Gungnir sound before and after multi-bit upgrade?

Kalali,

I got the Freya for my 2nd system which has a push pull sit Amp and Zu def 4's.

I found the Freya noisy and lacking the big tone that the 6sn7 is well known for.I have a large collection of very good nos and new production tubes that have been previously been used in a modwright ls-100 and a Valvet soul shine and soon to be used in a Linear tube audio MZ2,when I get it in a couple of weeks.I did'nt try the stock Russian tubes that come with the Freya.I also used all the trial period I had to allow plenty of time to settle in.Basically maybe my expectations were to high for this budget piece but I did find the functionality decent.

Kenny.

Update
Received the Gungnir with multi bit upgrade today. Going on 7 hours since putting it back in the system.

On first getting the Gungnir installed, put Peter Gabriel’s "So" (CD ripped as ALAC file to external hard drive) on repeat from the Aries Mini (USB >>V-Link 192>>DH Labs D-750>>SPDIF Gungnir).

In the first few minutes after starting playback, things sounded noticeably brighter and somewhat harsh and "tizzy". Put the amp on mute and just let the file play through the Gungnir and Freya.

Started listening in earnest 6 hours later. Treble tizziness and harshness were gone. Improvements I noticed vs stock Gungnir:
Wider sound stage
Greater clarity...micro details better defined
Cymbals sound a lot more metallic and "shimmery" for lack of a better adjective
Percussive sounds have a firmer edge to them
Front to back depth is a little more evident
A bit more "heft" to the music (e.g., plucked strings)

Liked the Gungnir before the upgrade. Like it even more now. Hoping there’s further sonic "blossoming" with more hours. If it stays as it is, that’s okay too.

Good to hear Ghosthouse
Multibit (properly implemented), compared Delta Sigma doing RedBook (pcm) replay, to me has bigger more powerful presentation, with deeper wider sound stage, and with more foot tapping bounce to the music. Delta Sigma seems too smooth and a bit of a yawn. But Delta Sigma has it’s place, as it can do DSD/SACD for the download crew, if that’s what your into.

MoJo Music: says it all:
" When a PCM/RedBook/DXD file is played on a DSD/Delta Sigma or Bit Stream converter, the DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit/Delta Sigma DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM. "

Cheers George

Ghosthouse--Do you like the Gungnir/Freya together?  Too soon to judge, but just picked up a Freya at FedEx, yesterday.  At some point, I'll want to try an MB, somewhere.  If I end up liking the Freya, will probably lean toward the Gungnir MB or Yggdrasil. $500 is a bargain for:

Wider sound stage
Greater clarity...micro details better defined
Cymbals sound a lot more metallic and "shimmery" for lack of a better adjective
Percussive sounds have a firmer edge to them
Front to back depth is a little more evident
A bit more "heft" to the music (e.g., plucked strings)


KD--Was it the tube output, specifically, that turned you off to the Freya?  I got the Freya mostly to satisfy my curiosity on a passive, have balanced outs, and secondarily something else to burn through a bunch of 6sn7s.  In just the hour I had to play, and with the stock tubes, I'd agree that the tube output lacks the 6sn7 flavor (although that's in relation to Cary products, so probably sonic pineapples to oranges, anyway).

Did either of you find significant improvement/settling as they burned in?

Thanks!

I got the Freya mostly to satisfy my curiosity on a passive

Passive mode, will give you the most transparency of any preamp.
Just have to make sure your poweramp is the industry standard of 47kohm input impedance or higher, which most are.
And the source should have an output impedance of "less" than 1kohm (1000ohms) which most are.

And with passives, keep the interconnects to the poweramps less than <2mts and good quality low capacitance ones, which most are.

Cheers George