Schiit (MultiBit) Bifrost

@FallingObjects It should come with the multibit sticker on the side as well, but the only real way to know is to pop the top.

 

Scratch all that, apparently today is the 14th and grad school is making me slowly lose my sanity. RCA cables are here! MANY EXCITEMENTS

 

@FallingObjects if it makes you feel any better, this is what shows up on my Bifrost Multibit when plugged in with usb, purchased direct from schiit.

Also, that's some damn fast RCA cables.

 

As has been said, if it cycles the input lights on power up then it's the multi-bit version. Having had all versions of the Bifrost, at length, including both a 4490 and a MB side-by-side, that behavior is unique to the boot sequence of the MB version. And, once the motherboard/firmware is updated to run the MB boards/filter it will not work with the D/S boards ... so you cannot sneakily swap them over and try to pass off a D/S unit as an MB unit that way.

That'll be what displays for any version of Bifrost that has the USB Gen 2 board installed. From memory (since I avoid USB whenever possible) Gungnir identifies the same way.

 

I ordered them yesterday, and thought yesterday was Sunday. May have accidentally missed a few classes because today is definitely Tuesday. Whoops.

Good to know there's that in place. Doesn't even require an actual plug-in, just a power cycle.

What settings do I use for the multibit? Just the default windows settings of 16-bit and 44100hz, along with selecting it as an ASIO device through whatever player I'm using?

 

Up to you on the Windows Settings ... the native audio stack will just resample to whatever you specify there. As long as it's a depth/rate that Bifrost MB supports (so, anything up to 24/192) it'll work. As to which option sounds best ... I'm afraid I have no idea what the current best-practice is for the default settings in Windows (i.e. what it does natively).

For ASIO hopefully your player is automatically switching the rate/depth as appropriate for the source material.

 

Mmm, gotcha. Also, is it normal for the Bifrost Multibit to be making audible 'click' noises as I change through songs? Only seems to happen when the playback rate is changed, so at least I know something is happening.

Also: It may just be placebo, but everything sounds a lot more... Crisp.

 

Yes, if the songs are at different bit rates. It is the muting relay making sure that no "pops" make it to the output.

 

Awesome. Thanks for all the help everybody! I do appreciate it a bunch.

 

I doubt it.

All Schiit's DACs from Bifrost up have master clock management, so they click when the sampling rate changes (not bit depth).

 

Oh no, I was referring to the 'crispness' that I hear on tracks now. Not sure if I'm hearing more detail, or just paying more attention to it. Playing through my most well-played tracks right now, and I'm hearing things that I 'think' I was missing before.

 

Yeah, sorry, I was referring to that, and also commenting on the relay click

 

Oops, yes sampling rate. I was thinking Hz but somehow wrote bits. =/

 

I would add to the other great advice you have got: experiment with the output bit depth setting in your player. Both @a44100Hz (on Bifrost Multibit) and I (on Yggdrasil) found that in Foobar, selecting 24/32bit sounded different and better than 16bit (wider soundstage, better-defined bass), even with 16bit source material.

 

Sweet, thanks for the tip!

So far thoroughly enjoying the Bifrost Multibit in my chain. Could quit with what I have now, but I want to throw a Jot in and see whether it makes yet another positive difference. If I had to quit here though, I think I'd be pretty satiated overall.

 

Just got my Bifrost back (Uber -> Multibit upgrade). FYI for anyone who is wondering about the wait, was about 2 weeks in the queue, then ship to/from time is about a week (depends how fast you ship), but only a day between receipt, update, and return. Oh, and also in case you are wondering, they sent back the old board too. And glad it is back, because I had been running off my Modi original the last week. Not that the Modi is terrible, but there is something electronic, and fuzzy about it.

I already knew, but as a reminder, the original Bifrost boots up instantly, while after update it takes a few to boot, and then it apparently goes into input scan mode? At least it looks that way as it cycles through the LEDs. Feed it a USB signal, and there is a relay click now, and it switches to USB. Maybe, I haven't yet had much time to verify.

Unfortunately there is no practical way for me to A/B compare before/after the update (they do send you the old board back, but who is going to swap?), but I am immediately impressed with the clean, spacious, coherent, musical sound (enough adjectives). It's also my impression that the treble is a little brighter, and has a touch more attack, than the Uber, and definitely than my Modi that I can switch back and compare. It's not strident, just my impression is the DAC is a bit more lively. I still sense just a touch of electronic grime, but that could be the source, amp, or headphones too. I do mean just a touch though, and who knows, maybe that will improve with some burn-in time. I'll just be leaving the Bifrost on anyway.

I'll form more impressions over the coming weeks, but at least for today, I'm pleased with the upgrade.

 

Warm-up. The MB needs warm-up.

 

Thanks SSL, and yes, solid state components really shouldn't change over time (i.e., 'burn-in') but there are some changes that are heat related (e.g., resistors may slightly change resistance based on temp). Warm-up indeed. Already sounding smoother to my brain now that it has been on for a few hours.

 

If you're interested in a comparison between the various versions of the Bifrost (of which there are currently 8 possibilities) I did one here.

As it happens, you can't - different firmware is required for the D/S (i.e. original, Uber and 4490) vs. multi-bit boards. Therefore, to do a back-to-back comparison, you need to have a chassis running the D/S firmware and another with the multi-bit firmware. Which is one of the reasons why I did the above comparison when I had both available briefly.

 

Great, thanks! Reading your comparison now.