[GrussGott]

I bought a Modi multibit with the idea of trying out a Schiit multibit DAC and then upgrading later to the Gumby if it liked it. From what I had read I thought the Mimby would sound less digital, warmer, etc ... to my ear the Mimby is extremely bright with concomitantly increased bass slam.

For me the Mimby/Jot was not a good combination with the AFC, (not sure how close to the AFO), and, that said, the AFC was not my sound profile due to lack of bass and overall excitement so I returned them. Now I've got the Eitr > Mimby > Jot with the ZMF Eikon and Atticus and it sounds phenomenal. I need another 6-9 months of soak time, and then i'll likely upgrade to a GOTL and Gumby.

 

[tcellguy]

I'm wondering if something might be wrong with my Mimby as I'm getting glassy, cold, sharp treble. I haven't had the courage to plug in my AFC with the Mimby. The AFO is much warmer and I'm still having to use the notch filters.

This is very strange to me as I've never experienced treble fatigue or anything close. I love bright / treble heavy headphones like the MSR7 and the AFC.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Eikon and Atticus. I'd really like to hear either of those at some point. The closest to them I have is the Emu Teak and they sound amazing from the Jot + balanced DS DAC. I'm still getting a hard sound with the Mimby though.

I'm concerned that my Jotunheim isn't grounded as I've recently found that it hums if I touch the pot or case. Maybe there is some ground loop invoked when using the Mimby. However I don't have any problems using the iDSD BL as an external DAC to the Mimby is the only thing giving me problems.

Any idea if a Vali 2 would fix the treble issue?

 

[Svatopluk]

It sounded a good deal worse to me with the HD800S than the Jotunheim. Flat and bland, didn't pick up on it excelling anywhere. Was pretty surprised.

Well maybe it's not quite on the level of the Ragnarok or V280, but I still think it's not that bad. Then again I'm 59 so maybe my hearing is not what it used to be.

 

[rutter]

Maybe you're content with music being more laid-back.

 

[GrussGott]

II haven't had the courage to plug in my AFC with the Mimby.

The closest to them I have is the Emu Teak

I can say that the mimby/jot (no eitr) had downright painful treble with the AFC on tracks like Erykah Badu's On and On - there's a knocky instrument in that song (along with great subbass) that I now use to test headphones - on my TH-x00 the treble is also pretty horrible on the mimby/jot, but I love the bass so I dealt with it. It's funny because on my B&W P7 wireless connected via aptX there's tons of bass and sub-bass, but the knocky instrument is far off in the distance. On the TH-X00 it's pretty bright, but balanced out by the bass/sub-bass. On the AFCs it's tear-off-your-head-kill-it-with-fire bad.

The ZMF closed dynamics are in a completely different universe of sound quality to me than any of those so I can't even compare, but bottom line is they sound awesome on the mimby / jot so I would expect a decent to large improvement on the Gumby.

I'll definitely be giving the Gumby a try ... i've considered going straight to the Yggy, but honestly I might not be that big of an audiophile so the Gumby is likely the sweet spot for me, and if not i can return it. If so, it's upgradable so it beats out Soekris, Metrum and some others.

 

[tcellguy]

The AFO and the AFC basically have the same treble to my ear. They seem to differ in the sub-bass (AFC > AFO), mid-bass (AFO > AFC), and mids (AFC > AFO). So I imagine we are hearing the same thing. I just went back to the DS Jotunheim DAC and it's so much more comfortable.

This experience has worried me about moving up the ladder towards the Gumby, but sounds like people feel it's more laid back vs. the Mimby so that might be better for me. I need to hear more DACs I guess.

 

[earChasm]

I got the Taurus MKII used for $1000, and might've even overpaid by about $200. iFi Pro iCan should be much better than the HDVA600 from what I hear. Violectric V281 used is another option.

Yeah, but those are not the prices in the Netherlands and hardly any good stuff is offered 2nd hand :.)
Anyway, who knows what the future brings but for now I'm content...

 

[rutter]

Hardly any good stuff is offered second hand?

 

[earChasm]

Hardly any good stuff is offered second hand?

Yeah, and I'm not talking about the selling section here. I don't feel comfortable buying something unseen and unheard so I buy all my expensive stuff in my own country :.)

 

[artur9]

I'm currently pretty confused

I bought a Modi multibit with the idea of trying out a Schiit multibit DAC and then upgrading later to the Gumby if it liked it. From what I had read I thought the Mimby would sound less digital, warmer, etc.

So far my experience is hearing an increase in detail and depth, with increased sound stage vs. the Jotunheim DS DAC. However, to my ear the Mimby is extremely bright with concomitantly increased bass slam. It almost sounds V shaped if that's possible. I'm also getting a really strange cabin pressure sensation like wearing Bose noise cancelling headphones.

I'd reach out to Schiit because that sounds like a defective piece of equipment.

 

[RCBinTN]

Well, somehow I missed @rutter that you are using the Taurus MKII amp.
I've heard good comments about that amp, but again it's the Chinese thing (for me).

I have also heard good comments about the Mjolnir2 amp pairing well with both the LCD-X and HD800.
The tube option lets you tweak the sound to your liking.

I also forgot to mention that, on my journey, I wanted an amp that supports dual-balanced XLR outputs.
Due to the fact that my wife and I listen together - HD800 x2 - especially to DVD music performances.

The best I've heard the HD800 ever sound was at a Nashville meet when Dan Clark (of MrSpeakers) visited with his rig.
He had Yggdrasil (A1) with his Ragnarok and WA5 amps. Both amps sounded great, but the winner was the WA5. Very lush, accurate & fast sound.

But, to me, the GMB is not far behind the Yggy. It's a tremendous value for $1,250, and especially now with the Gen5 USB.

I am also interested in hearing some of the ZMF headphones y'all are talking about. Many good reports about their SQ.

Happy Listening!
RCB

 

[tcellguy]

I'd reach out to Schiit because that sounds like a defective piece of equipment.

Thanks. I'm sending them an email. I'd like to keep this DAC as the sound / price ratio is really amazing. Yet I'm concerned about damaging my hearing with whatever might be going on.

One last question to the group: Could what I'm experiencing be related to the oversampling feature? Audirvana+ has an option to use software oversampling. I've tried this before with my Jotunhiem DS DAC or iDSD BL, but after a while it seems fatiguing at the highest frequencies and can introduce what sounds like distortion to me. It never really caused overt pain like the Mimby however.

 

[Audiofiend1]

If you don't mind my asking, what headphones are you using? I found the HA-1's DAC a little too bright on some recordings with the HD800. I actually preferred using the Gumby as opposed to the HA-1's Sabre DAC as the Gumby seemed to add both warmth and body to the mix.

I'm not a big fan of warm headphones like the LCD2 or MDR-Z7, but I can understand how they may be the way to go when using the HA-1's DAC.

I'm listening with the LCD-3, HD-800S and LCD-XC primarily. I noted that i do prefer the gumby ever so slightly maybe 1% more, i just don't notice much of a difference between the two dacs.

 

[JerryLeeds]

Is anyone using a portable music player as their source? What type of connection?

Reason that I'm asking is that I have an Opus#1S ... That has both optical and USB output ... The USB digital output seems to only work with my Questyle CMA400i ... I was wondering why it doesn't work with my Schiit DACs... Yaggy, Gumby and Mumby ...

Has anyone gotten their DAC to work from other portable devices via USB?

Thanks

 

[RCBinTN]

I have used my AK240 as a source to feed the GMB, via RCA cable. It sounded great.
Have not tried connecting via USB...don't have the right cable.