[Deftone]

i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 
 
im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference...

 
i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.
 
sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

 

[theblueprint]

i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 

im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference... :confused_face(1):

i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.

sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

Truth. I'm not hating on the impressions, but listening for yourself is always the best. It seems that any DAC upgrade always ends up with "tighter bass, less fatiguing highs, more space, better imaging, more organic and/or less digital."

 

[Luckbad]

  i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 
 
im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference...

 
i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.
 
sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

 
Do you hear a difference between your Hifiman and iDSD? If you can't hear a difference between those, you might now hear a difference between the Bifrost Multibit and the iDSD.
 
Some of what we hear is definitely placebo. We read impressions and acquire expectation bias, so we hear some of what we want to.
 
I'm kinda glad that I get it to some extent, because it means I can upgrade by just believing something will be better.
 
That's only a little true. In some ways, I dislike things more when I've heard so many good things about them and they turn out to be less amazing than I hoped.

 

[RestoredSparda]

i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 

im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference... :confused_face(1):

i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.

sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

If you're not able to tell a difference between the two DACs you mentioned then just save some money and don't upgrade. Personally Bimby was a sizable upgrade from Bifrost Uber for me. I don't keep what I don't find an improvement from. Obviously I will be keeping Bimby. I doubt there is a chain reaction of common opinions because of bias from reading these impressions. It really is an obvious difference, of course in my opinion. But again, save some money if you usually can't tell the difference between DACs. No harm that way.

 

[Deftone]

   
Do you hear a difference between your Hifiman and iDSD? 

Yes but its very small and its in the form of much less distortion from medium to high volumes.
I dont hear the amazing upgrade to sound that i read in reviews. thats the only reason i kept it over the (£30) usb dac lol.

 

[bigro]

  i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 
 
im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference...

 
i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.
 
sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

 
Quote:

If you're not able to tell a difference between the two DACs you mentioned then just save some money and don't upgrade. Personally Bimby was a sizable upgrade from Bifrost Uber for me. I don't keep what I don't find an improvement from. Obviously I will be keeping Bimby. I doubt there is a chain reaction of common opinions because of bias from reading these impressions. It really is an obvious difference, of course in my opinion. But again, save some money if you usually can't tell the difference between DACs. No harm that way.

Agreed. The Bifrost Multi bit is knocking my socks of as we speak. But if you cant tell the differences then saving your cash would not be a bad idea until you can actually hear it yourself . But I agree with Sparda. the Bifrost MB is definitely a sizable upgrade. I was Impatient and received mine last Tuesday Morning so there were very little impressions out there to cloud my objectiveness. From listening to rmoodys former Uber it was not just a small step up.  rmoody jumped the Gun as well and got the MB upgrade before we could do a side by side comparison. But yes your ears are the ones that matter. no need to spend the cash if there may not be any improvement for you.

 

[Squeezemenicely]

Sorry, trying to make up my mind. So the Multi makes more than a suttle difference and is definitely better than the Uber? It being a completely different and new device, I am wondering could it be less good than the 4490?

 

[sheldaze]

Sorry, trying to make up my mind. So the Multi makes more than a suttle difference and is definitely better than the Uber? It being a completely different and new device, I am wondering could it be less good than the 4490?

I think there are only two considerations:
 

1. Time required to warm-up.
2. Price.

 
If you can handle both these constraints, the sound quality is not in question. The Multibit version of the Bifrost will be the best sound quality option available in the Bifrost lineup.

 

[theblueprint]

Sorry, trying to make up my mind. So the Multi makes more than a suttle difference and is definitely better than the Uber? It being a completely different and new device, I am wondering could it be less good than the 4490?

Schiit prices their equipment accordingly to performance. So I don't imagine they would overcharge for the MB if it didn't overperform the 4490.

 

[rmoody]

  i was just thinking if the bifrost multi owners didnt read other owners impressions on the sound being less digital, smoother and more space. would you still think the same? like is your mind telling you it will be because everyone else has said it. like a chain reaction isnt it. 
 
im wondering because i recently did a blind test with the output quality of a hifiman hm101 (£30) and a sony nwza15 walkman (£170) and i couldnt hear the difference...

 
i want a bimby but if i purchased would i hear what everyone has discribed? because its in my head now and i want to hear it for 'real' from my ears if you know what i mean.
 
sorry im not good at explaining things but it was on my mind.

 
What's your current audio chain? Mine is Windows JRMC > Wyrd > Bimby > Asgard 2 > Yamaha HS8 or Shure 1540 or Shure SE535.
Bigro has PC > Wyrd > Bimby > Valhalla 2 > Mackies (what are those again? 5"?) and I forget his cans. (hehe I have his Grados on now!)

As for myself and bigro, neither of use read any impressions before a listen. And even cold, right out of the box, we both noticed changes that were far from subtle.
 
Would you hear? haha technically yes, could you notice the change? Maybe, probably. Worst case scenario, you buy it, don't like it, you return it. No harm no foul, just the price of shipping, etc.
 
The 4490 Bifrost is no slouch and for the price is a terrific performer, heck, so is the Modi 2 Uber. Really, and even Jason says this, the most important part of the chain is the transducers. That's where you should spend money first. Which is why my next purchase is MrSpeakers Ether C. The Bimby upgrade set me back a bit, but I could not let bigro have a bigger DAC than me .
 
Whichever you choose, I'll say it like my fellow homebrewers say, relax, listen to some music that makes you smile. (Homebrewers say relax, have a home brew.) Heck, do both! Relax, have a homebrew while listening to music that makes you smile.

 

[jimmers]

Schiit prices their equipment accordingly to performance. So I don't imagine they would overcharge for the MB if it didn't overperform the 4490.

I thought Schiit priced their equipment according to cost (?)

 

[iamxLn]

How about "BitFrost". I thought that was the the name of this DAC even before the MB upgrade LOL.

Omg I've been reading bitfrost this whole time too! ****. Well I'm an idiot. At least I'm not alone.

 

[bigro]

   
What's your current audio chain? Mine is Windows JRMC > Wyrd > Bimby > Asgard 2 > Yamaha HS8 or Shure 1540 or Shure SE535.
Bigro has PC > Wyrd > Bimby > Valhalla 2 > Mackies (what are those again? 5"?) and I forget his cans. (hehe I have his Grados on now!)

As for myself and bigro, neither of use read any impressions before a listen. And even cold, right out of the box, we both noticed changes that were far from subtle.
 
Would you hear? haha technically yes, could you notice the change? Maybe, probably. Worst case scenario, you buy it, don't like it, you return it. No harm no foul, just the price of shipping, etc.
 
The 4490 Bifrost is no slouch and for the price is a terrific performer, heck, so is the Modi 2 Uber. Really, and even Jason says this, the most important part of the chain is the transducers. That's where you should spend money first. Which is why my next purchase is MrSpeakers Ether C. The Bimby upgrade set me back a bit, but I could not let bigro have a bigger DAC than me .
 
Whichever you choose, I'll say it like my fellow homebrewers say, relax, listen to some music that makes you smile. (Homebrewers say relax, have a home brew.) Heck, do both! Relax, have a homebrew while listening to music that makes you smile.

 
Blueprint .It looks like you already have an Bifrost Uber and a Modi (based on your Profile) .So you are familiar with them. Can You hear the difference between the Modi and the bifrost Uber using the same cans, amp etc? If you do then I think you should easily appreciate the MB upgrade. The MB is like Uber but aged and refined. It has more finesse, more attention to detail and can crack the whip when needed. I say this because I had to turn my sub volume down a bit and there is also improved low end response in my cans as well.
 
(they are mackie MR5 Mkii, and a PSB Sub)
 
 
Also I believe There is a charge if you return Something to Schiit. I believe it is 5% of cost. I do not know how that works if you do an upgrade though  I have not returned anything but you should check first.
 
 Yes we are peer pressuring you

. 

 

[theblueprint]

Haha. Indeed the Modi is a step down from my bifrost uber. It sounds constricted and grainy and its bass doesn't dig as deep. I'm am very certain that the MB upgrade would be just as good of an upgrade. Now just waiting a month or two to gather the funds to comfortably do so.

 

[ericr]

Mine is due back Tuesday (though I'm out of town until Thursday).