[Quiz]

It's working until it isn't. There's zero degradation at all with tubes (the preamp tube do not dim down or lose brightness the same as incandescent light bulb). The normal functioning tube in Saga should give you at bare minimum a decade of use at 4 hours of listening per day before it just gives no sound. I haven't replaced mine Saga tube for 7 years and counting now

If we ignore the price difference, would you pick the Saga+ or the Kara as a preamp for powered studio monitors with the Bifrost 2/64 as the DAC?

 

[theveterans]

If we ignore the price difference, would you pick the Saga+ or the Kara as a preamp for powered studio monitors with the Bifrost 2/64 as the DAC?

I like tubes and single ended triode amplifier, so Saga+ for me. My advice is that you should get the Kara to get the fully balanced (differential preamp) setup to your powered studio monitors

 

[tincanear]

Saga impressions thread (earlier posts might for original Saga, as Saga+ and Saga S were introduced later)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiits-saga-preamp-impressions.826388/

If you like the stackability of Saga+ with Bifrost 2/64 (same 6" x9" footprint) but don't want to deal with tubes, there is also LISST "solid-state" tube available to fit the Octal tube socket on Saga+. Or find a pre-owned Saga S (no tubes)

Jason also hinted at a second-generation Saga 2 (but that might be several months or more before it is released)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-9975#post-18096883


Kara is second-generation of Nexus preamp topology (predecessor is the now discontinued Freya S)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-kara-impressions-thread.969604/

 

[Quiz]

Saga impressions thread (earlier posts might for original Saga, as Saga+ and Saga S were introduced later)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiits-saga-preamp-impressions.826388/

If you like the stackability of Saga+ with Bifrost 2/64 (same 6" x9" footprint) but don't want to deal with tubes, there is also LISST "solid-state" tube available to fit the Octal tube socket on Saga+. Or find a pre-owned Saga S (no tubes)

Jason also hinted at a second-generation Saga 2 (but that might be several months or more before it is released)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-9975#post-18096883


Kara is second-generation of Nexus preamp topology (predecessor is the now discontinued Freya S)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-kara-impressions-thread.969604/

Thanks.

Do we know if the Saga 2 will have a tube?

Also, how do the Kara and Freya+ compare?

 

[theveterans]

Nobody knows what will Saga 2 be. Freya+ will sound thicker and more organic (vinyl-like) than Kara (more transparent and dynamic). Depending on your monitors, Freya can make it sound less fatiguing over long listening sessions while Kara won't sugarcoat anything (i.e. a recording that's bright and edgy will sound bright and edgy)

 

[Daniel Johnston]

^ This

In addition it has a SS mode to bypass the tubes if you want to control your monitors without the tube flavor.

 

[Quiz]

Thought I would post my impressions of the Bifrost 2/64:

So, I got my AudioQuest Cinnamon USB-B to USB-C cable for free because Amazon was way past the delivery date and offered to do a refund. I got my refund but the cable was also delivered the day I got my refund. I contacted Amazon and they said not to worry and just keep it.

A little history of my computer's audio journey:

Built desktop PC in 2012 with a Titanium HD and Corsair SP2500 speakers. Thought it sounded great.

In 2015 I got my JBL LSR305 studio monitors and LSR310S subwoofer. This was a completely different universe in terms of sound quality. After this, I vowed to never return to those "PC gaming speaker sets" again and always use real speakers/studio monitors.

In 2020, I got my AE-9. I noticed an improvement in sound quality and a massive increase in bass (even with the same level settings on the speakers and subwoofer). Was worth it over the Titanium HD.

In December 2023, I sold my desktop PC but kept the JBLs for use with my next computer (a MacBook Pro 14").

On April 21, I received my Schiit Bifrost 2/64 and connected it to my MacBook Pro 14" via USB for use with my JBL speakers and subwoofer.

AE-9 vs. Bifrost 2/64:

Significant increase in clarity. I've started noticing things/sounds that I didn't notice before. Bass seems to be less than the AE-9 but I think the AE-9 was boosting the bass because literally everything has bombastic amounts of bass whereas with the Bifrost 2/64, things have bass when they are actually supposed to. So, I don't think there is less bass on the Bifrost 2/64 because it seems the Bifrost 2/64's bass is more accurate. Bifrost 2/64's bass tightness and texture is a marked improvement over the AE-9. The bass is more cleaner on the Bifrost 2/64.

Soundstage and spacial cues are much better on the Bifrost 2/64 vs. the AE-9. The AE-9's soundstage and sense of space was very flat and 2D but had good amount of width. On the Bifrost 2/64, I can actually hear depth in the soundstage and imagining is improved.

Massive improvement in the reproduction of music on the Bifrost 2/64 vs. the AE-9. Music sounds so "real" and not digital like it did on the AE-9. Not sure if this is because of the Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless formats I now have on Apple Music with macOS (because on Windows you don't get lossless music on Apple Music). But my God, music sounds so good now and I'm listening to the same music. But even music on YouTube sounds so much better. The soundstage, depth, spacial cues, clarity, bite/attack, dynamics, and imagining are all vastly improved.

One pretty impressive thing I also noticed with the Bifrost 2/64 is that when I am viewing Twitch streams, I can now actually hear how good the streamer's game audio settings and setup is. With the AE-9, every streamer's game audio sounded the same. With the Bifrost 2/64, I can clearly tell the difference in a streamer's game audio and how good they have it set up.

Overall, super happy with the Bifrost 2/64. As I vowed to never return to those "PC gaming speaker sets" again, I don't think I'll ever return to a gaming-centric sound card again either.

By the way, the Bifrost 2/64 has been powered on ever since I got it and I noticed quite an improvement in its sound quality after a few days of it being left on.