[theeclone]

Hey, newb here. Been lurking and have owned many a Schiit DAC. More of a speaker listener these days, FWIW, but I do still love my Grados.

My Bifrost 2 still has the AD chips but I flashed the new firmware. With all the raving out there about the holo audio stuff I was excited to hear the BF2 in NOS mode. 1st impressions are that I never, ever, like NOS mode better than megacomboburritowhatever mode. The thing that perplexes me is that I used to love the way the Modi Multibit and O.G. Bifrost multibit sounded when I played 192KHz vinyl rips. At that sample rate, they're effectively NOS dacs. Maybe all this time with the Bifrost 2 has just spoiled me since then, bc I'm only going off memory from a few years back, but those exact same 192K rips are not so great in NOS with those rips on BF2. Maybe it's also related to the fact that I was using spdif with an eitr back then whereas I use Unison USB now (I love Unison. It's been a game changer).

Really curious if there's a significantly different filter in place in NOS mode on BF2 than the ones found in the modi multibit and O.G. bifrost multibit. In NOS mode on BF2, the bass feels less solid, less authoritative. To me there is a slight harshness as well in the upper mids that gives me a headache after long sessions, though there is also an engaging quality to it, which sometimes lends itself well to certain electronic music. Overall it's just a less euphonic experience.

 

[Friskyseal]

I tested the NOS mode on the new card briefly and my impression is similar—it sounds worse. A lot worse. The stage collapses and the bass deflates. It's like all the life is sucked out of the sound. Either the unit is heavily designed around the filter or the filter itself is just incredible. Whatever, I switched back to standard and will never bother with NOS again.

 

[kumar402]

Hey, newb here. Been lurking and have owned many a Schiit DAC. More of a speaker listener these days, FWIW, but I do still love my Grados.

My Bifrost 2 still has the AD chips but I flashed the new firmware. With all the raving out there about the holo audio stuff I was excited to hear the BF2 in NOS mode. 1st impressions are that I never, ever, like NOS mode better than megacomboburritowhatever mode. The thing that perplexes me is that I used to love the way the Modi Multibit and O.G. Bifrost multibit sounded when I played 192KHz vinyl rips. At that sample rate, they're effectively NOS dacs. Maybe all this time with the Bifrost 2 has just spoiled me since then, bc I'm only going off memory from a few years back, but those exact same 192K rips are not so great in NOS with those rips on BF2. Maybe it's also related to the fact that I was using spdif with an eitr back then whereas I use Unison USB now (I love Unison. It's been a game changer).

Really curious if there's a significantly different filter in place in NOS mode on BF2 than the ones found in the modi multibit and O.G. bifrost multibit. In NOS mode on BF2, the bass feels less solid, less authoritative. To me there is a slight harshness as well in the upper mids that gives me a headache after long sessions, though there is also an engaging quality to it, which sometimes lends itself well to certain electronic music. Overall it's just a less euphonic experience.

If you don’t like NOS in BF2 that doesn’t mean you won’t like it in well implemented R2R DACs like Holo May or Pavane etc. Just that BF2 is better in OS mode

 

[theeclone]

If you don’t like NOS in BF2 that doesn’t mean you won’t like it in well implemented R2R DACs like Holo May or Pavane etc. Just that BF2 is better in OS mode

I suspect that's true, but to me Moffat knows what he's doing, and I agree with pretty much every subjective impression he's shared about his own products (for example he didn't like the delta sigma modi and neither did I). And like I said, I do remember liking those other Schiit products at 192K, when they were effectively in NOS mode.

But then again I also love DSD, and I get the sense he and some of the schiit fans disagree on that one. I actually thought the original loki sounded great. Pretty impressive for the price. Speaking of which, one thing I've found when converting dsd to pcm is that the choice of filter seems to matter in the final result (like how many taps does it have and what are they).

 

[rodel808]

Is there a way to verify what firmware is currently installed or verify if an update firmware installed successfully? I'm afraid my bf2\64 board that I just received is doa. The sketchy part was that it came in an est bag and it was not sealed. Installed the board into the unit but no sound comes out.

 

[theveterans]

Is there a way to verify what firmware is currently installed or verify if an update firmware installed successfully? I'm afraid my bf2\64 board that I just received is doa. The sketchy part was that it came in an est bag and it was not sealed. Installed the board into the unit but no sound comes out.

Insert the old board back and reflash firmware. You can check if BF2 goes into NOS mode and play some tunes. If it does, you can then put the new board and check

 

[rodel808]

Insert the old board back and reflash firmware. You can check if BF2 goes into NOS mode and play some tunes. If it does, you can then put the new board and check

Put back old board in. It works...sound comes out. Holding the input down does not put it into NOS mode. It just cycles through the three inputs. I'm guessing the firmware update failed. I used a 64GB sdcard (smallest size I currently have) and ensured it's formated as fat32 and 32KB cluster. Booting the unit up with the sdcard inserted goes through the whole led light cycles (2 times to be exact).

 

[theveterans]

Put back old board in. It works...sound comes out. Holding the input down does not put it into NOS mode. It just cycles through the three inputs. I'm guessing the firmware update failed. I used a 64GB sdcard (smallest size I currently have) and ensured it's formated as fat32 and 32KB cluster. Booting the unit up with the sdcard inserted goes through the whole led light cycles (2 times to be exact).

You must be able to access the NOS mode on the old board for the new card to work. Try again with a 32 GB SD card which I used and worked fine for my unit

 

[TheTechQ]

You must be able to access the NOS mode on the old board for the new card to work. Try again with a 32 GB SD card which I used and worked fine for my unit

That's exactly what happened on mine. It didn't try to upgrade the firmware. In my case it was due to cluster size, so I used a 256 GB card and it worked. Keep in mind that the files need to be in the root directory of the card, and the card should be inserted into the Bifrost 2 label side up. Once I did that, the firmware update worked.

 

[elementze]

Does anyone have experience with any of the Schiit Yggy DACs that can compare it to the 2/64 upgrade on the BF2? It would be very interesting to understand how close the BF2/64 gets to the Less is More Yggy. I'm certain it's got a significant gap, but is it moving in that direction? or going off sonically on it's own way?

 

[j0val]

Upgrade card came today.

 

[elementze]

Looking forward to hearing your opinion of it

 

[cgb3]

Put back old board in. It works...sound comes out. Holding the input down does not put it into NOS mode. It just cycles through the three inputs. I'm guessing the firmware update failed. I used a 64GB sdcard (smallest size I currently have) and ensured it's formated as fat32 and 32KB cluster. Booting the unit up with the sdcard inserted goes through the whole led light cycles (2 times to be exact).

Why didn't use the SD card Schiit sent with the card?

That's exactly what happened on mine. It didn't try to upgrade the firmware. In my case it was due to cluster size, so I used a 256 GB card and it worked. Keep in mind that the files need to be in the root directory of the card, and the card should be inserted into the Bifrost 2 label side up. Once I did that, the firmware update worked.

The unzipped files total 259KB. There's no reason to use a 256GB card. A 512K card (if one could find one), would work well.

 

[j0val]

Looking forward to hearing your opinion of it

I think my impressions so far mirror yours. The most noticeable benefit to me is the increase in bass texture. I feel like there’s a little more impact in sub-bass, which gives it a slightly more euphonic/holographic sound than before the upgrade. My chain is BF2–> Lokius-> Lyr 3 -> Grado RS1x.

 

[elementze]

It's great that a $300 upgrade can make this DAC feel new again.