[timiambeing]

Interesting, I'll have to give this a try. Normally I shut mine down every night, but I might just leave it running for a couple of days and see if I notice a change over that time.

Can I just interject here, someone once told me (like someone once told me to leave everything on) that when I was happy with the initial burn in process I should listen and confirm how things sounded, then I should switch off the DAC (Denafrips R2R I had just bought) over night, better still 24hrs. Then, cold stone sober I should switch it on again and listen to see if it was worse or what.

Now removing confirmation bias is impossible, so of course I did expect it to sound worse, but actually the opposite was true. It sounded much more open and free, lots of air. The individual who told me this was an engineer and he knew how electrolytic capacitors worked, he said that letting them ‘breath’ by removing current was the best way to finish the burning in process and he recommended an overnight switch off for the entire system every few weeks or so. Certainly when I have family visitors staying I always turn the entire gubbins off at the wall and leave it that way till they go a week or ten days later. I’ve never felt there was anything lacking when I next sit down to do some critical listening, I have a valve amp so everything gets switched on at least 20 minutes before I play music anyway.

PS. I have had systems that’s sound awful when cold, but that’s because there was an awful mismatch somewhere in the chain! Over a half hour or so the brain/ear interface adjusts to properly extract the music from the less than easy to decipher data it is receiving and things start to sound much better. I have found that well matched separates sound absolutely great from cold, if they don’t then something is off. And no matter how well matched the system it will always likely sound better after that initial brain/ear interface adjustment, the more you are used to the sound, the less time is required for the brain to adjust.

 

[automojo]

Have any you guys compared the 2/64 vs the iFi Zen Dac Signature V2? I'd like to know your thoughts.

IMHO… if this is the type of sound you like… try a Schiit Modi 3+

 

[mformoriarty]

IMHO… if this is the type of sound you like… try a Schiit Modi 3+

I had one previous to the zen dac signature v2. While I liked the Modi, I felt iFi's dac was an upgrade at the time although the HFM Zen Can amp that was paired with it influenced my decision quite a bit. I was just wondering what the 2/64 brought to the table in comparison, seeing as it's limited to a cap of 24bit 196khz (more than enough tho) while the other one can do basically anything (pcm, dsd, lossy mqa).

 

[cgb3]

Hello! Can I jump into your conversations please, I would love to pull the trigger on a BF2 but with ladder DAC’s in my speaker system I have always believed they need to be on all the time… and this cant happen with my headphone listening station. It is a bedside cabinet on wheels, with a rack and power installed, power goes off after every listen as it moves from room to room as required. Would I be able to warm up my BF2 if I bought one in 20-30mins like the rest of the stack then? If so this is no longer a deal breaker…

Simple UPS would do the job. I question your criteria. Let the DAC de-energize, and re-energize. Nothing major lost. This isn't life support. Your dac isn't 100% for some minutes/days? So what?

I lost power for 2 hrs. today as a result of hurricane Ian (I have an APC UPS that all my computer/broadband/music stuff is plugged to. About 8 minutes battery power, enough to shut everything down, automatically). I was lucky. The street behind me is still without power. Many areas of Florida, and other southern states will be without power for days.

Good luck with your requirements.

 

[automojo]

I had one previous to the zen dac signature v2. While I liked the Modi, I felt iFi's dac was an upgrade at the time although the HFM Zen Can amp that was paired with it influenced my decision quite a bit. I was just wondering what the 2/64 brought to the table in comparison, seeing as it's limited to a cap of 24bit 196khz (more than enough tho) while the other one can do basically anything (pcm, dsd, lossy mqa).

A Schiit MB DAC is going to be more lively, dynamic textured and analog sounding then a typical DS DAC.
They generally are a more meat and potatoes thicker textured sound.. with plenty of bass weight vs the Airy.. technically more accurate lighter presentation of the typical mid priced DS DAC.
IMHO… The best feature is like the old days… spinning a l/p.
You’re thinking about the music, not thinking about your gear.

 

[mformoriarty]

A Schiit MB DAC is going to be more lively, dynamic textured and analog sounding then a typical DS DAC.
They generally are a more meat and potatoes thicker textured sound.. with plenty of bass weight vs the Airy.. technically more accurate lighter presentation of the typical mid priced DS DAC.
IMHO… The best feature is like the old days… spinning a l/p.
You’re thinking about the music, not thinking about your gear.

I got the Aryas V3 recently, I spend hours in a day just listening to random music, music I generally don't enjoy. It's been an awesome experience. If anything can improve on this, I'm gonna be mind blown. I got curious about that and the new 2/64 came across my path. The amp, that one I'm definitely not changing anytime soon. The HFM setting on the Zen Can, basically a glorified xbass specifically for HFM headphones is just too damn good. But I am all for a natural tonality aside from that HFM setting. So what you describe sounds very nice. On a side note, I have an xduoo TA-26 for some Sivgas SV023 and I was also curious and how the bifrost may affect the tonality there. I may try it after all.

 

[automojo]

I got the Aryas V3 recently, I spend hours in a day just listening to random music, music I generally don't enjoy. It's been an awesome experience. If anything can improve on this, I'm gonna be mind blown. I got curious about that and the new 2/64 came across my path. The amp, that one I'm definitely not changing anytime soon. The HFM setting on the Zen Can, basically a glorified xbass specifically for HFM headphones is just too damn good. But I am all for a natural tonality aside from that HFM setting. So what you describe sounds very nice. On a side note, I have an xduoo TA-26 for some Sivgas SV023 and I was also curious and how the bifrost may affect the tonality there. I may try it after all.

I agree, I think I would give it a try.
I’m thinking it will be a keeper.

 

[automojo]

As far as warmup, leaving it on… do whatever work for your lifestyle.
I learned from the older MB’s- just as easy to leave it on.
Perhaps a waste of power.. obviously up to the user to decide.
Warm up time, according to Schiit has to do with bit depth.
Incidentally , it seems they leave their MB Dacs in as well.

 

[Luckyleo]

As far as warmup, leaving it on… do whatever work for your lifestyle.
I learned from the older MB’s- just as easy to leave it on.
Perhaps a waste of power.. obviously up to the user to decide.
Warm up time, according to Schiit has to do with bit depth.
Incidentally , it seems they leave their MB Dacs in as well.

As I recall, Jason has indicated that early in his partnership with Mike, they had to work out whether or not to even have an on/off switch on the equipment. Mike had very strong opinions that there shouldn't be one. Plug it in, and be done! Jason won, and today we have that on/off switch on the back......

 

[automojo]

The Project DAC BOX FL didn’t have a power switch either.
Not even a source switch!
I get the point.
For the small amount of power it takes versus everything else you have in your house- why not just leave it on?
Then when you’re ready to listen, it’s at optimum capability.
Why over think it?

 

[decooney]

Power Switch:
I'm glad Jason won the common sense debate on this one to keep the rear switch. We have power outages in our area some times. Easier access to flip the switch on the back than unplugging the thing with a weighty upgraded power cord on the back. Likely to turn it off super faste (when needed) with a switch on the back and pull the plug if necessary. Loving the size of this thing, its easy to access everything and put it where you want it, glad to see IEC plug on the back.

Power-On time:
Beggining testing with 5 days of constant power-on vs. 5hr vs. 1hr power-on before use. It does not get super hot but it does get warm, and not seeing ventilation on top/bottom/sides of the chassis makes it toasty inside. Long term heat causes breakdown of internal components no matter what. I like this new BF 2/64 well enough now to say it may be a longer term keeper. Want it to last. So, I'll likely turn it on the "morning of" or night prior on the days or weekends I plan to listen to it.

Burn-In: (first 1-5 days)
No doubt the new BF 2/64 benefits from at least 72 hours of power-on and play time since new -and- switching back an forth between the MegaComboBurrrito filter and NOS mode. I ran the MCB filter four days straight new out of the box. Then switched to NOS mode, weird, it sounded strange first 45 min in NOS mode even though the dac had been on four days straight. I sent a note to Schiit asking why, and at 45 min the whole dac opened up greatly almost like the sound of a new device with internal coupling caps forming when new. Not sure what it was the first time flipping to NOS mode but it was veiled over, closed in, and not open - then all of the sudden everything changed at 45 min after the dac had been operating in NOS mode. Now at 5 days, BF 2/64 is nice, open, clean, smooth, musical. Gonna play it again all weekend and see if another few % of benefit surfaces. For sure though, this thing needs at least the first 72 hours of power-on play time if its a brand new dac.

 

[cglin222]

Thinking of picking up lokius, jot2 and bifrost2 but what color do people get now? Since the silver increased in price, plus color matches on silver. But then why knobs on black is silver except lokius

 

[automojo]

Silver knobs on black looks pretty cool in my opinion

 

[SolaVirtus]

Depends on what you're picky about, I guess. I like the silver, but the pattern/texture might vary, depending on which model and when it was made. My silver Jot2/BF2 stack doesn't perfectly match, but I'm probably the only one that would notice. I'm not crazy about the silver knob on the black models, but if I had a matching stack it would be just fine.

 

[bcowen]

Thinking of picking up lokius, jot2 and bifrost2 but what color do people get now? Since the silver increased in price, plus color matches on silver. But then why knobs on black is silver except lokius

You can always re-knob it.