Schiit (MultiBit) Bifrost

Those look good and are basically what I would build for a budget set. Price is OK. About $20 worth of materials.

 

I am a huge dork. I made up signage and surveys for a blind Uber Vs Multibit test at the Headfi meet this weekend. I will post aggregate opinions after.

 

This worries me a little, as my source would be a MacBook Pro Retina 2015 version, and AFAIK both the USB ports are USB3. Does anyone know if this issue affect the regular Bifrost as well?

 

I also had problems with USB3.0 on my Surface Pro 3. Even an unpowered hub fixed it for that machine. ie, it wasn't a USB power problem, it just wanted a 2.0 chipset to talk to. So now I use a Wyrd, just the way God intended for USB audio, anyway. I believe all of the Schiit USB gen 2.0 units enjoy this pickiness (someone on this forum is experiencing the exact same thing on a 4490 Bifrost). If you can live with a hub or a Wyrd though, then you will sleep well, wake up rested, and be better all around human being.

 

Thanks for the reply. It's a shame it affects the regular Bifrost as well, I was hoping that version would be fine and I could save myself some money .

 

Here's one on Amazon for $6.94:

http://www.amazon.com/USB-Highspeed...=UTF8&qid=1459096445&sr=8-18&keywords=usb+hub

Try to find the cheapest hub imaginable. Just make sure you don't get a USB 3.0 hub, lol.

 

Again, thanks for that. Good to know it doesn't need anything too fancy.

I think I'll try it direct first, and if I have any problems, then I'll have a look at hubs. If necessary, I guess I can hide the hub somewhere.

 

I have a Macbook Pro Retina 2014 and it works just fine with the Bifrost 4490. No extras needed.

 

Good to know, thanks. Worth taking the plunge then.

 

BJC are the bomb! My go-to cable store.

 

They are very rugged and well made but frankly overkill in my opinion for most home applications. LC-1's do not sound any better (to me) between my Yggdrasil and mainline than my pair of homebrew mogami mini-starquad IC's, terminated with $3 gold plated switchcraft jacks.

 

Well, I'm not the type of a person who'd expect sound improvement from cables, but I always appreciate ruggedness and good value.

 

Thank you guys, for your replies.
I will buy BJC LC-1 Stereo Audio Cables (10 feet) and FosPower (3 Feet) 24K Gold Plated Toslink Digital Optical Audio Cable (S/PDIF) on Amazon.

 

BJC makes some great Toslink cables too, I have one.

 

How flexible are they? I need to get a couple short ones to hook up some Chromecasts around the house, at least one will be kinda squished tho.

 

Very light, strong and flexible. They make them out of high quality Mitsubishi Eska POF.

 

My main concern is most of optical cables are not good with 24/192 files.
Could you let me know, please, if your BJC Optical Digital Audio Cable works flawlessly (reliably) with 24/192 FLAC?

 

I'm using USB, but just tried the optical. Seems to work more reliably with $200 glass cable, but it's only 3 ft compared to 15 ft BJC. My Bifrost had an issue syncing 192/24 over BJC cable first, but after replugging it works just fine, so idk.

 

Oh yes, I guess it depends on receiver too. While 24/192 seems to works fine with BJC and Bifrost (except that initial hiccup), I can't get 24/192 to work with my V-DAC II at all, even with shorter/expensive cable.

 

I would imagine it's as dependent on the receiver (and output) as the cable, if not more so... Some aren't even spec'd for it. I think you said this is to hook up a PC @Vlad ? If you're just trying to avoid USB, wouldn't a decent low end sound card w/coax SPDIF be an option?

That way you avoid both USB and optical issues... Who knows, USB could up being better anyway, sound card + BJC coax cable wouldn't run you any more than an expensive TOSlink cable would do tho.

Might be worth hearing at least two of the three options properly and seeing what works best within your particular setup.