Schiit Bifrost 2

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

  1. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    @ColtMrFire give it a rest, Starlett is not a slam monster and neither is OG Gungnir Multibit. They both have acceptable levels of slam, but I would not say either of them excel at it.
     
  2. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Slam is like a hard pee pee smacking you hard in the face.

    Not slam is like a limp pee pee lazily rubbing on your face.

    And, yeah, I mean...everything relies on comparisons. It's all relative. That ain't news.
     
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  3. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    Finally pulled the plug on the Bifrost 2! Was hesitating because of the 22ms latency but then realized that my monitor has a 11ms video delay, so a delta-sigma dac actually outputs sound BEFORE the picture which is a big no-no. Bifrost 2 should only have 11ms delay for my use. Apparently, we tolerate sound delay up to 22ms with no issues (and that is a conservative estimate).

    I also ordered the Asgard 3 - I was very happy with the Magni 3+ but REALLY missed the big potentiometer and larger form factor. Was considering going all-black, but the silver finish looks so classy. I will post impressions mid-week.

    Is anyone using this combo btw? With HD800s?
     
  4. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I ordered both too, but no one here gives a shit. This isn’t HF bro. Keep this nonsense on your profile post and you can get some likes. Whoop-di-do.
    Please write something of substance when you actually have impressions.

    edited for transposed words
     
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    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
  5. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    Yo bro...I don't write stuff for likes. I thought someone would actually care about the whole latency issue...
     
  6. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I understand and that was useful information; that is why I didn’t dislike your post. Your other post in the Asgard 3 thread with the mistake in the measurements was super interesting. Just stick to the salient information and keep up the good work. I apologize for offending you, sometimes I get riled up and wannabe like Jexby or JK47.
     
  7. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    I found the latency value relative to perception limits and monitor latency interesting. Not relevant to my use of a DAC, but my brain will squirrel it away somewhere just in case it ever matters.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
  8. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    I’ve changed opinion on what I originally wrote. After trying the Apple Airport express for a few days I’m back to Unison USB direct from the iPhone. I don’t think this is because of some inherent advantage / disadvantage between spdif and Unison. More likely a combination of a busy WiFi environment and the limitations of the airport express. There are three reasons I’m back to Unison:

    1) high latency, clicks / random volume changes and drop-outs. The latency is a minor issue, but it suggests other problems. It can be as high as 1500 ms. The clicks and drop outs are more annoying. Not surprisingly, these problems occur primarily when there’s high network traffic (wife and daughter streaming). No clue on the volume changes

    2) Even when network traffic is low and isn’t an issue, the sound has a harder, slightly metallic, fatiguing edge to it while simultaneously losing plankton and headstage. It’s not a huge difference so I didn’t pick it up the first time in 10 minutes of listening, but you can definitely tell when your favorite songs start sounding flat and slightly irritating. I found myself wanting to turn down the volume because it was fatiguing, yet wanting to turn up the volume to find the detail.

    3) Bass loses texture. It’s pretty obvious with some tracks, not so obvious with others but I can tell pretty quickly by switching polarity- obvious change with Unison, really hard to tell with spdif from airport express.

    Can’t really recommend using an airport express to feed the BF2.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2020
  9. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I found the RME ADI-2 DAC to be... not great. I love the Bifrost 2 and find it outperforms anything anywhere near its price range. I wrote this earlier in the thread:

     
  10. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    Got the Bifrost 2 today. Sounds great as expected. No issues with latency. Measured it to be just 12ms behind my monitor which makes sense because my monitor's video lag is 11ms. It adds up to 23ms, which is what Jason said.
     
  11. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    ^ impressions vs. the Bifrost Multibit you owned previously please?
     
  12. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    I sold the Bifrost Multibit over a month ago so I can't really compare it directly. Definitely lower noise floor at extreme volumes. No weird audible pops through the speakers/headphones when switching from 44Khz to 96Khz sample rate. The same low latency though! This confirms some people's suspicion that the Bifrost Multibit A2 revision (post October 2018) actually did use the 8x oversampling).

    Sound wise, it is difficult to compare since I do not have the Bifrost Multibit anymore. I can compare it to my Steinberg UR12 USB interface that has an OK D/S implementation. The highs sound less brittle and more natural on the Bifrost 2, soundstage is different, less left and right and more integrated if that makes sense. The sense of space for acoustic/classic recordings is vastly superior on the Bifrost 2. The tonality is just a touch on the warm side. The more I listen to it, I am realizing that various instruments, especially snare drums have a much more natural timbre than on the D/S.
     
  13. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    I have the Bifrost Multibit and the Bifrost 2, it's really no competition. There are three things that jump out at me as the most significant differences:

    1. To my ears, the staging/separation/imaging of the Bifrost 2 is obviously superior and it jumped out at me immediately. More depth, more precision, instrument positions have more well defined edges. Honestly the way Bifrost 2 images is unlike anything I've ever heard (it's also the most expensive DAC I've ever owned).

    2. Bass extension and textures are also more clearly defined, more dynamic, more resolving overall.

    3. Bifrost 2 has a tonality that is slightly on the warm side of neutral, whereas the Bifrost Multibit is solidly on the dark/warm side of the spectrum. I prefer the darker presentation, but Bifrost 2 is superior in every other way.

    Less of an immediate, obvious difference is that the Bifrost 2 generally paints with a finer brush and so is more revealing of subtle details and textures.

    edit: Bonus pretty pic of Bifrost^2 and my supermodded Bottlehead Crack (Tung Sol 5998, Psvane CV181T mk2).[​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2020
  14. NeoZeed

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    Would you say that the Bifrost MB still has a place in certain systems if you wanted, to say, tame a bright / analytical setup? Or, for example, tame the hard highs of something like the ls50 which don't really need help when it comes to imaging? Or is this an instance where the superior resolution would just make it a better DAC regardless?
     
  15. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    Personally I wouldn't try to correct brightness in a system with a DAC, I would go for a different transducer first, amp second (unless you know the brightness is coming from the DAC). Bifrost Multibit might help a little, but if you can afford the Bifrost 2, it really is the better DAC in just about every way. If you think the LS50 can image well with a lesser DAC, I think you'll be stunned with how much farther the Bifrost 2 can take things (note: haven't heard the LS50 myself). Imaging has never been lacking with the HD800, but with the Bifrost 2 it's just incredible.

    Bifrost 2 is still on the warm side of things, and ime it's very smooth, but I tend to pick warmer components so I shouldn't really comment on how smoothly it would pair with brighter setups.
     
  16. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    I agree - the imaging with the Bifrost 2, especially with speakers, is what blew me away
     
  17. Pogo

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    OSG - which Bifrost 1 MB are you comparing against the Bifrost 2, OG or A2 version?
     
  18. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    Purchased new in April of last year iirc, so almost certainly A2, likely the very last revision before Bifrost 2 was released.

    edit: Should also mention that these impressions were gathered using SPDIF coax, not USB, so differences are definitely due to the DAC architecture rather than Gen 5 vs Unison. Originally I felt that a good coax source was superior to Unison, however, my USB source was an xDuoo X10TII (portable digital transport), not a PC or laptop. I decided to try using my laptop the other night (only device on that particular USB hub), and I was kind of blown away. More impressions are needed, but I may have been wrong to not even try using a computer source for Unison at all. I suspect that the xDuoo just has a hard time powering the receiver. Will listen and flesh these thoughts out more later on, for now, take this with a grain of salt.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2020
  19. Pogo

    Pogo Friend

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    Thanks for clarifying that and your impressions (I think,since I just got the BF1 A2 on closeout and now the rabbit hole just got bigger)
    Stay warm my friend,y'all got a brutal week ahead....
     
  20. NeoZeed

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    Man I really wanted a reason to save $350... guess you can't have your cake and eat too, though. heh.
     

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