Garbulky's Schiit Gungnir Multibit Review
Dec 19, 2016 13:29:53 GMT -5
brutiarti and qdtjni like this
Post by garbulky on Dec 19, 2016 13:29:53 GMT -5
Garbulky’s Schiit Gungnir Multibit Review!
With special thanks to a good friend (I wonder who?!) for the kind loan.
THE SHORT TAKE:
This DAC stands right up there with the DC-1 as the best DAC I’ve heard. It has better presence and dynamics. Biggest strength is on acoustic instruments, voices, and cymbals. The treble is more natural. The sound as a whole, it does just as well as the DC-1 which isn’t easy. It does better at the strengths as mentioned. Its cons are slight rawness in treble (different from what you may imagine as harshness). And a lack of the nth degree of resolution. Once again, different from what you may imagine.You aren’t going to go oh darn I’m really missing the fine details aren’t I? No you’re not. But, it’s not a DC-1 crusher though it does sound different from it. A very enjoyable DAC but not necessarily a must-upgrade unit if you have a DC-1. Also.. there's no remote.
The Long Take:
The Gungnir multibit is part of Schiit’s digital multibit megacomboburrito filter revolution which started with its flagship Ygdrassil DAC which is directly on my upgrade path.
The Gungnir was an important piece of gear for me to audition because my upgrade path for my “end game” setup was
Schiit Ygdrassil + Audio GD He-1 + XPA-1 gen 2 + (optional Powersound S15 subs x2) to my Axiom m80 v3. All supported with room treatments. It’s been slow going but I currently have XPA-1 gen 2 and Axiom m80’s working very nicely with a DC-1 DAC and room treatments.
So the Gungnir multibit would let me know would the Ygdrassil – running at near a good $1000 more be something I would want? Long story short….it is.
One distinction here….the Gungnir is being run through its single ended outputs. Schiit designed this unit for balanced drive and it uses four DACs to get it there. I am not using balanced drive, so I am not running it at its best. So I hope everybody understands…this is the Gungnir fully balanced DAC in single ended mode review.
Usability Frustration:
The Gungnir at the beginning is a frustrating piece of equipment for simple reasons. One – it takes a long as heck time for it to sound its “norm”. About a week during which I let music play through it constantly with my amp off. At the beginning the treble was noticeably harsh. However it also sounded its best for me during warm up! Comning off as exciting, very dynamics, and remarkably clear. As it warmed up, the sound got closer to the DC-1 in sound and maybe because of my room and the way it does the low mid range, as the mid range warmed up, it sounded not as exciting as it did when it was warming up. But it is frustrating to continuosly know for a week straight that nope, you are not there yet.
Two – there is no remote. My wife yesterday said, she is happy it’s going back because she was sick and tired of having to get up to change inputs. For use in a living room, work purposes, and with a family, the lack of remote is a noticeable issue. In fact it’s the one reason that makes me hesitate on the Ygdrassil – no remote. It may make me wait till they update it as they likely will to include a remote. There’s purist and there’s get with the times. Schiit needs to get with the times.
Three – look….how the heck do you know which input is what? Answer you don’t. Their icons are tiny and incomprehensible, the lights look identical, and there is no way anybody can tell what it is even if you can read them from your couch. You just have to guess – not a problem if you have a remote….which you don’t.
What do those heiroglyphics mean?!
Looks:
The Gungnir looks great! It really does. No complaints here. It looks classy imo. It doesn’t have the sharp boring edges and its silver rounded look is quite nice. Also the Schiit logo is ooh-la la good.
Sound:
So you can tell Schiit built this unit to do one thing – and that was sound quality. It really didn’t care what you thought about its usability, lack of HDMI, Ethernet, MQA, Roon, headphone outs, volume control, DSD etc. Their goal was do you want sound quality for the 16 bit music you have? Well we’ll give ya that at a realistic price.
And so they did. It’s hard to fault the sound quality of this unit. Schiit’s claim to fame is multibit technology, and a revolutionary filter and they are in use here.
Compared to my DC-1, this is probably the first DAC to really compete with it that I’ve heard. There are some differences that you can hear when you AB (which I did). But they are subtle.
The most obvious thing is that with the Gungnir it appears there is a mild veil on the DC-1 that is not there on the Gungnir, noticeable on most everything it does, but most obvious on voices.. It is related to the dynamics. Basically things feel more present and immediate. The treble on the Gungnir imo is both better and slightly worse. Its better that it feels more present especially on cymbals. Fleshed out is the difference. More like a tape, while the DC-1 does exhibit more of a thin character to the treble. The cymbals on the Gungnir mix better with the mid range. While the DC-1 the cymbals sound good, but more tightly closed in. Think of somebody whistling and then imagine him doing it with pursed lips, that’s the difference.
However in terms of treble there is a slight hint of harshness to the Gungnir. Is it the single ended outputs? I don’t know. By harsh I mean tone. Don’t go thinking it’s those poor quality DACs with the tizzz in the cymbals, or a glare. This DAC is a multibit unit so it will sound different from what you know. But it’s got a slight trace of harshness. While the DC-1 sounds noticeably smoother sounding. The DC-1 also sounds more laid back and less present but also slightly more sophisticated in nature. Don’t ask me to explain what any of that actually means though!! Lol.
There was also more bass presence with about the same amount of resolution in the bass as the DC-1.
One thing that its improved timing did was that I could tell the difference better between mp3’s and lossless s. Mp3’s appeared to take away a bit of the phase or timing information causing a lack of that last bit of accuracy for soundstage.
However the main con was that I didn’t hear the room ambience and dimensions with the Gungnir that the DC-1 was able to do. A surprise because I assumed the improved timing of the chip would do so
Now note with the DC-1, I heard the dimensions of the room when I went fully balanced to the XPA-1. In single ended mode, I still could hear a bit, but it wasn’t anywhere as much. So all I can say is in single ended mode the Gungnir didn’t do room ambience that well.
So compared to the DC-1, the DC-1 was not embarrassed. There was less difference than you might expect when you listen for specific things in the sound.
However, it is different sounding – as it should be. It is a multiibit DAC. It uses a filter that is more time and phase accurate. What I noticed as time went on was that I liked this DAC. Usually I can tell quickly if I like or don’t like a DAC. Here, I did like this DAC. The thing that stuck out most was that with acoustic instruments, and voices, the DAC simply sounded more natural and it was easier for me to follow everything that was happening. So I got quite a bit of pleasure listening to acoustic music which is what I enjoy.
Classical music also sounded great with this DAC. I was noticing things like tone, texture, and musical expression quite a bit while listening. For instance, on some favorite pieces, it was very obvious when a violin was doing its vibrato. While previously when I listen to classical, I rarely hear the vibrato of a violin. In fact, in terms of violins, this DAC did the most natural portrayal of violins I have heard. It made it sound real and less “synthesized”.
Dynamics are very quick with this DAC. The sound just appears whether it’s loud or soft. There is almost no smear. That is also something you notice with its presentation. The sound is just right there. Somebody hit a cymbal? Well there it is immediately. And I think that contributes a lot to its natural presentation.
Value:
At $1250 this is not a cheap DAC. And if you compare it to the far less expensive DC-1, you realize it’s not necessarily better – at least in single ended mode. It will not crush the DC-1 which is one fabulous DAC. But it does do some things better and it does some things not quite as well. But it is a competitive DAC sound quality wise and I found myself NOT wanting to switch back to the DC-1. But when I did, I also loved the sound of the DC-1.
Its strength is tone for acoustic instruments. It makes things feel more natural. Think analog tape versus sound card. Its main con is that it doesn’t have the nth degree for detail – namely room ambience. And that’s what made me want to switch back to it.
Upgrade or not?
Look the selling point of this DAC is NOT that you are going to hear way more detail than ever before. You probably won’t hear much more if at all. It’s not its biggest strength. Its strength is that things sound natural. It feels natural to your brain. And that’s the selling point. How do you put value on tone? It’s hard. I’m used to going well that one sounded clearer. Not but this one sounds more natural doesn’t it?
If I had to choose to upgrade the DC-1, this is too close to call. So I probably won’t. But I’d it is important to note that it did stuff better than the DC-1 – and it also pulled off the holistic act where it did everything right. There is something to multibit and Schiit’s new filter and it is audible. Just wasn’t a whole lot better though. If it could do room ambience, then it would have been more of a no brainer for me.
However it is an upgrade to the Oppo 105, and every other DAC I’ve heard including the PT-100, UMC-200, the Jolida tube DAC, XDA-1, XDA-2, Audioquest 1.2, XMC-1, etc. Now the XMC-1…that will take a bit of thought before I would upgrade, but I do believe the Gungnir sounds more natural. But the XMC-1 however still sounds quite good, so the decision paradox is similar to the DC-1. With the Geek Pulse Infinity, the Geek Pulse may have a teensy bit more detail but the Gungnir will do better with tone especially in the treble. Holistically, the Gungnir is better. But depending on the speakers, some people may like the treble shenanigans and slightly more resolution the Geek DAC brings.
Once again at this level, the preamp and gear and physical setup matters. Tiny adjustments to my room and speakers completely negated any advantage this DAC had against any other DAC I’d heard. So there is a good chance you won’t hear any difference. You have to take time at this level of performance to make sure the rest of your system is optimized to let the Gungnir do its thing.
So, and let me stress…if you haven’t heard differences in electronics in your setup, or that has been the your experience….then I am about 90% confident that this unit will not change your mind or experience in any way.
Would I recommend it? At this point, it’s a maybe. You absolutely need a transparent preamp! And by that I mean more transparent than the XSP-1. A steep requirement for sure. I still haven’t heard one more transparent than the DC-1 analog preamp (which is sad – it can’t be that hard can it?!).
Lack of usability, room dimension details, and just a touch of rawness in treble preclude it from being an end game DAC. Price makes me hesitate. But in terms of enjoyment it is right up there with the best I’ve heard. And I can’t stress enough that I had a great time listening to it and I was able to experience the way musicians expressed on their instruments in a way that I hadn’t before. So its biggest selling point is ….natural instruments sound more realistic and engaging than on other gear I’ve heard.
With special thanks to a good friend (I wonder who?!) for the kind loan.
THE SHORT TAKE:
This DAC stands right up there with the DC-1 as the best DAC I’ve heard. It has better presence and dynamics. Biggest strength is on acoustic instruments, voices, and cymbals. The treble is more natural. The sound as a whole, it does just as well as the DC-1 which isn’t easy. It does better at the strengths as mentioned. Its cons are slight rawness in treble (different from what you may imagine as harshness). And a lack of the nth degree of resolution. Once again, different from what you may imagine.You aren’t going to go oh darn I’m really missing the fine details aren’t I? No you’re not. But, it’s not a DC-1 crusher though it does sound different from it. A very enjoyable DAC but not necessarily a must-upgrade unit if you have a DC-1. Also.. there's no remote.
The Long Take:
The Gungnir multibit is part of Schiit’s digital multibit megacomboburrito filter revolution which started with its flagship Ygdrassil DAC which is directly on my upgrade path.
The Gungnir was an important piece of gear for me to audition because my upgrade path for my “end game” setup was
Schiit Ygdrassil + Audio GD He-1 + XPA-1 gen 2 + (optional Powersound S15 subs x2) to my Axiom m80 v3. All supported with room treatments. It’s been slow going but I currently have XPA-1 gen 2 and Axiom m80’s working very nicely with a DC-1 DAC and room treatments.
So the Gungnir multibit would let me know would the Ygdrassil – running at near a good $1000 more be something I would want? Long story short….it is.
One distinction here….the Gungnir is being run through its single ended outputs. Schiit designed this unit for balanced drive and it uses four DACs to get it there. I am not using balanced drive, so I am not running it at its best. So I hope everybody understands…this is the Gungnir fully balanced DAC in single ended mode review.
The Gungnir at the beginning is a frustrating piece of equipment for simple reasons. One – it takes a long as heck time for it to sound its “norm”. About a week during which I let music play through it constantly with my amp off. At the beginning the treble was noticeably harsh. However it also sounded its best for me during warm up! Comning off as exciting, very dynamics, and remarkably clear. As it warmed up, the sound got closer to the DC-1 in sound and maybe because of my room and the way it does the low mid range, as the mid range warmed up, it sounded not as exciting as it did when it was warming up. But it is frustrating to continuosly know for a week straight that nope, you are not there yet.
Two – there is no remote. My wife yesterday said, she is happy it’s going back because she was sick and tired of having to get up to change inputs. For use in a living room, work purposes, and with a family, the lack of remote is a noticeable issue. In fact it’s the one reason that makes me hesitate on the Ygdrassil – no remote. It may make me wait till they update it as they likely will to include a remote. There’s purist and there’s get with the times. Schiit needs to get with the times.
Three – look….how the heck do you know which input is what? Answer you don’t. Their icons are tiny and incomprehensible, the lights look identical, and there is no way anybody can tell what it is even if you can read them from your couch. You just have to guess – not a problem if you have a remote….which you don’t.
What do those heiroglyphics mean?!
Looks:
The Gungnir looks great! It really does. No complaints here. It looks classy imo. It doesn’t have the sharp boring edges and its silver rounded look is quite nice. Also the Schiit logo is ooh-la la good.
Sound:
So you can tell Schiit built this unit to do one thing – and that was sound quality. It really didn’t care what you thought about its usability, lack of HDMI, Ethernet, MQA, Roon, headphone outs, volume control, DSD etc. Their goal was do you want sound quality for the 16 bit music you have? Well we’ll give ya that at a realistic price.
And so they did. It’s hard to fault the sound quality of this unit. Schiit’s claim to fame is multibit technology, and a revolutionary filter and they are in use here.
Compared to my DC-1, this is probably the first DAC to really compete with it that I’ve heard. There are some differences that you can hear when you AB (which I did). But they are subtle.
The most obvious thing is that with the Gungnir it appears there is a mild veil on the DC-1 that is not there on the Gungnir, noticeable on most everything it does, but most obvious on voices.. It is related to the dynamics. Basically things feel more present and immediate. The treble on the Gungnir imo is both better and slightly worse. Its better that it feels more present especially on cymbals. Fleshed out is the difference. More like a tape, while the DC-1 does exhibit more of a thin character to the treble. The cymbals on the Gungnir mix better with the mid range. While the DC-1 the cymbals sound good, but more tightly closed in. Think of somebody whistling and then imagine him doing it with pursed lips, that’s the difference.
However in terms of treble there is a slight hint of harshness to the Gungnir. Is it the single ended outputs? I don’t know. By harsh I mean tone. Don’t go thinking it’s those poor quality DACs with the tizzz in the cymbals, or a glare. This DAC is a multibit unit so it will sound different from what you know. But it’s got a slight trace of harshness. While the DC-1 sounds noticeably smoother sounding. The DC-1 also sounds more laid back and less present but also slightly more sophisticated in nature. Don’t ask me to explain what any of that actually means though!! Lol.
There was also more bass presence with about the same amount of resolution in the bass as the DC-1.
One thing that its improved timing did was that I could tell the difference better between mp3’s and lossless s. Mp3’s appeared to take away a bit of the phase or timing information causing a lack of that last bit of accuracy for soundstage.
However the main con was that I didn’t hear the room ambience and dimensions with the Gungnir that the DC-1 was able to do. A surprise because I assumed the improved timing of the chip would do so
Now note with the DC-1, I heard the dimensions of the room when I went fully balanced to the XPA-1. In single ended mode, I still could hear a bit, but it wasn’t anywhere as much. So all I can say is in single ended mode the Gungnir didn’t do room ambience that well.
So compared to the DC-1, the DC-1 was not embarrassed. There was less difference than you might expect when you listen for specific things in the sound.
However, it is different sounding – as it should be. It is a multiibit DAC. It uses a filter that is more time and phase accurate. What I noticed as time went on was that I liked this DAC. Usually I can tell quickly if I like or don’t like a DAC. Here, I did like this DAC. The thing that stuck out most was that with acoustic instruments, and voices, the DAC simply sounded more natural and it was easier for me to follow everything that was happening. So I got quite a bit of pleasure listening to acoustic music which is what I enjoy.
Classical music also sounded great with this DAC. I was noticing things like tone, texture, and musical expression quite a bit while listening. For instance, on some favorite pieces, it was very obvious when a violin was doing its vibrato. While previously when I listen to classical, I rarely hear the vibrato of a violin. In fact, in terms of violins, this DAC did the most natural portrayal of violins I have heard. It made it sound real and less “synthesized”.
Dynamics are very quick with this DAC. The sound just appears whether it’s loud or soft. There is almost no smear. That is also something you notice with its presentation. The sound is just right there. Somebody hit a cymbal? Well there it is immediately. And I think that contributes a lot to its natural presentation.
Value:
At $1250 this is not a cheap DAC. And if you compare it to the far less expensive DC-1, you realize it’s not necessarily better – at least in single ended mode. It will not crush the DC-1 which is one fabulous DAC. But it does do some things better and it does some things not quite as well. But it is a competitive DAC sound quality wise and I found myself NOT wanting to switch back to the DC-1. But when I did, I also loved the sound of the DC-1.
Its strength is tone for acoustic instruments. It makes things feel more natural. Think analog tape versus sound card. Its main con is that it doesn’t have the nth degree for detail – namely room ambience. And that’s what made me want to switch back to it.
Upgrade or not?
Look the selling point of this DAC is NOT that you are going to hear way more detail than ever before. You probably won’t hear much more if at all. It’s not its biggest strength. Its strength is that things sound natural. It feels natural to your brain. And that’s the selling point. How do you put value on tone? It’s hard. I’m used to going well that one sounded clearer. Not but this one sounds more natural doesn’t it?
If I had to choose to upgrade the DC-1, this is too close to call. So I probably won’t. But I’d it is important to note that it did stuff better than the DC-1 – and it also pulled off the holistic act where it did everything right. There is something to multibit and Schiit’s new filter and it is audible. Just wasn’t a whole lot better though. If it could do room ambience, then it would have been more of a no brainer for me.
However it is an upgrade to the Oppo 105, and every other DAC I’ve heard including the PT-100, UMC-200, the Jolida tube DAC, XDA-1, XDA-2, Audioquest 1.2, XMC-1, etc. Now the XMC-1…that will take a bit of thought before I would upgrade, but I do believe the Gungnir sounds more natural. But the XMC-1 however still sounds quite good, so the decision paradox is similar to the DC-1. With the Geek Pulse Infinity, the Geek Pulse may have a teensy bit more detail but the Gungnir will do better with tone especially in the treble. Holistically, the Gungnir is better. But depending on the speakers, some people may like the treble shenanigans and slightly more resolution the Geek DAC brings.
Once again at this level, the preamp and gear and physical setup matters. Tiny adjustments to my room and speakers completely negated any advantage this DAC had against any other DAC I’d heard. So there is a good chance you won’t hear any difference. You have to take time at this level of performance to make sure the rest of your system is optimized to let the Gungnir do its thing.
So, and let me stress…if you haven’t heard differences in electronics in your setup, or that has been the your experience….then I am about 90% confident that this unit will not change your mind or experience in any way.
Would I recommend it? At this point, it’s a maybe. You absolutely need a transparent preamp! And by that I mean more transparent than the XSP-1. A steep requirement for sure. I still haven’t heard one more transparent than the DC-1 analog preamp (which is sad – it can’t be that hard can it?!).
Lack of usability, room dimension details, and just a touch of rawness in treble preclude it from being an end game DAC. Price makes me hesitate. But in terms of enjoyment it is right up there with the best I’ve heard. And I can’t stress enough that I had a great time listening to it and I was able to experience the way musicians expressed on their instruments in a way that I hadn’t before. So its biggest selling point is ….natural instruments sound more realistic and engaging than on other gear I’ve heard.
