Gumby vs Yggy

treynolds -
Okay...got it. Your Gungnir does have MB.
Any idea how many hours you have on it now?
I do recall mine (as originally purchased without MB) took a long time to "open up". Then, since I did the MB upgrade well after first getting the Gungnir, I had the benefit of experiencing before and after sound from it. There was a very marked difference.
Sorry you are underwhelmed. Maybe with more time it will start to sound better.

I left it powered on and processing music streams for a solid week before I was very critical with it. At which time I started with the tweaks, power cord, usb vs optical, isolation stand etc. There certainly isn't a wow factor with this upgrade, but like I said yesterday...I miss it when I switch back to my old dac. I don't expect any more changes due to burn in at this point. I guess it's like gdhal said that if you notice big changes then there was a problem to begin with. The Arcam is a killer dac for the money. Perhaps others with better ears/equipment will notice a more stark difference. My experience has been much more subtle, but still pleasant none the less. 

Just another vote of confidence I guess... I've been through a lot of components (including dacs) at various price ranges and I think the Gumby is one of the most musically fulfilling components I've had... and has been around in an otherwise volatile system for 2 yrs.  

But I hear you, because I've heard the Gumby in setups where it seemed just a little better than a dac a third its price...  so it does require a resolving system to come to life.  I second the suggestion to try a different source (sms-200, etc)... you might be surprised at how much music is being left on the table by a computer source (I was!)

Fwiw I'm currently running the gumby w/ tube pre and power... Modwright LS 36.5 and Rogue M180s, both of which are pretty neutral and quite resolving for tubes. Given the gumby's personality, the end result is detailed, clean, very slightly warm, and very revealing of virtually any change in the system.      

It does need to be left powered on all the time to sound right, but you probably figured that out.  At any rate, I hope it sheds a little light on the potential for the gumby, and hope you enjoy it. 

Thanks everyone for the feedback and help. I ended up keeping it :) I also put my old Threshold S200 back into the system and things are sounding pretty nice. I guess I really should be looking at a proper streamer.

Has anyone used a Bryston BDP-1 USB with the Gumby....it may be a perfect match with the new Gen5 usb board? And it's reasonably priced.