Schiit Gungnir DAC - anyone have one of these?


I'm looking at a new DAC and this one is peeking my interest a lot.

Is there anyone out there than can provide some feedback as to their performance or DAC's they're comparable too

I know nothing of Schiit as a company, but the appear to have a very focussed product line - something I like in a company

Many thanks
williewonka
I just installed the Gungnir. After reading the various forums I narrower my search to the Eastern Electric Minimax Plus, the Teac UD-501, the PS Audio NuWave and of course the Gungnir. They all seem to have strengths and weaknesses, and are well reviewed and spoken about in the forums. What finally sold me on the Schiit DAC was its future modular upgradability as they come up with new and improved boards to swap for a reasonable cost. Thus, if their model succeeds and they stay in business for a long time, it has the potential to surpass in performance any and all the DACs I mentioned.
I can only comment on the sound out of the box. I've been in the hobby for 38 yrs. and never had a separate DAC, primarily because vinyl has been my mainstay. The focus, detail, dynamics and bass are substantial sonic improvement over the built-in DAC on my venerable Rega Planet 2000 CD player. I also hooked up an LG 570 Blue-Ray/CD player and an older Sony DVP CX850D 200 DVDs/CDs Carrousel with similar sonic results because of the DAC upsampling of the incoming signal. I connected the Rega to the DAC using the optical and the last two sharing the coaxial RCA with a Y connector. Since Gungnir provides two sets of analog unbalanced outputs, I have one connected to a Korneff 45 SEi (1.5 wpc)integrated tube amp, and the other to a B&K AVR 202 solid state receiver, so I can play all three sources through both amps. This will allow me to do rock and heavy organ music and video on the solid state, and jazz and classical on the tubes.
As I understand it there is a break-in period of about 100+ hours, so I expect the sound to get even better (or my ears to get more used to it :)
I can honestly say that the sound of digital is getting very comparable to my vinyl rig (Rega P5 w/Benz Micro Glider, EAR 834P phono-pre).
The build of the Gungnir feels rock solid (no plastic on the outside, all aluminum), and a no brainer to operate (just one selector push button). Also during my research I communicated with them a number of times asking questions, and I got a reply from one of the owners (Jason) within a few hours every time. Their customer service, even if you may not like the answer, is impeccable.
I apologize for the wordiness but I hope this is helpful to another audionut out there still on the fence on what to get for an external DAC.
Eagertrader - after having the Bifrost in my system for a few months now, I can tell you it only gets better :-)

Since installing it I have upgraded the interconnect to a pair of Stager SilverSolids - with Eichmann Silver Bullet RCA connectors and upgraded many of the related power items like cables, connectors and outlets.

Every step of the way the Bifrost revealed more dynamics, delicate textures and space in the music.

I would encourage you to consider such upgrades if you have not already done so - I'm sure the payback will be worth it.
The blue jean cables I had ,the Analysis plus Solo Crystal Copper
And in- connects Silver over Copper totally destroyed therm ,not even 90 % that is being kind in every dept ! to really hear what is on your recordings borrow from the cable Co. For a few days, afterdoing so there is no turning back.
T.A.S magazine has them as a regular price- performance winner.
Since my last post I've changed to Silver Harmony from KLE Innovations, which proved to be a considerable improvement over the Silver Bullet across the board.

Faster dynamics, extended bass and high frequencies, warmer sounding, much improved imaging and above all superb clarity

:-)
The gungnir dac I have in my other system and compared a lot of $1600
And under dacs. I had the ps nuwave there was no way it it better then the Gungnir.the glare most definitely was due to breakin .it is far more advanced .the nuwave at 150 hours was pretty much runin just look at the two parts wise ,no contest in build quality.,breakin .the Gungnir needs a minimum 200 hours just to start to settle in,inreality I gave it a full 2 weeks 350 hours and still
Minute improvements at the 400 hr mark in resolution .digital operates at such a low level power wise that
These devises can take past 400 hours to fully settle in ,depends on size
Of caps ,dacs ,receivers transformers,also a comment vs the Bifrost which is excellent For the money ,even with the usb2 and uber package,it does not have the same clock regeneration as the Gungnir,or as advanced a analog output section To the same degree.the gungnir is a better unit as it should be that extra $300 goes into mainly the parts layout look at the two big transformers
And a dual differential output stage as well as Dual AKM dacs the bitfrost has only one, For better Separation and processing.now you know where the money is going. It weighs a solid 10 lbs. and a bit more resolved,and refined.