Schiit Gungnir Multibit impressions

Mikoss, thanks for the great impressions! I am pumped...

 

Now now, @The Alchemist, we have the Multifrost to enjoy. No need to see what's over the horizon and uh... be tempted.

 

@Pyruvate Point well taken. I still need to worry about upgrading my Bifrost Uber to the Frostbit (Bifrost Multibit)

[I still prefer Frostbit]

And as far as the Gungnir Multibit goes, I have to add ultrabike's Epic Pic:

 

@The Alchemist That gif makes me lose it every time. LOL.

And yes, I'm 95% sure I'll be sending my uberfrost soon for the upgrade, but I'm going to wait until the loaner comes. Trying hard to be happy with my current rig.

Don't get me wrong, I'm always lusting over Gungnir Multibit and Yggdrasil. But oh boy, it will be a long time before I'm comfortable enough to spend that much on gear.

 

I believe I'm hearing this too on my Gungnir Multibit. I wasn't too fond of the treble crispiness, and was forced off the HE-560 to something less. But as time has gone on, things played out as you've stated. I'll just have to remember not to turn off the Gungnir Multibit. Thanks.

 

I just bought @AustinValentine 's Gungnir Multibit today, so I'll hopefully have it by next week. All I have to compare is 1st gen Modi and CD transport Technics 1bit MASH thing, but I'll definitely post impressions. Maybe try to do some comparisons.
Also, just realised I need XLR cables.

 

cool, can't wait to hear your impressions of it @BioniclePhile !

 

First impressions: BAAHAHAHA! The Gungnir Multibit doesn't even fit on my desk! The pictures don't do this thing justice, it's gigantic!

 

I want to hear your thoughts on how it sounds!

 

The first thing I can say after having just figured out how to get the thing to work is the separation. Instruments sound like they're actually apart from eachother unlike the Modi. Listening to Basie right now, and I can easily pick out the parts and tone of each instrument. I can follow the 3rd trumpet (because that's what I did in high school) instead of it sounding like a nice mushy chord. The timbre of each instrument is what's allowing that separation, I've got the personality of every musician in the band in their own space. The noise floor in That Warm Feeling was pretty hard to hear before, and now it's pretty easy to notice, but I'm also getting so much more information than before.
Instead of listening to the music, I'm feeling it I guess. Instruments are much more real, it's definitely subtle, but it's that little percentage that gets you 'there'. I had the notes before, but now I've got the music and the instruments, and the room they're in. Including the audience. SHUT THE FECK UP BACK THERE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ROY AGAIN. Good f'ing balls that's cool. I'm picking out conversations in Corner Pocket from the audience, something I couldn't do before. I thought I knew what soundstage was before, and now I think I'm actually getting it. Just so real in comparison to the Modi.
I was afraid I'd be regretting this purchase because I thought the difference would be so subtle it would hardly matter, but I'm totally cool with more than a month of my pay going into this thing now that I'm listening to it totally cold.
Also, plankton. I'm still not sure what that is, but I have a feeling I'm getting a lot of that now.
And I can actually hear Freddy Green. And again, the conversation in the audience could fool me there were a bunch of drunk black jazz nuts in my room.

That's what I've got for now, I'll do more writing tomorrow since I've got the day free. I'm so glad the Gungnir Multibit exists, I'm enjoying this listening session almost as much as if I were at a live performance. Awesome.

 

Live recordings are really special, Daft Punk sounds like I'm in the stadium instead of listening to the sound of a live recording.

 

To me this an interesting phenomenon - that the Bifrost Multibit upgrade is, on the one hand, a rather subtle change, but also that this last little bit of improved focus is actually rather huge, in that it transforms the listening experience from something that sounded "very nice", to something that actually sounds "there", as you said. (Pretty sure that was a run-on sentence, too bad, I'm just spit-balling here, not everything's going to be gold)

Edit: I kind of posted this a little out of place. I am only referring to the Bifrost Multibit here, not Gungnir Multibit. I'll just let myself out now. Carry on.

 

@lm4der that is a great analogy between the Bifrost Multibit and Gungnir Multibit. Is the Gungnir Multibit really that much better than the Bifrost Multibit?

 

Derp. I edited my post above to clarify my dementia.

 

@lm4der - So in your opinion, the difference between, say, the Bifrost Uber, and the Bifrost Multi-bit is like something "very nice" to something that sounds "there"?

 

For me, this was going from Modi2 to Bifrost Multibit. So, that's what I meant above, Bifrost Multibit is my first taste of that something moar.

 

ah I see. Has anyone gone from the Bifrost Uber to the Multi-bit? How much better is the multi-bit bifrost? (Bifrost Multibit)

 

Listening to music with the 'studio' sound, like 80s and 90s Yes, and.. actually pretty much anything that is cleaned up in the studio is hardly different than when I heard it on the Modi. I don't think I hear any differences in frequency response between the Modi and Gungnir Multibit either, but the bass does seem tighter on the Gumbo. High frequency information like cymbals and the attack on acoustic guitar (I'm listening to Al Di Meola right now) is more realistic and natural. I'm thinking the differences between the DACs are largely with low level information (plankton?) rather than anything larger scale. Modern music doesn't gain much with the multibit tech I feel. Acoustic information, like the reverb of the room and the tiny imperfections that real instruments have benefit greatly, music like orchestral, live, and unclean recordings like jazz and early rock are so much more convincing. Electronic music is totally unchanged, I can't hear a difference between the Gungnir Multibit and Modi on any of that.

 

Nice! "Racing with the Devil on a Spanish Highway" is one of my favorite test tracks. Sounds like magic on the Bifrost Multibit, I need to hear it on a Gungnir Multibit or Yggdrasil.

 

man I want to hear the Gungnir Multibit!