[ETanner]

As to Schiit Bashing that Someone referred to,   I don't understand it!  Schiit is my "Company of the Year" ,  Sennheiser is my "Transducer Company of the last Decade"  and the Multibit DACs are my "Product of the

The rediscovery of headphone audio and Schiit's quality/economy ratio at the end of 2015 gives this guy hope for 2016.

 

[huberd]

I have the Gungnir and a friend brought over a Meridian Explorer 2 to compare. The Meridian at less than half the price sounds much much better. It is smoother with a larger sound stage with better instrument placement and smooth as silk. The Gungnir is not very good. 

 

[robm321]

Meridian makes good DACs.

 

[US Blues]

  In the headphone world : Balanced is some sort of Sacred Cow.  
 
Tony in Michigan

Tony- the best hamburgers come from Sacred Cows.

 

[AudioBear]

  I have the Gungnir and a friend brought over a Meridian Explorer 2 to compare. The Meridian at less than half the price sounds much much better. It is smoother with a larger sound stage with better instrument placement and smooth as silk. The Gungnir is not very good. 

Huber,
 
It's kind of silly to come on a Gumby thread and make a statement like that about what is a very high quality good sounding (to most) and well-built DAC at a bargain price.  You are free to say you don't like it or that you like the Meridian much more if that's what you're hearing.  That's why there are a zillion DACs out there which probably all sound slightly different and all have their fans.
 
To make a flat statement it isn't very good without stating your criteria or evidence is just trolling for flames.  
 
FWIW, I thought the Meridian Explorer 2 sounded good like all Meridian products, but to my taste it didn't come close to Gumby (based on my audio memory--not an A-B comparison).

 

[Maconi]

 

  I have the Gungnir and a friend brought over a Meridian Explorer 2 to compare. The Meridian at less than half the price sounds much much better. It is smoother with a larger sound stage with better instrument placement and smooth as silk. The Gungnir is not very good. 

Huber,
 
It's kind of silly to come on a Gumby thread and make a statement like that about what is a very high quality good sounding (to most) and well-built DAC at a bargain price.  You are free to say you don't like it or that you like the Meridian much more if that's what you're hearing.  That's why there are a zillion DACs out there which probably all sound slightly different and all have their fans.
 
To make a flat statement it isn't very good without stating your criteria or evidence is just trolling for flames.  
 
FWIW, I thought the Meridian Explorer 2 sounded good like all Meridian products, but to my taste it didn't come close to Gumby (based on my audio memory--not an A-B comparison).

 
He said Gungnir (probably meaning the D-S version), not GuMBy (which is short for Gungnir MultiBit as far as I know). So you could both be right (Meridian might sound better than the D-S but not the MB). 

 

 

[huberd]

You have the right to your opinion and so do I. The Gungnir is a great DAC but it's just not up the the sound quality of the Meridian Explorer 2. Sorry if you don't agree but I have both and listen to the Meridian (DAC portion only). I am just making a statement that is what I found and may help other. No need to call me silly I only state the truth. No need to discredit others because of your own views. 

 

[AudioBear]

  You have the right to your opinion and so do I. The Gungnir is a great DAC but it's just not up the the sound quality of the Meridian Explorer 2. Sorry if you don't agree but I have both and listen to the Meridian (DAC portion only). I am just making a statement that is what I found and may help other. No need to call me silly I only state the truth. No need to discredit others because of your own views. 

hubert:
 
Macon is correct, you said Gungnir but didn't specify if it's DS or MB.  I assumed you meant the newer MB Gungnir.  You and I might agree about the original Gungnir but I've never heard it. Then too I never heard anyone else say it was "not very good" but you're entitled to your opinion for sure.  Which Gungnir did you mean?
 
I would point out that if your meant the new Multi-Bit model you are going to get a lively argument here.  And while we are on the topic who is discrediting who, you would be discrediting the almost unanimous positive opinions found here and by external reviewers none of whom found Gumby "not very good."  Some have preferred other gear that they thought better but none of them said 'not very good."
 
You have not responded to my suggestion that you state your criteria and explain what is not very good.  It might be useful to know the source material and the other associated components.  It may be that you found a niche where the Meridian just buries the Gungnir. We'd all like to know the specifics if for no other reason than to avoid the bad combination.
 
It just isn't useful to come on the thread and say Gungnir sounds like, well, Schiit.  

 

[KLJTech]

I preferred the DS Gungnir (Gen 2 USB) to the far more expensive Bryston BDA-1 in a system with a Parasound A21 amp driving Magnepan 1.7's and a Velodyne DD10 sub. Does that mean that the Bryston isn't very good?...well, no it doesn't, simply that I prefer the Gungnir DAC over the Bryston. Opinions will vary though I would be careful about making bold statements like "component A, B or C isn't very good."  

 

[mikoss]

... I am just making a statement that is what I found and may help other. No need to call me silly I only state the truth. No need to discredit others because of your own views. 

It isn't a truth, it's your impression and view, much like you've pointed out about others having their own views 

 
Also, FWIW, I much prefer the HD-650's vs the HE-400's, and find the HD-700's intolerable. So I appreciate your impressions, but we seem to favour different presentations. The only DAC I'd personally consider vs MB Gungnir would be Yggdrasil. If you're talking Meridian vs Gungnir, I'd personally just recommend MB Gungnir over both.

 

[Dalgas]

  Well - I could not forget the sweet TDA1543 sound.
 
So I bought a ready-made DIY DAC based on 8 TDA1543 chips, with reclocking and NOS (non oversampling). The thing ONLY accept 16/44 but - WOW - it blew the Gumby out of the water! Vokals in particular are much more natural and the bass (always been the weak point of the Gungnir) is more punchy!
 
The Gumby still presents more details and a bigger stereoimage - but has more digital glare than the DIY NOS. Unbelievable - since I find the Gumby very strong here.

I stand corrected.......

 
After using the DIY DAC for a week the Gumby went back into my system yesterday. I have made it a habbit to go back a step after some time and boy am I glad I did.
 
Now it is clear to my that the NOS is easy on the ears ONLY because it ommits a lot of details. The Gumby serves up so many details that your brain (and the rest of your system) is challenged. I now suspect that my digital source (old phillips cd player) is no where good enough to show the full potential of the Gumby.
 
I still like this DIY DAC a lot - but a DAC should not leave out that much information.
 
But Again the Gumby is worldclass in putting it all out there. Read a comment a while back: "Sometimes I think there are strangers in my house but it turns out to be new information in the music that I have never noticed before....."

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Cheers Dalgas for the follow-up and very useful description of what changed and why. Yes, I've certainly experienced gear that sounded 'worse' than something I compared it to at first, yet later the new gear sounded much 'better'. Part of what keeps this hobby interesting

 

[atomicbob]

  I stand corrected.......

 
After using the DIY DAC for a week the Gumby went back into my system yesterday. I have made it a habbit to go back a step after some time and boy am I glad I did.
 
Now it is clear to my that the NOS is easy on the ears ONLY because it ommits a lot of details. The Gumby serves up so many details that your brain (and the rest of your system) is challenged. I now suspect that my digital source (old phillips cd player) is no where good enough to show the full potential of the Gumby.
 
I still like this DIY DAC a lot - but a DAC should not leave out that much information.
 
But Again the Gumby is worldclass in putting it all out there. Read a comment a while back: "Sometimes I think there are strangers in my house but it turns out to be new information in the music that I have never noticed before....."

New Sound Syndrome(TM)  NSS, we all experience it. Glad to see that you are diligent in your listening to determine if NSS was a contributing factor to your impressions. On live recordings there are stage sounds with people moving about, usually not audible clearly with other DACs. Even the Bifrost MB presents these clearly enough to warrant headphone removal while looking about to see if anyone is nearby. Very spooky until one acclimates to the occurrence by backing up on the track an listening a second time.

 

[bigro]

  New Sound Syndrome(TM)  NSS, we all experience it. Glad to see that you are diligent in your listening to determine if NSS was a contributing factor to your impressions. On live recordings there are stage sounds with people moving about, usually not audible clearly with other DACs. Even the Bifrost MB presents these clearly enough to warrant headphone removal while looking about to see if anyone is nearby. Very spooky until one acclimates to the occurrence by backing up on the track an listening a second time.

 
Atomic Bob did you just coin and trademark the Term New Sound Syndrome (NSS)? It's Perfect. Mike Moffat Had a post a while back which was about the comparisons between audio gear. The gist of it was that one really has to spend some time with each setup to really get a good grasp of its capabilities and it's shortcomings.
 
I am running into a dilemma with my music collection. most of it is flac ripped from cd's that I have had for some time. Albums I have listened to for years on lesser systems all of a sudden don't sound very good through a Bimby. However their are many albums that I am blown away by, and I mean knocked off the chair on my ass blown away. Because the detail I hear in some tracks I did not know existed. So I would venture to say that the MB Dacs present a level of detail which not only can bring out the yummy goodness that is generally lost in a track but can unmask the rotten egg that is sub par mastering that also masked by DACS that may not present the same level of detail. I suspect that the the Higher MB lines like the Gungnir MB and The Yggy may make this more apparent.

 

[Dalgas]

NSS - Yep that sounds about right!
 
And atomicbob is right - It happens quite often. So be on your guard!