Schiit Bifrost 2

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by RobS, Aug 28, 2019.

  1. Sonorus

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  2. will_f

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    Roger that and thanks.

    One other thing to add: I haven’t been listening to my Aeon Flow Closed much because I preferred my Clear by a fair margin. However, I just tried the AFC with the BF2 / Lyr 3 and was very pleasantly surprised. For whatever reason it works astonishingly well. The planar bass sounds rich and textured in a way that reminds me of why I loved the LCD-2, but the clarity is through the roof. I think I’ve fallen back in love with the AFC.
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2019
  3. will_f

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    I really tried hard to read through the entire Bifrost 2 thread to see what other people were saying about this little gem, but frankly my head started to hurt from all the techno babble and I didn’t get past page 7. Sorry if what I say has been said a dozen times over.

    Anyway, this DAC has been kind of humbling. I tend towards skepticism when considering expensive audio equipment and I placed expensive DACs in the same category as $10,000 power cords and super audiophile quality USB cables.The only reason I even bought the Bifrost 2 was the Schiit 15 day return policy. That, and a reviewer I hold in high esteem thought the BF2 was excellent. I figured more likely than not I would hear zero difference between it and my D50 and send it back within a week.

    Boy was I wrong. The Bifrost 2 made a much bigger difference than rolling tubes ever did on my Lyr 3 (which, admittedly, seems to work well with most tubes). I’ve spent so much of the last week exploring old playlists that I’m now sleep deprived from staying up late to hear “just one more song.” I won’t bother going into detail about the differences in sound nor do I have any clue why it sounds so good (even after reading the first seven pages) but I will say that this thing is definitely not going back to Schiit.
     
  4. tranq

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    A collection of Bifrost 2 thoughts I shared with friends as I was listening to it for the first time. This was after I left it running for 9 ish hours while at a family gathering.

    There is something to this DAC. As I write this blurb I'm only one song of semi serious listening in, with Spotify, and a heater running in the background....and it sounds different....But a good different.

    So I'm thinking the schiit dacs I have already perform at pretty high cost to performance value. I'm not hearing any new parts, instruments, or sounds, but I am hearing LOTS of things differently.

    On Do It Again by Steely Dan (Qobuz from now in my). I'm hearing more detail and texture in the parts that are there. The intro sounds particularly more detailed. Reminded me of the shaker test on the chesky ultimate test disc.

    Fast guitar and bass guitar parts are coming through quite clearly.

    You can almost see the fingers on the guitar moving 100 times faster then I can type. This is in reference to Gordon Lightfoot "If you could read my mind"

    This DAC seems to combine what I like about the Bifrost 4490, and what I like about the modi multibit.I felt like bifrost 4490 was more detailed then Modi Multibit. But Modi Multibit had this fullness to it that the the 4490 didn't.

    I'm not sure the phase switch button does anything for me. I'm listening to Fancy by Reba now. Sounds like the phase button adds and unwelcome fullness or harshness to Reba's voice. But it's really really subtle.

    If I get a chance on Saturday or Sunday I'm going to A/B/C/D Sol, Modi Multibit, 4490 and bif 2. Going to use side 1 of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms.

    From Now On, Super Tramp, Even In the Quietest Moments, is a piano heavy tune. Rolloff ( or is it decay?) on bifrost 2 seems more extended then Bifrost 4490. The piano on Bifrost 2 doesn't stop reverberating before the next notes are played. It seemed to hit silence on the 4490 before the next note was hit.

    Early impressions seems like the bass might have a lot more definition and texture. Aside from the bass, it's almost like a new seasoning in a favorite dish that you can't quite put your finger on. It seems like it just has something more over the bifrost 4490, in terms of body and fullness, but as much detail ( or more). It seems like it has way more detail then the modi multibit, and a good deal more of that real, visceral, analogue fullness that modi multibit has. To my ears the Bifrost 2 sounds like it takes the best parts of Bifrost 4490 and modi multibit, and surpasses them.

    Now I've only used the optical input so far. My system is Qobuz > Chromecast Audio > Bifrost 2 > OG Saga > Vidar > Zu Omen DW. I've been busy with the holidays and am typing this up from my phone while holding a sleeping baby at celebration 6 of 6. Unison will hopefully be tried out this weekend.

    It's early yet and while many of the changes have been subtle, they still felt very powerful. This is likely an end game DAC for me. I can't imagine spending cash on a Gungnir Multibit for roughly twice the price. I don't think I'll need to flavor my sound with a different DAC.

    This whole setup makes the Zu DW sound even more magical to me then they did before. The tone, separation, detail, depth, imaging, etc that I hear are pretty awesome. I love a good wall of sound. This setup sounds big to me. My triangle is about 8 x 8 x 8 ft. Speakers are about 10 inches from the back shelving/cabinets, 16 in from the side walls. Toed in to meet 1-2 feet behind my head. From what I hear in this setup the sounds just seems to emanate from the air. The Bifrost 2 definitely enhanced this feeling.

    Apologies if this was long and rambling. Takes way longer to try and type out what a person hears, and moments to hear it.

    Great first impressions. I'm no longer wondering what I'm missing.
     
  5. bengo

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    Chromecast audio has (or had) a pretty poor quality optical output, from what I remember ...
     
  6. yotacowboy

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    From what I recall, using Google's Cast, it's pretty crappy, however using the Chromecast as and endpoint with something like Roon's RAAT delivers bit perfect up to 24 bit/96kHz.
     
  7. tranq

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    I've read up on the CCA (Chromecast audio) quite a bit over the last two years. It depends on how it was implemented by the folks writing the software. It sux on Spotify, I heart radio, and when casting from a browser. It's pretty good when using tidal, Roon, Qobuz. I didn't have great success with it on Amazon HD. Being unable to lock in streaming rate seemed to introduce some jitter to me.

    I've never heard Schiit mention it, but I wonder if the optical input is better implemented as you climb up their dacs. I would like to think the optical input on Bifrost 2 is better then the one on modi 3
     
  8. jexby

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    Exit stage left....
    the question is really: is the optical source any good?
     
  9. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    The market for used Gungnir MBs tells me that you are not alone in this. The fact that the Gungnir will need to be returned to Schiit for the upgrade to Unison USB probably has an effect as well. Good thing I can't see selling mine.
     
  10. wormcycle

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    Can anyone compare Bifrost 2 to RME ADI-2 DAC, excluding the DSP features of RME ADI-2 DAC ?
    Both have features I need, good reviews on SBAF but did not have a chance to listen to any of them.
     
  11. tranq

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    I thought about waiting to see what kind of revision Gungnir may or may not receive, but the luster of Bifrost 2 was too much to resist.
     
  12. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    I wonder whether they will offer an update for just the USB or if it will include broader-based updates to the device. I doubt that I will even be able to afford the former, but I am pretty happy as it is, so my curiosity is more academic than pragmatic. If I was buying at the time the B2 came out, I would have chosen as you did.
     
  13. tranq

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    I have heard some unsubstantiated rumours and musings of a possible digital preamp. Maybe Gungnir will undergo a transformation and become this digital preamp.
     
  14. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    This would surprise me, although it wouldn't be the first time.
     
  15. schneller

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    Has anyone done a true blind comparison of Yiggy A2 with Unison vs. Gungnir with Unison vs. Bifrost2? Which of the three is the "best" for a speaker setup and which is the VFM leader, producing the most listening pleasure per USD?
     
  16. yotacowboy

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    Yiggy A2 w/ unison is 1.116824 VFM on the Audioholics scale with a 2.443 multiplier for equality with rtings (with, of course, the reddit/topping rating IM distortion "hump" and BBC correction). Gungnir with unison is easily a 1.116845 VFM negating the Gungnir Unison's non-existant factor of 1.0 versus the Bifrost Multibit's existant factor of 1.0. However, pairing both of these dacs in my DIY Schroedinger's box with a laboratory-grade Class-D remote control fed through a linear 5V power supply, and playing Sade, Love Deluxe @53dB nets both dacs with an abysmal 3.6 on David Scrotum's "Young Impressionable Blind Listener Scale". Care must be taken in interpreting these measurements, as they were made whilst between masturbation sessions in my parent's basement, but slightly before trimming my neck-beard, and not after I finished cultivating my fedora feathers and putting my cat in a small box for Instagram likes.
     
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  17. Hands

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  18. will_f

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    Respect! I do recommend dialing back a bit on the self medicating though.
     
  19. Roman

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    I'm writing here in a hope to get a better visibility about the issue I described in Focal Clear headphones thread. So I was testing my headphones and found one unusual thing with the file from headphones test site. Here is a link to the file, I uploaded it to my cloud (please download it, don't play it directly in your browser). https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZpcPSkZGWVePCp1kUpsQX3X4XbqCfg9kTfV

    My setup is: MacBook Pro/iPhone -> Bifrost 2 -> DSHA-3F -> Focal Clear | Hifiman Arya.

    I hear some weird clicks (in recording, not DAC clicks when sample rate is changing!) when playing the track above and my Bifrost 2 is connected to DSHA-3F via balanced interconnects. Clicks are clearly heard with both headphones. I tested my amplifier with another DAC using RCA-XLR connections and didn't hear any clicks. I then connected my Bifrost 2 to the amp via RCA-XLR cables and I also didn't hear any clicks. I also don't hear any clicks when testing with my iFi micro iDSD BL.

    So I wonder where the actual issue is - whether my Bifrost 2 has some issues with XLR output or is it something specific to Bifrost 2? Hope someone with the same (or similar setup) could test the same file and report the result.

    Thank you.
     
  20. oldschool

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    Anyone have issues with playing files higher than 44.1Khz in foobar under Unison USB -> WASAPI (event)? Results in heavy distortion for me. Didn't have such issue with the original BF MB.

    Playing Unison USB via WASAPI (push) is fine. Also playing via S/PDIF in either (event) or (push) is fine.

    Just wondering..
     

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