[mcgsxr]

Assume I am the Mark in question?

I have had it up and running 24/7 since last Tuesday AM and believe any break in is over (I don't care if you are on the side of "the person's ears break in" or "the unit breaks in" - after 100hrs or so, I tend to believe things have stabilized either way).

I have not yet tried the HRT or the Dragonfly through it.  I am happy listening to music through the built in USB DAC and tube output.  I never tried it with the stock tube, I immediately replaced it with a Genalex Gold Lion 6922 from Jim McShane.

My setup is less than hifi to most.  I run an older Yamaha 2 channel receiver (the one immediately preceding the RS700, and if you review the specs you may draw the same conclusion I did - they redid this series to visually match the AS1000, but it does not have the exact same tech as the AS1000 or AS2000), a set of Totem Model 1 biwires (claimed to be 90% of the Signatures, it lacks the silver wire but is a match for all the other upgrades over the stock Model 1's), a hacked Pogoplug is my player (basically replaces a Logitech SB3).

My room is roughly 25x20x7.25 basement.

Playing acoustic music through the Grant piece is very nice.  It brings a touch of midrange bloom to the party.  It may mildly dull transients, but if you are in the market for tubes this may neither surprise nor concern you.  I find it a very capable piece, but have some experimentation yet to come.  The Grant piece cannot play 24/88.2 FLAC rips (I might have 20 albums like this, mostly jazz from the 60`s), but can play 24/192.  I will have to use my NIB Touch to output 192 to see what that sounds like.

Sax has the requisite bite to it, but does not stray into being harsh or bright.  I tend to have a little more volume available for Stormy Monday as an example.  I used to turn it down when the piece comes on full, as I found the top end bright with my solid state DAC`s.  With the Grant unit, I can leave it up (peaks of around 90db according to the free db meter app on my iPhone).

SO, to anser your question about how I feel about the $425 I spent on the DAC and tube - I am happy with it.  It is a useful piece right out of the box, and can be used in different ways in the future - I will try the HRT through the tube outputs, but will report all that in the thread I started about the DAC.

I felt a little odd buying one now that it has been out for 3+ years, but am pleased with that I am hearing.   I have never heard any Schiit unit for the record.

[ASCTLC]

Thanks Mark.  Sorry if I didn't realize there was another Mark here.

Andy

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Can one expect a tube based sound to improve the decay of instruments a little?  Say some of the piano, violin, and even some guitar in the blues genre I listen to?

Thanks,
Andy

Andy, thats a tough question.  But in short yes it can but it also depends upon the tube you are using.  Each has its strength's and weaknesses.  I have owned several pieces of tube gear- an AVA Ultra Plus preamp and Ultra DAC, my BAT VK-51se preamp, GF DAC-11 and a Maverick Tube Magic DAC-1.  I have extensively rolled tubes in each piece of gear except for the BAT and most have sounded very different and others not so much.

But keep in mind that amps, preamps and sources affect the sound just as much.

For the GF DAC I found that amprex and Telefunken tubes from the 1950's and very early 1960's sound the best.  The non A frame Tele's have a warmer more tube like sound with a wide sound stage and good air.  Bass is very good and high freq's are smooth and non fatiguing.  The A frame tubes tended to be a bit more dynamic and musical but a little too forward sounding for my tastes.  I use the GF as a DAC annd Preamp with a Class D Audio CDA-240 Kit amp and a pair of Magnepan MMG speakers.   It sounds pretty good in this system.

I have tried the GF in my reference system (BAT preamp, Pass X250 amp, Magnepan 1.6 speakers, AVA Ultra plus DAC) as a DAC (not as a preamp)and it sounds OK but it is not up to the level of detail, resolution and dynamics of my AVA DAC by a long shot.  My reference system is too revealing for the GF.  IMHO the GF is good for a modest system and if you want to get a taste of tubes on a budget.  It performs above its price point and is good if you want a preamp/dac combo.  However, in the last year there are so many good DAC's in the $500-700 price range available.  I am not sure how well the GF stacks up any more except for the fact it has a tube buffer.

By the way, you can drive yourself crazy tube rolling, always trying to find a better tube and sound, forgetting that they each have their strengths and weaknesses.  That's part of the reason I am glad that I bought my BAT preamp.  The tubes that it uses are pretty much all there is except for some rare NOS tubes that will cost about $600 for the 8 tubes that it uses.

I hope this helps,

Larry

[ASCTLC]

Do I dare even come here and say what I'm about to??   

I got the Gungnir.  I raided my change jars to come up with a few hundred dollars more for this model DAC. 

In pretty much blind testing (wife changing selector while I cannot see which input is selected) and I can hear a very distinct change.  Both sound good mind you, but on one input it sounds like someone put a thin blanket over the speakers.  It closes in the airiness/openness (soundstage?) of the music a little bit.  Multiple testing with albums like Mellencamp and Dire Straits.  I can consistently hear the change and she has confirmed the input I say muffles is always the same.

It's the Gungnir.  It's like it gets in the way.     My player is coax linked to the Gungnir and the Gungnir is Audio Quest cabled to one of my preamp inputs.

I have 15 days to get it back to Schiit but before I do I have a 3' Blue Jeans 1694 coming to try.  If that doesn't do it...

Did I really over do too much of a good thing by adding another piece of equipment in chain with my AVA pre-amp, amp, Legacy Signature SE combination??    Seriously, has anyone else experienced this where adding additional, well regarded, equipment inline actually was a detriment to sound quality???

I'll keep listening to see if any of the glare has improved at all.  I'm guessing that would be the more relevant test than a simple A-B with noticeable change.

Andy

[Letitroll98]

Nothing wrong with reporting what you hear.  I would only ask how long you burned it in before doing the single blind test.  And only because what you report is what I hear in new, out of the box components.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Give that Schiit some break in time and then compare them.  But it does not surprise me in the least that the Grant might sound better.  If you return the Schiit and still want a better DAC, consider a used Benchmark, Wyred 4 sound or PS Audio.  Bear in mind that you will lose the benefit of the tube, although you could keep the GF in the chain as a tube buffer.

[ASCTLC]

Not burned in long at all Letitroll.  I'm still running it to let it burn in and when I get the new blue jeans cable I should be ready for a better comparison.

I'm, of course hoping, I just have initial impression disappointment from it being too new, not settled in, and too cheap of cable. 

Andy

[ASCTLC]

Well, a little burn in and a good cable made all the difference in the world.  Running it all day as I paint walls and been leaving running all night long with input from the source but leaving the pre-amp powered off.  So it's been burned in for a number of hours now.  Will continue to do this for another week or so.

As soon as I tested again using one of my wife's Bonnie Raitt CDs, she immediately said "That sounds better!  It sounds more detailed, open, and airy.".   

I continue to be educated through this experience of burn in.  The 2 route connections remain for testing, needing only a switching of the input selector (takes less 1/4 second to switch).  Not scientific but the change in improvement is significant enough to be in your face obvious.  There's definite proof through this A-B test the change that has occurred with the components, not just ears adjusting.

It's her money too so if she couldn't hear improvement, then there's no way it could be kept.   

Andy

[Voncarlos]

If your Dac/Dacs have their own power supply, you can lift the 5v +/- lines in the USB cable for a major improvement in sound.
I did a little write up about it here: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=131898.0

BTW: +1 on the Musical Fidelity V90-DAC