[2bxfile]

Hello:
I'm looking to buy a Mimby and at the same time was looking at the Singxer F-1 or SU-1  (which is a stand alone DDC) to accompany it.  I will be having a laptop starting off my chain with USB to F-1 or SU-1 to Mimby to integrated.  Below is a piece of "project86's" (a poster here at Head-Fi) review of the Singxer SU-1. 
What I wanted to ask you all, is after reading the below, would a Schiit Multibit DAC be a good candidate for this DDC piece of kit?  Would it marry well given the below points?
 
So far, so good right? The Singxer SU-1 is a killer value with superb sound quality. Should everyone rush to place their order? Not quite.  As with all other DDCs, it really depends on your DAC. The main problem as I see it is with the SPDIF implementation. All the fancy digital to digital conversion in the world won't do you much good when passed through a CS8416 DIR with its high intrinsic jitter. Which means some DACs just aren't good candidates for this type of improvement. Also, some DACs (the Anedio D2 for example) essentially have an internal DDC where all signals end up taking the same path, while others pass USB data directly to the DAC. Meaning potentially a shorter and more pure signal path compared to even the finest DDC. Do you know what your DAC does and what that translates to in terms of upgrade potential with a DDC? If not, you might want to find out before making a purchase. Granted a $399 device like the SU-1 is a smaller risk than a nearly $2K Alpha USB, but it's still good to be well informed before spending any amount of money.
 
 Thanks so much fellas for any help you can offer
 

 

[Defiant00]

  Hello:
I'm looking to buy a Mimby and at the same time was looking at the Singxer F-1 or SU-1  (which is a stand alone DDC) to accompany it.  I will be having a laptop starting off my chain with USB to F-1 or SU-1 to Mimby to integrated.  Below is a piece of "project86's" (a poster here at Head-Fi) review of the Singxer SU-1. 
What I wanted to ask you all, is after reading the below, would a Schiit Multibit DAC be a good candidate for this DDC piece of kit?  Would it marry well given the below points?
 
So far, so good right? The Singxer SU-1 is a killer value with superb sound quality. Should everyone rush to place their order? Not quite.  As with all other DDCs, it really depends on your DAC. The main problem as I see it is with the SPDIF implementation. All the fancy digital to digital conversion in the world won't do you much good when passed through a CS8416 DIR with its high intrinsic jitter. Which means some DACs just aren't good candidates for this type of improvement. Also, some DACs (the Anedio D2 for example) essentially have an internal DDC where all signals end up taking the same path, while others pass USB data directly to the DAC. Meaning potentially a shorter and more pure signal path compared to even the finest DDC. Do you know what your DAC does and what that translates to in terms of upgrade potential with a DDC? If not, you might want to find out before making a purchase. Granted a $399 device like the SU-1 is a smaller risk than a nearly $2K Alpha USB, but it's still good to be well informed before spending any amount of money.
 
 Thanks so much fellas for any help you can offer
 

 
Any reason you don't just go for the Mimby first and see what you think of it with the built-in USB for a while? That way, if you decide to try one of these DDCs later, you'll have a better point of reference to compare it to.
 
Personally I find Schiit's USB implementation sounds fine. I can believe a different DDC might sound different/better, but for more than the cost of the DAC itself, to me that seems a bit out of order on amount of money spent. Still, it's your money, so if that's what makes you happy then go for it

 

[caenlenfromOCN]

   
Any reason you don't just go for the Mimby first and see what you think of it with the built-in USB for a while? That way, if you decide to try one of these DDCs later, you'll have a better point of reference to compare it to.
 
Personally I find Schiit's USB implementation sounds fine. I can believe a different DDC might sound different/better, but for more than the cost of the DAC itself, to me that seems a bit out of order on amount of money spent. Still, it's your money, so if that's what makes you happy then go for it

 
I can use USB or TOSLINK with my Mimby, since my PC motherboard accepts both, which would you recommend I use if I am just using Spotify Premium for my music?

 

[Defiant00]

 
I can use USB or TOSLINK with my Mimby, since my PC motherboard accepts both, which would you recommend I use if I am just using Spotify Premium for my music?

 
TOSLINK is electrically isolated, but has theoretically higher jitter. If you get static / computer noise over USB then that would probably fix that specific issue. Personally, I've never heard any difference between TOSLINK and USB with my Bifrost, but I know some others have reported preferring TOSLINK.
 
Outside of that, it probably depends on your computer and a variety of other factors (power quality, ground loops, etc). If you've got both cable types lying around I'd just give both a try, it's certainly possible your ears are better than mine.
 
Also, just as an aside, but regardless of source (Spotify, 128kbps mp3s, whatever), I'd say you should pick whichever input sounds better to you.

 

[2bxfile]

   
Any reason you don't just go for the Mimby first and see what you think of it with the built-in USB for a while? That way, if you decide to try one of these DDCs later, you'll have a better point of reference to compare it to.
 
Personally I find Schiit's USB implementation sounds fine. I can believe a different DDC might sound different/better, but for more than the cost of the DAC itself, to me that seems a bit out of order on amount of money spent. Still, it's your money, so if that's what makes you happy then go for it

Since I was interested in the SU-1, I wanted to find out if the Mimby was compatible before I purchased said Mimby so that if I wanted to incorporate the Singxer later, I would know that it would marry well.

 

[caenlenfromOCN]

Do I plug my powered studio monitor speakers into my Mimby directly, or do I plug them into my Gustard H10 amp? 

 

[franzdom]

Directly is good, or if there is a preamp out or line out you could use that. I go DAC > Sys >powered speakers with Sys also getting a phono input.

 

[caenlenfromOCN]

Thanks, I will do directly  What is a phono, and why do I need one?

 

[franzdom]

It's a phonograph or record player indicating I am either a hipster or an old codger. You don't need one.
I was merely trying to indicate why I needed a switch between DAC & speakers.
My DAC & phono preamp also go directly to the HP amp which has it's own input switch.

 

[Defiant00]

  Since I was interested in the SU-1, I wanted to find out if the Mimby was compatible before I purchased said Mimby so that if I wanted to incorporate the Singxer later, I would know that it would marry well.

 
Well, I hope you don't think I was trying to stop you from asking, as that's exactly what the forum is for. I kind of doubt you'll get much response, since it's unlikely many here are pairing a $250 DAC with a $400 DDC, but I'll step out now as I haven't heard the Singxer.
 
If you do go that route, I'm sure many here would be interested in your impressions.

 

[caenlenfromOCN]

  It's a phonograph or record player indicating I am either a hipster or an old codger. You don't need one.
I was merely trying to indicate why I needed a switch between DAC & speakers.
My DAC & phono preamp also go directly to the HP amp which has it's own input switch.

 
Oh I see, yeah I don't need that at all, though to be fair I think that would be neat to own a record player someday.

 

[2bxfile]

   
Well, I hope you don't think I was trying to stop you from asking, as that's exactly what the forum is for. I kind of doubt you'll get much response, since it's unlikely many here are pairing a $250 DAC with a $400 DDC, but I'll step out now as I haven't heard the Singxer.
 
If you do go that route, I'm sure many here would be interested in your impressions.

Thanks Defiant

 

[fenstr]

This year I purchased a pair of HD598's, a Ragnarok amp, the Elac unifi UB5 speakers, and a modi multibit dac. My purchase of the Mimby was largely due to reviews such as those in this forum so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

I've left the Mimby switched on since I got it - the sound quality got better and better over the first 2-3 days.

Previous to the Mimby>Ragnarok I'd been using the PS Audio sprout. The easiest way for me to compare the 2 setups is to say that the Mimby>Ragnarok>HD598 combo made the PS Audio sprout>HD598 setup sound like a low quality mp3 version of music. Having said that, the PS Audio sprout really is amazing value for money and a significantly cheaper setup. But the Mimby>Ragnarok blows it out of the water and is worth the investment.

When I purchased my Ragnarok amp I got to test it on what I'd consider to be a fairly top of the line setup - Yggdrasil > Ragnarok > HD800S using balanced cables. This gave me a benchmark for the best quality audio I've ever heard.

I've since upgraded my standard HD598 cable for a balanced cable to utilise the balanced output on the Ragnarok and I think it was well worth it.

So how does Mimby>Ragnarok>HD598 stack up against Yggdrasil>Ragnarok>HD800S? Firstly the HD800S made my HD598 headphones look like a cheap toy, and I love my HD598's. However, I'm blown away by just how good the Mimby>Rag>Hd598 sounds - it sounds so AMAZING that I've concluded that for me personally, the jump in quality and price when you substitute Yggi for Mimby and HD800S for HD598 simply is not worth it at this point in time. For thousands of dollars more you can reach that higher level but the value for money of the Modi Multibit and HD598's is, in my honest opinion, absolutely incredible. The high level of detail, wide soundstage, separation of instruments, lovely sounding bass and natural sounding instruments is simply captivating.

I'm pretty sure the key to my setup is that I invested in the Ragnarok and it is perfect for powering both my headphones and speakers.

So to conclude I think that the Mimby, Ragnarok and HD598's are great value for money and I'm very happy with my purchases.

 

[senorx12562]

Thanks, I will do directly  What is a phono, and why do I need one?

Not to be critical of you as you just didn't know, but anyone so inclined can just shoot me now, as i've clearly outlived my usefulness.

 

[Tuneslover]

This year I purchased a pair of HD598's, a Ragnarok amp, the Elac unifi UB5 speakers, and a modi multibit dac. My purchase of the Mimby was largely due to reviews such as those in this forum so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

I've left the Mimby switched on since I got it - the sound quality got better and better over the first 2-3 days.

Previous to the Mimby>Ragnarok I'd been using the PS Audio sprout. The easiest way for me to compare the 2 setups is to say that the Mimby>Ragnarok>HD598 combo made the PS Audio sprout>HD598 setup sound like a low quality mp3 version of music. Having said that, the PS Audio sprout really is amazing value for money and a significantly cheaper setup. But the Mimby>Ragnarok blows it out of the water and is worth the investment.

When I purchased my Ragnarok amp I got to test it on what I'd consider to be a fairly top of the line setup - Yggdrasil > Ragnarok > HD800S using balanced cables. This gave me a benchmark for the best quality audio I've ever heard.

I've since upgraded my standard HD598 cable for a balanced cable to utilise the balanced output on the Ragnarok and I think it was well worth it.

So how does Mimby>Ragnarok>HD598 stack up against Yggdrasil>Ragnarok>HD800S? Firstly the HD800S made my HD598 headphones look like a cheap toy, and I love my HD598's. However, I'm blown away by just how good the Mimby>Rag>Hd598 sounds - it sounds so AMAZING that I've concluded that for me personally, the jump in quality and price when you substitute Yggi for Mimby and HD800S for HD598 simply is not worth it at this point in time. For thousands of dollars more you can reach that higher level but the value for money of the Modi Multibit and HD598's is, in my honest opinion, absolutely incredible. The high level of detail, wide soundstage, separation of instruments, lovely sounding bass and natural sounding instruments is simply captivating.

I'm pretty sure the key to my setup is that I invested in the Ragnarok and it is perfect for powering both my headphones and speakers.

So to conclude I think that the Mimby, Ragnarok and HD598's are great value for money and I'm very happy with my purchases.

Great that you're enjoying your rig. I too have the Mimby and 598's but I'm currently amping with the Lake People G109S. A very good sounding combo. I also love using the Beyerdynamics DT1350 with this setup.