Seriously considering getting the Gumby. Post your impressions!
Honestly, my impressions may be a bit distorted for you because you have an Oppa HA-1, something already leagues above my best option prior till the gungnir. One of the things I will say is this. All my headphones I own currently I heard at meets before buying them myself and their equipment they were displayed on (besides the HD650, I heard that on my set up prior to owning a Lyr 2), That equipment I heard them on was usually leagues above what I owned and I aspired to get them one day and slowly I did, along with an amp I knew reasonably could handle all their needs with the Lyr's versatility. But something was always missing with the Q701 and the LCD-2. They were good, but nowhere near what I heard at the time. I had actually heard with the Lyr but it had a bifrost backing it up on the DAC end. The Q701 has now reached that same sound that I fell in love, really beyond it to be honest, but the human memory is a funny thing like that ya know?
The Gungnir Multibit has taken my whole setup to finally a level I can be satisfied with for awhile. I'm not gonna lie, I wanna start tube rolling and maybe get a new amp to pair specifically with the HD650 or LCD-2 as I think the Lyr 2 is end game for my Q701. But for now, it's like I'm enjoying music again! The presentation is so different than what I'm used to and it's exciting. The most wonderful thing? Even songs I have that aren't as well recorded are benefiting somewhat. Not as much obviously and some not at all but there are plenty of differences and songs I didn't know had as much resolution in them as they do!
So here are some of the biggest benefits for the Q701 specifically coming from my lowly Tubemagic D1's DAC section. This amp/DAC combo cost about $200 in 2010.
+Resolving - Music absolutely sounds crispier and a lot less muddy. Most noticeable when lines of music end and it sounds like they are actually ending the sound rather than a fading kind of effect.
+Separation - Similar to above, the music is more spacious and has room to breath, not melding into one another.
+Detail - Whether it's because the 701 series' treble or otherwise, this has increased quite a bit. Not only things I haven't heard before but in a new way, more natural sounding almost.
+Bass(!) - I am in no way saying these have become bass masters or anything near that haha. They are still bass-lite but they have better presence down low for sure.
+Smoother - Sometimes this headphone can be a bit harsh and the Gungnir won't eliminate that but I think it's tamed the Q701 a bit and I appreciate that.
The Q701 doesn't spend much time on my head but I love what it has done for the community and it's a headphone legend so as a collector, I'll never get rid of it. But now I think it'll be spending some more time with me as I rediscover all it has to offer.
it'll make any headphones reach new heights haha.
