[atomicbob]

Having all four of these Schiit multibit DACs is a considerable privilege. Comparing them to other DACs with printed words is challenging at best. These need to be heard, preferably in level matched A/B comparison to other DACs, to fully appreciate the advancements achieved by Mike Moffat and team at Schiit. I have spent many hours with these multibits, as I have with some of the best (and worst) of Delta-Sigma DACs. It is no secret that I am enchanted with the Schiit Multibit solutions to source components. I am not as adept with the flowery prose as many others on forum so this will be my concise comparison.
 
1. Best of D-S Dacs - an indistinct sound is barely audible in the recording that appears to not be musically related to the orchestral piece playing
 
2. Modi MB - someone in the violin section has flatulated
3. Bifrost MB - more precisely it was someone in the Second Violin section
4. Gungnir MB - the flatulent sound originates with the 2nd chair in the 2nd row of the 2nd violins
5. Yggdrasil - that 2nd chair, 2nd row, 2nd violinist has let loose with a Db when clearly the piece being played is in the key of G.
 
now for others that can describe attributes of the three Schiit multibit DACs better than I.

 

[schneller]

How should I spend my money: GMB vs. BMB, RCA only? No need for XLR.
 
Have you heard the Chord 2Qute? Compare to winner of above?

 

[atomicbob]

 
How should I spend my money: GMB vs. BMB, RCA only? No need for XLR.


Have you heard the Chord 2Qute? Compare to winner of above?

My opinion (FWIW) yggdrasil is really necessary for studios. mastering facilities and those who want to hear the same production presentation. I appreciate the exceptional neutrality for production work. However the very slight euphonic sound and ever so slight lost of resolution of the Gungnir MB from the Yggdrasil actually serves recreational listeners better, in my opinion. Then there is the Bimby. For the last eight days I've spent almost all of my disposable time listening to the Bifrost MB and asking myself, do I really need the extra resolution of Gumby for most of my listening enjoyment? I'm listening to the Bimby even as I type this. Plenty to enjoy about this DAC. So get a whichever level of resolution you think is best for your preferences and go explore your library. Be prepared to hear things you never experienced before.

 

[artur9]

  .... Then there is the Bimby. For the last eight days I've spent almost all of my disposable time listening to the Bifrost MB and asking myself, do I really need the extra resolution of Gumby for most of my listening enjoyment? I'm listening to the Bimby even as I type this. Plenty to enjoy about this DAC. 

 

I have been waiting for exactly this comparison amongst the three units.  Thank you!
 
If I may ask a few questions?  
 
What's the added resolution of the Gumby vs the Bimby sound like?  Does it enhance, say, the inherent vibrato (IIRC) of violins?  I am very sensitive to guitar sounds as my father played and love the resonance of well recorded ones.  Does it have an impact on that?
 
I love the decay and ambiance that the UberFrost gives versus other standalone DACs I've heard and ones built into disc players.  Does the resolution affect that?
 
Thanks again!

 

[mikek200]

 
 

  How should I spend my money: GMB vs. BMB, RCA only? No need for XLR.
  Have you heard the Chord 2Qute? Compare to winner of above?

  My opinion (FWIW) yggdrasil is really necessary for studios. mastering facilities and those who want to hear the same production presentation. I appreciate the exceptional neutrality for production work. However the very slight euphonic sound and ever so slight lost of resolution of the Gungnir MB from the Yggdrasil actually serves recreational listeners better, in my opinion. Then there is the Bimby. For the last eight days I've spent almost all of my disposable time listening to the Bifrost MB and asking myself, do I really need the extra resolution of Gumby for most of my listening enjoyment? I'm listening to the Bimby even as I type this. Plenty to enjoy about this DAC. So get a whichever level of resolution you think is best for your preferences and go explore your library. Be prepared to hear things you never experienced before.

 

schneller,
Good post..
I'm using a Stax rig with the 009's
My amp is the Theta Pro Prime..this combo is outstanding,but cant but wonder what the GungnirMB will give me
I'm an occasional music listener,not a recording engineer
I almost pulled the trigger on the GungnirMB,but after reading your post ,had to re-think ,this whole thing
 
Is there a night & day difference between the GMB & the BMB..
Any help ,will be appreciated,thanks,
Mike

 

[schneller]

I just wish one or a few people would to an extensive comparison of BMB vs GMB, RCA only. Price is not my concern. I don't need XLR and prefer the BMB footprint. BMB vs. 2Qute may be more accurate for me. I'm willing to spend $1800 for the latter.

 

[kstuart]

I just wish one or a few people would to an extensive comparison of BMB vs GMB, RCA only. Price is not my concern. I don't need XLR and prefer the BMB footprint. BMB vs. 2Qute may be more accurate for me. I'm willing to spend $1800 for the latter.

Since the BMB is so much less, then you might consider ordering one and then evaluating it for a week (keeping it powered on 24 hours a day).  If after a week you do not feel a need for another product, then you are done.   If not, then you can return it using the 15-bit trial period return policy (see their site for exact details on that).

 

[hrq12345]

Wonder about the comparison between Bimby and Chord Hugo... Anyone has listened to both of them?

 

[landroni]

  I'm an occasional music listener,not a recording engineer
I almost pulled the trigger on the GungnirMB,but after reading your post ,had to re-think ,this whole thing

 
Is there a night & day difference between the GMB & the BMB..
 

You have precisely this comparison in this thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/781268/the-diyrs-cookbook/60#post_12051821

 

[landroni]

  2. Bifrost MB - someone in the Second Violin section has flatulated
3. Gungnir MB - the flatulent sound originates with the 2nd chair in the 2nd row of the 2nd violins
4. Yggdrasil - that 2nd chair, 2nd row, 2nd violinist has let loose with a Db when clearly the piece being played is in the key of G.
 

Does the perception of flatulence change with SE or balanced output in the Schiit range? Some users report that "GMB’s SE output sounds noticeably worse (mids are very recessed) than the balanced output"...

 

[atomicbob]

  Does the perception of flatulence change with SE or balanced output in the Schiit range? Some users report that "GMB’s SE output sounds noticeably worse (mids are very recessed) than the balanced output"...

All my headphone amps are Single Ended and my comments are thus constrained. I did not observe any noticeably worse performance of the GuMB SE vs Balanced output when using only one side of the Balanced output to drive my amps SE input. I did enjoy the slight alteration adding Jensen transformers to the bath to convert from Balanced to Unbalanced. It should be noted that the GuMB Balanced outputs produced 6 dB more level than the SE and unless the comparisons account for this in level matching, many differences may be perceived.

 

[landroni]

  1. Best of D-S Dacs - an indistinct sound is barely audible in the recording that appears to not be musically related to the orchestral piece playing

 
2. Bifrost MB - someone in the Second Violin section has flatulated
3. Gungnir MB - the flatulent sound originates with the 2nd chair in the 2nd row of the 2nd violins
4. Yggdrasil - that 2nd chair, 2nd row, 2nd violinist has let loose with a Db when clearly the piece being played is in the key of G.
 

 
Re the hyper-detail retrieval of R2R... Some believers in DS will insist that all the detail retrieved by R2R (e.g. the dB strong flatulence in 2nd chair, 2nd row by 2nd violinist) is "artificial", fairly noting that when you're in the audience you don't hear all that nano-detail.
 
So is all this detail retrieval "natural"? My personal intuition is that R2R manages to reproduce sound the way it was recorded, i.e. as if someone were present in the very midst of the artists, whereas DS smooths the recorded data and transforms it into as if you were a step back and hear the artists from a (small) distance, thus losing some details that you might hear otherwise...

 

[madwolfa]

  So is all this detail retrieval "natural"? My personal intuition is that R2R manages to reproduce sound the way it was recorded, i.e. as if someone were present in the very midst of the artists, whereas DS smooths the recorded data and transforms it into as if you were a step back and hear the artists from a (small) distance, thus losing some details that you might hear otherwise...

 
I do prefer to hear the sound as it was recorded. If it feels like you're in the midst of the artists, then that's a recording issue for the most part (bad mics positioning, poor mastering, etc). I'd rather not correct or mask such deficiencies with my playback equipment. R2R gives the most faithful reproducing and I appreciate it. And then if I'd like to tweak the sound signature more to my liking, I'd rather switch to a different headphone.

 

[sheldaze]

 
use wav not flac if you can!

Why?

 

[sheldaze]

  cause some processors (ex: Squeezebox Touch)  can get stressed with flacs.(dépends on the amount of compression too usually 5 is good)
some processors on computer can have a lot of internal noises, cycles etc..
flacs can contains very extended tags and large album art included.
in a few words .wav are effortless!
 
and to come back to the subject
 
 
 
ARE THOSE MULTIBITS DACS FATIGUING?
 
 
(a really good property about the uberfrost is really non fatiguing)

I upgraded from Bifrost Uber to Gungnir Multibit - the sound, as I heard it, was so much easier on my ears that I had to come up with new techniques to ensure I did not play my music at improper volumes (i.e. stop playing, listen to background noises to compare volume). I know a person who similarly upgraded from Gungir (Delta Sigma) to Yggdrasil. He changed just the DAC and found the sound much easier to listen to.
 
Your real question though - we have two other people in our group who only upgraded from Bifrost Uber to Bifrost Multibit. I will have to ask them. I dunno...though I listened to the Bifrost Multibit for about a weekend, I did not progress through the normal upgrade path. I was actually downgrading from Gungnir Multibit to Bifrost Multibit to have a listen.