[earwaxxer]

Quote:

Gungnir ordered.  
 
So this week hopefully, I'll have upgraded my amp to the Mjolnir, my DAC to the Gungnir, and my cable to the Q cable.  I'll have my LCD-2s back and I think I should have requested a vacation from work cause I don't think I will be very motivated to go any where once I start burning in that new combination.

It should be a very sweet combo from all that I have read about the above. Its a great time to be an audiophile! I cant wait for my Gungnir to arrive. I think it will mate up well with my gear. Especially with the Emotiva. What I am expecting is that the Gungnir should tighten things up a bit, give a bit more clarity in complex scores, and a bit more 'realism' in the highs and mids. We will see!

 

[mikek200]

"Especially with the Emotiva."
 
Which Emotiva are you using??
 
I'm seriously looking to get the gungnir,but using a emo,not sure it will make that much of a difference,I know with the mjolnir ,it must.
 
Looking forward to your input.

 

[Yuceka]

Any Wyred4Sound or M-DAC owners using Gungnir now? They're relatively in the same price range and reported to have performed really well 

 

[earwaxxer]

Quote:

"Especially with the Emotiva."
 
Which Emotiva are you using??
 
I'm seriously looking to get the gungnir,but using a emo,not sure it will make that much of a difference,I know with the mjolnir ,it must.
 
Looking forward to your input.

Hi Mike - I have the XPA-2. I use a bottlehead tube preamp. My take on the XPA-2 is very much like those who have reviewed it - tight well behaved sound. Great bass. Great damping and control. Smooth on top without being 'rolled off'. No emphasis on certain frequencies. Very likeable and real sound, with of course tons of headroom. I also find the emo to be quite nicely 'analog' sounding. I'm very happy with it, and it has gotten better with time. One other thing, warm up seems to improve sound as well.
 
I expect a modern DAC with very low jitter etc. would improve imaging from the emo. Also I would expect that a DAC such as the Gungnir would/should help with smear especially at higher volumes. Thats what I am dealing with now. I'm going to start with SPDIF input and 'grow' from there with advances in USB.

 

[mikek200]

Earwaxxer,
 
Thanks for your reply.
 
Yes,I'm getting the same  neutral sq on my emo 100,actually I like it,and gives a good balance against the mjolnir..
,I'm only using the emo,with my he-6's.
 
" help with smear especially at higher volumes"
What is this?...like a veiling sound?
Not sure ,how you are able to go to high volume levels--even with my emo,which has half the power of your amp,I can't go past 10 o'clock,even that's too loud...on some of my newer cd's,{Albert Cummings},it's set to 8-9 o'clock
 
 
Is there another dac,you might consider,other than the Gungnir..in the same price bracket?.I can't seem to find one.
 
I've looked at a few of the audio-gd dacs,which got good reviews...but dollar vs. quality ,the Gungnir seems to fit the bill.
 
Look forward to your emo/gungnir impressions.
 
Tnx

 

[earwaxxer]

Quote:

Earwaxxer,
 
Thanks for your reply.
 
Yes,I'm getting the same  neutral sq on my emo 100,actually I like it,and gives a good balance against the mjolnir..
,I'm only using the emo,with my he-6's.
 
" help with smear especially at higher volumes"
What is this?...like a veiling sound?
Not sure ,how you are able to go to high volume levels--even with my emo,which has half the power of your amp,I can't go past 10 o'clock,even that's too loud...on some of my newer cd's,{Albert Cummings},it's set to 8-9 o'clock
 
 
Is there another dac,you might consider,other than the Gungnir..in the same price bracket?.I can't seem to find one.
 
I've looked at a few of the audio-gd dacs,which got good reviews...but dollar vs. quality ,the Gungnir seems to fit the bill.
 
Look forward to your emo/gungnir impressions.
 
Tnx

Hey Mike - There are quite a few DAC's out there that I feel would compete with the Gungnir. Audio-gd being one, Metrum is another. Eastern Electric Mini DAC comes to mind. April Music, Peachtree etc.
 
It kind of depends on what sound you are looking for. I like the Gungnir for its upgrade-ability. I also know a bit about the ak43xx DAC chip. I have one in my Transporter. What Schiit is doing seems to make sense to me. No BS, just good engineering.
 
The 'smearing' I was talking about is where it seems the distinctness of the different parts of the music seem to overlap at some point, especially as the volume goes up. Of course, only the very best and most expensive systems can play at concert levels and maintain their composure. Thats not the goal. I'm talking about moderate sound pressure levels. Such that you can listen with minimum fatigue for extended periods is desired.
 
I am also looking forward to forming some impressions of the Gungnir! I dont expect that much, although if I get what I am looking for I will be pleased.

 

[wkhanna]

 
 
 
Quote:

 
If only I had a good way to hook up my B&W C5s to it, but alas I don't have any good headphone amp for them to test out the Gungnir with.

 
 
 
Quote:

 
Thanks for the impressions, but to help us gauge them please share what headphone and amp that you are listening with.
 
Also thanks for telling me about Nitin Sawhney! I just ordered used copies of Beyond Skin and Prophesy

 
 
Please do not ban us from Head-Fi.......
Neither Dan or I are headphone aficionados.
We come here cuz we appreciate the knowledge & no BS of the members, & cuz we are both impressed with the Schiit DACs.
There is more discussion on Schiit here than anywhere else.
 
Dan is using a Rotel RB-1090 (modified) amp & Bowers & Wilkins 802D2's speakers.
I use the same modified RB-1090 & DIY speakers that are very, very similar in voicing to B&W 703's.
 
My system:

 
Dan's system:

 

[earwaxxer]

I'm like you guys. I'm pretty much agnostic when it comes to kit. - If it sounds good I will give it a try. My bank account is what keeps me grownded in 'reality'. Thats a good thing.
 
Weather you are using headphones, cone speakers, plannar speakers, open baffle, horns, electrostats, subwoofers, towers, monitors or all of the above together at the same time, it doesnt matter. They all do the same thing. Vibrate air molecules. Now, when we get to where we can send a signal directly to auditory center in the brain, that will be a game changer!
 

 

[scootermafia]

I just ordered a USB Gungnir.  Hopefully it will beat my AudioGD RE-7...and I'd still be very hesitant to sell the RE-7 since it's not a common DAC.

 

[earwaxxer]

That will be a curious comparison! What dont you like about the RE-7?
 

 

[333jeffery]

For folks that went from the Bifrost to the Gungnir, was there a dramatic improvement, or was it just an incremental one? I like my Bifrost/Lyr/HE500 combo but am wondering if I can squeeze a good bit more out of it with the Gungnir.

 

[grokit]

Quote:
 
Welcome to the club!

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
Please do not ban us from Head-Fi.......
Neither Dan or I are headphone aficionados.
We come here cuz we appreciate the knowledge & no BS of the members, & cuz we are both impressed with the Schiit DACs.
There is more discussion on Schiit here than anywhere else.
 
Dan is using a Rotel RB-1090 (modified) amp & Bowers & Wilkins 802D2's speakers.
I use the same modified RB-1090 & DIY speakers that are very, very similar in voicing to B&W 703's.

 
When asked that question, just say "HE-6"....no one will question the rest of that rig as a "headphone rig" after that ...it would appear normal...if not a little underbuilt

 

[wkhanna]

Quote:

 
When asked that question, just say "HE-6...........

 
[size=medium]Ha…[/size]
[size=medium]So I take it the HE-6's are a tad bit on the power hungry side of the spectrum….???  

[/size]

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
[size=medium]Ha…[/size]
[size=medium]So I take it the HE-6's are a tad bit on the power hungry side of the spectrum….???  

[/size]

They're best if plugged right into the breaker panel....

 
Nicknamed "earspeakers" after the AKG K1000 which was similar but less demanding,  it's common wisdom that they're not meant for headphone amps.  Most HE-6 owners are running them on speaker gear ranging from vintage stereo receivers through dual monoblocks

   The blocks are almost certainly overkill, but you get the idea...  It's a great headphone for stereophiles that want to wear their speakers on their ears but find Martin Logans a little on the heavy side for their heads....

 
In fairness, even Lyr drives them....and they even sound good on it (but far from potential!)  And initial reports are that Mjolnir does a fantastic job! Then again Mjolnir is rated at 2x output of Lyr....so about 12wpc...it effectively is a low power speaker amp.