[toschek]

Thanks for the feedback.
If consumer grade Sony speakers sound good......

The A5+ are $399.  (469 for Bamboo)
The A2's are $200 (black/white)  And have really good reviews.

In the link above the author preferred the A2's  Amazon feedback is very good as well.
I have to fight my instinct that a bigger price tag will be "2X" better.   I do like the A5+ in bamboo  
I think $200 will win.

Nice, I'm jealous. I'm using the crappy Sony sound bar/sub because it fits underneath my monitors in an eyefinity setup. I love having 3 monitors for work (home office) but it eats up all the space on my desk for speakers. I used to hate it, but the Lyr made it sound nice.

 

[Iamnothim]

Quote:

Why not order them both and return the 'inferior' pair? This way you can remove the "What If?" factor...

I thought about that Eddie.
They have a very liberal 30 policy, both direct and Audio Advisor.
But I've decided on the A2's because of desktop real estate.
Tiny works for me and if the sound nearly as good as their reviews, I'm banked.

 

[Iamnothim]

Quote:

Aaron94
 
for what its worth, I bought a Bifrost/Asgard 1 last month. I also wanted a Magni/Modi combo but after the Asgard 2 came out, I wrote to Jason seeking his advice between the Magni and the Asgard 2. I own the HE-400 and Audeze LCD 2 in addition to the ATH-50 and Grado 325is. Jason said the Magni was just fine for my needs. 
 
I'm sure other Head-fiers have their .02 worth (Wayne, I stole your favorite phrase

).

As I said...... everybody loves the little guys !
 
Did your set come in yet?

 

[Iamnothim]

Quote:

Nice, I'm jealous. I'm using the crappy Sony sound bar/sub because it fits underneath my monitors in an eyefinity setup. I love having 3 monitors for work (home office) but it eats up all the space on my desk for speakers. I used to hate it, but the Lyr made it sound nice.

I started looking at how small the A2's were and how big the A5+'s were and that did it for me.  A2's.  There doesn't seem to be a lot like them.
I'm stoked about your remarks how the Lyr works with powered speakers.

 

[kothganesh]

Quote:

As I said...... everybody loves the little guys !
 
Did your set come in yet?

I wimped out. After reading on this thread about the "signature" DAC/Amp that Schiit is planning to bring later this year, I'm keeping my powder dry.

 

[Iamnothim]

Quote:

I wimped out. After reading on this thread about the "signature" DAC/Amp that Schiit is planning to bring later this year, I'm keeping my powder dry.

That's some long green.
Smart play if you have the discipline to wait.

 

[toschek]

Yeah at this point I'm buying a couple sets of backup valves and then that's it for a while. I'm looking forward to the statement amp more than the DAC, I already have a USB Bifrost on the way and I can't see needing any more digital inputs, I just want some extra line inputs and speaker outs.

 

[Aaron94]

Quote:

 
My opinion..... go for the Bifrost/Asgard2.  To my ears it's a big difference.
I owned the M/M and traded to the Asgard2/ Bifrost.
I just did not like the sound of the M/M.   There are hoards of folks that love them.
 
I also own a Bifrost / Lyr.  This most likely, had a lot to do with my dissatisfaction with the M/M.
The Asgard2 combo comes close.   I find it very musical.  It drives my LCD2's very nicely.
 
However it's $600 (non USB) v. $200  That's a big difference.  I thought it was worth it.
IMO the Bifrost does not need USB.  Neither of mine do.
 
Again, everyone loves the M/M... except me.

 
Quote:

Aaron94
 
for what its worth, I bought a Bifrost/Asgard 1 last month. I also wanted a Magni/Modi combo but after the Asgard 2 came out, I wrote to Jason seeking his advice between the Magni and the Asgard 2. I own the HE-400 and Audeze LCD 2 in addition to the ATH-50 and Grado 325is. Jason said the Magni was just fine for my needs. 
 
I'm sure other Head-fiers have their .02 worth (Wayne, I stole your favorite phrase

).

 
Thank you both for the replies, but I have a follow up question. Im not entirely sure how the Bifrost would be used without the USB version, I plan to use it with a computer but I honestly have no idea how that would work. Im aware that with the USB version all I need is a USB cable and plug it right in. Is it possible to use the coaxial or optical inputs with a computer?

 

[toschek]

Yes, you might need an adapter say if you had a Macbook Pro (mini-Toslink to Toslink) but for a PC with Coax or Optical outs you can just get one of those cables and set SPDIF out on your PC.
 
The USB option is really there in case you want a dedicated PC/Mac input and wanted to hook up other digital devices to the Bifrost (PS3/Xbox/SACD or BD player).

 

[Aaron94]

Well the laptop Im going to buy is an Asus PC, not a Mac. But Im still not quite sure how I would get it to work. Im only asking because I really dont want to pay an extra $100 just to get a USB plug, when there is probably a way to use the other 2 inputs with a PC.

 

[toschek]

What PC is it? If you have the model # you should be able to check online if it has any digital outputs for sound.  Look for optical out/coax out or combination 3.5mm headphone/mini toslink output.  If it has any of those you won't need the USB input on the Bifrost.

 

[kothganesh]

Quote:

 
 
Thank you both for the replies, but I have a follow up question. Im not entirely sure how the Bifrost would be used without the USB version, I plan to use it with a computer but I honestly have no idea how that would work. Im aware that with the USB version all I need is a USB cable and plug it right in. Is it possible to use the coaxial or optical inputs with a computer?

I ordered my Bifrost with the USB option. I connect the Bifrost to my Macbook Air through the left USB port and use a male A female B USB cable to connect to the Bifrost. If you are using  the headphone jack out of the PC, then you could use an optical cable to connect to the Bifrost. As a third alternative, you could get a USB/SPDIF adapter to connect your PC to the Bifrost (without the USB). Those adapters could get expensive though.

 

[Aaron94]

So basically its spend the extra $100 for the USB addition, or spend $100 on the adapters to use the other 2 input methods. Personally that sounds pointless to me so I guess its USB.

 

[toschek]

If you have those outputs the cables (not adapters) are in the $10 - $20 range, nowhere near $100.   Some computers do require a usb to toslink adapter and in those cases, yeah, why bother.
 
I like my ODAC, but I'm psyched about getting the Bifrost in a couple of days and letting the ODAC go.   I can finally use my PS3 with my Lyr

, I'm psyched to play Journey (not the band) on this setup.

 

[Aaron94]

Ill most likely get the USB version then, it is most likely worth the trouble of trying to find a different cable in order to use a different input, as well as trying tio configure the laptop to work coaxially.