Big Day of Testing (Yggdrasil, Gungnir MB and USB Regen)

Gungnir Multibit in action

 

Thanks for the great read on your meetup, one I was really curious to see. I couldn't wait for an Yggdrasil and ended up with a Gungnir Multibit, so apart from reviews, really can't tell personally what I'm missing, though I do agree that a Regen in line behaves exactly as you said, unpredictably (for me). Would like to read a comparo between usb/Regen versus the other inputs on the Gungnir Multibit or Yggdrasil, and if the gap between usb and the others are reduced with the Regen?

 

what might explain it, is that the regen actually adds distortion and jitter to the dac and doesn't remove it

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...t-Jitterbug-and-Uptone-Regen-USB-Conditioners

 

Nice write up! I found your findings on warm up of the DAC to be very interesting since you don't often hear about people testing that sort of thing.

 

Extremely long warm-up time was the one commonly noted caveat with the Yggdrasil so given that Gungnir Multibit shares some of the same tech, there was some concern.

 

In higher-end DACs, we're obviously not pulling power from the 5V USB line. (Switching power supplies can be horribly, audibly, DBT-detectably bad in terms of noise.) So then the only concern is with jitter coming from the computer. Except modern DACs are also exceptionally good at dealing with jitter. In that instance, the case seems shaky. And I'm not convinced that USB is a bad digital audio standard either, especially if you compare it to, say, optical-toslink that can't even lock on to high bitrate signals.

Plus the Jitterbug page makes me want to vomit. The obvious push to profit off of audiophiles putting jitterbugs on every single USB port on their computer or even chaining them seems to be unabashed snake oil to me. (The Regen seems more legitimate, at least in terms of a possibility of delivering a measurable improvement.)

 

Fantastic write-up! It makes me want to save faster for my GMB! I'm surprised about the Wyrd being almost a noticeable improvement. Might pick up the USB Regen though.

 

Can I ask a couple of questions about this? I promise it's not axe-grinding and I'm not looking to argue with your conclusions, I just want to get a sense of how you went about this:

1. Did you all make your choices independently, or were you discussing amongst yourselves and coming to a consensus choice?

2. Were the trials each with different music?

3. In the trial where you preferred the Yggdrasil, did you still find the essential character of the DACs to be similar? That is, you mentioned elsewhere that you thought the Gungnir had a richer sound than the Yggdrasil -- was it still richer in that trial, and it's just that the more analytical Yggdrasil sound worked better with that particular music, or did the Yggdrasil actually sound richer that time?

4. Were your preferences the same through headphones and speakers? That is, when you preferred the Gungnir, did you prefer it both ways pretty consistently?

 

Here's a quote by TomNC in this thread: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-gungnir-multibit-impressions.158/

"My Gungnir Multibit has undergone >350 playing hours. I am satisfied with the extended dynamic range, large soundstage and a little warm sound signature/tonality. The only area I think it does not do as well as the AURALiC Vega is imaging. Being with a different chip and design, the Vega produces better "borders" and texture of the individual sound images, contributing to typical audiophile effects with great clarity similar to what I preceived from high-end speaker systems. In comparison, the images are less well defined from the Gungnir Multibit. This difference is quite clear to me through Taurus MKii and HE-6/HD800......."

Marv, you mentioned that the Yggdrasil was more "focused", did you mean you have noticed that the Gungnir Multibit did less well in imaging? If so, how do you compare the Vega and the Yggdrasil in terms of solidity in sound images?

Thanks

 

Sorry to be late to respond to this.

1. We made our choices independently and discussed them after.

2. We used a set of about four songs for all out testing throughout the day.

3. The Yggdrasil is tonally brighter than the warmer G-MB so I doubt you'd ever hear it as richer. I may be misunderstanding your question though.

4. We didn't test nearly as much through headphones as we did with speakers, but yes, our preferences were basically the same.

 

Great reading the round-up. The differences between the Wyrd, USB Regen, and the cold/powered on Yggdrasil were especially interesting to read.

Larry has a really good approach towards blind-testing when we've tried A/Bing cables and DACs in the past.

The main takeaway I got from the post is that this is a really good time for people to get into audio. There are so many good options in the 3 to low 4-figure price range around now, and much more nuanced critique about gear.

 

Thanks for this great thread. The Gungnir Multibit will fit on my wooden rack in my limited space environment. This and the less stressed financial commitment are pushing it up on my list, doubly given what I am reading in these comparisons.

 

Schiit! I just ordered a 15 foot Black Dragon balanced cable for my HD800. Momentum is becoming unstoppable and decision time approaches. Any last thoughts on Yggdrasil v Gungnir Multibit? I will use it with my very good but bright-side-of-neutral amplifier, the GS-X mk2. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.