[malabargold]

My Ragnarok is on the way! Right now I'm debating between either a Gumby or Yggy to pair with it. I'm definitely leaning more towards Gumby since I keep hearing it's 90% of Yggy and $1000 cheaper Also I think I would prefer a more musical presentation. Can anyone comment on these pairings with the Rag? If I get Gumby will I forever regret it?

 

[seb7]

My Ragnarok is on the way! Right now I'm debating between either a Gumby or Yggy to pair with it. I'm definitely leaning more towards Gumby since I keep hearing it's 90% of Yggy and $1000 cheaper

Also I think I would prefer a more musical presentation. Can anyone comment on these pairings with the Rag? If I get Gumby will I forever regret it?

 
No regrets here. Gumby and Rag is what I was looking for after years of trying other gear. First time I've been satisfied with my system.

 

[psonoda]

   
No regrets here. Gumby and Rag is what I was looking for after years of trying other gear. First time I've been satisfied with my system.

Great to know.  I saw your sig.  Did you also upgrade form a Vali to a Ragnarok?  What is your favorite headphone on the Rag?  

 

[sheldaze]

My Ragnarok is on the way! Right now I'm debating between either a Gumby or Yggy to pair with it. I'm definitely leaning more towards Gumby since I keep hearing it's 90% of Yggy and $1000 cheaper

Also I think I would prefer a more musical presentation. Can anyone comment on these pairings with the Rag? If I get Gumby will I forever regret it?

I would certainly not dissuade you from pairing the Gumby with the Rag. But the Yggy is every bit as musical as the Gumby, just with more detail.
 
To my ears, there is a psycho-acoustic engagement with the music, which occurs with all the Multibit DACs from Schiit. And as you move up the line from Bimby to Yggy, this engagement becomes more forced. That is, when I listen to Yggy, I am not given the choice but to listen and hear (and engage with) whatever is occurring in the music. While Gumby allows me to become a little less engaged in the music. But all three DAC choices are very musical. There is no loss of this as you move up the line, and gain more detail and engagement.

 

[reddog]

I would certainly not dissuade you from pairing the Gumby with the Rag. But the Yggy is every bit as musical as the Gumby, just with more detail.

To my ears, there is a psycho-acoustic engagement with the music, which occurs with all the Multibit DACs from Schiit. And as you move up the line from Bimby to Yggy, this engagement becomes more forced. That is, when I listen to Yggy, I am not given the choice but to listen and hear (and engage with) whatever is occurring in the music. While Gumby allows me to become a little less engaged in the music. But all three DAC choices are very musical. There is no loss of this as you move up the line, and gain more detail and engagement.

Well said sir, well said indeed, I feel the Yggy is more detailed, and engaging, than the Gumby. Yet both of these amazing DAC's from Schiit Audio are ever so musical. I need to try the Bimby sometime and compare them to the Gumby and Yggy.

 

[gintamafans]

My Ragnarok is on the way! Right now I'm debating between either a Gumby or Yggy to pair with it. I'm definitely leaning more towards Gumby since I keep hearing it's 90% of Yggy and $1000 cheaper

Also I think I would prefer a more musical presentation. Can anyone comment on these pairings with the Rag? If I get Gumby will I forever regret it?

 
To be honest...if you do get Gumby you will just eventually get Yggy. So why not save the hassle and get Yggy in the first place? Once you hear how good the Gumby sound you will soon think about how good the Yggy could sound then you will start thinking of buying a Yggy! And it is more like 80% of Yggy. Also in this HiFi world, $1000 dollar for a 20% solid improvement is quite make sense. Especially after you got your Yggy if you ever want to get 10% more better than it could be, then you need to expect spending couple times more of Yggy to get that 10%. So in conclusion does that 20% values? Well, it all depends, if you liked the sound and you are satisfied with it and committed that you will never buy a new piece of hardware to save money then this could be it. However, if you ever thinking of an upgrade in the future than Yggy is an better option, because it is just a hard solid improvement over Gumby, Totally recommend getting the 20% in the HiFi world for improvements of sound is absolutely a GREAT DEAL! At the end, TOTL setups is more like getting that last 10% you need which could lead to spending more money than a luxury car. In other words, just get Yggy........

 

[US Blues]

My Ragnarok is on the way! Right now I'm debating between either a Gumby or Yggy to pair with it. I'm definitely leaning more towards Gumby since I keep hearing it's 90% of Yggy and $1000 cheaper

Also I think I would prefer a more musical presentation. Can anyone comment on these pairings with the Rag? If I get Gumby will I forever regret it?

Friend, you are asking us for advice in regards to how you might spend your money? This will end very well. 
 
Get an Yggy, and be done. It's upgradeable, if anything really new comes along you won't miss out, and in the meantime you'll have the best. then you can focus on enjoying the music. 

 

[malabargold]

Ragnarok came in today and it sounds wonderful with my HE-6

 
 
Only 'weird' thing that I have noticed so far is that I have to turn the volume knob up to between 12:00 and 3:00 even on high gain to get good volume out of the HE-6. Anything past that becomes too loud to listen too but I was expecting to have to adjust the volume more carefully since this is a 100W amp. 
 
My source right now is a bifrost through the single ended inputs, maybe when I upgrade to the gumby/ygyy and switch to the balanced inputs I will get it a little more power

 

[sheldaze]

  Ragnarok came in today and it sounds wonderful with my HE-6

 
 
Only 'weird' thing that I have noticed so far is that I have to turn the volume knob up to between 12:00 and 3:00 even on high gain to get good volume out of the HE-6. Anything past that becomes too loud to listen too but I was expecting to have to adjust the volume more carefully since this is a 100W amp. 
 
My source right now is a bifrost through the single ended inputs, maybe when I upgrade to the gumby/ygyy and switch to the balanced inputs I will get it a little more power

Volume is progressive - each step gives you 1.2dB increase. 3dB is twice the power. Thus you're not reaching anywhere close to 100W until almost at maximum turn of the dial.
Let me know if the math makes sense?

 

[malabargold]

Ahh, forgot thats how they did the volume knob. That makes sense because it seems to get so loud during that last quarter turn. I feel at ease now that I know I am not coming close to maxing out the amp

 

[psonoda]

What headphones are you running with the Ragnarok. If you have more that one headphone, which one do you like better. I am looking to upgrade my headphones and was curious at what other people are using and like. Thanks.

 

[sheldaze]

What headphones are you running with the Ragnarok. If you have more that one headphone, which one do you like better. I am looking to upgrade my headphones and was curious at what other people are using and like. Thanks.

HE1K and EL-8C. Though the HE1K is better, there is still something amazing about how the EL-8C sound through this amplifier. I recalled one of the last times I used it, listening to soundtrack from Fargo. The sound held me on the edge of my seat, captivating me the entire time.
 
I was running HiFiMan HE-400i, but just sold these.

 

[psonoda]

HE1K and EL-8C. Though the HE1K is better, there is still something amazing about how the EL-8C sound through this amplifier. I recalled one of the last times I used it, listening to soundtrack from Fargo. The sound held me on the edge of my seat, captivating me the entire time.

I was running HiFiMan HE-400i, but just sold these.

Thanks sheldaze.

I have the HD 700 and the AKG k7xx. Headphones. I don't think the AKGs scale that well. They really do not sound that much better on the Rag versus my Grace or JDS C5D. Although those pieces are good but TOTL stuff.

I noticed a significant improvement with the HD 700 first single ended and second using a balanced cable. Using it balanced, you really need to be careful with your hearing. The Rag had more power than you think. Because it sounds so clean and how the volume control works. The HEK are a little out of my price rand at the moment but I hear good things about them. I was also interested in the HD800 or the HD800s.

With the improvement of the HD 700. It makes me believe that I can get even a better performance. Although I could just be chasing the purple unicorn.

 

[sheldaze]

Thanks sheldaze.

I have the HD 700 and the AKG k7xx. Headphones. I don't think the AKGs scale that well. They really do not sound that much better on the Rag versus my Grace or JDS C5D. Although those pieces are good but TOTL stuff.

I noticed a significant improvement with the HD 700 first single ended and second using a balanced cable. Using it balanced, you really need to be careful with your hearing. The Rag had more power than you think. Because it sounds so clean and how the volume control works. The HEK are a little out of my price rand at the moment but I hear good things about them. I was also interested in the HD800 or the HD800s.

With the improvement of the HD 700. It makes me believe that I can get even a better performance. Although I could just be chasing the purple unicorn.

Please don't chase the purple unicorn 

 
Some more balanced experiences, probably just as good are things like Audeze LCD-X and MrSpeakers Ether. I do not own these, but I have heard these on various equipment - including LCD-X on Ragnarok. They may go for much less than MSRP if you can find one used. I just saw an Ether up for sale, which had me quite tempted.

 

[45longcolt]

At the risk of committing heresy, Rag's one true failing is the SE headphone out. Blame the summing circuit. First time I plugged my 7XXs in, I thought the cans were defective. Comparing Audeze balanced/SE cabling revealed the performance discrepancy. Bottom line, don't judge ¼" plug phones by their performance w/Rag. The Fostex  TH-X00s are a better match w/Rag. Sometimes I'm tempted to convert the THs to balanced cabling just to find out what they're really capable of, but how practical is that?