Review: Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC

[@aornic]

Timestamps: 0:09 Intro 1:00 Background 5:00 Coke spill story 7:15 Warm-up time 8:38 First impressions vs. Delta-Sigma Gungnir 9:38 Physical features, inputs and outputs 12:24 USB input vs. SPDIF 14:18 Muting relay, clicking and freeware recommendation (link in description) 15:35 Sound quality 17:23 Warmth & pairings 18:28 Comparison to Audio-GD NFB-28 SABRE DAC 21:05 Comparison to Schiit Yggdrasil 25:12 Conclusion

[@stephenscharf6293]

Nice Review. I had my Gungnir upgraded to the Multibit as well. The improvements you cite for the multibit upgrade are accurate.

[@gloriouspopemantom373]

Jeezus the TAPPING on the table, driving me nuts. Besides that, thanks for the review. Ive read so many postive things about the Gumby, so very tempted, only wish it had battery power input. Driving all my sources with it, big improvement having infinite power and zero electric grid noise. Car battery with low noise DC-DC converters and super caps on the outputs for transient response.

[@nihilionsaro]

Yusssss.. Another Aornic review. Waiting for this one.

[@Delayeed9]

Yess! Got mine last week and it removed that digital fatigue and blows my mind everytime I come back to listen to it.

[@awdadwadwad1723]

Got mine for about a month and I feel the same, every time I play something through it, it just blows my mind.

[@awdadwadwad1723]

You should try it with good big stand floor speakers, the difference is a lot more noticeable than just headphones.

[@rbnjr]

I have owned mine since they first came out and now am ready for an upgrade.

[@micksinger5240]

You can certainly play your DSD files if your player supports (Mine does Audirvana Plus) DSD over PCM.. I only have an album or 2, but they sound awesome.. audiophile quality. I can tell you since I have the Gumby now, I won't be going further down the DSD wormhole, but I can play what I do have.

[@rbnjr]

The 75 ohm BNC input has the highest frequency range and to me sounds the best.

[@malabargold1787]

I see Gumby also comes with the upgraded anti-coke prevention system

[@aornic]

Malabargold ha

[@nihilionsaro]

Great review. I've been thinking seriously about a gumby. Do you still have your LCDs and did you try them out with it? How do you think it sounds with LCD2/3? Also, I use my laptop for my source, but it doesn't have a S/PDIF or coaxial output. What can I do?

[@ArmandD]

nihilionsaro does your laptop have an optical/toslink output? I know that with MacBook Pros, the headphone jack also serves as an optical out.

[@aornic]

I tried it with the LCD-2 and it sounded great. It wasn't mine though, just a borrowed unit for review. You could try something like this, I haven't personally but I've heard good things. kitsunehifi.com/product/singxer-f1-digital-interface-board/

[@nihilionsaro]

aornic Interesting. I'll look into that. Annoyingly pricy, tho. do you think an external soundcard like Xonar or SB X-Fi would work?

[@nihilionsaro]

Unfortunately not =(

[@nikkonkde]

Nice review!

[@illyasviel5820]

I just read your review on your website, so you would say gumby is a better match for the HD800's instead of the yggy? I want the most detail possible but dont want my hd800s to be unlistenable since they are my daily driver.

[@Borednlonely]

Interesting to hear your opinions. But i would urge you to use this DAC with a speaker system. Speakers give a far more layered presentation to the music and thats where I have i have found the GUMBY is actually bringing out more dynamics and detail, but in a more natural way. The presentation is very different to what can be heard on headphones. Also a note on the USB input; I am using my USB input with 'wyrd4sound recovery' which supposedly reduces noise from the usb signal. I can notice a slight difference. perhaps equivalent to your spdif input. I am currently wondering wether using a SPDIF converter in conjunction with the 'recovery' might be beneficial.

[@aornic]

K I've been using it with some Focal Alpha 50s for a few months now and now the Utopia.

[@YannickKhong]

REGA DAC Optical in is lovely but I'm definitely getting the gumby next ^_^

[@yoramdiamand]

Hi, I have a Gumby at 1349 euro new no special deals, and my USB sounded better than my CDplayer, but my computer is well built and I have glassfiber and a MIT USB cable at flacs from the internet. In the Currawong youtube on his Schiit he used an iFI on the Yggy, they say it is the tweak to use IFI AUDIO NANO IUSB3.0 POWER SUPPLY & DATA OPTIMIZER, better than the Schiit wyrd. The Gumby is better than a Chord TT? That is good news. And a lot less expensive.

[@aornic]

Yoram Diamand he also uses a wave io board.

[@yoramdiamand]

Asynchronous USB-to-I2S interface? I don't have any.

[@ArmandD]

If they sold it in black I would buy one. Btw, have you had a chance to listen to the AudioLab M-DAC?

[@Delayeed9]

superarmandbros They do sometimes have it in black as B stock, though this seems rare.

[@aornic]

Nope, I haven't.

[@angelheart1129]

Owned one fora year, not a fan of ESS

[@dedskin1]

If im not mistaken USB shold be avoided , because its Grounded on PC , if its connected to PC , PC is noisy device, and sample conversion should be avoided, only way that can be done is using ASIO drives not Direct X integrated windows thing if on PC

[@vlrdngr4911]

Which is why Schiit have introduced the new generation 5 USB.

[@rbnjr]

I use all the inputs and before you say say anything is to be avoided you should take a listen and see if there is anything that bothers you. I can say without question this dac sounds great on any input.

[@dedskin1]

@@rbnjr why would there be anything that bothers me , since the 80s DACs have surpassed human hearing . All are flat and fine , from cheap Chinese ones , to expensive Chinese ones . But when you connect them over USB you have electrical connection over mass , or 0 , that can and will transmit switching noise from your SMPS power supply in PC . That is why it should be avoided , i use USB connection but with balanced outputs that remove that noise . In a Passive arrangement this is not so crucial , but noise can be there as well , depending on the configuration . Optical network is best , because then you have electrical devices decoupled . Its not about sound you cant hear any change between optical digital or USB , its all the same but Electrically its not .

[@shizzyqin]

Are you saying optical is better than USB in general or just the Gungnir? I have a Modi 2 Uber, should I switch to optical?

[@aornic]

I've only heard that they make a significant difference in the Gungnir and Yggdrasil. I haven't tried it with any other Schiit gear, but it could be worth a shot. Let me know how it goes if you do try.

[@vlrdngr4911]

This is probably the worst review on the Gungnir ever. Not because of anything said *about* the Gungnir, but because of the complete amateuristic and uneducated way everything is tested, described and concluded. This is an excellent DAC! if you NEVER turn it off and give it a couple of weeks to get into shape you will discover how awesome it is.

[@chronometa]

@aornic would this pair well with aeolus?

[@LewisHolford]

I have a Macbook Pro late 2013 what should i use to connect these two? SPDIF to ?

[@UFO_computers]

What did you go with?

[@rbnjr]

Use your ears and try all the inputs, pick the one that sounds best to you.

[@riotz370]

I just got gungnir MB and make my elear sound a bit more brighter, do you find that gungnir MB sound is a bit on the brighter side?

[@aornic]

Mohamad Hasyim not at all. If anything it's a little warm.

[@BlazeFirereign]

The one thing that really puts me off Schiit multibit is the huge latency associated with the huge tap count on the digital filter. Doesn't matter with music, but anything real-time (especially gaming) suffers when you're adding on at least 50ms of audio latency (at a 192kHz signal; increasing at lower sample rates). That said, I'm still torn, straddling the line between objectivist and subjectivist; I find it hard to believe that gear all sounds the same with the number of people describing subjective differences, but I also find it hard to believe those subjective differences when nobody can tell me what's physically different about the electrical signal. I want to try high-end gear to go with my high-end headphones, but how do I know that what I hear isn't just a placebo? Do you have any thoughts on that?

[@aornic]

I'll admit that one shortcoming of my reviews is that I am sometimes unaware of technical aspects of the products and speak primarily about what I hear. I had no idea of the latency issue that you just mentioned. All I can say on the matter is that I'm able to pinpoint locations in Overwatch quite accurately using footstep imaging and so on. It's probably not the best test of anything, but it works for me. I never got the feeling that this DAC was sluggish or delayed in any way. The second part can only be addressed by trying out different gear, to the best of your ability. There is indeed snake oil in this hobby, and the placebo effect, but there is also a lot of impressive engineering and sound-sculpting that shouldn't be written off for reasons such as price or subjectivist championing. The best answer is that there's a middle ground for most people, but where it is depends on the person themselves. I, for example, am yet to hear any difference in sound characteristics between cables so I can't back that belief personally.

[@BlazeFirereign]

Thanks for your thoughts. I've been tempted by a Mjolnir 2/Gungnir stack for my HD800S (currently using the MM stack), I'm just super nervous about dropping money like that on the setup without being able to see 'proof' of audible differences. It's also hard to find gear to try out, never mind Schiit gear, if you don't live near London.

[@Snook_]

I had issues in games with my non multi-bit at times, the sound just drops and id have to reset the sound in the game to get it again. The USB also can suffer from ground loop issues, cranking the amp you can hear it rather than 'silence'. I have heard the Chord 2qute on identical speakers and amp (VAF i91's and Rega Elex-r Amp) and i think it sounds 10x better than the Delta Sigma Gungniir and the USB implementation is meant to be much better. Ill be going Chord next I think.

[@Cujobob]

I know this is way late but I wanted to chime in. I’ve owned all sorts of high end audio gear over the years at various price points and have been skeptical of most anything related to audio but open minded. The major areas to focus on are going to be headphones/speakers, room treatments (for speakers), amplification, and then lastly the DAC... in that order. DACs do differ in sound quality, but the money spent on them over the starting point of a quality unit is usually better spent elsewhere in the chain. Also, DACs improve over time whereas a good amplifier today may well still be considered a good amplifier in a few years. The Modi Multibit is probably the furthest I’d recommend spending on for a DAC unless you’re already completely set with headphones/speakers, amps, and room treatment if it applies. Hell, a Loki may even be a more enjoyable toy to purchase.

[@rbnjr]

it should be noted this dac will not support MQA files..

[@strikkflypilot927]

I see this in a lot of KZbin films. Fast shaking and moving of hands are very disturbing. Prefer audio only here. Sorry for this annoying 2cents.

[@Bruuman]

This would be perfect in my living room if it included a remote.

[@Assimilator702]

Bruuman What exactly would you need a remote for?

[@Bruuman]

@@Assimilator702 Volume control for active speakers. Just bought SMSL SU-8 but let's see how long it will last.

[@Assimilator702]

Bruuman DAC units are not used for volume control. A preamp performs that task. Any headphone amp FYI with a volume control and preamp out is a preamp. They’re EVERYWHERE. If you need a remote to control the volume you’ll need to step up to a full feature AV preamp. Luckily most of the good ones have their own DAC inside. Learning the basics is helpful when in the Hi Fi hobby. You have your amp.....preamp....integrated amp.....receiver......DAC.....and various inexpensive accessory boxes that Schiit sells to perform one small function that may be missing. Other companies probably sell them also.

[@V1ralB1ack]

@@Bruuman Might I suggest the minidsp. It's nowhere near as good as the gungnir multibit but it does function as a dsp and preamp and dac and the 2x4 hd does have a very very nice clean dac. It can learn to use any remote =)

[@LewisHolford]

Just for clarification,​ this does play Wav, Aiff, and flac files?

[@aornic]

Yes

[@vlrdngr4911]

No, but it can convert the digital signal from these encoders into an analog signal.

[@nespressoman]

Can anyone compare this to the Chord Qutest please?

[@Borednlonely]

What USB to spdif do you use?

[@aornic]

www.qlshifi.com/en/wzcapi/qa730u.htm I'll be talking about this in my next video probably.

[@nespressoman]

Clicking? That's not good.

[@exileexecutus]

s

[@JamesJones-xv1rr]

Wow, I was interested in buying this DAC but after listening to this review I will look elsewhere.