[kumar402]

Getting the Gumby, has been the biggest and best change/improvement, I have experienced, in my 3 years of being in the headphone hobby.

great to hear. I have been reading your posts from Liquid Platinum threads and I know how badly you were waiting for Aeolus and Gumby.

 

[grokit]

My old d/s Gumby is running great with the W4s Remedy usb reclocker inserted in between it and my Cambridge CXC transport. Thanks again @Dr.J for the benefit of your experience. Between it and my old Halide Designs USB>Spdif converter cable for my laptop, I now have two great jitter/click-free digital sources for it.

I was surprised that nobody ever weighed in with success in using a cd transport, any cd transport, jitter/click-free directly with Gumby. There must be such an animal.

I agree with your observations above.
The Gumby A1 compared to a good DS DAC sounds hazy and veiled.
And there is a sizzle at the upper mid range.
I sold after two years of use.

Is there a sonic benefit to NOT upgrading from d/s to multibit?
Or to ask in another way, is the benefit of multibit over the d/s model being debated now?
Or is it more of the Gumby design in general starting to show its age.

I like my d/s Gumby, and was under the impression that the multibit upgrade is a no-brainer.
Is this paradigm changing, or has it changed?

edit: A1 means multibit?

 

[Ichos]

A1 is the older version of Gumby as there's now commonly believed that there is a new silent upgrade to Gumby board and now sounds more neutral.

I have never heard the DS version.
But have compared Gumby to a lot of ds dac's.
Some were better some were worse.
At the end I preferred a DS DAC to Gumby and sold it.
Don't get me wrong it is a very good sounding DAC but it is not the Holly grail as it is hyped.
Nor the r2r dac's are the last word in DAC sound.
There are very good sounding ds dac's better than multibit one's.
Someone has to hear and decide.
Gumby still is hazy to my ears compared to a good DS DAC at the same price point.
But it is very " vinyl " sounding and maybe that is going to be appealing to someone.

 

[Wes S]

Don't think anyone called it the "Holy Grail", but it kicks ass, in my system.

 

[Ichos]

And that is what matters the most!

 

[hikaru12]

Is there a sonic benefit to NOT upgrading from d/s to multibit?
Or to ask in another way, is the benefit of multibit over the d/s model being debated now?
Or is it more of the Gumby design in general starting to show its age.

My understanding is that Multibit is more analog and spacious sounding but at the cost of detail and extension that a good D/S DAC will have. R2R is an old technology and Multibit is probably a good balance between full blown NOS such as the Holo Spring or Pavane. It's an additional processing layer over the D/S side. I think Chords products are superior in the D/S finding a way to bring out all the detail without the harshness or digital glare typically associated with D/S DACs hence why I'm leaning towards getting one.

I think Schiit also has a hard time designing clean sounding power supplies at this price point - now Gumby is fully balanced so it might help in that regard but it doesn't sound like the music is coming from the void nor does it have the staging of the Yggy. I would say its about a 50% or so upgrade from Mimby, better in a lot of aspects and not so good in many others where you only notice a minor incremental change.

 

[Wes S]

My understanding is that Multibit is more analog and spacious sounding but at the cost of detail and extension that a good D/S DAC will have. R2R is an old technology and Multibit is probably a good balance between full blown NOS such as the Holo Spring or Pavane. It's an additional processing layer over the D/S side. I think Chords products are superior in the D/S finding a way to bring out all the detail without the harshness or digital glare typically associated with D/S DACs hence why I'm leaning towards getting one.

I think Schiit also has a hard time designing clean sounding power supplies at this price point - now Gumby is fully balanced so it might help in that regard but it doesn't sound like the music is coming from the void nor does it have the staging of the Yggy. I would say its about a 50% or so upgrade from Mimby, better in a lot of aspects and not so good in many others where you only notice a minor incremental change.

I noticed a night and day difference between my Mimby (bought last year), and Gumby A1, using my Liquid Platinum amplifier. Every aspect of the sound changed for the better, for me. I am blessed with really good hearing, and don't need any more detail. I like warmth, and a live sound, so perhaps the Gumby is perfect for me. Oh wait, it is! The balanced dac, pairs very well, with a balanced amp.

 

[hikaru12]

I noticed a night and day difference between my Mimby (bought last year), and Gumby A1, using my Liquid Platinum amplifier. Every aspect of the sound changed for the better, for me. I am blessed with really good hearing, and don't need any more detail. I like warmth, and a live sound, so perhaps the Gumby is perfect for me. Oh wait, it is! The balanced dac, pairs very well, with a balanced amp.

Probably more to do with your amplifier then the DAC. Mimby on optical is not that far off from Gumby other then - staging, bass texture, and overall decay.

 

[RCBinTN]

I owned the Gungnir D/S then upgraded to the Gungnir MB, then to the Gen5 USB.

The biggest improvement, for me, was D/S to MB.
That upgrade opened up the musical details (with the HD800). Suddenly, the music sounded analogue, not digital.
The Gen5 enabled the use of a direct USB input, which wasn't possible before the Gen5.

IMO, the magic is a combination of the high-end DAC chips that Schiit uses, plus their proprietary analogue stage.
In both the Gumby and Yggy (and now, Bimby?). It just works, and very well.

The amplifier does play a part in the overall SQ. Need enough power to drive the headphones, else they sound tinny ... LOL.

Happy listening, @Wes S ... it's all about the music - welcome to the Gumby Team

 

[Mizicke5273]

I'll say this, by adding my Gungnir D/S and current tube roll, I am very happy and satisfied with my rig. All of my main headphones sound great and I have put a hold on my search for more and better bass. I tend to base my heasephone purchases on improving bass; it is just what I seem to enjoy most. I am not "done", just pausing and enjoying what I have. There are a few headphones I am interested in and will likely buy at some point, but I think it would require too large of an investment to upgrade/sidegrade my amps and DAC at this point.

Plus getting any bigger gear would require a major reorganization of my layout. I currently have all my gear on my desk and have no more room. What with my Gungnir, Jotunheim, La Figaro, and Loki; I actually had to place my Etir under my desk.

Also meant to add that the Gungnir really pulled my system together and took it to the next level.

 

[rpaul]

Probably more to do with your amplifier then the DAC. Mimby on optical is not that far off from Gumby other then - staging, bass texture, and overall decay.

If your comparison is based solely on optical, I'd suggest spending some time comparing using coax/BNC. In my experience those are better for Gumby (granted that also depends upon source used).

 

[hikaru12]

If your comparison is based solely on optical, I'd suggest spending some time comparing using coax/BNC. In my experience those are better for Gumby (granted that also depends upon source used).

Yeah I’m just trying to keep it apples to apples since Mimby only has optical as its best port. BNC or AES by in large are just better connectors in general no matter what DAC you use.

 

[Mtavares_12]

In my experience the differences between DAC's are setup dependent. After move to the Allo Digione Signature, I am considering that the sound quality between the Mimby and Gumby increased considerably. My previous transport was an Oppo 95. The Gumby is an excelent DAC and it is transport dependent to demonstrate its full potential.

QJA

 

[Wes S]

Probably more to do with your amplifier then the DAC. Mimby on optical is not that far off from Gumby other then - staging, bass texture, and overall decay.

Never thought to try optical, and dont plan on it, based on what I read.

Probably more to do with your amplifier then the DAC. Mimby on optical is not that far off from Gumby other then - staging, bass texture, and overall decay.

I was going to say the same thing to you. The Liquid Platinum, is very revealing of upstream gear, based on Atomic Bombs testing.

Yeah I’m just trying to keep it apples to apples since Mimby only has optical as its best port. BNC or AES by in large are just better connectors in general no matter what DAC you use.

Curious why your Mimby's best port is optical? I use coax on Mimby and Gumby. Just read the Schiit website, and they say optical is the worst.

 

[bagwell359]

Have had a Gumby for almost 4 years, I like it much more than the Yggy of the same time frame - it's that non digital sound that did it.

Got a CXC about 9 months ago. I don't care about the clicking. Read the track/time and let if run and go back, easy workaround.

There is one thing I do not like about the CXC - it is very sensitive to changes in VAC. Great at 118 and up. Fair at 117. Not good below that, not at all. Took me some time to be sure. Going to upgrade the power caps. If that doesn't work it'll be the power supply.