[RCBinTN]

RCBinTN,

Thanks by your reception.

I expect you have always great time and business here in Brazil.

I am using the Gumby in a speaker configuration. Before the Mimby, I have used the DAC inside the Oppo 95. I became surprised how the Mimby was better. Moving to the Gumby is another level. I am still using the Oppo 95 as a transport connected to the BNC input (through a Black Cat Veloce coax cable).

Considering all the good comments related to the USB Gen5 input, I am planning to start the tests to use a notebook as a music source. Let's see how it goes.

Regards,

QJA

I know we are off-topic here, but this is fun...learn about Brazil.
- Caipirinha - the national drink of Brazil, made with Cachaca (distilled from sugar cane, similar to rum). My recipe: sugar, muddled lime, ice!, Cachaca, mix and enjoy!
- Churrascaria - Brazilian steak house - awesome...consider 14 types of meat, cooked on a wood fire and brought to your table.
The most interesting aspect of Brazil was about the people.
There is zero racial tension. A nice change from the US.
I was comfortable and met many friends.

Back on topic...the GMB with the Gen 5 is a very stable and musical system.
The Gen 5 blows away the USB2 or whatever the earlier version was called...
I, too, use a Mac as my server. It pairs well with the GMB.

Happy Listening!
RCB

 

[Mtavares_12]

Deleted.

QJA

 

[KeithEmo]

Potentiometers (the volume control) often become a little noisy with age.... although you usually don't notice it.
HOWEVER, when you hear a crunching as the volume control is turned, this strongly suggests that there's some DC on the volume control.
(You can't hear DC, but when you move the control it modulates the DC, which then becomes audibly crunchy noises.)

This suggests that there's a little bit of DC offset reaching the volume control from some upstream circuitry.

Ooo - I missed that little fact about he noise only happening when volume is adjusted. Yes, that sounds like an issue with the volume control. Although the rest of your description points to cable or output issues.

In any case, If you swap out the cable and the problem persists, contact Schiit and ask for an RMA to send the DAC back for testing if you think it is the problem. They will be happy to help.

 

[Friscosfoe]

Potentiometers (the volume control) often become a little noisy with age.... although you usually don't notice it.
HOWEVER, when you hear a crunching as the volume control is turned, this strongly suggests that there's some DC on the volume control.
(You can't hear DC, but when you move the control it modulates the DC, which then becomes audibly crunchy noises.)

This suggests that there's a little bit of DC offset reaching the volume control from some upstream circuitry.

Keith thanks for this.I swapped amps and concluded that there is static in two other cases. In the case of my valahalla2 the static level is so low that I can only hear it if there is no music playing back.Static is quite loud without playback on Jolda preamp/ emotiva xpa 200, but for some reason I have trouble hearing the static there too while music is playing.

 

[rkw]

HOWEVER, when you hear a crunching as the volume control is turned, this strongly suggests that there's some DC on the volume control.
(You can't hear DC, but when you move the control it modulates the DC, which then becomes audibly crunchy noises.)

This suggests that there's a little bit of DC offset reaching the volume control from some upstream circuitry.

That's very interesting. Is there a way for him to confirm whether there is indeed a DC offset issue? Perhaps try a different circuit, or would it still be a problem anywhere in the house? If DC is passed to the volume control, is that a fault of the Gungnir or only solvable through the mains power?

 

[Friscosfoe]

I,ll try a different dac, an emotiva Dc-1, one more time and listen very carefully for sign of the DC offset. Need to make a decision whether to send back the gumby for repair.

 

[KeithEmo]

There's no real way to confirm it without making internal measurements.
This is NOT related to the mains power at all.... it is strictly a matter of there being a bit of DC somewhere in the internal circuitry where there shouldn't be....
(The actual cause can be a lot of things - although a leaky capacitor is the most common cause.)

On something like a preamp, where the volume control is connected directly to the input, it could be coming from the upstream source component connected to it (or something internal).
(if it's a source component, then you might notice it on only one input.)
On a DAC, where the "upstream component" is part of the internal circuitry, it pretty well has to be coming from something inside the DAC.

Note that, while a significant amount of DC shouldn't be there, a tiny bit may be normal, so it's a matter of determining whether there is too much, and, if so, why it's there.
I'm afraid, though, that only the folks who built it are going to know what's normal and what's too much.
(Also note that, even if there's a small/normal amount of DC offset present, it could have become audible because the control has gotten especially scratchy.)

That's very interesting. Is there a way for him to confirm whether there is indeed a DC offset issue? Perhaps try a different circuit, or would it still be a problem anywhere in the house? If DC is passed to the volume control, is that a fault of the Gungnir or only solvable through the mains power?

 

[Mtavares_12]

If I have the following adapter:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD821AM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter

and connecting an USB cable to the Gumby USB Gen 5 input and to the adapter, Will I be able to have a successfull audio connection to an Iphone 6/7?

QJA

 

[jcn3]

If I have the following adapter:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD821AM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter

and connecting an USB cable to the Gumby USB Gen 5 input and to the adapter, Will I be able to have a successfull audio connection to an Iphone 6/7?

QJA

yes it should work.

 

[joeexp]

yes it should work.

Yes, it does work - I am using it right now!

 

[AudioBear]

I have had a couple of those adaptors fail over the years. They can be flakey but it should work.

 

[Friscosfoe]

My saga continues. My problem was that I get static in one channel when changing volume. The Gumby has been with schiit and I just got it back, with a note that there was no problem with the dac. I was disappointed but not totally surprised— on some amps the static is so low that to hear it clearly you have to turn off playback and then turn the volume control- I guess the tech did not try that.

Anyway, I have a new problem, or maybe one that I hadn’t noticed. When the music changes source/type there is an audible click through the speaker that matches the click made by the dac. It’s only through one channel, the same channel that produces the static (might be related) the click is quite pronounced and I worry about speaker impact.

Question is whether hearing the click through the speaker is normal. I found a thread here that suggests otherwise.

I’m contacting schiit again if the click through the speaker is not normal.

 

[Don Quichotte]

It is definitely not normal!

There might be a batch of defective units? I have bought a Gungnir Multibit a month ago and it has a similar problem: a pop on the right channel every time the relay opens or closes (only when using the unbalanced outputs). It had it from the very beginning. I have also discovered the cause: when playing music (and only then!) the right channel unbalanced outputs exhibit a huge DC offset - about 4V! Left channel is about 85 milivolts DC, iirc (rather high, but acceptable, I guess). I'll send it back for servicing next week.

If you have a voltmeter it's very easy to check if you have a big DC offset on that channel. Just make sure the dac is playing music (so the relay is closed), otherwise the RCA output would be disconnected and you wouldn't be able to measure anything. Please post your readings.

I didn't have static, btw. Maybe it's because of this DC offset too (and the way it interacts with your particular downstream equipment)?! Edit: reading the above conversation convinces me this was your problem from the start too.

Really surprised the service guys didn't find the problem!

 

[Friscosfoe]

It is definitely not normal!

There might be a batch of defective units? I have bought a Gungnir Multibit a month ago and it has a similar problem: a pop on the right channel every time the relay opens or closes (only when using the unbalanced outputs). It had it from the very beginning. I have also discovered the cause: when playing music (and only then!) the right channel unbalanced outputs exhibit a huge DC offset - about 4V! Left channel is about 85 milivolts DC, iirc (rather high, but acceptable, I guess). I'll send it back for servicing next week.

If you have a voltmeter it's very easy to check if you have a big DC offset on that channel. Just make sure the dac is playing music (so the relay is closed), otherwise the RCA output would be disconnected and you wouldn't be able to measure anything. Please post your readings.

I didn't have static, btw. Maybe it's because of this DC offset too (and the way it interacts with your particular downstream equipment)?! Edit: reading the above conversation convinces me this was your problem from the start too.

Really surprised the service guys didn't find the problem!

Don thanks for the advice, Am new to this and had troubles with the volt meter; I just sent back the unit for a second look.
I think the rogue sphinx,s motorized vol pot must be very sensitive to what is going on. The static is not audible on my magni, unless you stop playback and turn up the volume.
Hopefully the clicks will convince Schiit there is a problem; I suspect that any fix for the clicks will take care of the static. I don’t think this is an incompatibility issue between the dac and the rogue. My bimby is dead silent with the rogue, and so is the left channel of the Gumby.

 

[Don Quichotte]

So it was the right channel too, just as in my case. I think you should tell them about my finding ("there might be a big DC offset on the right channel when the music is playing" - if you need the exact words) and ask them to check. You can tell them that in my case it is 4VDC. Please report here any further news.

On the other hand: how's the Gumby sounding compared to the Bimby? Is it a significant upgrade from your point of view? Unbalanced outputs both, of course.