[aamefford]

commissioning a gamma2 will be 300-350.

Sell the M8 for $600, making your total budget $1100.  Get a used Gungnir for $600 (seems to be the going rate) + the USB gen2 install yourself for $100 + Leckerton UHA760 as your new portable.
The gamma2 is great, but not that resolving. I think you'd be happer in the long run going straight to the Gungnir.

Not bad. I like the M8 and want to keep it, I think $500 is closer to the sale price, used gamma2 @ $175 in FS section... I may head that direction, though I'd prefer a gamma2 built by MisterX. Gugnir/mjolnir down the road a bit.

 

[EraserXIV]

 
At this point, I'm highly considering running the Dac-It in my home set-up and either selling the Gungnir or using it at work (I'd pair it with the Mad Dogs and the Magni in my cubicle). Not being so good with the HD800 just really sucks. Only thing I can think is maybe try a warmer tube in the Lyr, like a Mullard to tone things down. I've only had the Dac-It for about 2 weeks and it's passed every test I've thrown at it. I'm amazed, to be honest, as I previously had the impression it was an entry-level DAC, nothing too special. I'm disappointed the Gungnir, the Schiit flagship, didn't blow it out of the water (not even close).
 
Both DAC's were done using coaxial connections to my DX50.

 
Peachtree has a "house sound", if you will, that pairs pretty well with the HD800. They are apparently preparing the release of a higher end DAC to hold the ~$1000 price point for CES in January. I haven't heard their Grand Integrated, but that uses a 9018 and apparently maintains their "house sound" according to an audiostream review. It should be pretty interesting to see what they can cook up.

 

[BournePerfect]

I thought the Dac-iT sounded identical to the Bifrost when I had them both side by side. Putting a better aftermarket power cord (yes I'm going there) on the Bifrost made it pull ahead of the DacIt by opening up the soundstage, and in regards to transparency/detail extraction as well. Couldn't try the power cord (Decware, btw) on the Peachtree though because it used a cruddy wall wart. I'd imagin the uber-bifrost would be much better than the DacIt.
 
-Daniel

 

[GoldfishX]

BournePerfect: What was your source and amp? And which headphones were you running? I'm pretty much married to the Lyr at this point ($$$ spent on tubes, plus I enjoy having its power and sound flexibility). I can't comment on the Bifrost, since I skipped right to the Gungnir (which uses the analogue output stage of the Bifrost Uber), but my mileage varied from headphone to headphone with pretty significant differences. Have not tried a speaker comparison yet.
 
Opening up the soundstage wasn't an issue on the Gungnir. It is bigger than Peachtree's, I give it that. Problem was that soundstage was filled with treble spikes the HD800's are known for... It fared better with the HE-500.
 
Eraser: Can you link me? I was looking at refurbed iDac's and iNovas on Peachtree's site recently (local shop sells them, I want to see if they're any kind of improvement over the DacIt). I'd be interested in a new standalone DAC-only in that range from them.

 

[BournePerfect]

I was using a SBT w/ EDO plugin and HD800s. I'm not the only one that feels the HD800/Gungnir gen 1 is a terrible combination to be had, btw.
 
-Daniel

 

[EraserXIV]

  BournePerfect: What was your source and amp? And which headphones were you running? I'm pretty much married to the Lyr at this point ($$$ spent on tubes, plus I enjoy having its power and sound flexibility). I can't comment on the Bifrost, since I skipped right to the Gungnir (which uses the analogue output stage of the Bifrost Uber), but my mileage varied from headphone to headphone with pretty significant differences. Have not tried a speaker comparison yet.
 
Opening up the soundstage wasn't an issue on the Gungnir. It is bigger than Peachtree's, I give it that. Problem was that soundstage was filled with treble spikes the HD800's are known for... It fared better with the HE-500.
 
Eraser: Can you link me? I was looking at refurbed iDac's and iNovas on Peachtree's site recently (local shop sells them, I want to see if they're any kind of improvement over the DacIt). I'd be interested in a new standalone DAC-only in that range from them.

 
No link, I e-mailed them to ask if there was anything in the pipeline because I remembered hearing rumors about it the beginning of this year.

 

[purrin]

  Lol purrin. Was it my whinging that bumped the M51 to class D?
 
Are there any ninjas that can lend you the NAD? It'd be interesting to see what the OR5 can do for it.

 
Actually it was an error. We had listed several DACs in a google drive spreadsheet, and for some reason the M51 didn't get sorted right originally and ended down further than it was supposed to be.

 

[mcullinan]

Not sure how this is working. Are you updating page 1 thread as you go... Where does the DA8 end up? I own that and the Eximus DP1. Haven't compared them to each other yet though... in different systems

 

[brunk]

  Not sure how this is working. Are you updating page 1 thread as you go... Where does the DA8 end up? I own that and the Eximus DP1. Haven't compared them to each other yet though... in different systems

Just a hunch, but I'm sure it's a good bit above the X-Sabre thanks to its USB implementation. So long as you tape over pins 1&4 on PC side. You can see in the rankings how a good USB correlates to a higher class.

 

[mcullinan]

I doubt they will be taping the pins though. I have yet to do that with my da8 will have to try it.

 

[mcullinan]

Oops I may be getting Dac comparision threads mixed up lol Gary in md is also doing one...

 

[purrin]

On the stock HD800: personally, I wouldn't touch it on any DAC or any DAC/amp combo. It's just too bright and the 6k peak gives it a glare and hardness which does not gel well with 40% of the recordings I listen to. And no, this is not the fault of the recordings.
Yes, some of the recordings are of marginal quality, but they still sound within the threshold of acceptability on my speakers (laid back sounding), my desktop monitors (slightly bass light, slightly bright), and my UERMs (similar to desktop). I'm only saying this because I've noted people like to blame "bad" recordings and think the HD800 is god's gift to mankind when it's really a german toilet, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
With DACs, I prefer a more dynamic sound where the attacks aren't blunted. In fact, this one of the top priorities of mine. The stock HD800s are likely to sound especially bad with any DAC listed from A to C, with the exception of the Hilo which is laid back macrodynamics / attack wise.

 

[Armaegis]

Are you saying the HD800 spits at your unmentionables? Waitasec...

 

[brunk]

I doubt they will be taping the pins though. I have yet to do that with my da8 will have to try it.

I think it would be a mistake if they didn't. It's an included feature that only costs two slivers of electrical tape hiding in a drawer...

 

[Maxvla]

Just a hunch, but I'm sure it's a good bit above the X-Sabre thanks to its USB implementation.

I doubt that. They likely have similar implementations. I know the X-Sabre has basically the same circuitry from the X-SPDIF incorporated.