Schiit Audio Bifrost 2

Dec 12, 2024 at 10:43 PM Post #5,176 of 5,186
I have to wonder, if it's just a matter of components coming up to operating temperature after voltage is applied, exactly how long does it take for said components to reach optimal temperature. Because I highly doubt it's any more than, say, 30 minutes. Likely more like 10. I'll go ahead and save my $50-$100/yr in electricity as they claim the cost is.
Temperature is just a part of it. Small temperature cycles usually become smaller, but some can become grow for quite a while. Many substances, like dielectrics in capacitors, change somewhat with power dissipation over hours, weeks, months, or years. Q tends to increase in nearly every part with age. And transformers reliably improve over years, which is one reason to expect older gear to sound smoother for that reason especially. It's often not even a fair fight between components which are identical, save for heavy usage.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 10:54 PM Post #5,177 of 5,186
I want to smooth out the sound profile of my current Rag2 x Modius E pairing and make it sound richer and lusher. I have a Gungnir A2 in my office system and love it, and I am curious if the Bifrost 2/64 would get me what I want with the Rag2. I would love any feedback from anyone who has had both a Gungnir A2 and current-gen Bifrost. Do they have similar sonic characteristics? If I love my Gungnir, will I be happy with the Bifrost?
I really wonder if you crave tubes in your system. Do you have any experience with tube sound, especially in line-level gear? It's a serious illness <jk> but is easily cured with a tube preamp...or would be if you didn't have the Rag2. I had the OG Bifrost, the Uber version, then the Bimby back in the day, now the Yggy LIM. All these were really smooth, liquid, and musical, within reason. Not as liquid as a lush tube DAC or preamp, but liquid enough to get totally wet with a tube stage someplace in the chain. Maybe you could temporarily insert a tubey tube stage between you DAC and the Rag2 _just_ to see if you get the sound you crave. My $.02.
EDIT: Not for a permanent solution, the inserted stage would rob some dynamics and detail. But just to see.
 
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Dec 28, 2024 at 5:14 AM Post #5,178 of 5,186
A quite overdue Bifrost 2/64 review:

 
Jan 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM Post #5,180 of 5,186
Re Listening Sessions have you listened to Mother Earth Radio? Its out of Berlin and a lot of the music they stream is digitized Vinyl at 24/192 FLAC. Found them on my Audirvana studio under the tab Hi Res Radio. Listened to the Classical stream and the Jazz Stream. Best quality streams on the web. Their website (available in 6 languages) has an FAQ section that explains the equipment they use, their philosophy for the music they choose for their 4 streams and the URL's that you can copy into your streaming software.
 
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Jan 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM Post #5,181 of 5,186
I got sick and tired of waffling and debating on the 2/64 upgrade for about two years now, trying to correlate the myriad of reviews and impressions with my own tastes. I've gotten quite good at that over the last 20 years, but this was one I was really torn on. There are a lot of mixed opinions on it, with plenty of people preferring the OG.

So I finally said eff it. It's $300 to find out. Why don't I decide with my own ears?

I've had two days to form a first impression. Right off the bat, all the ballyhoo over the loss of bass dynamics is GREATLY exaggerated. There's still very good bass presence, punch, and texture. I do hear the slight increase of treble presence, but I also hear more refined treble. More even-handed, less spikey, more controlled. That to me matters more.

Whatever infinitesimal loss in warmth (it's still a Schiit product, after all, so it's never going to be dry or brittle), is more than made up for from the other benefits. Single-ended still yields an upgrade in terms of overall spaciousness. It's a vast soundscape on my Arya Stealth when the recording provides it. And it's a slight improvement in separation.

Balanced output on my Raal CA-1a made a big improvement in terms of imaging precision, something the headphone struggled a bit with before. There's also a greater sense of three dimensionality. Reverb and decay are more present and lifelike. And again, better separation of elements.

Clarity across the board might be improved, but that's hard to say. It's a DAC upgrade, so everything involved here is subtle. But I value naturalness, and I was worried 2/64 would be a step in the wrong direction for me. So far, it's sounding like a keeper.
 
Jan 20, 2025 at 7:02 AM Post #5,182 of 5,186
So, I use a Saga 2 with my Bifrost 2/64. I use the low-gain mode on the Saga 2 and leave it powered on 24/7 like I do with my Bifrost 2/64.

Today, I was watching a YouTube video when the sound completely cut out. I tried changing to my MacBook Pro 14" internal speakers and sound starting playing. Changed back to the USB connected Bifrost 2/64 and still no sound. I turned off the Saga 2, waited a bit, and then turned it back on. I got a buzzing sound through my speakers but still no sound would play. Then I shuffled through the gain modes. Going from low-gain mode (which I always use) to high-gain mode made no difference. But when I went from high-gain mode to passive mode, sound suddenly started to play. Went back to low-gain mode and sound is still playing. Also, which I now think has something to do with this, I've recently started to sometimes hear faint clicks and pops through my speakers when nothing is playing and everything is idle. I got my Saga 2 in September 2024. Is it already going bad? Should I turn it off when not in use? When I got my Saga 2, I emailed Schiit and asked them if it was okay to leave it powered on 24/7 and they said it was not an issue.
 
Jan 20, 2025 at 8:48 AM Post #5,183 of 5,186
Loved the 2/64 ... if it wasn't for the fact I was within my upgrade window and had the funds (ha!😁) I would have kept it... now that I have the Yggdrasil+, have to say the 2/64 is absolutely amazing for the cost... truly an endgame dac out there... yep the Yggy is better but I am so paying for that betterness... they say a $700 bottle of wine is going to be about the best tasting wine you can have in the world there are better but the rule of diminishing returns kicks in... 2/64 is a phenomenal dac for the money.
 
Jan 20, 2025 at 9:02 AM Post #5,184 of 5,186
So, I use a Saga 2 with my Bifrost 2/64. I use the low-gain mode on the Saga 2 and leave it powered on 24/7 like I do with my Bifrost 2/64.

Today, I was watching a YouTube video when the sound completely cut out. I tried changing to my MacBook Pro 14" internal speakers and sound starting playing. Changed back to the USB connected Bifrost 2/64 and still no sound. I turned off the Saga 2, waited a bit, and then turned it back on. I got a buzzing sound through my speakers but still no sound would play. Then I shuffled through the gain modes. Going from low-gain mode (which I always use) to high-gain mode made no difference. But when I went from high-gain mode to passive mode, sound suddenly started to play. Went back to low-gain mode and sound is still playing. Also, which I now think has something to do with this, I've recently started to sometimes hear faint clicks and pops through my speakers when nothing is playing and everything is idle. I got my Saga 2 in September 2024. Is it already going bad? Should I turn it off when not in use? When I got my Saga 2, I emailed Schiit and asked them if it was okay to leave it powered on 24/7 and they said it was not an issue.

Definitely something fried. Email Schiit support asap and get the Saga 2 repaired under warranty.
 
Jan 28, 2025 at 3:51 PM Post #5,186 of 5,186
Just emailed them.

Right now everything is working as normal. When I cycled through the gain modes after turning it back on, the buzzing went away and it started working as normal.
Attention all Canadians! If it wasn't bad enough with our low Canadian Dollar adding 40% to the cost of a Saga 2 (279 US plus 42 shipping, add 40% for the 69 cent Canadian dollar, plus $10 duty at the border plus 13% Ontario tax comes to $560 Canadian or double the listed price. Now we may have to contend with another 25% very soon (if we retaliate). This puts us up Schiits creek without a paddle for this hobby for the interim. Last week to cheer myself up I ordered a Bluesound Node Nano. Soon as I unboxed it I took Currawongs advice and used the old white square Apple phone charger to power it. Plugged in my Vali 2++, Drop 6XX and that was it. I have been collecting DACs, Streamers, DDC's and fancy cables for 14 years and they are now all obsolete, even my late 2012 Mac mini with Audirvana Studio has now been given its pink slip. If there is one thing I've learned in this hobby in the last decade its that Dac's, streamers and speakers are in constant improvement. (cant say the same for speaker amps) and Bluesound has really hit it out of the park with this one (and perhaps the Icon). So fellow Canucks, cheer up, For $300 US, $400 Canadian and 30 day return give it a try. And yes it sounds equally terrific over my main speaker and amp setup. And 3 days in even better.
Just emailed them.

Right now everything is working as normal. When I cycled through the gain modes after turning it back on, the buzzing went away and it started working as n
 

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