[RCBinTN]

I used to own the HD800, and my T90 scales just as well. The two headphones are actually pretty close.

Lyr 2 is pretty resolving as well. Not up to TOTL gear, but resolving enough to where I hear differences.

But I will not pass judgement until it's been on at least a week or so. From what I've been reading, 48 hours is where you start becoming impressed.

Hello -
First...ice storm in Austin! I can only imagine the chaos.
We have the same chaos in Nashville, and we get ice every year.

I am a happy GMB owner (w/ Gen 5 USB) and have heard only the Yggy and GMB.

A couple questions...
Is Mimby the same thing as Modi 2 MB? Sorry, I couldn't find "Mimby" on the Schiit site.
Since you're using a CD player, does that mean the digital connection to Mimby is coax?

I agree the T90 should certainly present the difference in sound between the DACs...

The GMB resolves to an effective 19 bits (Yggy is better at 21 bits).
I can't find the effective resolution of Modi2 MB, but it will be less than GMB.
So, on specs, the GMB should present more music from the same source.

When I upgraded from Gungnir to GMB it made a big difference in the bass quality of the HD800...

Finally, what tubes are you running in the Lyr2? Have you tried it with the LISST?

Just wondering, my friend.
Cheers,
RCB

 

[ColtMrFire]

Took another listen before heading off to work, and HOLEEE SCHIIT.

I'm starting to see what the fuss is about.

Compared to Mimby, Gumby is WAY more dynamic... this thing has huge brass balls. It's like the difference between those "weeeee!" kiddie rides at Disneyland and the giant oh-my-god-i-might-die juggernauts at the the other theme parks. That's probably the biggest difference at this point and it's not subtle. Excellent slam, and the sense of rythm/PRAT has increased as well. Lots more head bobbing. More subtle things... timbre has improved, with instruments sounding fuller and better imaged. Better sense of layering throughout the stage, with a bigger sense of venue... this is more obvious on classical music.

All this leads to a more involving, emotional musical experience. Will do some more listening when I get home.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Hello -
First...ice storm in Austin! I can only imagine the chaos.
We have the same chaos in Nashville, and we get ice every year.

I am a happy GMB owner (w/ Gen 5 USB) and have heard only the Yggy and GMB.

A couple questions...
Is Mimby the same thing as Modi 2 MB? Sorry, I couldn't find "Mimby" on the Schiit site.
Since you're using a CD player, does that mean the digital connection to Mimby is coax?

I agree the T90 should certainly present the difference in sound between the DACs...

The GMB resolves to an effective 19 bits (Yggy is better at 21 bits).
I can't find the effective resolution of Modi2 MB, but it will be less than GMB.
So, on specs, the GMB should present more music from the same source.

When I upgraded from Gungnir to GMB it made a big difference in the bass quality of the HD800...

Finally, what tubes are you running in the Lyr2? Have you tried it with the LISST?

Just wondering, my friend.
Cheers,
RCB

Mimby is selectable in the drop down menu on the Modi page on the Schiit website.

Was using USB on Mimby at first, until I tired coax from DVD/CD player on a whim... blew USB out of the water and I never went back. There is a huge difference between the two on Mimby.

Mimby resolves 16 bits with 4x oversampling (same as Bimby). Gumby/Yggy does 8x.

Tried LISST in Lyr 2, didn't like them at all... Solid state "haze", and not as resolving or nuanced. A friend turned me onto the Tesla E88CC tubes for $50. Sounds just as good as the more expensive ones. Those are what I use.

 

[RCBinTN]

Took another listen before heading off to work, and HOLEEE SCHIIT.

I'm starting to see what the fuss is about.

Compared to Mimby, Gumby is WAY more dynamic... this thing has huge brass balls. It's like the difference between those "weeeee!" kiddie rides at Disneyland and the giant oh-my-god-i-might-die juggernauts at the the other theme parks. That's probably the biggest difference at this point and it's not subtle. Excellent slam, and the sense of rythm/PRAT has increased as well. Lots more head bobbing. More subtle things... timbre has improved, with instruments sounding fuller and better imaged. Better sense of layering throughout the stage, with a bigger sense of venue... this is more obvious on classical music.

All this leads to a more involving, emotional musical experience. Will do some more listening when I get home.

Wow, so the warm-up time is real and you verified it! That's cool, mate.

Now, Keep the GMB warm, I do it, just powered on.
It doesn't cost much in the scheme of things.
But, it keeps the sound consistent...

Welcome to the GMB family. Happy you're here.
Cheers,
RCB

 

[Loquah]

Excellent slam, and the sense of rythm/PRAT has increased as well. Lots more head bobbing. More subtle things... timbre has improved, with instruments sounding fuller and better imaged. Better sense of layering throughout the stage, with a bigger sense of venue... this is more obvious on classical music.

All this leads to a more involving, emotional musical experience. Will do some more listening when I get home.

You've just summed up my impressions of the Gumby. I didn't find that it smacked me in the face with its performance, but the intangibles: engagement, emotion and head-bobbing are undeniable.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Gumby is full of contradictions. Compared to Mimby it is louder/more dynamic, but less shouty. It is easier on the ears. It is thicker (Mimby is thinner), but less veiled. Mimby has a definite veil in the mids/treble in comparison...

It makes me really want to upgrade my amp, because it's clear Lyr 2 is holding Gumby back. I was thinking about Mjolnir 2, but from what I've read it doesn't do well single ended, and I am not wanting to get balanced cables just to get a "better" amp (plus my T90 doesn't have detachable cable, so I would have to get it modded for balanced)...

Anyone go from Lyr2 to MJ2 and able to offer comparisons? I was really thinking about Black Widow, maybe a used one.

 

[Ableza]

Also, it's a used Gumby, so should already be burned in and not take as long to get to optimal. Right?

It's not "burn in," it's "warm up to thermal equilibrium." Every unit takes a different amount of time, for my Gungnir MB it seemed most stable and sounded great after about 5 hours.

 

[Tro95]

Gumby is full of contradictions. Compared to Mimby it is louder/more dynamic, but less shouty. It is easier on the ears. It is thicker (Mimby is thinner), but less veiled. Mimby has a definite veil in the mids/treble in comparison...

It makes me really want to upgrade my amp, because it's clear Lyr 2 is holding Gumby back. I was thinking about Mjolnir 2, but from what I've read it doesn't do well single ended, and I am not wanting to get balanced cables just to get a "better" amp (plus my T90 doesn't have detachable cable, so I would have to get it modded for balanced)...

Anyone go from Lyr2 to MJ2 and able to offer comparisons? I was really thinking about Black Widow, maybe a used one.

I recently upgraded from a Bifrost 4490 & Valhalla 2 to Gumby and MJ2. I still run my HD650s in single-ended, and my HE-6s in both single-ended and balanced. I can say that other than the 6db volume difference, the single-ended outputs drive both cans as well as the balanced, and I cannot hear any other differences. The upgrade from V2 to MJ2, however, was a very nice step up.

 

[RCBinTN]

I'm very happy with the Bryston BHA-1, but have also heard good things about the MJ2 pairing well with GMB.

 

[ColtMrFire]

The differences between Mimby and Gumby become extremely pronounced on well mastered music. I had been very pleased with Gumby listening to alot of my albums. Chicago - 16 and 17, Drake - Take Care, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Zubin Mehta), Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams, and they were all more enjoyable than with Mimby. But I was not prepared for just how much better Gumby was until I listened to John Williams' Star Wars - A New Hope (1997 remaster), which is a reference quality recording... this is where Gumby truly started to pull away from Mimby... far, far away (pun intended). The sound was so incredibly good I had to let my housemate listen and he was giggling and smiling from ear to ear with plenty of "wow"s. The mastering of an album seems to take on far more importance with Gumby (and I suspect Yggy). This became even more obvious when I listened to John Williams' Star Wars - Attack of the Clones, which is in badly need of a remaster... I could barely tell a difference between Gumby and Mimby with this album. I am going off memory on these two, but I listened to them quite often on Mimby, so I have a very good idea of what they sounded like. So it is not purely a matter of "is Gumby better than Mimby?". It is more a question of how well the album is mastered... and that's when you will either hear almost no difference or a massive difference. To put it bluntly, listening to A New Hope was one of (if not THE) most enjoyable listening sessions I've EVER had in this hobby. And that's not an exaggeration on my part.

 

[Ableza]

I'm very happy with the Bryston BHA-1, but have also heard good things about the MJ2 pairing well with GMB.

That's what I use and I love it.

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

I have a gungnir and mjolnir combo with lcd-3s all from 2012. They are fed by a squeezebox touch mostly using Tidal hifi. I haven’t changed my equipment in all this time. I go in and out of this hobby, recently rediscovering my music again. I have to say I’ve been very happy with everything except for a few issues.

I’m always in love with the midrange performance but on certain tracks it’s just too strident and bright. It’s my understanding that pre fazor lcd-3s heavily trend towards warm. It’s hard to explain but there’s just a harsh digital bite after a while that gets to me. Also, I was never that impressed with the bass performance. The Audeze are praised for their amazing bass, and although it’s very clean, I never found it deep and the sub bass is very subtle.

My question is, do you think sending in my gungnir to be gumbied would make a huge difference and solve some of the above issues? I have no clue on if it’s the DAC or original mjolnir that is causing this. Would an amp change be more effective? Thanks

 

[cskippy]

Is there any way you can try another pair of headphones? Maybe go to a local meet? The amp and DAC will color or add flavor but the core sound will remain unchanged. What you describe seems to be fundamental issues with the LCD-3 and not the amp or DAC.

Although, I do believe both the Gungnir DS and Mjolnir V1 both leaned toward a brighter sound, so depending on the severity of the issues, maybe the amp and DAC could be the culprits. I really would suggest listening to some other gear, just to get another reference point, then come back and see if it's the headphones or more the amp and DAC.

Hope this helps.

 

[ColtMrFire]

I have a gungnir and mjolnir combo with lcd-3s all from 2012. They are fed by a squeezebox touch mostly using Tidal hifi. I haven’t changed my equipment in all this time. I go in and out of this hobby, recently rediscovering my music again. I have to say I’ve been very happy with everything except for a few issues.

I’m always in love with the midrange performance but on certain tracks it’s just too strident and bright. It’s my understanding that pre fazor lcd-3s heavily trend towards warm. It’s hard to explain but there’s just a harsh digital bite after a while that gets to me. Also, I was never that impressed with the bass performance. The Audeze are praised for their amazing bass, and although it’s very clean, I never found it deep and the sub bass is very subtle.

My question is, do you think sending in my gungnir to be gumbied would make a huge difference and solve some of the above issues? I have no clue on if it’s the DAC or original mjolnir that is causing this. Would an amp change be more effective? Thanks

I've not heard the original MJ or DS Gungnir, but I can tell you multibit solves alot of the problems of DS DACs, mainly the "digital" sound. MB tech is alot more natural and smoother/easier on the ears. From what I've read about MJ1, it has a bit of a bright sound. But do some more digging.

 

[RCBinTN]

I have a gungnir and mjolnir combo with lcd-3s all from 2012. They are fed by a squeezebox touch mostly using Tidal hifi. I haven’t changed my equipment in all this time. I go in and out of this hobby, recently rediscovering my music again. I have to say I’ve been very happy with everything except for a few issues.

I’m always in love with the midrange performance but on certain tracks it’s just too strident and bright. It’s my understanding that pre fazor lcd-3s heavily trend towards warm. It’s hard to explain but there’s just a harsh digital bite after a while that gets to me. Also, I was never that impressed with the bass performance. The Audeze are praised for their amazing bass, and although it’s very clean, I never found it deep and the sub bass is very subtle.

My question is, do you think sending in my gungnir to be gumbied would make a huge difference and solve some of the above issues? I have no clue on if it’s the DAC or original mjolnir that is causing this. Would an amp change be more effective? Thanks

I upgraded my Gungnir to GMB soon after the MB upgrade was announced (a while back). That is the best $500 that I have spent on this hobby.
I had heard the magic of the Yggy at a HP meet. The upgrade of my Gungnir to GMB brought me close to the Yggy magic.
I also had the Gungnir + Mjolnir1 stack and found it a bit bright...changing your DAC to the MB will help tame that brightness.
But lately I've heard that the MJ2 pairs better than the MJ1, and gives you the ability to try different tubes...
Hope this helps -
RCB