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Schiit Mjolnir headphone amplifier - Page 173

post #2581 of 2641
3/9/13 at 4:34pm

At the price point of the Gungir, is it the hands down way to go to pair with the Mjolnir? The Yulong D18 seems like a fine fit. Are there already comments on this comparison (Gungnir vs. D18) in this monster thread?

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post #2582 of 2641
3/9/13 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Girls Generation View Post

Nah, It'd be too awkward since LCD3 is already 2000, nobody will get the LCD3 since at that price people will just pay up $500 more for the shiny new toy. They'd be overlapping the LCD3 market. LCD2 - $995, LCD2 closed - $1195, LCD3 - $1695, LCD3 closed back - $1945, LCD4 - $2495. ??? Whatever, not expecting anything from Audez'e at this point.

 

Looking forward to getting the HD800 and hearing it on the Mjo/Gung. I'm genuinely worried that I might like HD800 better and sell the Audezes...

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxper View Post

Join the eat crow club....

 

I still prefer the LCD-3s over the HD800s. Not by a huge margin, but enough for them to be my #2 go to headphone. smile.gif

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by elwappo99 View Post

 

*rolls eyes* You mean a new flagship every few months. I gave up trying to keep track of all the different model numbers let alone sonic differences. 

Exactly. Hard to keep up. I can't track their product listings either.

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post #2583 of 2641
3/10/13 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dermott View Post

At the price point of the Gungir, is it the hands down way to go to pair with the Mjolnir? The Yulong D18 seems like a fine fit. Are there already comments on this comparison (Gungnir vs. D18) in this monster thread?
I'm not sure if there's been a comparison of the two or not. However, I do have the D18 paired with the Mjolnir and they are amazing together. Comparing the 2 DACs in general, I believe alot more care in component selection for quality (not to keep cost down) went into the D18. There's also a few other things Yulong took in his approach that is harder to implement for sake of quality sound. The D18 will have lower jitter than the Gungnir too, since he uses the Sabre DACs own SPDIF input. Gungnir uses a seperate clocking system, which allows for a lower quality/jittery signal to lock onto. The downside of the D18 is that it has no USB, and you need a good SPDIF signal. The downside of the Gungnir is higher jitter and less focus on quality vs keeping costs down. Yulong made the decision to keep USB out of the D18 since theres a plethora of competent USB/SPDIF converters available and was able to put that savings into component selection. One look inside the Gungnir vs. D18 tells you that the D18 is a clear winner. That said, if you absolutely must have USB, go with Gungnir. Otherwise, spend savings of the D18 for a USB/SPDIF converter resulting in the same thing, but most likely resulting in a higher quality signal.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the D18 runs NOS all through 24/192, not sure if Gungnir does the same or not.
Edited by brunk - 3/10/13 at 7:11am
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post #2584 of 2641
3/10/13 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle00Jesse View Post

I found that the mjolnir is best only in balanced mode. When I had the bifrost, I don't think it did my mjolnir justice. It didnt sound any better than connected to the lyr. When I got the gungnir and went balanced, I heard the amp's full potential. 
I wouldn't say it's better balanced but rather the gungnir is the better dac
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post #2585 of 2641
3/10/13 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brunk View Post


I'm not sure if there's been a comparison of the two or not. However, I do have the D18 paired with the Mjolnir and they are amazing together. Comparing the 2 DACs in general, I believe alot more care in component selection for quality (not to keep cost down) went into the D18. There's also a few other things Yulong took in his approach that is harder to implement for sake of quality sound. The D18 will have lower jitter than the Gungnir too, since he uses the Sabre DACs own SPDIF input. Gungnir uses a seperate clocking system, which allows for a lower quality/jittery signal to lock onto. The downside of the D18 is that it has no USB, and you need a good SPDIF signal. The downside of the Gungnir is higher jitter and less focus on quality vs keeping costs down. Yulong made the decision to keep USB out of the D18 since theres a plethora of competent USB/SPDIF converters available and was able to put that savings into component selection. One look inside the Gungnir vs. D18 tells you that the D18 is a clear winner. That said, if you absolutely must have USB, go with Gungnir. Otherwise, spend savings of the D18 for a USB/SPDIF converter resulting in the same thing, but most likely resulting in a higher quality signal.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the D18 runs NOS all through 24/192, not sure if Gungnir does the same or not.

Thanks for this. Yeah, I am not really concerned or have need for the USB. I was thinking more about the sound signature to compliment the Mjolnir (to smooth things out a bit). It appears the common opinion is that the Mjolnir is less romantic and more detail driven, so something like the D18 might land the stack's overall signature in the sweet spot for both fatigue free listening along with no compromises on detail retrieval. Thinking about D18 > Mjolnir > HE-500.

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post #2586 of 2641
3/10/13 at 1:29pm

 

 

Mjolnir as speaker amp.

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post #2587 of 2641
3/10/13 at 2:22pm

Looking good with the DIY speakers, Purrin! How do they sound with the Mjolnir?

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post #2588 of 2641
3/10/13 at 3:10pm

What's on the bottom shelf, Purrin?

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post #2589 of 2641
3/10/13 at 3:15pm
speaker amp and a power conditioner iirc.
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post #2590 of 2641
3/10/13 at 3:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxvla View Post

speaker amp and a power conditioner iirc.

Smart-ass.wink.gif I ment specifically what.

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post #2591 of 2641
3/10/13 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by longbowbbs View Post

Looking good with the DIY speakers, Purrin! How do they sound with the Mjolnir?

 

It actually sounds really good. Good bass control, extended highs (for a wide-range speaker), lots of plankton, and a very involving listen.

 

I initially had the Mjolnir has a pre-amp feeding the Crest CA-2. After I confirmed with Jason that the Mjolnir wouldn't melt with a 8+ ohm load (the Fostex drivers), I wanted to give it a shot. Naturally, it sounds much better straight out of the Molnir than the Crest - less crap in the way. Plenty of juice and sufficient gain considering the speakers are 93-94db efficient.

 

The silver thing on the bottom is a cheap Belkin power strip / conditioner. I think of it as a fancy power strip which turns on the equipment in the right order.

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post #2592 of 2641
3/10/13 at 9:15pm

Wow if the Mjonlir sounds good with the BK16 without the Crest, I'm putting in the order for it now. :)

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post #2593 of 2641
3/11/13 at 12:16am

The Mjolnir sounds way better than the Crest. The CA-2 maybe has a hair bit more apparent bass extension and control, but we are splitting hairs - talking about 2-3%. (For reference, the EC Super 7 with the BK-16 kit had wooly bass. Too much so for my tastes.) The CA-2 output is rather dead and lifeless, even though it's got gobs of power, compared to the Mjolnir. It's all about microdynamics and plankton for me which keeps things involving. I did think the CA-2 sounded pretty good - that is until I got the crazy idea to run the speakers from the headphone jacks of the Mjolnir. The Mjolnir hasn't blown up yet and it doesn't seem too hot either.

 

I am using EQ (JRiver with EasyQ plug-in) for the Fostex kit BTW - based on measurements at the listening position.

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post #2594 of 2641
3/11/13 at 2:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by purrin View Post




Mjolnir as speaker amp.
Nice setup smily_headphones1.gif i have some yamaha HS80M studio monitors hooked to my mjolnir. Thanks again schiit for the pre outs.
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post #2595 of 2641
3/19/13 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Stoddard View Post

 

Faint praise. It's higher bias than the 300W Stereophile Recommended Components (B-Class) speaker amps I used to design.

 

Name me something else near the price anywhere near that level. There's nothing out there. Name me something else near the price with a circlotron-style topology. There's nothing out there. Mjolnir doesn't have to apologize to anyone. When I said all of our new products would be "one and only," that's exactly what I meant. 

 

Sorry to sound a little testy, we have to re-set perceptions. We don't operate on a "what can you sell it for, with plenty of margins for dealers thrown in" basis. We operate on a "what can we build it for in the USA while paying our people a decent wage, and what's the lowest price we can sell it for and still run a stable, long-term business with great customer service," basis. We're not traditional boutique audio, and we're not DIY. 

 

Of course, it could still sound like crap. But I'm pretty confident that's not what the reviews will say.

 

And this is why I chose to buy a Mjolnir! At some point I think American consumers are going to have to re-calibrate how they think and act with respect to their spending habits. A superior product with regards to innovation technically and beyond competitive in price, while helping build business and employment in the states, well it's about time to start supporting businesses like this one if at all possible.

 

That's some good Schiit right there eh?  ;0)

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