[Mr BubbaHyde]

But that contradicts the audiophile rule...

Fix everything even if you can't hear it just in case someone can measure it.

I'm sorry, am moment of weakness and #CFS!

Please forgive me!

 

[bigjako]

I really like the Shunyata Venom USB, which can be found for $99 on Amazon. It was definitely a step up from my Epson. Really, for real.

 

[Mightygrey]

And it makes black print 5% blacker from your laser printer.

It really does help create a sense of an inky black background.

 

[Mightygrey]

It really does help create a sense of an inky black background.

It also helps you visualise the details...

 

[RickB]

Quick question, what are others' experience with how long the BF2 takes to warm up again into an optimum state after being turned off for a short period of time. Say, like 10 minutes?

 

[erroneous]

It's already there at that point. Just let it ride.

 

[Ripper2860]

Quick question, what are others' experience with how long the BF2 takes to warm up again into an optimum state after being turned off for a short period of time. Say, like 10 minutes?

I think 10-20 minutes is more than enough. I leave mine on 24x7 due to the power switch being inconvenient to reach, however.

 

[RickB]

I swapped the Schiit Pyst USB cable (made by Straight Wire) for an Audioquest Pearl USB.

Now this is weird. It makes the sound brighter and noticeably more detailed. It has that crystalline sound I associate with Sony CD players. The more detailed aspect is great, the brightness, less so. However, the brightness is not sharp or unpleasant at all. I always expect that with brightness, so the fact that it's missing confuses my brain. Brightness without being sharp or harsh, what?

The Bifrost is a warm DAC. It doesn't sound like that nearly as much with the Audioquest cable. I'm not sure I like that yet.

 

[RickB]

I swapped the Schiit Pyst USB cable (made by Straight Wire) for an Audioquest Pearl USB.

Now this is weird. It makes the sound brighter and noticeably more detailed. It has that crystalline sound I associate with Sony CD players. The more detailed aspect is great, the brightness, less so. However, the brightness is not sharp or unpleasant at all. I always expect that with brightness, so the fact that it's missing confuses my brain. Brightness without being sharp or harsh, what?

The Bifrost is a warm DAC. It doesn't sound like that nearly as much with the Audioquest cable. I'm not sure I like that yet.

I've decided to return the Audioquest cable and stick with the Pyst. The Audioquest just sounds too unnatural to me.

Never mind. The cable seems to have settled down or I got used to it.

 

[Marutks]

I've decided to return the Audioquest cable and stick with the Pyst. The Audioquest just sounds too unnatural to me.

Never mind. The cable seems to have settled down or I got used to it.

Maybe it was just a placebo effect and it weared off after a while?
I have Audioquest Forest USB cable but it sounds no different than stock USB cable.
I tried Topping D90 and RME ADI 2 DAC. USB cable didn't change anything.

 

[RickB]

Maybe it was just a placebo effect and it weared off after a while?
I have Audioquest Forest USB cable but it sounds no different than stock USB cable.
I tried Topping D90 and RME ADI 2 DAC. USB cable didn't change anything.

I wasn't going to post about it anymore (boring topic), but I eventually decided that I didn't like the AudioQuest cable and returned it today. It definitely sounds brighter to me than the PYST USB cable. With some of my more poorly recorded music, it took on a brittle quality that I hated.

Blows my mind that a digital cable can sound different.

 

[Tsunzo]

My Bifrost 2 burnt up on me today after owning it for a month and half. There's no audio signal coming out of the balanced and single ended output. Now everytime I turn it on it gets extremely hot on the left side and smells like burnt. Thankfully schiit is going to send me a replacement as soon as I send mine back to them. Has this happen to anyone else?

 

[davidfrance]

My Bifrost 2 burnt up on me today after owning it for a month and half. There's no audio signal coming out of the balanced and single ended output. Now everytime I turn it on it gets extremely hot on the left side and smells like burnt. Thankfully schiit is going to send me a replacement as soon as I send mine back to them. Has this happen to anyone else?

I vaguely recall reading another story like this. Both parts, the bad part that it happened, and the good part that Schiit took care of the situation.

 

[davidfrance]

I vaguely recall reading another story like this. Both parts, the bad part that it happened, and the good part that Schiit took care of the situation.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-audio-bifrost-2.914084/page-123

Yeah, page 123, April 1st, 2021, Coran ... same story, pretty much.

 

[tafens]

I wasn't going to post about it anymore (boring topic), but I eventually decided that I didn't like the AudioQuest cable and returned it today. It definitely sounds brighter to me than the PYST USB cable. With some of my more poorly recorded music, it took on a brittle quality that I hated.

Blows my mind that a digital cable can sound different.

Me too. I mean, I wasn’t totally against the idea either. After all, although it is a digital cable the signal through it still relies on voltage levels. The voltages in turn are dependent on physics, and physics ain’t digital..

It is also important to remember that audio over USB is a real-time protocol with no room for error detection, error correction, or resending of bad packets. The DAC is completely subject to what pops out the other end of the cable, whatever it is, and has to deal with it, as is. A resend would most probably result in an immediate and likely apparent stutter or glitch in the sound, anyway.

That is unlike communication with other USB devices like printers and hard disks, which can detect bad data transmission and have it resent until it comes through correctly.

I think this might be the most common reason why people dismiss the thought of digital cables possibly making a difference, because, well, they’re all just digital anyway, and if it works well with the printer it should work just as well with the DAC. And hey, that is what I thought too. Until..

Ok, rewinding a bit in time. I was using a generic printer cable for a long time (albeit a “HQ” one, shielded and gold plated with ferrite cores on the ends), perfectly happy with it. When it broke I got a PYST. It worked well, didn’t think much of it and didn’t really listen for any differences in sound. Then I moved my equipment and the PYST was a bit short and too stiff to work well so I looked for a longer more easy to route cable still of good quality. So I tried an entry level Audio Quest one (the Pearl). This time I thought I’d listen carefully if I could hear any difference between them, and it turned out that I could, and to me the Pearl sounded better (not night and day of course, far from it, but a little more “clear” and “open”).

And, really, why not? If everything else can make a difference, the amp, the tube, the DAC, the source.. why not the cables that connect them all?