[563085]

Hi all,

The only thing I've been able to search on these two DACS is a brief comparison between the non-multibit Gungnir and the Ares 2. That person had the Gungnir for 6 years, then got Ares 2 and liked it more. I'm wondering, as I'm sure a lot of people are, about how the Multibit Gumby compares to the Ares 2. I realize the Ares 2 is $834 US dollars vs a $1200 Gumby but I'm willing to overlook the extra cost, as it's all about the sound.

I'm piecing together a new setup. I had a Burson Conductor 3XR and Meze Empyreans. I found that setup had great low end, but the mids were a little recessed/veiled/masked. Others have commented the same about the Meze's. I also wasn't really into how the Burson got very very warm (Class A for you), and that it had a wall wart. I now prefer my pieces to have a power socket so I can add aftermarket thick power cords to improve sonics.

Anyway, the new setup will be:

Hifiman HE1000v2
Gumby or Ares 2
Jotunheim 2

So I'd like to hear from you guys who have demo'd, owned, somehow heard both of these DACs and let me know your views. I like a neutral signature with perhaps a very slight warmth, still detailed, and soundstage is most important though.

 

[563085]

Ok, it appears I answered this myself, but I found someone's comments who owned both Dacs. I'd link the whole thread, but I'll save us all the reading and just paste the important parts. Just in case anyone was curious on these two Dacs.
-------------------------------------

Have been listening to Tidal through a Bifrost Uber as my only source for years now. I recently ran into a 1.5 y.o. Bifrost MB w/ Gen 5 USB. It cost the same as getting my unit upgraded from Schiit plus I was getting the Gen 5 USB so I went ahead and bought it. Was happily getting to know the DAC and enjoying more and more. Next thing you know a Gumby pops up for not much more than a new Gungnir DS...yada yada yada...now it's coming Tuesday. The insane part is that I pulled the trigger on a Denafrips Ares II right before all this. I was just looking to get a taste of the MB sound while I waited for the 8-10 week turnaround on the Denafrips!!! I'm a goofball. But I am excited that I get to A/B the Gumby and Ares. I'll have some selling to do soon. The Bifrost Uber, Bifrost MB, and the "loser" of the Gumby/Frips shootout will have to go.........


......Well, I'm pretty happy with the Gumby A1. Very nice. Still waiting for the Denafrips.........


......The Ares II arrived finally and it's very impressive. Spent some time checking it out last night. I really, really like it so far. Will spend some time with it before deciding which one will go - Frips or Gumby.......


--And the winner is??!!--
So I've sold the Gumby. It was a close call and, honestly, I would have been happy with either unit. The Gumby is an excellent DAC but I find the Ares II easier to listen to - a little more laid back/relaxed. It still retains lots of detail though. Musical, cohesive, natural, smooth are some words that come to mind. I preferred the low end on the Ares II. Drums, bongos, congas, cymbals, tambourines and percussion in general sound awesome. Adds scale. Sounds bigger to me and I love what it does with reverb and hall effect. Been trying to continuously stream to it even when the amp is off and seems like every time I sit down for a listen it sounds even sweeter.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

That's one person's opinion.

I have a Gungnir A1 (analog 1). I've heard the Ares II and Pontus II at meets and to me those Denafrips DACs sound like mush. A wall of sonic mush. I don't know what people are hearing in the Denafrips DACs when they talk about detail. Because I didn't hear what I consider detail. Perhaps it is because I listen with Audeze planar headphones and really like the style of sound that planars do. The Gungnir does the style of sound and imaging and detail that makes Audeze planars sound better. The Denafrips don't. Perhaps the Denafrips are better with other styles of headphones. But with my Audeze headphones and my amps the Denafrips is the equivalent of a bowl of oatmeal. Sonic mush.

The only way I would possibly consider a Denafrips DAC is if it sounds particularly to my liking when upsampled using HQPlayer. I haven't been able to hear a Denafrips DAC yet with HQPlayer. So I don't know. But maybe that would work. Otherwise, no way would I get a Denafrips DAC.

 

[563085]

That's one person's opinion.

I have a Gungnir A1 (analog 1). I've heard the Ares II and Pontus II at meets and to me those Denafrips DACs sound like mush. A wall of sonic mush. I don't know what people are hearing in the Denafrips DACs when they talk about detail. Because I didn't hear what I consider detail. Perhaps it is because I listen with Audeze planar headphones and really like the style of sound that planars do. The Gungnir does the style of sound and imaging and detail that makes Audeze planars sound better. The Denafrips don't. Perhaps the Denafrips are better with other styles of headphones. But with my Audeze headphones and my amps the Denafrips is the equivalent of a bowl of oatmeal. Sonic mush.

The only way I would possibly consider a Denafrips DAC is if it sounds particularly to my liking when upsampled using HQPlayer. I haven't been able to hear a Denafrips DAC yet with HQPlayer. So I don't know. But maybe that would work. Otherwise, no way would I get a Denafrips DAC.

Interesting. I respect your counter-opinion to his. What's a Gungnir A1? This A1 version of Gungnir that you have, is that the DS or Multibit version of it?

 

[kumar402]

Sometime R2R NOS DAC does sound like wall of sound if not properly warmed up but once warmed up they do well. I have no experience with Denafrips DAC though. It’s just a common observation

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Interesting. I respect your counter-opinion to his. What's a Gungnir A1? This A1 version of Gungnir that you have, is that the DS or Multibit version of it?

I have a multibit Gungnir. The A1 is the first version of the Gungnir Mulibit. Schiit did a silent revision that is known as the A2 or Analog 2 version. It's an updated version of the analog portion of the DAC that drives the outputs. The A2 version is technically an improvement. The A1 and A2 versions do sound somewhat different which is why I mention that I have the A1 version when talking about how the Gungnir MB sounds compared to other DACs.

 

[theveterans]

Sometime R2R NOS DAC does sound like wall of sound if not properly warmed up but once warmed up they do well. I have no experience with Denafrips DAC though. It’s just a common observation

Also, NOS DAC is a lot more susceptible to jitter effects than the OS. I find that poor jitter leads to mushy transients and/or unnatural sound. The OS filter masks a lot of those up, but both OS and NOS R2R DACs need a really good upstream transport to sound their very best

 

[563085]

@Ham Sandwich 's negative opinion of the Ares 2 is the first time that anyone didn't absolutely fall in love with it and keep it. Seemingly everyone everywhere is gushing over it. It ran out of stock for awhile, it's price went up, countless reviewers amazed and saying that it sounds like $2k+ dacs etc. Everyone in love with it. Seems odd that someone didn't like it. I'd suspect something else was going on there as obviously if it was crap and just mush, then it wouldn't be giving everyone an audible orgasm

Every reviewer talks about it sounding the best in the OS mode, with the slow filter on. Much improvements. An issue with the Gumby, for me, is the long size to it (I don't have a huge amount of room on my desk) and also that with the Multibits, you tend to have to leave them on all the time to keep the sound optimal. I don't want to keep electronics sitting on. Wasteful.

It's all good, I've decided on the Ares 2. There's SOOOOO many people raving about it, it's one of those special products to come along every once in awhile that shakes everything up.

 

[kumar402]

Gungnir Multibit unlike Yaggy doesn’t have long warm up time and is akin to other similar R2R DACs with 24 hrs to 48 hrs of warm up. Many R2R DAC sounds good after few days of warm up

 

[563085]

Wanted to update this thread on an issue I found with the Ares 2 for anyone that's a gamer.

The Ares 2 is great if you're only listening to it as purely a musical setup. If you're trying to play games on your PC, then the Ares 2 is not a good choice due to a delay in the processing of the audio. On both the optical and USB inputs, there is a noticeable delay between a video you're watching on YouTube or action you're seeing on a PC monitor during a game vs the audio that is coming through your headphone.

The USB interface has a varying delay to it, but is the biggest delay. The optical is a little less, but still noticable. For this reason, I may have to go with the Gumby (or another Dac under 1200). Only drawback about the Gumby is having to leave it on all the time.

 

[JayDM]

I might be wrong, but I could have sworn I’ve read something about a similar delay happening with the Gungir. One of the reasons I grabbed another DAC along with the Ares ii, can just switch over when I’m not listening to music, or just want a change in sound. Perhaps would have gone with a Gungir or Yggdrasil to begin with if they were not so enormous…. My desk is quite large and with a rack I’ve got some decent vertical space as well, but even the Gungir is just so massive on a desk it feels silly.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

If you're doing a true desktop system any gear the size and footprint of a Gungnir, Yggdrasil along with headphone amps that are just as big or bigger are not a practical option.

I have all of my headphone gear in an AVR style side-by-side rack on wheels. Four tiers of shelves side by side. On wheels so I can roll it against the wall and away from my desk when I'm not using the headphone gear. None of my headphone gear is on my computer desk. I am not doing a desktop style system. I can do full size audio components, full size DACs, full size headphone amps. So the size of a Gungnir or Yggdrasil or Denafrips Terminator or Holo Audio May is not an issue for me when choosing my reference gear.

I also have some smaller size gear that I can use when I want a system that will fit on a nightstand or end table. My smaller size gear is things like a Monoprice Liquid Glass X and a Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC. Not as small as compact gear, but small enough that I can put them on an end table and have a listening station away from my big gear. But even that is a little bigger than I'd consider computer desktop friendly.

 

[JayDM]

Anything that isn’t particularly large I can toss on my desk no problem, GSX mini, Schiit Jotunheim, Magnius/modius, iFi pro, Ares ii, Cayin Ha-6, all things I either have or have had which work no problem on a large desk. It’s only things which I seem to think of as being large before anything else which I wouldn’t put on my desk, Gungir, Yggdrasil, Holo may/spring, Denafrips terminator, any of the higher end Audio GD gear…. Annoyingly a lot of good stuff I would probably enjoy owning if not for the size.