2, if you believe Schiit updated the analog boards, personally I can hear a difference) with the Gen5 USB. I am the original owner, and the house is smoke/dust free. It was mostly used in a pet free home also -- around the time we got our pup, I boxed...

So I have an old Threshold Stasis s/150 ii, purchased as per this thread. As the rest of my chain has gotten more resolving, I find myself desiring a lower noise floor. Has anyone tried the HE-6 with a Schiit Aegir?

Meh, I like it when components have dedicated purposes. Saga is an amazing SE preamp at an exceptional value. I've just heard a number of people wishing Freya had a lower noise floor, like the Saga. If you're using headphones (like the HE-6), there's no need to run Aegir as monoblocks so Saga...

So we think we've seen new analog boards for the Gungnir multibit, denoted by serial numbers starting with "B." However, Schiit has not formally, publicly acknowledged this as a new revision. So my guess is we will not see any updates besides the USB implementation for a while. However, I do...

ZMF Aeolus?

Yeah, sorry. Didn't meant to use too much jargon, but I was typing fast and that's the result, haha. Anyway, dang this DAC sounds gooood! First time I've heard the HE-6 anywhere near its potential. Do I now want a 4-screw HE-6 and First Watt amp? Yeah. But I could live with this for a while.

Interestingly, my older Breeze converter (with upgraded clocks) sounds pretty terrific. I expected the galvanic isolation of the Gen5 USB to kick its butt, but I can't really tell a difference, especially after the Breeze has had 48 hrs of warmup. Schiit custy service said to try the Wyrd, but...

Also interested in this. Just bought a Polaris cuz I found it one cheap, but still curious about the Lyr3.

Okay, so just a follow-up for anybody curious: Annoyingly the problem appears to be with my computer. The Gen5 USB works with a different machine (also a lenovo running ubuntu 16.04), at least briefly. The Gen5 USB via my machine reproduces the problem (with any usb port). Weirdly, my old...

Good points. I was using USB from my 2017 Lenovo T470s (ubuntu 16.04). No bad clock light. Both the Gumby and laptop had power cycled a few times. I haven't tried bringing the Gumby up from a cold start again, which I'll probably do before sending it in. I just decided to try my old USB...

Sadly, not within the 15 day window -- it was a birthday gift so it was out of the 15 days before I even plugged it in, and then I was pretty sure it was my vintage amp so I figured I'd try a different amp/headphones (which took a week cuz I had to buy a headphone amp), and then I was out of...

Does anybody have issues with resonance with their Gumby? I received my new Gumby (directly purchased from Schiit) about two weeks ago -- sounded great after about 48 hrs of warm up, but then I started getting this weird resonance or microphonics. It does seem pretty repeatable, and happens...

Sounds like the Beyerdynamic DT-150 to me, which can sometimes be found for cheap. I think I paid around $100 for my pair. Your problems with the "veil" on the HD598 could be amp related. Some of these cans scale pretty well and need to be driven appropriate to sound non-muddled. Consider a...

FWIW, in my experience, optical out of a sound card beats crummy USB implementation but doesn't hold a candle to good USB implementations.

True BUT there's also the whole issue of "computer audio," which is separate from the DAC itself. An upgradeable DAC makes sense to me because IME USB implementations change the sound so much and are advancing so rapidly. I don't think amp design is advancing nearly as rapidly so you can buy...

Magni3 and Lyr3 are both getting lots of love these days. Bifrost benefits from upgradeability, particularly Schiit's new USB implementation that's supposed to come out sometime next year, hopefully Q1. OTOH, Gungnir MB might be end-game for you, which I've personally found is cheaper in the...

My layman's impression is that the "value" of the Rag isn't sound quality but flexibility to run speakers or headphones. If you're willing to spend Rag kind of money, I'd be looking at a high-end tube amp since the HE1000se is super efficient and doesn't crave power (unlike the HE-6). Maybe...

HE-560 + Gustard H10 is a pretty amazing value combo with great synergy. Huge step up from the M-50x and will (should) put off upgraditis for years. But, like the poster above, I haven't heard the V2 or know what was changed about it. To improve on the HE-560 and H10, I think you'd need to spend...

Thanks for the suggestion. Can you compare the sound to the Schiit Magni3? Can you use it as an amp only? I'd like to retain the ability to use the Gumby until I graduate sometime in the next 6 months.