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Schiit Gungnir DAC - Page 65

post #961 of 1056
3/17/13 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxper View Post

And to add. Jason has said: He doesn't think there's much difference in sound w/ new boards.

BUT!

He also says the new USB boards shipping with 24/176 capability do sound better.


So....


Haha.

The original USB board did not work with 176.4kHz resolution. Any of the other common resolutions including 192kHz, yes. The board I now have (version 1.20, if I remember correctly from looking at the board when I installed it) does take 176.4kHz input, and I do have the general impression the new one sounds better. I can't be certain, because I sent in the old one and there was a gap of a few days before I installed the new one.
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post #962 of 1056
3/17/13 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judmarc View Post


The original USB board did not work with 176.4kHz resolution. Any of the other common resolutions including 192kHz, yes. The board I now have (version 1.20, if I remember correctly from looking at the board when I installed it) does take 176.4kHz input, and I do have the general impression the new one sounds better. I can't be certain, because I sent in the old one and there was a gap of a few days before I installed the new one.

Oh no, I wasn't debating the capability.

 

I have a very early production unit as well, however it's non USB,

so not a cause for worry, personally.

 

I do find it curious that the newer boards sound better, all things being so subjective

I'm betting it's hard to really nail down the "truth" without DBT.

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post #963 of 1056
3/17/13 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxper View Post

Oh no, I wasn't debating the capability.

I have a very early production unit as well, however it's non USB,
so not a cause for worry, personally.

I do find it curious that the newer boards sound better, all things being so subjective
I'm betting it's hard to really nail down the "truth" without DBT.

Yep, the mention of 176.4 was regarding an earlier comment in the thread rather than yours - apologies for the confusion. I think even DBT has its problems, so I'll leave aside any claims to any sort of objective truth, and just say I'm really enjoying the music. :-)
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post #964 of 1056
3/17/13 at 5:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judmarc View Post


Yep, the mention of 176.4 was regarding an earlier comment in the thread rather than yours - apologies for the confusion. I think even DBT has its problems, so I'll leave aside any claims to any sort of objective truth, and just say I'm really enjoying the music. :-)

No problem. I also agree with you on DBT. Furthermore, I am too lazy and not a purist science

lover to even bother with DBT. If it sounds good, cool. If you find it better than x, cool, too.

 

No reason to inject objectivity into such a subjective experience anyways, methinks.


Edited by paradoxper - 3/17/13 at 5:21pm
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post #965 of 1056
3/17/13 at 8:05pm
For anyone interested, here's a review of the Gungnir in comparison to the new X-Sabre and vaunted PWD2: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0ArbLaKZd_-FsdGpvaWxoV2NtaEZYaWQ1ZHZsWkZtWUE#gid=0
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post #966 of 1056
3/18/13 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judmarc View Post

 

Actually a USB-to-SPDIF converter is a very good example of where digital, unlike analog (e.g., vinyl) can be improved.  Converters allow signals into an SPDIF input to be de-jittered less expensively than trying to do it running a Toslink out of a typical Mac, for instance, direct to the DAC.  (A decent converter will provide jitter specs from a couple hundred picoseconds to much lower, while many Mac optical outputs have jitter in the nanosecond range, i.e., 1000 picoseconds or above).  If your optical signal is lower jitter than Mac hardware tends to be, different story.

 

Jitter of course is not the only piece of this.  There's electrical noise, where Toslink is obviously superior to coax and USB, and bandwidth, where the reverse is true.  (That's one reason you often see Toslink limited to 24/96 resolution, and one reason why when Mike Moffat designed an optical connection for Theta it wasn't Toslink.)

 

 

Yup, agreed.  I'm just a serious fan of KISS (Keep it Simple/Stupid) when it comes to Engineering.  And with a decent cable of short length no reason to limit Toslink to 96khz.  The bandwidth on optical *should* be better than coax unless you design for crappy plastic fiber and visible light - aka Toslink.
I shipped both my USB boards back today (Bifrost and Gungnir) and was asking (and have asked many others) about what model of Mac Pro (deskside) will support S/PDIF at any speed (or build a "Hackintosh" with generic x86-64 HW with high quality S/PDIF).  Jason's response is that with the new USB board I might not need to worry about S/PDIF anymore .. This as opposed to comments he made many months ago (and I paraphrase) that all USB suck compared to S/PDIF and ours is just better than most ..    :-)
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post #967 of 1056
3/18/13 at 1:13pm

are the usb boards something i can put in myself? i have a non usb version and may want to add it. is it tough to do?

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post #968 of 1056
3/18/13 at 1:38pm

The party line is that: "there are no user serviceable parts inside."  The company (Schiit) is held accountable in case the executor of your estate decides to sue them after you open the case whilst still plugged in while taking a shower.  

I'm sure you can send it back and have it added although it's not at all difficult.  In my case I left a $20 bill under the units at night, to wake up and find the USB boards in anti-static bags.  The Electrician Fairy (a cousin of the Tooth Fairy) takes care of these jobs for me ..   ;-)

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post #969 of 1056
3/19/13 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankty View Post

The party line is that: "there are no user serviceable parts inside."  The company (Schiit) is held accountable in case the executor of your estate decides to sue them after you open the case whilst still plugged in while taking a shower.  
I'm sure you can send it back and have it added although it's not at all difficult.  In my case I left a $20 bill under the units at night, to wake up and find the USB boards in anti-static bags.  The Electrician Fairy (a cousin of the Tooth Fairy) takes care of these jobs for me ..   ;-)

I had the impression from somewhere that the boards were something customers could install on their own, unlike, for example, individual components (other than tubes). Installing a new USB board is not difficult. Just use due care in getting the contacts seated properly and in removing and refastening the approximately 300 screws. ;-)
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post #970 of 1056
3/19/13 at 6:10am

Trying to get a new board in Aus... taking fkn ages. Mine screeches and drops in out and through USB (pauses the music really really annoying)

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post #971 of 1056
3/20/13 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smileallways View Post

Hi DAC gurus,

   Does anybody have experience with Mobile Fidelity V-Link II vs Yulong U18 using with Gungnir? I am interested in hearing  opinions about this.

 

I had the Yulong U18 - I returned it and got my money back..eek.gif

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post #972 of 1056
3/20/13 at 11:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Questhate View Post

For anyone interested, here's a review of the Gungnir in comparison to the new X-Sabre and vaunted PWD2: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0ArbLaKZd_-FsdGpvaWxoV2NtaEZYaWQ1ZHZsWkZtWUE#gid=0

This really discouraged me as I really like fine detail and he said the Gungnir is week in that area. Just got one in today and gotta say fresh out the box it sounds great, but this is my first source upgrade coming from a Wadia 16 CD player.

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post #973 of 1056
3/21/13 at 12:32am
^ you need to understand how purrin reviews, and what aspects he and anaxilus have come to focus on over many years. A clarification purrin made about this review: "DACs are a very personal thing", something I strongly agree with. He added that the gungnir has grown on him the more he's listened, not something he's experienced with certain others.

If gungnir sounds great to you, take this as a terrific starting point with the bar already set higher than many other dacs.
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post #974 of 1056
3/21/13 at 1:02am

Right, the Gungnir is plenty detailed. It's all about relative context and the level of the competition, and the Gungnir reportedly reaches well above its price class. Slight differences in things like background detail become magnified in comparisons like this, but the Gungnir holds its own when put up against more expensive units.


Edited by grokit - 3/21/13 at 1:03am
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post #975 of 1056
3/21/13 at 1:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by grokit View Post

but the Gungnir holds its own when put up against more expensive units.
Except when it doesn't, or even against cheaper units. wink_face.gif
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