sine sweep

Got my Gumby (Gungnir Multibit) for a few days. I have a Chord Mojo and a Nuforce DAC-80 and I thought I’d compare Gumby with them so that it might help people who are also interested in these DACs. The comparison between the three DACs is based on using Jotunheim’s amp section into stock HD800S. (Gumby is running XLR input to Jotunheim, others are via RCA) Soundstage & Imaging: Mojo has a relatively small soundstage, its imaging is quite accurate but feels congested inside its soundstage. DAC80 has a larger soundstage with an excellent imaging ability. It creates a 3D-like experience. Gumby has a soundstage about the same width as DAC80, yet with deeper depth. It creates a more holographic experience. More on this later. Micro-detail: Mojo is not capable of reproducing every last detail. DAC80 is significantly better than Mojo and obviously brings out a lot of details. Listening to DAC80 the first time brought out a lot of “Ah” moments for me. Gumby has the s...

I started from using a NuForce uDAC-2 and later on upgraded to a Taiwanese brand DAC/AMP combo called DA&T U1s which costs about $400. Recently I've acquired a Chord Mojo and even though Mojo is intended to be a portable DAC/AMP, I found that the DAC portion is somehow better than the one in my U1s. (And of course WAY better than uDAC-2) I've been using the Mojo as a reference DAC for a while and became curious about how a well built dedicated DAC would sound like. After getting one for over half an year of listening, I can say that the DAC-80 is clearly better and offers a balanced sound all around. I'm using an HD800S through Jotunheim and the soundstage really opens up coming from Mojo to DAC-80. Instruments are more realistic in the recordings, especially piano and strings. Vocals tend to get hot because of the treble spike on HD800S, but on the DAC-80 it feels more relaxed and well placed in space. I even found out that a certain sound which I always consid...