Schiit Gungnir DAC

[XMarsX]

Gumby is a warm DAC. I've got my Mjolnir 2 sitting on top of it and she's a warm gal as well. Good to go, or should I separate them?

 

[artur9]

... However, sound quality using USB input was pretty mediocre due to it being Gen 2. ...

I wonder if something like this is worth a shot? https://www.ebay.com/itm/225090931141
It's certainly cheap.

 

[zexk]

I wonder if something like this is worth a shot? https://www.ebay.com/itm/225090931141
It's certainly cheap.

Thanks but I ended up buying an Eitr. I wonder how much improvements it will bring vs the Wyrd. I've noticed that with the Wyrd in the chain, soundstage got wider, but there's more glare. I wonder if Gen 5/Eitr can reduce that a bit. If it doesn't work then at least I can still use it with my Mimby.

 

[LoveKnight]

I have been using Matrix X-Spdif 3 with Schiit Gungnir Multibit for 2 weeks now and I have some experiences to share with you guys if one is interested. To my ears sound quality comes like this USB gen 5 < Optical port < Coaxial port. About BNC I have not tried yet but BNC is about 75Ohm compare to 50Ohm Coaxial so I think quality BNC and quality Coaxial might be equal. To sum up if you want to improve the sound of Schiit Gungnir Mutibit then try to use some good quality DDCs and connect from it to your Schiit Gungnir but not the USB port. Schiit USB port sounds like crap.

 

[zexk]

I have been using Matrix X-Spdif 3 with Schiit Gungnir Multibit for 2 weeks now and I have some experiences to share with you guys if one is interested. To my ears sound quality comes like this USB gen 5 < Optical port < Coaxial port. About BNC I have not tried yet but BNC is about 75Ohm compare to 50Ohm Coaxial so I think quality BNC and quality Coaxial might be equal. To sum up if you want to improve the sound of Schiit Gungnir Mutibit then try to use some good quality DDCs and connect from it to your Schiit Gungnir but not the USB port. Schiit USB port sounds like crap.

Most decent DDCs are not cheap. If I'm going to spend another 400-600 on a DDC, I might as well just get a better DAC.

 

[Rattle]

Was looking for opinions from Gungnir owners. I have a gungnir A2 I'd like to separate from my stereo (Freya S and 2 Aegirs) reason being I have a headphone area across the room. I had a Bifrost 2 there but I moved it up to a bedroom listening area.

So it's either buy another DAC (can't do that right now) or move my gungnir A2 to the headphone area so I can SE out to my head amps. Which will mean I have to run 20ft XLR back to Freya S so I can use my speakers when I want.

That all was a mouthful. Anyway what's the longest runs you guys have done with gungnirs XLR out ? Is 15-20ft too much ? Will it affect gungnir's output stage negatively or anything ?

 

[artur9]

In general, XLR is supposed to be good for like 300ft. ShowMeCables says
XLR - 100 feet (official); 1000 feet (theoretical)

 

[Rattle]

In general, XLR is supposed to be good for like 300ft. ShowMeCables says
XLR - 100 feet (official); 1000 feet (theoretical)

Yep I'm aware of the crazy easy lengths they can do, I was more concerned if the gungnir output stage would be affected at all compared to some small 1 footers. Or is this irrelevant from any DAC ?

 

[artur9]

Yep I'm aware of the crazy easy lengths they can do, I was more concerned if the gungnir output stage would be affected at all compared to some small 1 footers. Or is this irrelevant from any DAC ?

Personally, I don't think I've ever used anything less than 6ft. IIRC, for a while I was using 25ft to go from near at hand to my preamp.
Specifically, these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JGZWV2E
I even daisy chained them once or twice :-O

None of which would work with a passive preamp....

 

[mjstealey]

Personally, I don't think I've ever used anything less than 6ft. IIRC, for a while I was using 25ft to go from near at hand to my preamp.
Specifically, these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JGZWV2E
I even daisy chained them once or twice :-O

None of which would work with a passive preamp....

Sounds like OP is using a Freya S preamp - which has 1x and 4x "Nexus" modes (discrete, current feedback gain stage) in addition to a passive mode
Personally, I haven't run anything longer than 6 ft on balanced ... but good to have the option to do so should I ever need a longer run down the road

 

[Brubacca]

I thought the whole point of balanced was long runs and noise cancelling over those runs. You shouldn't have a problem. Maybe try with in inexpensive cable to start. Also, probably not it passive mode.

 

[Rattle]

I pretty much just use worked best cables for everything XLR not very expensive. Maybe I'll ask schiit audio first and try it.

 

[artur9]

Do the current Gungnir manuals still say this stuff? Particularly the FaceBook and Twitter bits?

 

[zexk]

So after listening to my recently purchased Delta-Sigma Gungnir for a few weeks now, I think I still prefer the Multibit sound. The D/S sound was just too bright for my taste even with Wyrd and Eitr in the chain. I guess I am just too accustomed to the warmer signature of my BF2 OG and MMv2. Surprisingly enough, Wyrd with Gen 2 USB sounded way better than using the Eitr which has Gen 5 USB. Sound-stage was super wide although a bit two dimensional, kind of like I'm sitting in front a concert hall.

 

[mjstealey]

Do the current Gungnir manuals still say this stuff? Particularly the FaceBook and Twitter bits?

Nope, you've got yourself a collectors item there!
The newer manuals are less anti-social media and just have the Schiit logo/name on the back cover
Ref: Gungnir Manual r4.1 (most recent I could find, but matches my 2021 Gungnir manual)