Schiit Gungnir DAC - Page 45

This. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

The Bifrost may be a better match for the Lyr, as the Bifrost is reportedly a leaner sounding DAC and the Lyr has a warmish sound to somewhat offset that. The Gungnir > Mjolnir combo is reportedly somewhat the opposite, where the DAC has more body and the amp is fast and lean.

Has anybody actually experienced it, meaning auditioned Bifrost and Gungnir with Lyr, ideally with LCD-2?

Theoretically your suggestion makes perfect sense, but I want to be sure it works in practice like this.

Does less body in Bifrost translates to more analytical and less musical?

I am looking for an emotional response in the music, more heart - less mind:) Can it be the problem with Bifrost vs Gungnir with LCD-2?

How do they sound together in practice? Could anybody share their experience of Bifrost (or Gungnir) > Lyr > LCD2.

My humble opinion is that focusing on IC to significant change sound signature, is a dead end. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loevhagen 

My humble opinion is that focusing on IC to significant change sound signature, is a dead end. 

I think so, too. I've gone this way with my previous setup. It turned out to be quite expensive and not very effective. I am not saying that it must always be the case, but I wouldn't like to go this way after my previous experiences.

I would think if someone were willing to spend a lot of money on cables to tweak the sound, wouldn't it be much more effective to invest in a decent hardware EQ? Or perhaps a some good software EQ if the source is a computer.

I had a Bifrost/Lyr/HE500 setup and went to a Gungnir/Lyr/HE500 setup. The Gungnir has a good bit more "full bodied" sound to it than the Bifrost. Vocals are particularly lush through it compared to the Bifrost. The HE500's sound wonderful with it. Keep in mind that I have some awesome tubes in my Lyr, which definitely helps, too.

I also have a Mjolnir on it's way, but that is a few weeks off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kLevkoff 

About USB screeches.

 

First, I have a Bifrost and I've never heard it do anything like that, but I can shed some light on the subject overall.

 

When you start and stop the data stream on a computer (which happens whenever you start or stop a track, and whenever you change the sample rate), you sometimes end up with what amounts to a little bit of bad data in the computer's buffer. When the new track starts, the computer "clears its throat" and dumps this bad data. The result is a really nasty burst of not quite white noise that sounds like a click or screech. Most DACs mute this, but sometimes a little bit manages to get by. (You have to pick a mute time: if it's too short then sometimes you hear a screech; if its too long, you bite off some of the music.) I've heard similar occasional screeches or clicks with quite a few different USB DACs. I suspect that you only hear it when the particular computer and software happens to send out a longer burst than usual, or the DAC gets "caught out" and doesn't mute like it should. Of the half dozen DACs I use often, three or four of them do it - at least occasionally......

 

 

... it's a really hard to track-down issue as... it's completely random: it can happen on almost every track *that* day/session (but, at least here, never when a track starts) or never in days/weeks

my first hypothesis has been that buffering was triggering it (as *that day* it represented every 20-30 minutes) but I've been proven wrong the next time it happened: no "fixed" time interval between instances

so... :-/

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 


Are you guys running lossless files through the AE? I remember reading that it streams much better with compressed music.

lossy, lossless... whatever the original file is, it's re-enconded on the fly to ALAC 16-44.1 as AirTunes protocol only handles this

(... probably, but I'm not sure, 16-48 too. ALAC, anyway)

Burn in seems to help the gungnir in terms of soundstage. My gungnir now has a wider out of head soundstage compared to the one i tested in the headphone store. They said their gungnir didnt get much use but I have been burning in mine for the past week. Soundstage is bigger in mine ever so slightly. Listening to Gadamaylin by I Ching from the Open Your Ears Chesky album. Both times using my LCD2r1 and a Schiit Lyr

Quote:

Originally Posted by plsvn 

 

... it's a really hard to track-down issue as... it's completely random: it can happen on almost every track *that* day/session (but, at least here, never when a track starts) or never in days/weeks

 

my first hypothesis has been that buffering was triggering it (as *that day* it represented every 20-30 minutes) but I've been proven wrong the next time it happened: no "fixed" time interval between instances

 

so... :-/

FWIW, I switched from an "audiophile-grade" USB cable to a generic, cheap one. This was at Jason's suggestion. It's been a couple of weeks, and—knock wood—no screeching so far.

I don't believe that the cable is the root cause, since I'd been using it for months with my previous DAC without any issues. It must be in the way the Gungnir interfaces with it. One possibility is mechanical: first cable is much heavier which puts more stress on the input. Don't know. If/when screech re-appears, I'll post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwelles 

FWIW, I switched from an "audiophile-grade" USB cable to a generic, cheap one. This was at Jason's suggestion. It's been a couple of weeks, and—knock wood—no screeching so far.

 

I don't believe that the cable is the root cause, since I'd been using it for months with my previous DAC without any issues. It must be in the way the Gungnir interfaces with it. One possibility is mechanical: first cable is much heavier which puts more stress on the input. Don't know. If/when screech re-appears, I'll post.

... following Jason's advice, I switched too from a Wireworld Ultraviolet to an USB cable *with* ferrite filters on both ends

(... but, please, don't tell him it's the Kimber USB. I swear: it's the only *short* cable with ferrites on both ends I could find ;-p )

so far (10 days since)... it still happens but a) less frequently and b) with less instances, when it happens, in the same session/day

but when it happens, each "screeech" seems to lasts longer (30 sec versus 10-15 with the old cable)