Gungnir sound before and after multi-bit upgrade?

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

Yes, George.  Went with the Freya at least partially based on your recommendation in another string.

"...[a] bigger more powerful presentation, with deeper wider sound stage, and with more foot tapping bounce to the music."

@georgehifi - I think that quote pretty much nails it as far as my perception of the Gungnir post-multibit.  Thanks for the comments. Glad to get some affirmation we’re not entirely delusional. Foot tapping bounce is the real bottom-line.

@stfoth - I am very happy with the Freya/Gungnir combination. I am using the Freya in JFET buffered mode almost exclusively. I actually pulled the tubes. No point burning them if not listening through them.

FWIW -I had posted some comments about the Freya on another thread ("Do I need a new preamp", maybe) I did run the Gungnir with a different tube pre-amp (Opera Consonance Ref 50; 2-6H30s & EZ80 rectifier) for a good few years before getting the Freya. I thought that pairing sounded great...and it did - but the Freya brought a more "refined" sound. Another plus for the Freya is the balanced design. I thought running balanced ICs made a positive difference. Or at least, that’s the delusional gestalt we got going here. Good luck with the Freya (do give it plenty of time to "burn in"). Hope you like it.