"Ears deep" in Schiit

[PHC1]

Wanted to share my initial impressions on the Schiit Gungnir.

Talking it over with Stephen (PumaCat) and discussing the various DACs that Schiit Audio offers, I dug around doing my own research to read up on what this new to me brand is all about. I have not owned or auditioned any Schiit products previously.

Hitting the "rational purchase" mark in my mind for what it promises to deliver to dollars spent, I decided to order the Schiit Gungnir with the Multibit upgrade, aka "Gumby".


In Norse mythology, Gungnir (Old Norse "swaying one") is the spear of the god Odin. According to the Poetic Edda, the spear was fashioned by the Dwarves.





I can't say for sure if Schiit Audio employs Dwarves or Elves or any other mythological creatures but the Schiit guys have their schiit together and no sooner than I placed an order through their website, order was confirmed and Gumby was shipped the same day. Two days later I had a knock on the door to sign for a package. West to East coast faster than any mythological Pegasus could fly it over.

Opening up the package, I was greeted by a neatly packed, well protected Gumby looking fresh and new from Schiit factory.

I had a chuckle when reading the instruction manual, the Schiit guys have a sense of humor that is disarming.

You won't find white gloves in the box and you won't see stiff upper lip comments mentioning hundreds to thousands of hours of capacitor, inductor, digital circuitry, wires and god knows what else to break in before their product "opens up" and starts to sound good. Nope. Just a short booklet which is logical and to the point, explaining the layout, features and functions of Gungnir with a sprinkle of humor thrown in on every page of the instruction manual.

Installing the Gumby on the rack, yes, I have an actual rack for my gear this time around! (that's humor for the old timer members on this forum who have known me for a long time ) I admired it's good looks. It is elegantly simple and pleasing to the eye at the same time. The matte silver chassis is nicely contrasted by the grayish side plates. Looks good sitting on my walnut color Salamander rack.




The chassis is well made, the unit is actually pretty heavy for an outboard DAC weighing in at 11 lbs.

Sporting four precision Analog Devices AD5781BRUZ digital to analog converters for true hardware balancing and 19 effective bits of resolution, Gumby shares the same proprietary closed-form DSP-based digital filter as much more expensive Yggdrasil DAC.

Of course my curious mind had to look it up and the AD5781BRUZ DAC chips are not inexpensive at $45 each and there are four of them inside . Of course there is a whole bunch of other stuff that goes into building one of these units and you can't help to start getting that warm and fuzzy feeling you actually got a lot for your money. This is not a $20k DAC, this is a $1,249 DAC. The bigger brother Yggdrasil sports the Analog Devices AD5791 which cost over $100 each...


Gungnir uses a proprietary Adapticlock system, which provides for both exceptional jitter performance and rock-solid, glitch-free connectivity.

Adapticlock analyzes the incoming signal quality and automatically routes it to the best clock regeneration system—either VCXO or VCO-based. And, it does all of this without altering the bit depth or sample rate of your original music. (Yes, I simply copied this from Schiit Audio website, I am not that smart. )




Moving on the more important part. The sound...

Gumby was preconditioned with a 3 day around the clock burn in just to warm things up and stretch it's DAC legs a bit. My PC is near the rack so I simply used youtube playlists that kept running while the PC was feeding Gumby through the USB input. Not a note was heard from Gumby until my Bryston BHA-1 fully balanced, with six fully discrete Class A Bryston operational amplifiers headphone amplifier was delivered. I purchased it pre-owned in contrast to the Gumby to save some $$$. The Bryston BHA-1 is a topic of it's own for a later date.

This is where I deviate from the norm. Disclosure, this system is headphones only and may stay that way for some time (also a topic for another thread).

Before you click away from this thread in disappointment and start clicking the "new posts" button above, let me just say this. My window to the sonic signature and an opportunity to give the Gumby a thorough listen is perhaps clearer than ever before. Why? Because I also have in my possession the most incredible pair of Focal Utopia headphones. (also another topic for another day).

With no speaker to room interaction, no crossover distortion, no variable as to all the things that can and do color the sound in each and every system, I have a single pure Beryllium driver for each ear that is able to reproduce sound from 5Hz to 50,000Hz cleanly and accurately. Yes, the Focal Utopia is an incredible headphone set. There is no hiding from my ears, GUNGNIR has his work cut out for him.

I had to contain myself from trying out the Gumby as I needed to gain an understanding what the Bryston BHA-1 is bringing to the table first. Going back and forth with the Sennheiser and Focal headphones between the PC, MacBook, iPhone, iPad to gain an understanding what strengths the Bryston BHA-1 brings to the table. It is rather obvious that what it brings with the Bryston build quality is an almost unlimited grip and control over virtually any pair of headphones with it's balanced circuitry and Class A discreet op-amps.

The Bryston BHA-1 is a truly well designed headphone amplifier. It does not lean or color the sound in any way that I could deduce from this experiment. What it does is brings out the full contrast of dynamics, the drive, the impact of the music and get's the hell out the way otherwise. There is no solid state grain, hash or leanness introduced that I could hear.

Having cleared the path to enlightenment by eliminating variables so that I can get closer to the essence of the GUNGNIR and what it sounds like, it was time to LISTEN!!!


I plugged in the MacBook Pro with a USB, Oppo BDP-83 with a TOSSLINK cable and gathered some of the CDs that I could match with same albums on Tidal.

Going back and forth between Tidal set to HIFI and Masters, I was able to detect virtually no difference to a slight difference between the streaming Tidal signal and that coming out of OPPO spinning the shiny silver disks. For all practical purposes, either source will be good enough to meet Gumby's personality.


The listening session lasted for better part of the day as I had the time to dedicate to listening. I covered some of the most familiar albums that I must have listened to over 1000 times over the years of being in this hobby. Words and thoughts like OH WOW, NO SCHIIT, LIQUID, VISCERAL, LUSH, ROMANTIC, DYNAMIC, SMOOOOTH, EASY ON THE EARS, RESOLVING, EMOTIONAL, TRANSPARENT, MUSICAL, SO ACCURATE kept going through my mind. Notice how those words typically do not go together??? Have I lost my audiophile mind? Have I gone deaf? NOPE.

GUMBY is a paradox of sorts for me so far. I would have expected that it was farther into one camp or the other. It squarely sits in the middle but encompasses many of traits of the best digital has to offer.



To summarize my initial impressions.
Analog like smoothness with superb resolution. Instruments come across with intense clarity and detail but it does not sound overly analytical, there is proper weight to sound, it is not lean, it is not overly warm nor is it even remotely cold or sterile in presentation. Very engaging, very musical, fantastic resolution, incredible harmonic palette that opens up in your ears and every instrument and voice becomes a new story for me although I heard most of the music I used for initial listening 1000's of times over the years. Of course the Focal Utopia is responsible for the incredible sound I am hearing but the headphones are only playing what is upstream from them. They certainly did not sound so beautiful, so dynamic, harmonically rich and engaging without the GUNGNIR in the system. Nor did the Bryston BHA-1 without the GUNGNIR in the system.

I will keep listening and try to dig deeper to see what I can discover about this amazing DAC. So far, I am impressed beyond words for the value it brings and the beautiful sound it makes. I am very impressed that a product in this price range can bring so much to the table and that's NO BULLSCHIIT.

Odin, errrr... Schiit team has launched the GUNGNIR and hit the sonic bullseye.

[Puma Cat]

Fantastic review, Serge. I'm sincerely pleased it worked out so well for you. Really liked your review starting out with the Norse legend (fantastic graphic, BTW), moving on to the design, specs, photos, and build quality, and then listening impressions. Your initial impressions, analysis, and experience mirror mine almost exactly, the main difference being I'm listening on big Dyn loudspeakers. I'm listening to Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, by Bach performed by Janos Starker as I write this, and I can not only hear the resinous quality of the bow on the strings, but the harmonic overtones overtones splaying off the walls in the room in which this is recorded, as well as Starker's breathing as he's playing. It's amazing..

Gumby is a bit of a paradox in how it provides and drives all these musical attributes and dimensions because we're so used to a component being in one camp or the other. How can a component be resolving yet lush and romantic but transparent and also dynamic? Nuanced but forceful?

"I don't know, it's a mystery"- Shakespeare in Love

These all sound like contradictions in terms, yet real music pulls off these contradictions with ease and so does Gumby. Its just so frickin' MUSICAL. That sounds so much like a cliché, but with Gumby, it's not. I don't know how Schiit pulled it off, but they sure as hell did. It's transformed my digital playback system, and made the entire experience of listening to music all the more engaging and beguiling in the process.

Regarding the Analog Devices AD5781BRUZ DAC chips...yep, those are the real deal and at $45 a pop as part of Schiit's COGs and BOM for the DAC, these are not yer usual off-the shelf $3 D/S "audio grade" DAC chips....rather the ADs are actually a mil-spec D/A convertor that took Schiit some sophisticated and complex firmware programming and filter development to make work in an audio application; they did the heavy lifting on this during the long development period for Yggdrasil with the Analog Devices AD5791BRUZ and it was not a trivial development task by any stretch. The DAC chipset is a great example of where Schiit puts their money: for performance, rather than a fancy gold-plated machined-from-billet face plate (I'm looking at you, Bricasti), they put the money where it matters, into chipsets like the AD5781BRUZ.

The thing I find most ironic about Gumby is that there are folks that will not considering buying it simply because it does not cost enough, even though Gumby competes with some of the best ~$10K+ DACs I've heard.

Here's some suggestions for some other music to listen to with Gumby.

"Se Voce Ama"-Melody Gardot, The Absence
"Cry Me a River" -Ray Brown, Soular Energy
"Idle Moments" - Grant Green, Idle Moments
"Blue Rondo a la Turk" - Dave Brubeck, Time Out
"Asturias", Suite Española, Albeniz, Conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

Oh, and BTW, a week or so from now, Gumby will sound EVEN better.

Enjoy!

[bart]

Serge, a fantastic review! As Stephen says it, this is not a cost no object device, but it still seems to render so much musical involvement.
Stephen, your comments are as always highly appreciated. Your suggestions also show great taste in music.

[PHC1]

Stephen, thank you. Looks like our impressions are very similar so it's not just my ears. Thanks for the suggestions on the music, funny that 3 out 5 you suggested were on my initial impression list already. I guess we also have a similar taste in music.

I was reflecting back over the years trying to come up with the equivalent of what I am hearing today through the Focal Utopia/Bryston BHA-1/Schiit Gungnir and nothing really quite compares to even my high end audio/theater setup.

One particular track that came to mind was Nils Lofgren "Keith Don't Go". It is a great track to evaluate the speed and grip of an amplifier on the speakers and also the resolution of any system. The lightning speed transients of Nils guitar playing will ultimately reveal if the speakers and the rest of your system can convey the sense of speed and all the rich harmonic overtones present on this recording.

I always thought my Sonus Faber Elipsa driven by Bryston amps in a full treated acoustic room sounded insanely good. Except that the Focal Utopia/Bryston BHA-1/Schiit Gungnir effortlessly showed me that I have not heard it the way it really is. Since Gungnir is part of the equation, I have to give it credit here for decoding every last ounce of information buried in the bits. The guitar strings shimmer and sizzle with rich harmonic overtones, layer after layer and the transients are conveyed with speed and accuracy as the tempo builds towards the latter part of the song while keeping everything in a congruent whole and without turning into jello. I could not believe how much of this song was still left to discover after what I thought was a room and gear that was beyond the typical setup one may encounter in a home environment if it is not a dedicated listening room.

I easily had $20k worth of ASC treatments, $20k speakers, probably close to $20k or more in gear for the 2 channel not to mention the rest of the amps and speakers for surrounds... and countless hours spent building out the theater with a double layers drywall separated and damped with ASC product designed for that purpose...

Here I sit in awe and am humbled all that can easily be beaten, no, spanked actually by a $4k pair of headphones, $2K headphone amp and a $1250 outboard DAC.

Now one can probably understand why I am not in a hurry to build another system in my new place.

Here is my Sonus Faber theater from back in the day before I went to an all Wilson Audio setup. https://youtu.be/a3i_DETaCg0

[Humbuster]

Good review as well.

I am about ready to go Schiit as well. Planning up upgrading my rather pedestrian headphone system with a DAC and tube headphone amp.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by bart

Serge, a fantastic review! As Stephen says it, this is not a cost no object device, but it still seems to render so much musical involvement.
Stephen, your comments are as always highly appreciated. Your suggestions also show great taste in music.

Thank you Bart. It brings me pleasure to share my findings with such an impressive product for a very affordable price that is much more reachable for most folks vs a $20k external clock.... If the Gumby is a good indication of what Schiit brings to the consumer, there is some serious value here.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Humbuster

Good review as well.

I am about ready to go Schiit as well. Planning up upgrading my rather pedestrian headphone system with a DAC and tube headphone amp.

Do it. You'll be enjoying the same quality sound that would require multiples of the money invested into a conventional speaker system and more importantly room treatments to make that gear actually sound good after you have bought it and brought it home.

[John Jordan]

Serge-

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and literary lesson!

Schiit appears to make a solid product; not crazily priced, modular in design and a track record of reasonable upgrades. About as future proof as a digital device can be!

Also, Stephen you input on this subject has been invaluable.

It is interesting to note that the fantastic results you both are experiencing are not based on the use of a high end music server. I like that kind of value!

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by John Jordan

Serge-

Also, Stephen you input on this subject has been invaluable.

It is interesting to note that the fantastic results you both are experiencing are not based on the use of a high end music server. I like that kind of value!

The DAC is where the "rubber meets the road". The music server is certainly convenient but I am not sure if there is much of an audible difference to be squeezed out of it. I certainly could not discern much of a difference between an actual CD playing in the Oppo vs the same album on Tidal Master recording from a MacBook Pro through the Gumby. A music server will not make a difference when compared to physical media either. DAC is where it's at. Of course some would love to sell you a $20K music server that still requires a clock and a DAC after that. I am not saying that is right or wrong! Whatever turns you on!

[jdandy]

Serge.......You've still got it! Your writing is as intersting and entertaining as ever. That was a very enjoyable review of your new Schiit Gungnir with the Multibit upgrade, aka "Gumby". I have no doubt it is as revealing and resolute as you describe, particularly since your Focal Utopia headphone is of reference level quality. It also sounds like the Bryston BHA-1 headphone amplifier is a perfect fit as well. Appreciate the concise report. I enjoyed reading it.