Schiit Unison USB

The way it appears now, even if I was inclined to go with the Unison USB update (vs. either a rpi-based source or just staying with gen5 as "good enough"), as my Gungnir Multibit has 2.5 years of warranty left, it would be foolish to not wait for the original warranty to expire in order to also get the warranty extension for my 200 clams + shipping.

Edit: Not to mention the benefit of updates that happen btwn. now and then , as 2.5 years is a long time. I am pretty happy with it even via gen 5 as it is, though marginal improvement can be heard via coax from a dap. Not easily though.

 

But in 2 years you can upgrade to Multison™

 

Not sure I will or even can wait that long before just jumping off of the whole f'ing merry-go-round. Damn close now.

 

So I gave Unison another listen after letting the Yggdrasil warm up for about 24 hours. There is no "wow, that's so much better", unlike when I upgraded from A1 to A2. That was really obvious. I'm streaming Qobuz from a Mac and there are some things I think might be a little better, but If someone had swapped the card in without me knowing, I'm not sure I would have noticed that something had changed.

I think I might be hearing:
Maybe a little better focus and layering on the instruments. Maybe from there being a little less ultra low level noise. Bass seems different maybe. Like maybe the mid-bass is a little cleaner. Lots of maybes...maybe not.

I think I may have just described what I heard when going to A2. But if that improvement was like a 25% jump in performance, then Unison might be more like a 2% jump.

I don't regret the upgrade and I'm not trying to discourage anyone from having it done. Maybe it gets better with more time. Maybe there are some very specific pieces of music where the difference becomes more obvious. Maybe I'm deaf.

I played music for several hours yesterday. Mostly a lot of Joe Jackson, a couple Bob Marley albums, and the first 3 recordings from ZZ Top. So recording quality varied from very good (for pop standards) to early 70's thick and muddy.

 

What's your chain

 

See signature:

"Home: Mac Mini -> Yggdrasil A2 -> Freya S -> Aegir -> PAP Trio 15 (Heil)"

 

I bought my Gungnir MB third hand, so no warranty is attached. The Unison upgrade is a fine idea, but the extra two year warranty on the entire device makes it really worth it for me. I am in the que.

 

I would be very much interested in your impressions at CanJam today.
Please post them in this thread.

 

A little disappointed, Schiit doesn't bring their whole lineup to shows anymore, it seems just the "new" stuff, updates & releases. There was no Gungnir M/B on hand, and the only Bifrost M/B was hooked up to the RAAL/ Jot R setup, so I couldn't get a good feel for it. The RAAL sounded good though even if not my preference.

 

Unison upgrade should be available by the end of Feb for EU customers on schiit.co.uk.
Does self install voids the warranty?

 

Unison upgrade already available for EU customers here:

https://www.schiit-europe.com/

 

Looks like they got something wrong on the website: they're listing self installation for the gungnir only, despite the description saying otherwise.

 

Nope.

If you go to the "Unison USB" page, there are two drop downs. One for Installation (Schiit or none) and one for Model. If you put Gungnir in there, the Installation options are only by Schiit.

 

Gungnir Multibit needs a reflash only they can do IIRC.

 

Ah forgot about that site, Schiit US usually mentions Electromod, which is schiit.co.uk.
But on "self installation" product there's no Yggi in the list, only on "Schiit installation"

 

Looks like they inverted Schiit/Self. Send them an email.

 

Doesn't seem that they are in any kind of a hurry. I have only moved up one slot in the que over 11 days. Maybe they are just not policing the upgrade system page.

 

I hope you understand that Unison USB upgrades are not the only upgrades and things Schiit is engaged in. Don’t stress about it and stop checking the queue.

 

I hope you understand that Schiit created and offered the queue. If It should not be checked because it has no real value, why does it exist? I am not stressed about it, just curious.

 

I agree with your frustration about the relative utility of the queue. After ordering a boutique custom headphone amplifier and doing Yggdrasil Analog upgrade I’m well aware of the waiting game, however patience is something one needs to remember in this On-demand-Amazon Prime lifestyle. I personally stopped checking queues and bugging the amp builder because there was no benefit for me.