Schiit Bifrost or DACMagic Plus? - Page 2

Back to the question the original poster asked.  Here are extensive measurements of the DACMagic.  Here are the specifications from the manufacturer.  I haven't seen any measurements of the Bifrost, and their product page does not have many specifications or measurements posted.  Are there any detailed measurements of the Bifrost published?

 

I haven't listened to either of them, but if I was buying without getting to listen, I would definitely get the DACMagic Plus.  I don't understand why some companies don't publish measurements of their products, or at least detailed specification sheets. 

 

 

Try USB from your PC if you get the DACMagic, it should work better than the digital output from the PC because of jitter and noise issues. 

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

-Aaron.

I'm faced with the same decision - leaning Bifrost though. 

 

Edit: may be leaning dacmagic...includes USB for less than Bifrost & while my PC has digital out my macbook only has USB :(

Edited by Riggaberto - 7/7/12 at 7:15pm

Is there a significant difference between the dacmagic and dacmagic plus?

 

I'm looking to upgrade from a Fiio E17 and i suppose my logical path would be either the bifrost or dacmagic (plus?).

Your Macbook should have optical out via that same "headphone" jack.

I know this is an old thread, but It's exactly what I'd like an opinion on.  So let's fire it up again.

 

I own a DM+

On the digital side  its connected USB2 to a dedicated 2011 Mac Mini running Amarra.

On the analog side it's connected XLR to an Anthem AVM to RCA to 6 zone whole house audio.

I have nothing to compare the DM+ to.  I like how my HD Tracks flac file sound on my Thiel cs1.5 and whole house in wall Paradigm SA-25 v3's

 

Goal: Headphones in my master bedroom.

I went through many iterations of extending analog / digital source or analog headphones from either the DM+ or AVM20 using either RG6 or Cat6. Then I had a duh moment.  Bring my MacBook Pro to the bedroom.  duh.  (Also running Amarra.  or try another...later) Presently the Mac Mini / Midi / Amarra configuration is clocked by the DM+ at 192kHz.  Works great.... 192/96/88.2/44.1 ...switches on the fly.... well a bit sketchy last night... out of the blue.  Plus there's some delay between tracks.  Bottom Line sounds great......  BUT, it's not on cans.  Big difference.

 

To my question !

I need another Dac.   Looking at:  Bifrost / Another DacMagic (Plus or 100) / maybe a Gungir.  I think I've ruled out Halide Design.  ???

 

Where's it going?

Tube Amp.  From what I've read Schiit Lyr.  Perhaps step down from there to Valhalla or Bellari HA-540  I'd rater spend more on the Amp and the Cans than the DAC  So Lyr.

 

Cans:

As ya'll know this is where the rubber meets the road.  HiFi Man  HE-500 maybe H5-LE,  Grado, Senneheiser.   Leaning towards HiFi Man.

Gotta read more threads...

 

Summary:

Need a DAC

Schiit Lyr.   Since I have the Lyr power I can drive H5-LE   Just thinking .

 

UPDATE:   Swinging back towards the Halide DAC HD as a more portable solution with my Mac Book Pro.

As a DacMagic Plus owner, I'd still appreciate you opinions.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Iamnothim - 11/17/12 at 6:53pm

^I have a Gungnir/Lyr/HE500 setup, and the sound is particularly glorious. Quite an improvement over the Bifrost. So, the Gungnir gets my vote.

Actually, stepping in here to clarify a couple of things:

 

1. We don't publish extensive measurements because they have very little correlation to actual sound quality. We publish a few we consider meaningful, showing low distortion and noise, and that's about it. 

 

2. That doesn't mean (as some think) that we're a bunch of mouthbreathing boobs who "don't have any test equipment." In fact, we have not one, but two Stanford Research SR1 audio analyzers, one that has been kitted out with the full ultra-low-jitter analysis and low-jitter clock reference--one of a handful in the world. This continues a tradition of using Stanford gear since the Theta days, 2 decades ago.

 

3. If you want to know what *is* important to us, contact the Arizona Audiophile Society and join up so you can ask them about a recent blind DAC shootout, where Bifrost came out on top of DACs costing 8x-18x its price. Remember, this was a blind test of member-owned DACs--which means no "pricetag preference" or "manufacturer ringers." 

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Excellent,thanks Jason--good info

A little surprised the Gungnir didn't top the list.

 

Gungnir wasn't part of the blind test...

 

Jason, any chance you can add output impedance to the measurements published? The lack of this measurement is one of the reasons I have never considered a Schiit amp.

Great info. Helps to cement my conviction to acquire a Bifrost for my headphone system.
Plus I get to A/B against my DM+

I'm also not going to order USB to see what, if anything I can pick out as missing.
Probably not much with my 50yr old ears.

I've stopped buying 192kHz ablbums on HD Tracks

Love to read some dialog here on TosLink v USB. The Bifrost FAQ is pretty clear.

Jason, did I ask for a manual?
Oh, maybe not. May I get a manual?
Please.

It's. Like getting the product before getting the product.

Triple-Tree,

I'm try to contain costs on the first cut of this system,
I'm not even sure I'll like wearing "cans" or buds.

I was thinking I'd start with some nice buds like Senn IE-8, Westone, sonics, etc.
I'm thinking I'd like to lay down with them. If that will even work.

But I've always wanted (30 yrs) something like Stax or HiFiman Ortho over-ear.
That design and a tube amp is the sound I enjoy.
Because of a/v systems my Jolida has been collecting dust.

Jason put the kibosh on the ear buds.
Should have known that.
Saved me toasting them.

Yep, we will soon be providing more complete measurements, but we're never going to be all about the measurements. The new format will look something like this. Note this is just an example, not a specific amp.

 

 

Specifications

Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 2Hz-200KHz, -3dB

Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1.2W

Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 1.0W

Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 260mW

Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 130mW

THD: <0.004%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS

IMD: <0.006%, CCIR

SNR: >100db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS

Crosstalk: >-70dB, 20 Hz-20KHz

Output Impedance: Less than 0.1 ohms

Gain: 5 (14db)

Topology: Notes on topology

Protection: notes on protection

Power Supply: notes on power supply

Power Consumption: XXW

Size: X x X x X", notes on protruding stuff

Weight: X.X lbs

 

For the record, output impedances:

 

Asgard: 1 ohm 

Valhalla: 27 ohms 

Lyr: 1 ohm

Mjolnir: 1.5 ohms

I pulled the pin.

Sennheiser 650    /   Lyr  /   Bifrost  (no USB)

 

My heart wanted HE-400 / 500 / 5TE

 

Like a lemming, I took the safe choice.

 

Sadly I had to buy them out-of-state.

I don't like funding The People's Republic

Edited by Iamnothim - 11/18/12 at 5:09pm