Schiit Bifrost 2

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

  1. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Well thanks for that. That is indeed the problem, I just slide the board over a hair and it works! When I put the screws that hold the module in place back that knocks it out of alignment again.

    What sort of ideas have people come up with to better align/hold it in place? I doubt I'll be swapping the old card back in so probably I'll just try and make a small shim but suggestions are welcome.
     
  2. Pancakes

    Pancakes Friend

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    That unfortunately I don't know. And I don't have a unit to take a look at so no idea what a viable fix may be.
     
  3. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    I assume you’ve tried to hold it in place/similar when tightening the screws while the top is still off/playing with torque etc. - beyond that I’m no help.

    It really was a godsend that Schiit switched to those half clamshell tops - made getting inside, if you needed to, so much easier than trying to open up a “full clamshell” old style Bifrost or Valhalla or what have you (which, really, was worse for reassembly than disassembly). Now it’s just four screws and lift it off.
     
  4. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    No worries, thanks. For now I just used a tiny piece of a plastic toothpick to keep the board from moving laterally in the slot, and I've left out the screws that hold the module in place. It just sits on my living room table, I don't move it around or plug and unplug the XLRs, so it's all good for now. I'm going to take my time thinking over a permanent solution/see what others are doing/see what Schiit suggests. Enough frustration for today now I'm going to sit back and enjoy the music for a while. First impression with not much warm up time is that this really is a noticeable upgrade. Will post more after I've spent some time with it.
     
  5. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Yeah, I'm glad the top was easy to take off, I had seen how difficult it is on some earlier models. I'm not gonna lie, the connection on the new board is finicky, but like that song by Atlanta Rhythm Section, I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight.
     
  6. Wilewarer

    Wilewarer Almost "Made"

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    My 2/64 card showed up this morning, so I figured I'd listen to the NOS mode with the old AD card to make sure the firmware update took. With Eikon and Lyr 3, since that's what's on my desk.

    My first impression: Hm, this sounds weirdly good!

    That lasted about 2 minutes. By 5-10 minutes in, my impression was more that the NOS is somehow (slightly) both deader and more piercing, and also to the extent I got stage depth from anything before, now it's not there. Some of the more test tone ish vocal stuff maybe sounded better, I guess? Maybe. Just a few songs, not exhaustive at all, and some of this might be that I didn't warm the DAC up much, but I think I get why this wasn't an option before. I'll check again with the TI card. Eventually.
     
  7. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    So my short term impressions after a few hours of listening with the DAC being powered for a day are thus; definitely a significant improvement in many ways, but not a radical change in any. Bass is a little tighter, treble is a little smoother, stage is noticeably wider, but there is no change that really stands out as a massive departure from OG BF2. It seems to me just the sum of a lot of incrementally improved parts and it is all good. It is certainly not like throwing a totally different sounding DAC in your chain, which I think most people will appreciate.

    I'm not an audio reviewer and my headphone rig is pretty entry level but I have to say IMHO this is a very worthwhile upgrade for $300USD.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2022
  8. Emojiless

    Emojiless Acquaintance

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    Do you guys leave your Bifrost 2 on all the time or not? I wonder how much that impacts longevity. It seems to sound a lot better after a few hours burn in but I only got a few evenings of listening a week so not sure if I should turn it off when I know I won't be listening a few days.
     
  9. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    All the time. It's not going to hurt anything. I only turn mine off during large storms or when I'm on vacation.

    Also, if you're going a few days without listening, then you're doing it wrong. :p
     
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  10. nishan99

    nishan99 Friend

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    Two people on HF reporting more aggressive presentation on the 64 and less natural timber. Is that cold Bifrost or is it indeed more aggressive and less natural?

    Thinking about getting the 64 but my system definitely does not need more aggressive presentation.
     
  11. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

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    I wouldn’t call it as aggressive instead it has even frequency response and I feel is more dynamic then previous revision. Clarity is good and treble is smoother
     
  12. Wilewarer

    Wilewarer Almost "Made"

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    I think the new TI card is brighter than the AD card. Doesn't sound aggressive to me. I wouldn't say less natural timbre. I don't think it's identical, but I don't know how to describe the difference, don't think it's a negative, and I don't even think it is in the top 10 things one might consider as being different.

    The improvement in clarity is obvious to me, and not small. I think sometimes it sounds more dynamic and sometimes it doesn't, it's certainly not relentlessly slamming. Might be better at little shifts. I think there are some other improvements, but really I might not be in the best place to judge - I suspect for my setup the tonal balance is enough better that some of the good things I'm hearing (including the clarity) are at least partly because of that making things click into place better.

    I will say, I think it would be possible for someone to prefer the AD card. On the first day of listening (it got a few hours of warmup) I thought the TI card was a bit better but maybe more just different, but by day 2 the TI card was clearly better in my setup.

    This is with USB to the SE outs (to Lyr 3 with Eikon), anyway. Could be the balanced out doesn't sound the same, wouldn't know.
     
  13. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    I'm not sure what aggressive means in this context. Agree with @Ksaurav402 that more dynamic is a better word. It is not unnatural sounding at all, if anything I think it sounds more natural, in my system at least. It is certainly more resolving of detail. It has also improved somewhat after being powered for a few days, as I have come to expect with all Schiit DACs.
     
  14. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    So I initially sent a support email to Schiit when I could not get my card to work at all. Got a reply from them on Friday offering to exchange my card for a new one. Since I contacted them however I have taken the top off and got the card working, and I'm quite happy with it. Yes, it does not fit perfectly, but I'm not sure if exchanging it will be of any benefit if the new card is the same as the current one. I suspect (but cannot confirm) that the fitment issue is more likely due to some imprecision in the placement of the card slot in the DAC chassis rather than the design of the card itself. It just seems that is a more likely source of variability.

    I don't want to go through the hassle to replace it with another identical card. I'll send them an email explaining the situation and try to find out if they are making any running changes to the board design itself.
     
  15. ext1

    ext1 MOT: Jupiter Audio Research

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    I got my upgrade card today- updated firmware with old card, checked NOS mode, then swapped the card, made sure the card slots are in tight.

    Unfortunately I get some sort of fuzzy distorted sound when it switches from different sample rates, which apparently some people in HF are having issues with as well. Shame, because it sounds good when it doesn't do that...is anyone having the same issue?
     
  16. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

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    I have similar issue when I move from 44.1Khz family to 48Khz family when connected via USB. Out of Coax no issue so far. With USB sometimes it works and sometime it doesn’t. Moving thru various input resolves it
     
  17. HotRatSalad

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    I wonder if it's simply a firmware issue. However I have not seen anyone say they flashed the new firmware (with NOS mode) on the OG card and had same issues... I guess I'll hold off on that firmware just in case.
     
  18. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I don't have a ton of time on the new firmware, but I've not had any issues so far with the OG card. Maybe 20-30 hours of actual listening time so far, but not a single drop out, or fuzz after locking input. I leave BF2 on all the time I'm running USB input exclusively, too. I think I spent about 3 or 4 tracks in NOS before I decided it's not for me in this implementation. I'll still try it out every once in a while I guess...
     
  19. HotRatSalad

    HotRatSalad Friend

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    Seems like it's pointing to the new card perhaps. Couple people mentioned no issues with old card back in and new firmware as well.
     
  20. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    Not that we have enough data points to really determine anything... but I put the new card in 2 days ago and no problems here... although I'm SPDIF from a Pi2AES... no usb

    FWIW... had the new firmware running on the old card for about a week without issue
     

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