[Shembot]

  Multibit owners: what are you doing to improve USB and/or power coming into the DAC? Wyrd? UpTone Regen? AudioQuest JitterBug? Something else? Combo of these? All three? Buying Jitterbugs for all your unused USB ports for the USB devices in your house? 

Just Wyrd here. I don't think anyone actually has JitterBugs for sale yet? My local AQ dealer doesn't, and the sites I've bought from don't seem to.

 

[schneller]

So what does a Regen do that the Wyrd doesn't or vice versa?

 

[JorgeGVB]

So what does a Regen do that the Wyrd doesn't or vice versa?

You might find this article interesting.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-accessory-roundup-uptone-audio-usb-regen-audioquest-jitterbug-schiit-wyrd

 

[gevorg]

So what does a Regen do that the Wyrd doesn't or vice versa?

John Swenson described the differences here:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/uptone-audio-regen-22803/index16.html#post417237

 

[cskippy]

Felt like my wallet was getting too fat so I just splurged on a Gumby.  Should be here this weekend!  

 

 

[Liu Junyuan]

My upgraded Gungnir has arrived. I have used it constantly since. I can definitely the hear the filter resemblance between the Theta and the Gungnir MB, but otherwise the latter is head and shoulders above the former thus far.

I would defintely recommend the upgrade from the DS Gungnir.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Good to know. Does the 'DS' in 'Theta Digital DS Pro Progeny' mean delta-sigma or is it multi-bit?

 

[Liu Junyuan]

^ Good to know. Does the 'DS' in 'Theta Digital DS Pro Progeny' mean delta-sigma or is it multi-bit?

Good question. The Progeny uses a hybrid between multi-bit and single-bit: "a combination DAC that operated as a multi-bit DAC for the upper portion of its range and as a one bit DAC for the lower portion," according to the Theta Digital's "Legacy Product History" page, specifically employing two Burr-Brown PCM 67 DACs. Although it would seem like DS refers to delta-sigma, many of the unequivocally multibit DACs in Theta's lineup, including their Generation V flagship, feature the acronym "DS" in their names.
 
I definitely can hear the family resemblance between the MB Gungnir and the Progeny. Both are great DACs, but I'm obviously still fresh to the MB Gungnir, and it hasn't had time to fully "heat up" yet.

 

[Arnotts]

First impressions of the GMB make me think that it does absolutely nothing wrong. Treble has no glare/edge/harshness whatsoever. 
 
Has not blown me away compared to the M-DAC or X12, though. But it's only been on for a couple of hours. No time for me to really get used to it, or for it to warm up for the recommended amount of time.
 
Wyrd > GMB > Valhalla 2 (i.e. I'm not using the balanced outputs) > HD650/HD800
 
EDIT: The above setup sounds amazing with the DT250's. Yes, look at how much they cost. 

 

[sheldaze]

  First impressions of the GMB make me think that it does absolutely nothing wrong. Treble has no glare/edge/harshness whatsoever. 
 
Has not blown me away compared to the M-DAC or X12, though. But it's only been on for a couple of hours. No time for me to really get used to it, or for it to warm up for the recommended amount of time.
 
Wyrd > GMB > Valhalla 2 (i.e. I'm not using the balanced outputs) > HD650/HD800
 
EDIT: The above setup sounds amazing with the DT250's. Yes, look at how much they cost. 

I've not personally head the DT250 - do they have more air? To my ears, the upgraded sound is definitely in the air. It is the subtle stuff that happens around the instruments that makes the upgrade worthwhile. If your ears are picking up more of the air, the plucks, the sizzles, the singer's breathing, that's the best way to hear the upgrade 

 
It's also in the black space between the sounds. The sounds are so "visually" stimulating that the black space between the sounds becomes that much blacker. Like when the band, as a whole, suddenly stops, changes volume, changes pace, it is all that much more sudden and less subtle.

 

[TubemanRQ]

Hey everyone!
 
   OK, fired up the next two Gungnir Multibit upgrades I received back from Schiit yesterday. and I replaced the standard Gungnir from the midrange frequency set of drivers (544Hz to 100Hz) and played a few familiar tracks. I also plugged the other multibit upgrade into my other PC and was running a burn-in track through it, but had not hooked it up to the main system yet. So after an hour or so, I knew there was more detail, and more openness, but I thought to myself, "Well, maybe the Gungnir multibit upgrade just really shines in the treble and upper frequencies."
 
24 HOURS LATER:
 
   HOLY MOLY!!!! HOLY SCH##T!! The midrange grunt and guts just EXPLODED out of source material. The dynamic shading, especially choral pieces, like Festival te Deum from Chesky Records Ultimate Demonstration Disc. The ambient cues of the hall, the stage was SOOOOO much larger, The dynamic range was THUNDEROUS!! That piece goes from very quiet passages to LOUD, and it's not compressed!
 
 I cued up a few tracks from Fleetwood Mac, Rumours.  OHHH MYYYY! It sounded LIVE. The upper bass and lower midrange GRUNT of the piano keys striking the strings, the strumming on the guitars, and the KICKDRUM!!! It's these dynamics and the shading between soft and loud passages that pulls our heart strings. It's what you hear in a live venue, the micro and macro dynamics of REAL instruments and REAL people singing. It's ONLY been the first 24 hours!!
 
In the range from 544Hz to 100Hz, the Gungnir multibit has incredible bass weight and grunt, growl and grit! Along with lower midrange palpability, and the detail and immersion in the soundstage just followed from what I am hearing with the tweeter multibit Gungnir.
I can definitely tell that the lower bass will be much better, when I get the last two Gungnirs upgraded.
 
I am running an all-active system, so there's no passive, power-robbing crossover parts in between the speaker drivers and the amps, which in my opinion not only lowers power requirements, but gives TREMENDOUS dynamics, micro and macro, along with much more inner detail, than an equivalent speaker designed with a lot of passive crossover parts.
 
-TRQ

 

[Mediahound]

Hey everyone!

   OK, fired up the next two Gungnir Multibit upgrades I received back from Schiit yesterday. and I replaced the standard Gungnir from the midrange frequency set of drivers (544Hz to 100Hz) and played a few familiar tracks. I also plugged the other multibit upgrade into my other PC and was running a burn-in track through it, but had not hooked it up to the main system yet. So after an hour or so, I knew there was more detail, and more openness, but I thought to myself, "Well, maybe the Gungnir multibit upgrade just really shines in the treble and upper frequencies."

24 HOURS LATER:

   HOLY MOLY!!!! HOLY SCH##T!! The midrange grunt and guts just EXPLODED out of source material. The dynamic shading, especially choral pieces, like Festival te Deum from Chesky Records Ultimate Demonstration Disc. The ambient cues of the hall, the stage was SOOOOO much larger, The dynamic range was THUNDEROUS!! That piece goes from very quiet passages to LOUD, and it's not compressed!

 I cued up a few tracks from Fleetwood Mac, Rumours.  OHHH MYYYY! It sounded LIVE. The upper bass and lower midrange GRUNT of the piano keys striking the strings, the strumming on the guitars, and the KICKDRUM!!! It's these dynamics and the shading between soft and loud passages that pulls our heart strings. It's what you hear in a live venue, the micro and macro dynamics of REAL instruments and REAL people singing. It's ONLY been the first 24 hours!!

In the range from 544Hz to 100Hz, the Gungnir multibit has incredible bass weight and grunt, growl and grit! Along with lower midrange palpability, and the detail and immersion in the soundstage just followed from what I am hearing with the tweeter multibit Gungnir.
I can definitely tell that the lower bass will be much better, when I get the last two Gungnirs upgraded.

I am running an all-active system, so there's no passive, power-robbing crossover parts in between the speaker drivers and the amps, which in my opinion not only lowers power requirements, but gives TREMENDOUS dynamics, micro and macro, along with much more inner detail, than an equivalent speaker designed with a lot of passive crossover parts.

-TRQ

Can you post pictures of your system? Very curious to see what it looks like.

 

[AudioBear]

I fully concur on the benefits of active X-over systems.  I built a system around DEQx processors that was just way beyond anything I had every heard from electronics and speakers.  Passive crossovers just mess up the sound.
 
Good to hear that Gumby sounds so good when  played thru a more optimal system.  That said, I was listening to a cut on the Amber Rebarth Tales from the 17th Ward (can't remember which track) using my 1964Ears A12s straight from the LO thru a SYS and I was stunned by the impact, separation of instruments and voices and the size of the sound stage.  I don't normally think about all those audiophile terms and I just listen to th music but this just was so obvious and impressive I was stunned into paying attention to what Gumby could do.  cIEMs are not known for their sound stage but I ended up totally impressed with both the A-12s and the Schiit Gungnir.  I am loving this combo.   Don't know if not having an amp helps here.

 

[FlySweep]

  I fully concur on the benefits of active X-over systems.  I built a system around DEQx processors that was just way beyond anything I had every heard from electronics and speakers.  Passive crossovers just mess up the sound.
 
Good to hear that Gumby sounds so good when  played thru a more optimal system.  That said, I was listening to a cut on the Amber Rebarth Tales from the 17th Ward (can't remember which track) using my 1964Ears A12s straight from the LO thru a SYS and I was stunned by the impact, separation of instruments and voices and the size of the sound stage.  I don't normally think about all those audiophile terms and I just listen to th music but this just was so obvious and impressive I was stunned into paying attention to what Gumby could do.  cIEMs are not known for their sound stage but I ended up totally impressed with both the A-12s and the Schiit Gungnir.  I am loving this combo.   Don't know if not having an amp helps here.

 
This is an interesting setup.. Gumby > Sys > cIEM.  If I understand correctly, the Sys is attenuating the Gumby's line-level output (which is more than enough to power IEMs), correct?  Are there any impedance (since most cIEMs.. especially multi-driver/crossover-heavy BA-based designs that tend to have very low impedance levels in certain areas of the freq. curve) and/or noise level issues with this?

 

[schneller]

My question remains: GMB at $1250 vs. 2Qute at $1800? We're talking bare here...before the former "needs" a Wyrd/JitterBug/Regen BS...