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Schiit Owners Unite
Jul 7, 2014 at 12:49 AM Post #5,941 of 13,350
65535 said:
  Sounds like you have a much larger underlying problem with either the computer or the cable used to connect the devices. Do other USB devices work properly on the same USB ports that the Schiit DACs aren't working on?
Click to expand...

I have only the Modi and Bifrost now. Initially I thought the Bifrost shouldn't have any issues since it's a powered unit but then connection was intermittent at best. Signals kept dropping. Works fine now with the external hub. Nick of Schiit Tech support did mention that i would face this problem with the Bifrost since it wouldn't work with the Modi at all. Having said that, i noticed with a Supra USB cable, the Mac could detect the Modi intermittently as opposed to using the Audioquest Cinnamon USB cable where no detection was noted at all. I suppose cable construction matters as well?
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 12:52 AM Post #5,942 of 13,350
mark-sf said:
  I've got a mid-2013 Macbook Air 13" running Mavericks that I have used with a few DACs including Practical Devices XM6, iBasso D-Zero and Oppo BDP-105 and have had no problems having them recognized or making noises either on AC or battery. I do ensure that they are powered on before I plug in the USB cable.  
Click to expand...

Luck of the draw for me perhaps..the setup looks pretty messy now with cables running all over..might spring for a Wyrd one day.
 
Anyone has one who can chime in as to its effectiveness?
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 1:21 AM Post #5,944 of 13,350
rossliew said:
  I suppose cable construction matters as well?
Click to expand...

 
Definitely, the USB specification is pretty specific about cable construction for good reason. My go to is either Monoprice, Belkin, or USBFirewire for known good USB cables. Boutique and other "audiophile" cables have been made out of spec for whatever reason and given people all sorts of trouble. They are best avoided. Also even the BiFrost uses USB power to run the USB interface so it will have similar issues to a Modi or Gungnir. 
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 1:59 AM Post #5,945 of 13,350
65535 said:
   
Definitely, the USB specification is pretty specific about cable construction for good reason. My go to is either Monoprice, Belkin, or USBFirewire for known good USB cables. Boutique and other "audiophile" cables have been made out of spec for whatever reason and given people all sorts of trouble. They are best avoided. Also even the BiFrost uses USB power to run the USB interface so it will have similar issues to a Modi or Gungnir. 
Click to expand...

Do all DACs with USB require at least some USB power to run the specification? I was under the impression that if the DAC was powered it would be just like a powered external hard drive and just require the data.
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 2:01 AM Post #5,946 of 13,350
rossliew said:
  Luck of the draw for me perhaps..the setup looks pretty messy now with cables running all over..might spring for a Wyrd one day.
 
Anyone has one who can chime in as to its effectiveness?
Click to expand...

I use my 2012 MBA with Mavericks and it has been able to detect the Bifrost, the Gungnir and the Geek Out without a problem and without any noise thus far (knock on wood).
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 2:02 AM Post #5,947 of 13,350
jeremy205100 said:
Do all DACs with USB require at least some USB power to run the specification? I was under the impression that if the DAC was powered it would be just like a powered external hard drive and just require the data.
Click to expand...

Most DACs do use USB power for that portion of the DAC, but some don't. Generally those that don't will sound better.
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 2:27 AM Post #5,951 of 13,350
nada190 said:
  Trying to save some money, should I get the Modi optical or Bifrost? I'm going to pair it with the Asgard 2. Or should I stick with the onboard DAC of my Creative zxr?
Click to expand...


Nada, don't know what your onboard DAC is, but everything I have read says the outboard DAC, the Modi or Bitfrost should be substantially better, less noise, superior DAC
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 5:58 AM Post #5,952 of 13,350
Yes a Schiit portable amp would Devine. Something as powerful as a 02 but as small as a fiio e12.
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 6:03 AM Post #5,953 of 13,350
reddog said:
Yes a Schiit portable amp would Devine. Something as powerful as a 02 but as small as a fiio e12.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the e12 put out more power than the O2?
 
FiiO's site says 880 mW into 32 ohms, whereas O2 is 613 mW into 33 ohms.
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 6:12 AM Post #5,954 of 13,350
True the e12 has more power but the 02 seemed to have better synergy when running my alpha dogs. A guy at work let me play with his 02, and liked the synergy with my alpha dogs however the e12 runs my dt 880 600 ohm cans just fine as well as my ath m50x.
 
Jul 7, 2014 at 10:47 AM Post #5,955 of 13,350
nada190 said:
Trying to save some money, should I get the Modi optical or Bifrost? I'm going to pair it with the Asgard 2. Or should I stick with the onboard DAC of my Creative zxr?
Click to expand...
Assuming you want a DAC, I think the real questions to think about are:

Do you think you would ever need or want USB?
Do you want the ability to upgrade your DAC in the future?

If you get Modi, you will never be able to get USB without buying another one (USB Modi). That is still substantially cheaper than a vanilla Bifrost, but you'd have everything in one box instead of two.

The advantage of Bifrost is the upgrade path. There's already an Uber upgrade out there for better analog sound, and if the technology improves to allow another upgrade, Schiit will give you the option of buying a new (Uber-Uber?) upgrade instead of having to replace the whole DAC. You could also get an optical Bifrost and add USB later if you wanted or needed it, and that's another thing that Schiit can upgrade so you can use it with the latest and greatest USB specs.
 
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