Schiit Gungnir DAC

[Maxvla]

Yes

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

 
The LEDs on my Gungnir are brighter/whiter than the one on my Mjolnir. The one on the amp is more opaque. Yours seem to be like mine. Is this the same for everyone else?

Same was for my Lyr and Bifrost. I didn't notice on the mid-tier stack, until you brought it up. Interesting.

 

[olor1n]

I still have my Bifrost and the LEDs are just like they are on the Gungnir. My Lyr is long gone but I recall it being the same opaque white as on the Mjolnir.

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

I still have my Bifrost and the LEDs are just like they are on the Gungnir. My Lyr is long gone but I recall it being the same opaque white as on the Mjolnir.

Yep, it has always been on the amp side. Very funny. But it doesn't bother me.

 

[ceausuc]

Quote:

Okay... so my friend WKHANNA (BFF LMAO) just lent me his Gungnir for the next say 5 days or so... and here's my initial impressions with about an hour or two of going back and forth with it and my Cambridge Audio 840c....
 

 
Does the Gungnir have an usb input? It would be interesting to test against the Vlink.

 

[wkhanna]

No, I ordered my unit without the USB module.
That is why Dan is using the V-Link in his system.

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

Yep, it has always been on the amp side. Very funny. But it doesn't bother me.

It's either a voltage thing, or intentional subliminal design....the DAC is clear and crisp, the amp is warm and smooth

 

[PewterTA]

From everything I've read the USB input doesn't sound as good as the SPDIF... so I'm guessing the USB isn't worth getting unless one needs it.  I think the MF V-Link 192 will be a nice upgrade once it arrives (in the mail now).  Can't wait for that to get here and try it out... though I'm guessing the Gungnir will have to go back to it's owner by that point. 

 

[wkhanna]

I am sure we can arrange to have time for you to make the comparison. 

 

[Currawong]

How many hours did the Gungnir have on it? I tend to find that transistors and capacitors need 350 hours or so of use before they settle down.
 
I have owned the 840c and, like you, I found it made zero difference how it was fed a digital signal. Nowadays, I'd say its second-hand value of $800 or so is about right considering the stiff competition.

 

[earwaxxer]

Yep - thats why I HATE haveing to sell anything that I found was a 'mistake'. Some items are 'hot' and sell well. I have had a couple of those. Most of the time I settle for half of what i paid for it. I cant afford that any more. I bought the Gungnir and I am looking forward to its arrival. I feel good about this one. I am quite confident it will be a keeper no matter what. Just like I kept my MSB LInk DAC lll. I'm glad I did. It was, and still is, a great DAC. I believe the Gungnir will be one of those.

 

[grokit]

I can vouch for the V192 with the Gungnir, it works nicely and sounds better than the USB input (to me with my system), but it makes me wish the Gungnir had an AES/EBU input to work with the V192's "Balanced Digital" output.

 

[PewterTA]

The Gungnir now has a good 50 hours on it, I'm leaving it run basically 24/7 these next couple days feeding it with every type of music one can find (I have over 155K songs to choose from) so I'm all over the place with Bill's Gungnir.
 
My favorite so far has been Nitin Sawhney, I have all his albums and they are some of the best produced albums out there in my opinion.
 
Now that I'm over the 50hr mark, I have to say some of the midrange is coming in now sounding fuller.  Some of the simbilance I was hearing in voices has basically gone away now.  It's definitely a great DAC that's all there is too it.
 
I will say that it's almost 95% identical to the CA840c now. Only thing the CA840c does better is it has a bigger overall soundstage still.  As an example there's the one Nitin Sawhney song, Anthem without Nation off the Beyond Skin album where there's these brush/bucket beats that are really pushed out of phase and sound like they are coming from behind you.  The Gungnir produces them and they are about at your sitting plane.  With the 840c, those same things sound like they are litterally behind you and at points almost like someone comes up from behind and flicks your right ear.  It'll get you at times.
 
The Gungnir is a little bit narrower and definitely not as deep (behind the speakers).  All instruments seem to be, more or less, on about 1 or 2 planes.... where the CA840c has about 4 or 5 planes going back beyond the speakers.  I'm still thinking with more time, the Gungnir is going to get there.  At least that's been my experience with new equipment is the soundstage takes time to really come together.
 
Definitely having a blast with the songs on random which I don't do too often as it's pulling some things I've not heard in forever and some I've never heard before.  ha ha!
 
If only I had a good way to hook up my B&W C5s to it, but alas I don't have any good headphone amp for them to test out the Gungnir with.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

 
If only I had a good way to hook up my B&W C5s to it, but alas I don't have any good headphone amp for them to test out the Gungnir with.

 
Thanks for the impressions, but to help us gauge them please share what headphone and amp that you are listening with.
 
Also thanks for telling me about Nitin Sawhney! I just ordered used copies of Beyond Skin and Prophesy

 

[tokendog]

Gungnir ordered.  
 
So this week hopefully, I'll have upgraded my amp to the Mjolnir, my DAC to the Gungnir, and my cable to the Q cable.  I'll have my LCD-2s back and I think I should have requested a vacation from work cause I don't think I will be very motivated to go any where once I start burning in that new combination.