I have a Nucleus that I've played for several years through a Schiit Gungnir DAC. I've always been able to "see" the Gungnir through the Roon app on my iPhone. Recently it disappeared. I still see other network devices such as SONOS speakers, but I don't see the Gungnir. I can play CDs/DVDs through the Gungnir, but they're connected through an optic cable. The Nucleus is connected to the Gungnir from the Nucleus ethernet port to the Gungnir USB 2.0 type A port. It has always worked in the past.
Schiit asked me to troubleshoot by loading the Roon server on a MacBook and connecting the MacBook to the Gungnir. I did this using a USB-C to the MacBook, to the ethernet port on the Nucleus. I deleted my account from the Nucleus, activated my account on the MacBook. I can play Roon through my MacBook speakers, but I still don't see the DAC.
Any thoughts? I haven 't tried connecting both the Nucleus and the Gungnir to a router. Not sure if the Gungnir would work that way or not. I just don't know whether I'm connecting the MacBook to the DAC properly, but before I got the Nucleus I used to run Roon on an older MacBook and I think this is the way I connected it.
At this point I'm pretty sure the Gungnir is the problem, but before I try and ship it to Schiit (ship it to Schitt?) I thought I'd touch base with you all. If the Gungnir isn't the problem I'll end up having to deal with the Nucleus.
Thanks, John
Describe your network setup
I have a wifi router with ethernet ports, but I've always connected the Nucleus to the DAC using a direct cable connection.
You can have the Gungnir connected directly to the MacBook as a test, you don’t need to switch your Server to Roon, it should automatically list any devices to the main Server as long as the Roon app is open on the Mac.
I’m not sure how you achieved this type of connection? Is it just using USB from Gungnir to Nucleus USB? How is Ethernet involved in the connection? Have you tried a different USB cable? Sometimes I’ve seen cables go bad after sone time.
Sorry about the confusion. You’re correct, the connection isn’t ethernet to USB, it’s USB to USB. For some reason I was thinking the USB-B on the Gungnir was ethernet, I’m just barely tech literate.
I did try a different cable after reading your comment and it didn’t change the situation. Since I know the Gungnir works (I can play audio from a DVD through the Gungnir using an optical fiber connection) I believe the USB input on the Gungnir has stopped working.
Are you able to test out a different connection type? Perhaps a direct ethernet connection or temporarily testing the optical connection would be a good test in this case.
Testing to see if you can access the DAC outside of Roon would be good to try as well.
The only way I can see to connect the Nucleus to the Gungnir DAC is USB. There are four inputs: coax, USB, optical, and BNC. I don’t know how I’d connect to the optical port since the Nucleus only has USB, HDMI, and ethernet. There’s no way to connect the Gungnir to the network, as far as I can tell.
Update, Schiit gave me approval to send the DAC in for them to take a look. I can hold off if you have any other troubleshooting ideas
If Schiit is willing to take a look, then I, fellow user, say go for it. I’ve owned Schiit product and have had the USB port fail on two different units.
