Schiit Gungnir Multibit impressions

I usually leave it on, but my Gungnir Multibit gets really warm (I would say about 45C) if compared with my nad (that stays a little above the room temperature), is it normal?

 

Compared to mine, I'd say no. If I had to guess, I'd say that mine was not any more than 25C.

Mine has lots of space on all sides, though.

 

I see, I used to keep it below my amp but the 2 together were worryingly hot inside the cabinet, so now I moved it on a separate shelf, with an inch of space above. It helped but of course I was hoping to keep the 2 stacked together . I'll contact schiit then, thanks!

 

Mine is about +12C above ambient (32C) at the hottest points (the "holes"). I have my LC on 2.1cm high rubber feet on top and the part underneath is reading 31.7C. Warmer than I expect an amp DAC to reach, but I guess this is the analog amplifier section at work?

 

I've got a Tripp-Lite power conditioner, but any surge protector will keep the Gungnir Multibit from damage, and it has a fuse too. Break in is probably more important than warm up, I've heard that after break in, sound stabilizes really quickly if it gets turned off for a while and you plug it back in a while later.

 

Prompt answer from Schiit: it's normal. My hottest spot is above the trasformer (left side of the dac)

 

I have a Furman Sound power conditioner too, but during really severe thunderstorms I get nervous keeping thousands and thousands of dollars of equipment connected hoping that no problem will occur...

 

My conditioner has a $10,000 insurance policy that comes with it so long as the outlet you use has a ground and you aren't using an extention cord. I paid something like $100 for it, so not too shabby. I have complete confidence in everything upstream.

 

Most power conditioners do... I just would rather avoid the whole "insurance" thing... Unless you have had a successful claim, you will never know if the insurance is worth the paper is written on...

 

Oh it's online, and everything you read online is true.
I read through the conditions and I'm sure I'll be fine. I've been through dozens of power surges and outages and never lost any equipment.

 

As I was reading through this thread, I see most people leave their DACs on 24/7 - it may make the DAC sound better and stay warmed up, but is it good for the DAC itself?

Will leaving a DAC on 24/7 reduce it's life expectancy or make it go bad quicker? Or is it completely safe to have your DAC on 24/7 and not affect the life expectancy or how long the DAC lasts and performs.

I know for electronic components like computers, it can be a good thing to leave it on almost all of the time (or at least on and in sleep mode) as turning the PC on and off can have negative effects on the components. When the components are turned on, naturally they get hot, and when turned off, the obviously cool off. Repeatedly doing this can cause the components to shrink and expand potentially lowering their life expectancy. Is the same principle true for DACs? Maybe DAc's should implement a button for sleep, it can leave the DAC on and warm, while reducing power to the unit and perhaps increasing it's longevity. But I guess if a sleep option on a DAC was a good idea, Schiit or other companies would have already thought of it and added that function.

 

Just keeping it on and not running any signal into it is probably the same as a sleep mode.

 

You're probably right.

 

Just gave me too much credit. I'm going to assume I'm an expert on the behaviour of sophisticated electronics from now on.

 

Knowing is half the battle - GI Joe!!

 

If it didn't fail in the first month of use then the next potential killer thing is environmental causes (lightning, powerline failures, dog peeing on your dac etc).
Reasonably universal thing with electronics. There are exceptions like dacs with tubes and shunt psu-s.

 

thanks @Priidik for that info!

So Collectively, do the majority of members think it is safe and better for my Bifrost Uber to be left on all of the time?

 

Yes definitely, nearly all DACs can be on 24/7. Mike specified this multiple times on Head-fi as well. Just leave it on and there's no hassle.

 

thanks!

 

This depends on what is considered best. It's a balancing act actually. If you want the ultimate in sound quality and you don't care about longevity or your electric bill (being green), then yes it is best. Mike Moffat, Schiit, typically recommends leaving any Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) on all of the time. As far as longevity, that gets more complicated. I don't believe any Schiit DAC has any sophisticated standby mode; therefore, everything is powered on all of the time regardless if a signal is being applied or not. In most electronics with everything being considered equal, it is usually the Electrolytic Capacitors that determine the useful lifetime of any electronic device. In addition, you can see in the pictures of their DAC products that it appears there at least a couple of types of capacitors utilized probably some solid and some Aluminum Electrolytic. The latter are the ones that usually fail first. Again, this is another balancing act. Capacitors' lifetime can be determined by a lot of things such as its operating conditions (heat, humidity, and etc.), and with everything being considered equal heat is the biggest enemy along with the total number of power on hours. In addition, power on can also cause stresses via inrush current which can be many times the normal operating current. This is usually not a big deal unless your are frequently turning things on and off. Again, this is another balancing act. So, whether you should leave your DAC on all of the time is partly dependent on your usage patterns and environment. For me, will I be leaving my DAC on all of the time. No. Why? I do not use a specific DAC all of the time for I have several. This is not to say that if I plan to use a DAC for several days for several hours each day that I won't just leave it on around the clock for those several days. I also just moved out into the country more although still in the Indianapolis area, so reliability of my power might not be nearly as good as it was in the city. Again another trade off... In addition, I will probably not bother disconnecting my equipment except during very powerful electrical storms. Surge protectors/power conditioners have gotten quite good, but just like any electronic component there is a risk of failure at some point. In short, for me and my usage pattern it makes more sense at least to me to turn my DAC off from time to time for extended non-use and/or severe electrical storms. This saves a bit of money on electricity (although probably not much) and saves on the service life of the unit since it isn't being used around the clock. This is the reason why I was trying to determine how many hours was required for warm up...