[Runrunsmithfly]

If you want to know about the sound, i think BF2 is dynamic and punchy while the Ares 2 is warm and gooey with a very laid back presentation. Since you have a SS amp, i think bf2 would suit you better as well. If you ever consider a tube amp, then the Ares 2 would sound pair better.

Thank you for your input. It sounds like the Bifrost 2 would be a good fit. I find the Modi multibit to be pretty dynamic and punchy so the BF2 would probably just take everything up a few notches.

 

[Neweymatt]

It's good we can admit to being an idiot at times. In my case, it's more like 99.9% of the time. Prime example - I thought my brand new BF2 was DOA right out of the box because I couldn't hear anything whatsoever. I swore I had the input source selected correctly, but after Schiit's customer service told me to RTFM...again, I did. Well, um...why is this LED on and not that one? After selecting the correct input, lo and behold wondrous sound! Hello, my name is Gumby. I'm an idiot.

Ha Ha, I've freaked myself out a few times with one channel in a headphone or IEM 'OMG not working!!!', only to realise I hadn't plugged a cable in all the way somewhere...

 

[GumbyDammit223]

One thing that both the Modi Multibit and Bifrost 2 do (and not the Yggdrasil, I think, but I have to double check) is to move to the next input when losing the USB input. So if USB is the correct input in your case, it's quite possible that you had indeed USB selected, but maybe swapped cables or did something else that interrupted connectivity and *click* it's TOSLINK time.

No. For me, I really was an idiot. Everything was plugged in correctly and powered up. The computer recognized the DAC and was spitting out bits, but they weren't being converted to pressure waves. For some reason I thought that after powering up, the BF would automatically select whichever source was connected to it, if there were only one. Nope. After RTFM...again I recognized my error in reasoning along with the incorrect input selection. Once resolved, life was again gooder!

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Ha Ha, I've freaked myself out a few times with one channel in a headphone or IEM 'OMG not working!!!', only to realise I hadn't plugged a cable in all the way somewhere...

Been there, done that. And when I tried to "fix" the problem by unplugging the cables and firmly reseating everything, I wondered why the channels were swapped when powered back up. Well, Right = Red, Left = White. I'm apparently an idiot, dyslexic, AND colorblind!

 

[Alcophone]

No. For me, I really was an idiot. [...] For some reason I thought that after powering up, the BF would automatically select whichever source was connected to it, if there were only one.

Just kidding, glad you got it working despite being challenged.

 

[Alcophone]

Correcting my previous statement, you can't select USB as the source on the Modi Multibit until there's a connection, but it stays on it even when removing the cable. For Bifrost 2 and Yggdrasil, you can always select USB as the source even without an active connection, and it stays on USB when removing the cable.

 

[WaveTheory]

I just put up a video review of the Bifrost 2 on my new YouTube channel:



Enjoy!

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I just put up a video review of the Bifrost 2 on my new YouTube channel:



Enjoy!

I enjoyed your review. I've own and have owned a lot of Shiit gear and think they are a top notch company. The little Modi multibit is a favorite and I really couldn't discern a difference between the Bifrost multibit and the Modi multibit. I'm ready to make the jump up to a better DAC and the Bifrost 2 has always been a DAC that I've wanted. The Denafrips Ares II has my interest now too but I think I'd be more comfortable buying from Schiit because I'm familiar with their products and customer service.
I hate to put you on the spot but if you had to choose between the Bifrost 2 and Ares II which way would you go? I'm a CD spinner and use an Audiolab 6000CDT transport and Asgard 3. The Focal Clear Pro headphones are my go to headphones. I appreciate your input.

 

[sp33ls]

I enjoyed your review. I've own and have owned a lot of Shiit gear and think they are a top notch company. The little Modi multibit is a favorite and I really couldn't discern a difference between the Bifrost multibit and the Modi multibit. I'm ready to make the jump up to a better DAC and the Bifrost 2 has always been a DAC that I've wanted. The Denafrips Ares II has my interest now too but I think I'd be more comfortable buying from Schiit because I'm familiar with their products and customer service.
I hate to put you on the spot but if you had to choose between the Bifrost 2 and Ares II which way would you go? I'm a CD spinner and use an Audiolab 6000CDT transport and Asgard 3. The Focal Clear Pro headphones are my go to headphones. I appreciate your input.

Honestly, I couldn't really tell a real difference in DACs until I got to Yggy. The BF2 was a subtle improvement to my ears compared to the Mimby (I immediately noticed a bit more sense of space and separation).

After going through this journey, I've come to the realization that if you really want to have a noticeable improvement with DACs and amps, you're better off saving your money for awhile longer and going with the level of gear that the TOTL Schiit stuff competes with.

The Yggy LiM may pair really nicely with your Focal Clear Pro cans.
I know it's pricey, but I'm just telling you my experience. I know the law of diminishing returns is very real, but to my ears, most things in the mid-fi DAC/amp realm all kind of sound the same

I will say, the BF2 footprint is much more appropriate for my desk setup than the Yggy.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Honestly, I couldn't really tell a real difference in DACs until I got to Yggy. The BF2 was a subtle improvement to my ears compared to the Mimby (I immediately noticed a bit more sense of space and separation).

After going through this journey, I've come to the realization that if you really want to have a noticeable improvement with DACs and amps, you're better off saving your money for awhile longer and going with the level of gear that the TOTL Schiit stuff competes with.

The Yggy LiM may pair really nicely with your Focal Clear Pro cans.
I know it's pricey, but I'm just telling you my experience. I know the law of diminishing returns is very real, but to my ears, most things in the mid-fi DAC/amp realm all kind of sound the same

I will say, the BF2 footprint is much more appropriate for my desk setup than the Yggy.

Thanks for your input. I'm retired so $700 to $800 is tops for me. WaveTheory seemed to think that was a noticeable difference in a $250 DAC, say a Modi Multibit, and the Bifrost 2. It's too bad I'm not able to audition one like we did with stereo equipment 50 years ago but at least with Schiit if didn't care for the Bifrost 2 I could return it with a cost though.
I could tell a big improvement going from the Modi 3 to the Modi multibit but that's going from DS to multibit. Also the Modius with the 4493 was an improvement in performance from the Modi 3. I'll probably go with the Bifrost 2 and if I'm not happy I'll return it and go with the Ares II.

 

[Zer0.p0int.Zer0]

Thanks for your input. I'm retired so $700 to $800 is tops for me. WaveTheory seemed to think that was a noticeable difference in a $250 DAC, say a Modi Multibit, and the Bifrost 2. It's too bad I'm not able to audition one like we did with stereo equipment 50 years ago but at least with Schiit if didn't care for the Bifrost 2 I could return it with a cost though.
I could tell a big improvement going from the Modi 3 to the Modi multibit but that's going from DS to multibit. Also the Modius with the 4493 was an improvement in performance from the Modi 3. I'll probably go with the Bifrost 2 and if I'm not happy I'll return it and go with the Ares II.

I don’t think you’ll be returning it

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I don’t think you’ll be returning it

You're probably right!

 

[sp33ls]

Yeah, if $700 is your budget, then the BF2 is a great option.

I didn't mean to deter you, only sharing my experiences The biggest difference to my ears is indeed jumping between topologies (DS and R2R). When I compared a $1500 and $300 DS, I could by no means honestly recommend the $1500.

I did indeed notice an improvement with BF2 over my Modi Multibit. It was an "Okay, yeah, this is niiice."
But, when I first tried the Yggy, it was more of a "Wow!" However, you're paying over double for that slight (relative) improvement.

I could happily live with the BF2 as my end-game DAC. The upgradeability is a huge selling point, IMO, in terms of the total cost of ownership over the years. It does everything I'd want, and without costing a kidney to do so.

I also don't think you'll be returning it.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Yeah, if $700 is your budget, then the BF2 is a great option.

I didn't mean to deter you, only sharing my experiences The biggest difference to my ears is indeed jumping between topologies (DS and R2R). When I compared a $1500 and $300 DS, I could by no means honestly recommend the $1500.

I did indeed notice an improvement with BF2 over my Modi Multibit. It was an "Okay, yeah, this is niiice."
But, when I first tried the Yggy, it was more of a "Wow!" However, you're paying over double for that slight (relative) improvement.

I could happily live with the BF2 as my end-game DAC. The upgradeability is a huge selling point, IMO, in terms of the total cost of ownership over the years. It does everything I'd want, and without costing a kidney to do so.

I also don't think you'll be returning it.

I didn't think you were trying to deter me and I really appreciate your feedback. If I was still working the Yggy would be MINE!
Having less disposable income is still better than working plus there's always new music to buy.

 

[WaveTheory]

I enjoyed your review. I've own and have owned a lot of Shiit gear and think they are a top notch company. The little Modi multibit is a favorite and I really couldn't discern a difference between the Bifrost multibit and the Modi multibit. I'm ready to make the jump up to a better DAC and the Bifrost 2 has always been a DAC that I've wanted. The Denafrips Ares II has my interest now too but I think I'd be more comfortable buying from Schiit because I'm familiar with their products and customer service.
I hate to put you on the spot but if you had to choose between the Bifrost 2 and Ares II which way would you go? I'm a CD spinner and use an Audiolab 6000CDT transport and Asgard 3. The Focal Clear Pro headphones are my go to headphones. I appreciate your input.

Thanks! In my written review (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/schiit-audio-bifrost-2.24927/reviews) I did a compare b/w the 2 dacs. The BF2 was the winner in my use case, but just barely. Ares II is a fine DAC and I fault no one for picking it over BF2 either. My one hesitation is that I found the BF2 to be better performing via its USB input than SPDIF. However, that was using my motherboard's SPDIF output which is surely noisy and jitter-laden. I briefly tried BF2's coax input using a Singxer SU-2 as the USB interface (report here) and found that with a higher quality SPDIF output, the BF2 can sound amazing again. My guess is the SPDIF output on your 6000CDT is pretty good and connecting it to BF2 via SPDIF is likely at least equal to the BF2's performance when using USB and a computer. I know that's not an answer to your question, but just some things to think about. Good luck!