[Mr BubbaHyde]

I get issues every time I have to do a Roon update. I lose like 5 listening zones (my denon receiver usually tends to remain after the upgrade, but via airplay only). It's really annoying. I have a bifrost2 in my office, 2 monitors with speakers, a set of kanto desktop speakers, a USB headset, and a ropieeexl to a bifrost2 in the living room.

I spent hours researching the issue, messing with windows audio settings, rebooting my computer, unplugging the USB cables from the bifrost, rebooting the bifrost (which i hate turning them off), restarting the roon server, etc... nothing!

After a few hours, I would come back to my computer, and would find that all zones and devices are back up. I'm not sure if this is a bifrost issue or not. It really seems to be Roon related and its really frustrating.

I have even restored to a Roon backup and that does not help.

Now before an upgrade of Roon, I make sure that I am not sitting down for a listening session. I'll make a note to upgrade like 8 hours before I plan on using the Roon software again. The forums say this has been an issue in the past and was resolved. I can confirm that there is still something not right, and I am certainly not going to blame the bifrosts for the fact that I lose like 5 other listening zones after a Roon software upgrade.

Oddly, the bifrosts will still show up as devices under the audio settings in Roon after the upgrade, but they will never be available as a listening zone.

I too have had that issue, I believed it's a prominent topic over at the Roon community as well.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Now being a proud owner of a BF2 I can actually post here instead of just lurking. Placed my order for a Bifrost 2 and Jotunheim 2 on 11 August and received both last Tuesday (7 September). Unpacked them and got them set up on Saturday. No sound coming out of the BF2. No clicking of relays when I use the Win10 device properties window to change and test sample rate and bit depth. Shiit...it's DOA! Fired off an email to Schiit customer service and got a response early Sunday morning. First thing that was asked was did I check out their DAC troubleshooting page. I did, but decided to humor him and go look at it again later in the morning after my brain was firing on more than a single neuron.

Since I have only the USB input plugged in, checking inputs should be easy. The one thing they didn't say in their guide was RTFM. Well, I looked at it. That's good enough, right?

Ok, I'm the first to admit I'm an idiot. I messed up on which LED corresponded to which input, and if I had a coax signal, I would have seen the BF working correctly. When I finally figured out which LED lights up when USB is selected, and tried the various bitrate tests, lo and behold, clicking relays and sound!!! Oh, and the Jot 2 gets LOUD!

Hello. My name is Gumby and I'm an idiot.

 

[prof.utonium]

I too have had that issue, I believed it's a prominent topic over at the Roon community as well.

Are you running a Windows OS as well? Only reason I asked is that I have been running Roon on an Apple desktop for years and have never had this happen to my four zones.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Are you running a Windows OS as well? Only reason I asked is that I have been running Roon on an Apple desktop for years and have never had this happen to my four zones

Initially I was strictly on MAC, then I moved my core to a windows PC, then Back to MAC, now on the ROCK platform with a NUC, lol

I would really have to think about where it happened the most, but it has been more since the new update that's for sure.

 

[Ripper2860]

Odd. I run Roon core on a Win10 computer feeding a Pi 4 running Ropieee XL, a Pi3B+ running piCorePlayer, as well another Win10 PC. No issues like you've described on the current 814 build.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Question for the Collective - Up until Sunday, I was using a Bifrost MB with USB Gen 5 I got from B-stock. No problems at all. However, whenever I powered the computer up or down, the BF would always click a few times as the USB was in and out of active. It is connected to the computer through a USB 3.0 powered hub. With the BF2, I don't hear it clicking unless it's switching bitrate or depth. Is this normal with Unison? The DAC is performing as expected, so no worries. I'm just curious about the different behavior. Thanks!

 

[Tralfaz]

Question for the Collective - Up until Sunday, I was using a Bifrost MB with USB Gen 5 I got from B-stock. No problems at all. However, whenever I powered the computer up or down, the BF would always click a few times as the USB was in and out of active. It is connected to the computer through a USB 3.0 powered hub. With the BF2, I don't hear it clicking unless it's switching bitrate or depth. Is this normal with Unison? The DAC is performing as expected, so no worries. I'm just curious about the different behavior. Thanks!

I made the same transition from a Bimby with Gen 5 to a BF2 and while it's been a while, what you describe sounds right to me. The BF2 is an entirely different product and does behave differently than the Bimby.

 

[SolaVirtus]

Question for the Collective - Up until Sunday, I was using a Bifrost MB with USB Gen 5 I got from B-stock. No problems at all. However, whenever I powered the computer up or down, the BF would always click a few times as the USB was in and out of active. It is connected to the computer through a USB 3.0 powered hub. With the BF2, I don't hear it clicking unless it's switching bitrate or depth. Is this normal with Unison? The DAC is performing as expected, so no worries. I'm just curious about the different behavior. Thanks!

I'll add that this is the normal behavior and similar setup as I have with my BF2. I can't help with comparison to older schiit gear, though.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

I'm so used to hearing the relays click when I power up the computer that now I have to catch myself because I'm still thinking something locked up.

 

[cgb3]

Noticed this problem with my Bifrost 2 yesterday and cant account for it

I was trying the balanced out for fun to the Lokius/Rebel (and yes, again, it has zero affect on sound at all) and I dont know what happened but when I sat down again there was no sound coming out of my system. I reset my Mac to make sure it wasnt software related or something frozen, but audio was coming out of my system speakers fine. I checked all connections, it was all fine. The Bifrost was powered on, I could select it as an audio option, and if I changed the bitrate in MIDI control the B2 would respond and click, interacting with the Mac. So the Mac could see the Bifrost, and the Bifrost could receive the source....but no audio came out.

I tried unplugging it, letting it discharge for an hour, used a ouija board and hoped that would just restart it back to normal - nope

I then unplugged it from my system and put it on my alternate, using the optical in from my Apple TV....audio worked again. So at that point I assumed the USB input was problematic

I plugged it back into my system like before and it magically worked again with USB

Is there any reason this should ever happen?

I'm no theologian, but I'm pretty sure God hates Mac.

 

[Alcophone]

I'm no theologian, but I'm pretty sure God hates Mac.

A few weeks ago I tried the SMSL AD18, a cheap do-it-all device with a USB input and more. After a few minutes the sound would stop until I switched audio output devices to something else and back. I tried different outlets, a USB isolator, replacing the USB power, all to no avail. Then I tried a Topping D10, converting USB to TOSLINK, feeding the AD18 indirectly. And... the same issue.

So I restarted the Mac and everything was good after.

In the kitchen I have an old iPad as a TV/streamer combo. It fed a Modi Multibit at the time. After a few weeks it gets into a funky state and sends broken audio to the DAC.

After a restart it's good for some more weeks.

Combined with the lack of exclusive/direct mode (apparently there used to be such a thing), the removal of TOSLINK support in the MacBook Pros, and the removal of the headphone jack on phones, it's clear that Apple has a... unique perspective on where computer audio should go.

But I was very pleasantly surprised that Mac OS supports audio device groups. This allowed me to send audio to three USB DACs simultaneously, without requiring any special software. Very convenient when comparing DACs. Check the Audio MIDI Setup tool (Applications > Utilities) if that is of interest.

 

[Bassic Needs]

I seem to have a USB problem with a new Bifrost 2.
The set up is at my office. Each morning I power on the BF2, Lokius, and Vali 2, and connect my Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 phone as the source via USB-C to USB-B cable to the BF2. It works fine. However, if I disconnect my phone to walk away from my desk, when I come back and reconnect the phone the BF2 never detects a USB connection and wont play music. The BF2 doesnt do any clicking or anything, like it normally does when it initially detects a USB connection. I have to unplug the BF2's AC power cable, and switch the power on/off many times before it willl detect the USB/phone again. Its a real pain in the ass. The Modi 3/Loki Mini stack at my desk does not have this problem.
Have others had problems with BF2 detecting USB?

 

[Bassic Needs]

The problem seems to be worse than stated. Its been 30 minutes of power cycling the phone ad BF2 and it still wont detect USB.
Yesterday I contacted Schiit (no response yet) and ordered a new USB cable just in case. But unless there is a clear user error here I'll probably be asking for a replacement or a refund.

 

[jnak00]

The problem seems to be worse than stated. Its been 30 minutes of power cycling the phone ad BF2 and it still wont detect USB.
Yesterday I contacted Schiit (no response yet) and ordered a new USB cable just in case. But unless there is a clear user error here I'll probably be asking for a replacement or a refund.

In Android, you can select the USB behaviour when you plug something in. Did you check that setting on your phone? Probably a long shot but you never know.

 

[SolaVirtus]

Have you observe it working differently with a different source? A computer or iOS device, maybe?