Schiit Gunnr Review (sort of)

Not enough vaporwave lighting, loud background music, and random cuts to take out literally every single breath between phrases. Not even any b-roll of you tryhard gaming with laser focus at your screen with bright flashing lights. Horrible video production

Actually serious: good vibes with the conversational tone. Maybe disable autofocus on your camera? Not sure what that crackling sound throughout was (was it your ceiling fan) but it gave off campfire vibes and actually was pleasant. Don't you have one of Soliloqueen's awesome kit capsules though? Could have recorded this from closer up at your desk, the emptyish room noise was actually a bit distracting, but I think I'm just pickier about that lately.

How would you say the overall headstage and imaging package compares to the Magni Unity w/ ES9018? Mild hole in the middle effect from the Unity as an amp mixed with the really wide stage (but still more delineated than the AKM Modi 3+) from the DAC makes me feel like the Unity as an AIO might be a bit rough for gaming by comparison, even only comparing sans tone controls; haven't been gaming in forever cuz mood so can't test that in a candid way rn. Does the Gunnr come close to how shockingly refined (for the price) the Unity's treble is?

I get what you mean about the Fulla, at least the prior AKM variants of it. Had a Fulla 2 from a friend and while it powered the HP-3 and HD600 well enough it was more a PC soundcard++ vibe to it. You got the gist of things but never really got sucked into the music IME.

How's pairing with something like the HE-4xx or HE-5xx? I always felt the entry level HFM headphones were really nebulous in stage (same with the higher end ones, but I only have store demo setting impressions with those), and EQing the upper mid dip in didn't seem to address that entirely. Wondering if you can maybe brute force improve imaging with the controls on this when pairing with something that's decidedly not super good at it.

 

Nice video! And I love that channel picture, hahahahah! But the shifting focus... Don't use autofocus for filming...

It's a shame that I've always want to find how good those great headphones are for gaming, especially for shooting games, but I never get to it. But I found that great imaging with some special sounding could make a great gaming headphone.

My theory is that headphones with thin string like sound shape and that lack of microdetail clean sounding might be great for gaming. The best "gaming headphone" in my book is Hifiman HE5SE (on Sennheiser GSX1000), as it had that special thin wire sound, it felt like with strings of sound being plucked out of a still ocean, and the rest of the picture is just void, and I believe it's a sign of lack of microdetails. So was it good for musical enjoyment? No! But was it good for gaming? Hell yeah! I dare say I can locate enemies behind me with HE5SE better than enemies in front me with some generic headphone. And to me, there's a huge difference between pinpointing the jumpy zombie behind the cover with HE5SE that I dared to shoot through the wall if the game supported it, and just knowing there's a zombie and get ready, the confidence level was different.

But here's the thing: this type of sound is not that good for general use or even for general games... And that's why I sold my HE5SE. So I've got this take that great headphone (system) might not be the very best thing for gaming. I mean, it can be really good, say but not the best.

@Lyander HE400SE and both Deva and Deva Pro are OK on GSX1000, nothing special, but GSX1000 is weak on power I believe, with more power they should sound tighter, which is better, and theoretically so do most of other headphones... And I kind of believe that those boring soft thin diagram higher tier models from Hifiman can be good for gaming, but I haven't tried many. Audivina's got that thin sound shape feeling, but I didn't test it for gaming as it just sucked on music and it was too posh for gaming.

And here's my other hot take on headphones for gaming: I don't think people should prioritize soundstage for gaming. I mean, soundstage is good, for most of games, but when I was playing shooting games using HE5SE, I much preferred that not so big circle of sound, which was really manageable, to a HD800 driven by a mediocre amp, which can be quite diffused. But as I can still see people considering or using HD800 for gaming, because of its soundstage. If HD800 was driven by some correct amps, sure! By I'm guessing a lot of people might consider things like Topping, and if that's so, I might just prefer HD600 + Magni... And, better soundstage doesn't mean you can hear movement in further distance, right?

 

Well, it's definitely not the worst video I've seen on youtube!

Sure it can get better in every way possible, but it already has something most videos are missing and that is -
good, honest and well presented information. The rest is window dressing anyway.

Edit: I would consider renaming the channel to SBAF, to get more clout and open it up for reviews from other members.

 

"It's really an experiment in branding: Can good content prevail despite having an incongruous, humorous name?"

Yes, most definitely can, seen it many times on youtube.

 

Oh golly Mister, I sure would like to try one of those out forever someday. Thanks for the review, only gripe was the ceiling fan running at what I assume was ludicrous speed!!! Pretty sure I saw plaid.
Edited for this: I would watch moar of your youtube takes, you will iron out the kinks!

 

@purr1n , do you mind if I share an honest opinion?

 

The video was good. Much better than some seasoned reviewers with excessive splicing or (ugh) nausea inducing panning from a GoPro. Good job!

 

If it wasn't, it is now, because it fits so well into so many places... Think of all the rhyming possibilities -- a gold mine of skewering people just ready to go there.

I totally am on board that this was meant in jest, but... Longer videos get more "engagement time" and more advertisement insert opportunities. That's why you see a lot of slow intros and glamour shots with some channels. Don't hate the player; hate the game (but you can still hate the player).

Seems to work decently enough for the gang down in Corpus, eh?

If we could somehow impart laughing at our own nonsense as a permanent side effect of using audio gear, we'd have so much more inclusiveness of non-audiophiles into the hobby, and we'd probably enjoy our music/movies more. But I digress.

Done. Thanks for all you do, Marv.

 

At this point I think the Edition XS is probably the best "budget" hifiman, for how cheap it sells for (under $300 right now). Big step up in presentation from the 4xx style round cans, better clarity.. also easier to drive. It's fairly sensitive, and I don't have any complaints about using it from portable sources, where I felt that the 400-series were a little lackluster without a beefier amp. Would say it's a very good candidate to pair with the Gunnr.

 

I am auditioning the SPL Phonitor X against the Mjolnir 3, and yeah, the crossfeed implementation is just incredible with HD800 for gaming. Even for music it's pretty awesome-sauce.

I sort of want to own an SPL phonitor 3 one day (I think this is possible with 2 also? But the crossfeed implementation is apparently not as good) just so I can pass the signal, from the DAC through the crossfeed matrix and out the passthrough to a real amp that does a good job for the HD800. Let me know when Schiit - or SPL either - make a dedicated crossfeed implementation, fully balanced xlr in and out, for headphone use. Syn is super cool, but not quite what I'm looking for here. Basically a Loki-type product, but crossfeed instead of EQ.

Aside:
Mjolnir wins in terms of resolution, separation, plankton, and microdetail and dynamics. But the Phonitor X wins in overall macrodetail, cohesiveness, bass impact (though it's more rounded, and less square), midrange warmth ("inner warmth/light"), has a little more weight and liquidity/wetness. I really cannot decide which I prefer, given the disparity in feature-set. One day I would like to have the best of both, even if it means Frankenstein-ing something together.

Edit: Using MJ3 with low-gain, balanced, no feedback, because this sounds best to me.

 

I have the Phonitor 2. Yes, you can indeed run the crossfeed matrix out through the preamp outputs. It's a little dip switch on the bottom. I also have the matching SPL Expansion Rack, because apparently I really wanted the matching aesthetic and rack mount whatevers. Also the SPL Mercury, because I'm dumb.