Schiit DACs (Bifrost and Gungnir down, one to go)? The information and anticipation thread. - Page 195

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsplice 

 

 

Could you guys comment as to why you find the USB to be vastly inferior?  What differences in sound do you notice?

I disagree. I prefer optical. And FWIW Jason finds no difference between the two. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

I disagree. I prefer optical. And FWIW Jason finds no difference between the two. 

It also depends on which/what SPDIF is going into the DAC.  It's not just the DAC side you have to worry about.  I've have 4 different optical outs in front of me and they all sound different.  YAY digital!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

I disagree. I prefer optical. And FWIW Jason finds no difference between the two. 

I don't understand why you disagree?  I prefer optical as well......?

I found the USB had sharp roll-off in the bass past 80hz - and besides that I found the sound flat and lacking in dynamics.  But the latter two are just subjective mumbo jumbo.  The bass roll-off was the big issue.

Guys - as Anax said, many factors come into play with why one connector may sound better on your system than another. If you need/choose to stick with USB, I'd pick up a top quality powered hub. Hubs like the Vaunix have the added benefit of greater noise isolation. You're dealing with the quality of parts/implementation of the sending unit (laptop, etc.), noise, power, blah blah. As always, use the one that sounds best to your hears 

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

I disagree. I prefer optical. And FWIW Jason finds no difference between the two. 

I like pie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anathallo 

 

I don't understand why you disagree?  I prefer optical as well......?

 

I found the USB had sharp roll-off in the bass past 80hz - and besides that I found the sound flat and lacking in dynamics.  But the latter two are just subjective mumbo jumbo.  The bass roll-off was the big issue.

Jsplice posted the comment of why you guys find USB to be vastly inferior. I simply said I disagree and prefer optical. Not vastly prefer it. And that others find no difference

between the two. YMMV, but that's a given.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anathallo 

I find the USB input vastly inferior to optical and coaxial on my Bifrost.  By leaps and bounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

I disagree. I prefer optical. And FWIW Jason finds no difference between the two. 

This is what got me , it seems like these two statements are actually in agreement that optical is better than USB. But perhaps it's not Anathallo that paradoxper is disagreeing with?

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

 

 

 

This is what got me , it seems like these two statements are actually in agreement that optical is better than USB. But perhaps it's not Anathallo that paradoxper is disagreeing with?

Lol. Kev and Anathallo are both in agreement that USB is vastly inferior. Jspilce asked why this was the case. I interjected and said

I disagree. And that I only prefer optical. And that others don't find a difference between the two.

We're only in agreement that we find optical better than USB. But to me "vastly" is the same as "night and day" and doesn't have a place

when describing audio gear. It's not very meaningful and only hyperbole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

Lol. Kev and Anathallo are both in agreement that USB is vastly inferior. Jspilce asked why this was the case. I interjected and said

I disagree. And that I only prefer optical. And that others don't find a difference between the two.

 

We're only in agreement that we find optical better than USB. But to me "vastly" is the same as "night and day" and doesn't have a place

when describing audio gear. It's not very meaningful and only hyperbole.

I agree the source of the digital signal into the DAC will change things between setups, but when I can't hear anything below 80hz, I feel that saying USB is vastly inferior is not hyperbole at all.  As always, YMMV, but USB in my setup is -- really, and honestly -- vastly inferior.  

I can hear down to 20hz with optical - can't hear anything below 80 with usb.  How is that not a major issue in your opinion?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anathallo 

 

 

I agree the source of the digital signal into the DAC will change things between setups, but when I can't hear anything below 80hz, I feel that saying USB is vastly inferior is not hyperbole at all.  As always, YMMV, but USB in my setup is -- really, and honestly -- vastly inferior.  

 

I can hear down to 20hz with optical - can't hear anything below 80 with usb.  How is that not a major issue in your opinion?

Perhaps placebo, maybe my hearing is shot. IMO, vast and night and day, dont' exist in audio. Tell me I'm wrong or right.

Or let my opinion be.

I am not going to sit here and tell you your experience is wrong, I will however say my experience is the opposite. For whatever reason.

My setup is not under controlled testing conditions, so there's no real answer here. For me at least, I'm not sure about you though.

Share your experiences, as I'll share mine...and so forth. No one is wrong or right here.

For the first time I was able to do A/B'ing between my Macbook Pro's optical and Macbook Air's USB on the Bifrost. And I actually preferred the USB and I can understand why someone may say it's optical that is better. But is there night and day difference between the two? In my experience absolutely no. 

Why is it difficult to understand that people hear differently? Does this difference mean one is more correct or superior? *shakes head*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anathallo 

 

 

I agree the source of the digital signal into the DAC will change things between setups, but when I can't hear anything below 80hz, I feel that saying USB is vastly inferior is not hyperbole at all.  As always, YMMV, but USB in my setup is -- really, and honestly -- vastly inferior.  

 

I can hear down to 20hz with optical - can't hear anything below 80 with usb.  How is that not a major issue in your opinion?

If you aren't hearing anything below 80 Hz, that would indicate a defective USB input to me. I would contact Schiit about that. No serious audio company would send a piece of electronics out into this world with that sort problem with one of its inputs. There is a problem somewhere (the DAC USB input or your USB source) that needs to be solved.

Bitfrost has a stated frequency response of 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB, Gungnir has a stated freq response of 1Hz-100KHz, -1dB.