@whitestix You are correct, you didn't really hear the Gungnir since you didn't give it 100 hours to break-in. I was fortunate to have a friend bring his broken-in Gungnir over for demo vs. my Oppo 105D and another friend's Chord Hugo. I bought a Gungnir and have been impressed with the improvements I hear. Others who've heard both here agree.
Separately, I respectfully disagree with the conclusions that @williewonka presents about the using USB with Gungnir. It really depends on the source and its USB implementation! Yes, most USB outputs suck and that's why USB-SPDIF converters make an improvement with those devices. But that's where the facts end. 4 or 5 years those converters made much more sense than they do today.
The better approach IMHO is to use a source that already has a superior USB output such as the microRendu and its server performance via USB will negate the need for additional expenditures on the bandaid USB-to-SPDIF converter. If you read up on John Swenson's work on Regen and the microRendu you will understand my conclusions better and then make your own considering the whole picture. Cheers,
Spencer
Separately, I respectfully disagree with the conclusions that @williewonka presents about the using USB with Gungnir. It really depends on the source and its USB implementation! Yes, most USB outputs suck and that's why USB-SPDIF converters make an improvement with those devices. But that's where the facts end. 4 or 5 years those converters made much more sense than they do today.
The better approach IMHO is to use a source that already has a superior USB output such as the microRendu and its server performance via USB will negate the need for additional expenditures on the bandaid USB-to-SPDIF converter. If you read up on John Swenson's work on Regen and the microRendu you will understand my conclusions better and then make your own considering the whole picture. Cheers,
Spencer