An hour ago, my Gungnir MB got delivered. I unpacked it and put it in its new place on my desk, replacing my Bifrost 2.
Plugged it in, switched it on, set it up in Roon, hit play on one of my favorite reference tracks and OH … MY … GOD!
Where does all this bottom end come from?!?! So lush and smooth yet crisp and whatever the opposite of "in your face" is! The mids? So understated, in the very, VERY best sense of the word! And, oh my, the upper mids and highs, how can something be so very sparkly and yet not even attempt to lacerate your freaking eardrums at the same time?!
If I would have to describe the sound this thing puts out in just two words, I think it would have to be: Utterly effortless.
And not with an exclamation mark, mind you. With just a period. Because it's THAT effortless.
This Gungnir walked into my house, made itself comfortable on my desk, picked a cat hair from its meticulously creased dress pants, threw a friendly smile my way - and then proceeded to blow my mother-forking brains straight across the room.
This Gungnir, it is the George Clooney to my Bifrost's Brad Pitt, my Modius' Matt Damon, and my D90's Andy Garcia.
Nay, scratch that. It's George Clooney and Julia Roberts telling Vincent Cassel that he lost his wager, all wrapped into one.
THAT, folks, is the level of "effortless" that I am talking about.
What kind of devil's work is this,
@Baldr?!
This thing isn't even warm yet, and it already blows my Bifrost 2 (and everything else I've ever heard, no matter how "fancy") cleanly out of the water. It took my Bifrost 2 at least a day or two to "find its tone," if you will. I would be more than happy if the sound of this Gungnir stayed the way it is – but man, now I'm seriously eager to find out what this thing might have in store for me over the coming days and week.
My desk setup, just in case someone wants to know:
M1 Mac mini -> USB (AudioQuest Cinnamon, obviously directly, meaning no hub, etc.) -> Gungnir MB -> XLR (Snake Oil Taipan) -> Lokius -> XLR (Snake Oil Taipan) -> Mjolnir 2 (on low gain, matched JJ E88CC Gold Pin tubes) -> braided 8-wire 4-pin XLR -> GoldPlanar GL2000
And for added context; I am almost exclusively listening to classical music (everything early romantics to contemporary, sans opera; usually fanboying for the Berlin Philharmonics).
@Timster, I owe you a mea culpa the size of Texas. You may now have a solid chuckle (or three) on my account, because: Wow!
And guys, this is honestly the first time this happened with any DAC I ever listened to. I swear!
Just, wow…