Topic: Schiit Gungnir DAC Measurements (Read 6132 times)

Hands · « **on:** February 21, 2014, 10:05:56 AM »

Test Hardware and Setup

-DIY Gaming Desktop - i5 2500K locked at 4.5GHz, Biostar TZ77XE3 motherboard, GTX 780, Antec EarthWatts 650W Green PSU, Auzentech Bravura sound card, 4 140mm fans, goofy UV cathode lights in case, Fractal Design Define R4 case...overall, most likely not optimal for audio. Plugged into APC H10 power conditioner. I did run Fidelizer on it for the tests. Using USB 3.0 ports, tested for which ones produce best results and use those two.

-JKSPDIF MK3 - Input with generic USB cable, output with 75ohm RF attenuator (-10dB) and 75ohm BNC to BNC coaxial cable to DAC. Battery powered.

-Schiit Gungnir DAC - Takes JK BNC out to BNC in, RCA out to SB1240. Using the most recommended cables listed on Blue Jeans Cables for both. Plugged into wall socket. Also used USB input (same cable used for JKSPDIF) for a couple tests. USB input is Gen. 2.

-Creative X-FI HD USB (SB1240) - Takes line-out signal from DAC to line-in for recording purposes, powered by USB bus, plugged into desktop. Unit is limited to 48/96KHz input/output.

Software

RightMark RMAA 6.3.0, ARTA (used basic multimeter for calibration), JRiver MC 18

Misc. Notes

I used BNC input on the Gungnir for most of these tests. I did some in USB and decided it was not worth re-doing all of them. You can get a basic idea how they compare based on the RightMark and jitter measurements.

Creative SB1240 has a slight roll-off in the bass.

I do not guarantee 100% accuracy with these measurements. Take these for what they are.

Links

Schiit Gungnir DAC - http://schiit.com/products/gungnir
JKSPDIF MK3 - http://www.johnkenny.biz/home-1/mk3-hiface
Creative SB1240 - http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-digital-music-premium-hd
RightMark Audio Analyzer - http://audio.rightmark.org/index_new.shtml
ARTA: http://www.artalabs.hr/

Hands · « **Reply #1 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:11:11 AM »

Gungnir with BNC input, RightMark RMAA 16/48 tests using ASIO.

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.02, -0.14 | Very good
Noise level, dB (A) | -92.8 | Very good
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 93.2 | Very good
THD, % | 0.0046 | Very good
THD + Noise, dB (A) | -82.7 | Good
IMD + Noise, % | 0.023 | Good
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -93.1 | Excellent
IMD at 10 kHz, % | 0.010 | Very good
General performance | Very good

Attached RMAA pictures will always be in this order unless noted otherwise:

1. Frequency Response
2. Noise
3. Dynamic Range
4. THD
5. IMD
6. IMD Swept
7. Crosstalk

Hands · « **Reply #2 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:14:44 AM »

Gungnir with BNC input, RightMark RMAA 24/96 tests using ASIO.

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.02, -0.15 | Very good
Noise level, dB (A) | -94.8 | Very good
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 96.3 | Excellent
THD, % | 0.0046 | Very good
THD + Noise, dB (A) | -83.4 | Good
IMD + Noise, % | 0.023 | Good
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -90.6 | Excellent
IMD at 10 kHz, % | 0.0091 | Very good
General performance | Very good

Hands · « **Reply #3 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:19:18 AM »

24/96 tests WITH USB instead of BNC. Results show USB is likely a slightly better solution than BNC via JKSPDIF, but this could change with a better converter.

Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.02, -0.15 | Very good
Noise level, dB (A) | -96.9 | Excellent
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 97.0 | Excellent
THD, % | 0.0042 | Very good
THD + Noise, dB (A) | -84.1 | Good
IMD + Noise, % | 0.023 | Good
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -94.6 | Excellent
IMD at 10 kHz, % | 0.0084 | Very good
General performance | Very good

Hands · « **Reply #4 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:27:18 AM »

Gungnir JTest jitter measurements using a 24/48, 0dB file generated in ARTA and played back through JRMC 18. Tested BNC and USB. Also tested with software upsampling in JRMC, just to compare how this turns out on the Gungnir vs. other DACs I've tested (idea is to see if some DACs benefits from it more than other or not at all, though upsampling could ultimately be messing with results and making them useless).

1. BNC
2. BNC - Upsampled
3. USB
4. USB - Upsampled

Jitter is low either way, but USB looks a bit better. Upsampling might actually be slightly detrimental, though still gives good results. IIRC, this is touching on the limitations of the SB1240, so it's entirely possible the Gungnir has less jitter in actuality.

Hands · « **Reply #5 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:41:39 AM »

-90dB, 1KHz sine wave tests for 16-bit low-level resolution abilities. Posting both time and spectrum results for the 16/48 and 24/96 tests. I can't vouch these tests are accurate, and I'm also not sure if ASIO is forcing 24-bit mode when running these tests (meaning 16-bit tests might actually be 24-bit tests).

1. 16/48 Spectrum
2. 16/48 Time
3. 24/96 Spectrum
4. 24/96 Time

I have confirmed the SB1240 used in these tests can properly play and record this low-level resolution test (i.e. it displays a smooth, clean sine wave when tested for this on its own).

The Gungnir shows that even in 24/96, its noise floor and noise characteristics make it difficult to fully resolve this test. However, the general sine wave pattern is still there. You can detect this background noise if you turn your amp up beyond where you'd normally listen, though it is slight (NOS1704 was noticeably worse). In noise comparison, the Hex is much cleaner. It had no issues resolving this test, but, of course, it output the sine wave as you'd expect a NOS DAC to (i.e. it displayed the 3 quantization steps instead of a smooth wave). The Hex displayed more harmonic distortion in these tests, whereas the Gungnir has more random noise.

I also finally used a multimeter to better calibrate the ARTA measurements. Still hard to get everything exact, though.

You can read more about this test here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/quality-lies-details-page-6

Hands · « **Reply #6 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:50:17 AM »

Sweep Impulse-based measurements, 24/96 (rest of settings are same as what I did for the Hex). I always got slightly different impulse results each time I ran this, so I tried to pick what looked most repeatable and consistent. Even then, I don't know what to make of the burst decay results (maybe these are right and results like the Hex gave are wrong?). I've seen results like this in other DACs. Maybe it means this set of results aren't actually valid...maybe it tells us something useful about the DAC. I have no idea. So, I won't vouch for the accuracy of these. Take them as they are. If someone knows what's up and knows how to get better results and info from this test, let me know.

1. Sweep impulse response
2. Frequency response and distortion, generated from the sweep impulse
3. Step response (Does anyone know why it droops and doesn't quite come back up to 0?)
4. Impulse response envelope
5. Burst decay

Hands · « **Reply #7 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:52:11 AM »

Some noise and distortion measurements from ARTA. Done in 24/96. Most of these are dBFS, but not all. Matched as close to 0dB as possible. Note that the graphs do not all start at 0dB.

1. Noise - log graph
2. Noise - linear graph
3. 1KHz sine wave distortion - log
4. " - linear
5. 100Hz distortion - log
6. " - linear

Hands · « **Reply #8 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:54:59 AM »

Some ARTA 24/96 IMD-based measurements. I believe I matched these up with dBV as close to 0dB as I could, A-weighted.

1. 60Hz and 7KHz, 4:1 ratio
2. 250Hz and 8KHz, 4:1
3. 25Hz and 66Hz, 1:1
4. 13KHz and 14KHz, 1:1
5. 19KHz and 20KHz, 1:1

Hands · « **Reply #9 on:** February 21, 2014, 11:01:07 AM »

I did a music-based test with the Hex as seen in this linked post, and I thought it would be interesting to see how the Gungnir compared: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1425.msg37411.html#msg37411

"I took a 1-minute sample of a track I regularly listen to (16/44.1, WAV copy of Opeth's "Ghost of Perdition") and did an exp. average in the spectrum analyzer over the entire sample."

1. 16/44.1 playback in JRMC
2. Upsampled to 24/192 in JRMC

See how it compares to the Hex's results, if you'd like.

Author Topic: Schiit Gungnir DAC Measurements (Read 6132 times)

Hands

Schiit Gungnir DAC Measurements

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - RightMark 16/48 - BNC - ASIO

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - RightMark 24/96 - BNC - ASIO

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - RightMark 24/96 - USB - ASIO

Hands

Schiit Gungnir Jitter - JTest 24/48

Hands

Schiit Gungnir -90dB 1KHz Undithered Sine Wave Tests (Low-Level Resolution)

Hands

Schiit Gungnir Sweep Impulse-Based Measurements

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - Noise and Distortion (ARTA)

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - IMD-based measurements (ARTA)

Hands

Schiit Gungnir - Music Playback Tests

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Author Topic: Schiit Gungnir DAC Measurements (Read 6132 times)