[disastermouse]

I love the R2R and Multibit sound from both the Bifrost multibit and the Cayin RU6. Alas, Schiit has completely and utterly failed to provide DACs that are compatible with modern MacOS, and because of my experience with my Bifrost Multibit, they are forever on my "never buy" list.

Is there an affordable, fool-proof, ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MACOS solution for me for my dedicated desktop amp (which is otherwise useless without a DAC)?

It needs to be sub-$1k.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Revolution1]

Audio-GD products have no problem with the Mac OS.
http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R1NOS/R1NOSEN.htm

 

[Alcophone]

You could consider a DDC. The Topping D10 and D10s for instance are both DACs as well as USB to Coax and TOSLINK converters with sample rate indicator. There should be some cheaper DDCs, too.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

I love the R2R and Multibit sound from both the Bifrost multibit and the Cayin RU6. Alas, Schiit has completely and utterly failed to provide DACs that are compatible with modern MacOS, and because of my experience with my Bifrost Multibit, they are forever on my "never buy" list.

Is there an affordable, fool-proof, ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MACOS solution for me for my dedicated desktop amp (which is otherwise useless without a DAC)?

It needs to be sub-$1k.

Thanks in advance.

What kind of problems are you having?

I use Macs (old, new, M2) and all of our products are tested on MacOS. Basically anything that complies with UAC2 (USB Audio Class 2) works with our DACs, which is all modern OSes from MacOS to W10/11, iOS, and Android.

There was a problem with iOS on 16.5, which was resolved (by Apple) on 16.5.1, but I'm not aware of any issues on MacOS.

Have we had a look at your DAC? Is it Unison USB, USB Gen 2 or Gen 5?

 

[ChrisMH]

I love the R2R and Multibit sound from both the Bifrost multibit and the Cayin RU6. Alas, Schiit has completely and utterly failed to provide DACs that are compatible with modern MacOS, and because of my experience with my Bifrost Multibit, they are forever on my "never buy" list.

Is there an affordable, fool-proof, ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MACOS solution for me for my dedicated desktop amp (which is otherwise useless without a DAC)?

It needs to be sub-$1k.

Thanks in advance.

I have an M1 Mac Mini plugged into a Yggdrasil and an M1 MacBook Pro plugged into a Bifrost. Both are unison, both work perfectly.

 

[Currawong]

I love the R2R and Multibit sound from both the Bifrost multibit and the Cayin RU6. Alas, Schiit has completely and utterly failed to provide DACs that are compatible with modern MacOS, and because of my experience with my Bifrost Multibit, they are forever on my "never buy" list.

Is there an affordable, fool-proof, ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MACOS solution for me for my dedicated desktop amp (which is otherwise useless without a DAC)?

It needs to be sub-$1k.

Thanks in advance.

I noticed that you already have a thread where you posted about this issue. Last time you mentioned a MacBook Air. What I suggest to people who are posting about computer issues is: Explain the full, original issue, including information about all the software and hardware, rather than asking about what you think is the solution.

 

[ardbeg1975]

I love the R2R and Multibit sound from both the Bifrost multibit and the Cayin RU6. Alas, Schiit has completely and utterly failed to provide DACs that are compatible with modern MacOS, and because of my experience with my Bifrost Multibit, they are forever on my "never buy" list.

Is there an affordable, fool-proof, ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MACOS solution for me for my dedicated desktop amp (which is otherwise useless without a DAC)?

It needs to be sub-$1k.

Thanks in advance.

Similar to @Currawong more context and info is needed. I’ve run 3 Schiit DACs off of Intel and Apple Silicon based Macs with no issues (outside of MacOS’s inability to respect native inbound bit rate unless you use third-party audio control software like Qobuz or Roon or manually set sampling rate in MIDI control but that isn’t a DAC issue).

 

[kumar402]

What’s wrong with Schiit DAC? They work fine out of Mac.
Get a used Gungnir with unison USB from head-fi and don’t look for any other DAC.

 

[MilitaryHifi]

I love schiit and schiit dacs. Schiit yggy r2r is my main used dac.

I would recommend hifiman ef400. It's pretty cost efficient. Dac and amp for 409 refurbished on their site right now. If you go up to the ef600 it's 799, which is an amazing dac amp. But, that price range is close to other r2r dacs. Especially if you go second hand. A lot of choices out there. But, everyone is going to recommend what they use or prefer.

 

[adydula]

Moved.

 

[disastermouse]

What kind of problems are you having?

I use Macs (old, new, M2) and all of our products are tested on MacOS. Basically anything that complies with UAC2 (USB Audio Class 2) works with our DACs, which is all modern OSes from MacOS to W10/11, iOS, and Android.

There was a problem with iOS on 16.5, which was resolved (by Apple) on 16.5.1, but I'm not aware of any issues on MacOS.

Have we had a look at your DAC? Is it Unison USB, USB Gen 2 or Gen 5?

There are threads on Apple Support, Reddit, etc. with other people who have the same problem. It's hard to believe you aren't aware of the issue. Which USB? It's whatever came with the original Bifrost Multibit. My Mac simply won't recognize it. I replaced my aging iMac, and I have the same problem with my M2 Macbook Air. Yes, I've turned off port energy management. Yes I've tried to run it directly off my Mac and using a powered USB hub. It HAS worked, but it's wildly inconsistent, and now it absolutely does not work at all. Bifrost flips through all the inputs, clicks, ends up on USB... never shows up in my output sources. I've rebooted, updated, cycled power...

My iMac stopped recognizing it in 2021, but I could sometimes finagle it. Then it never worked. Now it HAS worked on Macbook Air, but not reliably and now it doesn't at all. I have no way to force it, so now I'm relying on my Cayin RU6, and my tube amp is useless because I don't have a source to run into it. It's such a frustrating problem I'd rather never experience again, and it's tarnished my opinion of Schiit entirely. I sorta feel like, as with Focal, now that I've experienced an issue, I'd feel doubly stupid paying that kind of money for a DAC that will inevitably become a brick due to connection issues.

 

[disastermouse]

I love schiit and schiit dacs. Schiit yggy r2r is my main used dac.

I would recommend hifiman ef400. It's pretty cost efficient. Dac and amp for 409 refurbished on their site right now. If you go up to the ef600 it's 799, which is an amazing dac amp. But, that price range is close to other r2r dacs. Especially if you go second hand. A lot of choices out there. But, everyone is going to recommend what they use or prefer.

EF600 is one I was considering. I hate having to spend out again for a DAC when I'd be totally fine of only my Schiit DAC could connect.

 

[Neweymatt]

There are threads on Apple Support, Reddit, etc. with other people who have the same problem. It's hard to believe you aren't aware of the issue. Which USB? It's whatever came with the original Bifrost Multibit. My Mac simply won't recognize it. I replaced my aging iMac, and I have the same problem with my M2 Macbook Air. Yes, I've turned off port energy management. Yes I've tried to run it directly off my Mac and using a powered USB hub. It HAS worked, but it's wildly inconsistent, and now it absolutely does not work at all. Bifrost flips through all the inputs, clicks, ends up on USB... never shows up in my output sources. I've rebooted, updated, cycled power...

My iMac stopped recognizing it in 2021, but I could sometimes finagle it. Then it never worked. Now it HAS worked on Macbook Air, but not reliably and now it doesn't at all. I have no way to force it, so now I'm relying on my Cayin RU6, and my tube amp is useless because I don't have a source to run into it. It's such a frustrating problem I'd rather never experience again, and it's tarnished my opinion of Schiit entirely. I sorta feel like, as with Focal, now that I've experienced an issue, I'd feel doubly stupid paying that kind of money for a DAC that will inevitably become a brick due to connection issues.

My Bifrost2 has worked flawlessly with 5 different Macs (2017 iMac, 2016 MBP, 2019 MBP, 2021 MBP, 2021 M1 MBA) across macOS versions from Catalina through Ventura.

I know it stinks, but the problem is your Bifrost unit, not Schiit DACs in general. And, you've got the guy who literally started the company here offering to help, so if it was me I'd gladly take him up on that.

 

[ChrisMH]

“there are threads…” it may be helpful to link some of them here.

 

[disastermouse]

Similar to @Currawong more context and info is needed. I’ve run 3 Schiit DACs off of Intel and Apple Silicon based Macs with no issues (outside of MacOS’s inability to respect native inbound bit rate unless you use third-party audio control software like Qobuz or Roon or manually set sampling rate in MIDI control but that isn’t a DAC issue).

“I’ve never had an issue” is probably the most frustrating response of all time to any tech question. “I’ve never had a problem” does zero to help diagnose or fix an issue.

I was a huge Schiit fan, and prior to this, I had no issues either, but now it’s happened for two Macs. It’s either the DAC or a firmware or update issue. Thing is, I KNOW I’m not alone because when I look for the issue online, I find other people having problems getting Macs to work with Schiit DACs (which should never happen anyway). Windows? Sure. The twelve year old next door is likely building hardware and/or software for Windows. Macs are closed systems with limited hardware and software iterations.