Schiit Bifrost 2

I know we officially HATE MQA but for Tidal users a plan or policy is warranted. To the benefit of other Audirvana users I wanted to report on the settings that sound the best for MQA over Tidal feeding Audirvana 3.5.12 from Windows10 to my BF2 during my extensive testing.
WASAPI
Autodetect MQA = off
MQA DAC not detected use as = MQA decoder
Use large WASAPI buffer = on
Maximum sample rate = 192 kHz
Bitrate maximum of 24 (instead of 32)
forced upsampling = deactivated

 

Perhaps it's just me, but I would've never thought that I would ever see someone prefer Toslink over USB/Unison. I also thought that my Modi MB was pretty well detailed for its price, but what am I missing out on with the SDAC? Is this SDAC similar to the Drop offerings?

Seeing some very different conclusions lately.

 

As I get more familiar with bifrost 2, I found myself (nearly) exclusive to unison against other options. No idea about pi2aes that gained great popularity in sbaf recently, but doing some a/b tests, unison has been more of my cup of tea winning over gustard u16, xspdif2, and digiones (all pc transport). More so with speakers or speaker-like headphones (yup, I meant sr1a). Not by a big margin though.

I remember for the first few weeks, I kinda felt similar way with @BrokeSkoolBoi , thought aes via u16 might have more details in various aspects. But much later I came to the conclusion that unison was more truly resolving and the nuance I heard with unison was (mostly) not added by dac but from recording. Omitted or filtered information can sometimes trick.

At least for now, with the fairly resolving vela speakers, I'd never say bifrost 2 unison does congested stages any day.

PS. Might be more helpful inputs if what transducers in what context is described.

 

I'm not 100% clear on what your asking. I did sell my Modi Multibit because it was too soupy for me with the stock CTH which isn't very incisive. Sounded great with the magni 3 though! The Sdac in my amp is the same which you can buy for $80 on Drop.

I may very well be listening to a less detailed rendering of my music via Toslink, but because of the issues I wrote about, this is simply the best way to plug and play my music with the amp I have right now. It might just be the lack of volume control that makes it feel congested via Unison. I am also listening only through an hd600, so when I say congested it's way more likely the lack of stage from the headphone than the anything else.(I'll add this to my previous post)

I do think Unison brings actually brings out detail, might simply be too much for my ears and my bad music lol.

Edit: Just got my 2nd pair of hd650s and I can enjoy Unison a bit more. I dunno why, it's like an assault on my ears through the hd600

 

This may be tricky but has anyone heard any of the gielser dacs (Australian manufacturer) and can compare them to the bifrost 2?

Thankyou

 

Is possible an Bifrost 2 with AKM4499 but better implementation than chi-fi products in near future?

 

Still technically chi-fi, but maybe there is hope for the Cavalli Liquid Platinum DAC when it finally arrives: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38966

 

Thanks, looks very interesting... I hope great SINAD on this dac

 

Anyone with BF2 who upgraded from the Modi Multibit (v2)? Is it really worth almost 3x the cost? Is the improvement more than 30% in subjective sound quality?

 

Improvement between 10 and 69%

 

It will depend on the rest of your gear...amp and headphones. For me, absolutely yes. With the hd650 and EC: s7 I got exactly what I was hoping for with the bf2. Better staging and layering. Overall tonal balance is a bit more natural especially with female vocals and stringed instruments.

Bifrost 2 I what I consider now to be one of the better bargains in the hobby. I can imagine Moffat saying after listening to the production Bifrost 2, "f**k...I think I may have overshot that one a little bit."

 

Probably it's greatest strength is that it lacks the qualities of Analog 2 Gungnir and Yggdrasil that makes them require careful pairing.

That and the SE being as good as the balanced out and its a really universal dac. Provided you like the multibit sound ofc.

On that note, the MM is more vintage R2R in sound than the B2, with a darker, thicker tone - the one thing to keep in mind when considering upgrading.

B2 isn't bright, but MM is definitely darker than it.

Other than that, it's close enough to Yggdrasil and Gungnir as to be a shining example of schiit's willingness to undercut their own products.

 

For me it was around 83% improvement going from MM v2 to BF2. But seriously, you should also consider the new Modius as a cheaper "upgrade", depending on your sonic preferences and budget.
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...hiit-modius-dac-review-and-measurements.9379/

 

Anyone have difficulty fitting RCA interconnects with thick connectors? I'm always curious why Schiit unbalanced outputs are spaced so close together. I haven't received my unit yet so I can't test but it appears that some connectors would cause problems.

I made a DIY cable for my previous DAC using some knockoff WBT connectors but it doesn't look like they will fit on the Bifrost. I'm curious about which connectors people have had luck with.

 

Those boards are packed quite tight as it is. Look at the internal pictures for the Bifrost on Schiit's website. I think it's the fourth or fifth one down. When you have to fit both XLR and RCA housings onto a single pcb, where else are they gonna go?

 

I totally get that. They have to pack a lot in there. I’m just curious what connectors people are having luck with. I’d like to solder up some cables before the DAC arrives. I have some bullet plugs but I’m worried those won’t fit either.

 

I love my Amphenol RCA connectors and they fit various Schiit equipment perfectly.

 

Maybe the Neutrik Profi?
https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/phono-rca-connectors/profi-cable-connectors

 

The Bifrost 2 RCA sockets are 14mm center-to-center, same as most other products' ganged RCAs. WBT plugs are 13.6mm in diameter, so if your knockoffs are nominally the same and no manufacturing tolerances are too high, they'll just barely fit.

 

The Amphenols are 13.8mm in diameter at their widest part and they fit my Bifrost 2 no problem at all. They are tapered towards the pin side, so that helps.