[tafens]

PS I am currently happily using an Asguard 3 and Bifrost 2 stack as a living room system, but am in the course of planning a new setup in which they may well end up not stacked and placed on racking along with my AV equipment.

I’m using Lyr3 stacked on top of Bifrost2 with no issues at all, although I have some extra spacing between them in the form of larger rubber feet giving about 1 cm clearance between them.

Placing these with the flat side down on the Bifrost2, the original rubber feet of the Lyr3 fits right into the hole in them so it stands steadily on top of them and on the Bifrost2.

 

[NigelJ]

Or maybe it's just all audiophilia nervosa, and it makes exactly zero difference

...Remember, the Yggdrasil is famous for requiring an extended warm up time to sound its best. I know that there has been a lot of debate whether this is placebo or not, but let's assume for a second that it is real. Since the Bifrost 2 is also a resistor-based DAC, it is plausible to assume that it has a temperature range in which it operates most efficiently. ...

Mike Moffat (@Baldr), Schiit Audio's co-owner, founder and DAC guru, has previously indicated that the warm up time is directly related to equivalent bit depth and also DAC chip size. Yggdrasil has an equivalent bit depth of 21 bits (two 20 bit chips per channel) whilst Brifrost 2 has a depth of 18 bit, the Bifrost 2 DAC is also smaller so warm up should be more than eight times faster (eight times for 18 bits versus 21 bits plus the effect of smaller chip).

...Since turning on the Asgard 3 changes the operating temperature of the Bifrost 2 by at least 5 degrees Celsius, it would be interesting to know how that affects the performance of the DAC. ...

5 degrees Celcius is significantly less than the likely difference between the temperature of the DAC chip when powered off and powered on, indeed it is also likely to be les than the difference in room temperature over the course of a year, unless you have tightly controlled air conditioning. (Living in the UK, where domestic air conditioning is not common and older heating systems tend to rely on a single thermostat for the house, I see my room temperature falling in a range of around 10 degrees C over most of the year but peaking at around 20 degrees C when the most extreme temperatures are taken into account.) Consequently the effect of 5 degrees C is probably not significant. Further, with most headphones, it is likely that Asguard 3 generates most heat when idle and less heat when driving headphones; as it operates in class A up to 500 mW, so produces less heat as more power goes to the headphones until sometime after it goes out of class A.

 

[SnowRang3r]

Alright Asgard 3 and Bifrost 2 on the way (should be here tomorrow!) A number of people recommended Lyr 3 but I could already see myself ordering all of the tubes so held off for now... Excited to try the new stack!

 

[Rattle]

Asgard 3 doesn't sound like a SS amp so no worries !

 

[cebuboy]

For USB on BF2 the computer or device connecting must be USB UAC 2 complaint. If it is an older USB UAC 1 MacBook, it won't work with Unison.

Yahoo! It is working now, MAC just needed a PRAM and SMC reset.

Welp, I spoke too soon, after selecting Bigrost as the output device, it froze when I played music. Reinserted the usb cable and it came back to not selectable as an audio device again. Must be something with this mac and osx 10.11.6. Will just use this with the Eitr.

 

[SnowRang3r]

Alright... Asgard 3 and Bifrost 2 in the house. Most of my listening was with the Focal Clear Pro's (except for gaming I use a AKG K702. Focal's are too nice to put a mod mic on imo)

Unboxing Bifrost 2 definitively feels more substantial than the Modius. I enjoy that it's USB B and that it has it's own power. Even the button to change sources is more solid. Similar look but more solid all around.

Upon first listening I didn't notice huge differences but I know a lot of people here mention mutli-bit DACs take a while to warm up. I think it was 2-3 hours in where I really started to notice changes. Bass has more texture and was less one note (not any more bass output but easier to tell what instrument made the sound. No real advantage here with EDM but I listen to a bit of everything), this already had me checking out a number of tracks I know well.

Other fine details that I had to focus on in Modius seem to jump out at me more with Bifrost 2. It's like 2 photos but one the auto focus overshot where the other one is tack sharp (not sure how many people are also into photography but when you nail focus it's very rewarding). Even hearing things in the background that aren't intended to be part of the recording "did he just hit a button on his shirt?" type moments

Soundstage is a bit more 3D but is really dependent on the track. Some tracks just sound left to right, others I can hear all around. Which lead to me trying this stack for gaming. WOW I can tell distance so well now, I felt like I could see through walls. This actually has lead to me dying more in the past few days (knowing where guys, leads to me pushing but I keep getting outnumbered). I'm too in shock with how well I can tell where people are that I'm forgetting to communicate with my team (my own fault). Tonight going to play again and try and tell them "Hey I know where they are, follow me".

Overall Bifrost 2 seems like a great upgrade from Modius. A lot of my friends likely would never justify a DAC that costs this much and that's okay, but for me I 100% appreciate what it offers. If anything it makes my want to try the Yggdrasil one day...


Probably going to keep the Modius and use it in my parents stereo I'm helping them build in the next few months. Schiit everywhere

 

[blackdragon87]

Just ordered the BF2 b stock in silver after selling my black mimby . Excited to try this out as ive wanted one for more than 6 months lol.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Just ordered the BF2 b stock in silver after selling my black mimby . Excited to try this out as ive wanted one for more than 6 months lol.

I have been thinking about upgrading my modi multibit for a bifrost 2 multibit. I am sure that it will be a nice upgrade to my system. I will be pairing it with my Bottlehead Crack.
Have also been considering using a Bluesound Node 2i streamer. Since it has an embedded DAC that supports MQA and I only use Tidal for my source music, would I be better of holding off on the Bimby purchase and get the Node 2i instead? Ultimately, I will be upgrading my entire system to support loud speakers, so I was wondering if people had an opinion on this choice.

 

[blackdragon87]

I plan on using it first singled ended with my Asgard 3 and Valhalla 2. Then later on I will try it with my Multibit jot with the balanced xlr cables i ordered from them as well.

 

[blackdragon87]

I thought I would report that I recently picked up an iFi Purifier 3 USB and use it between my BF2 and Macbook Pro. Wow, quite an amazing difference, I'm quite surprised and find this little thing is worth every penny. Improvements across the board with no tradeoffs whatsoever. The sound is noticeably cleaner with more resolution of fine detail and better dynamics. Soundstage has grown quite noticeably in all directions. Bass has firmed up with more texture and most of all much more punch. I could hear an improvement the minute I hooked it up but after a few days of playing music through it's really started to shine and all improvements noted above became very clear especially soundstage size which was almost shocking in how much bigger it is now. If you plan to try one of these make sure to let it run in for some time before making any final judgements. Zero tradeoffs, only improvements.

Good to know, i also own a purifier and look forward to using it with my incoming bifrost 2

 

[blackdragon87]

bifrost 2 just arrived three hours ago. really like it so far and know it will only get better

 

[SnowRang3r]

Bifrost 2 update... it's addicting. The free time I do have I find less of an urge to play video games and more of an urge to listen to music. Which isn't a bad thing.

My parents had a listen while they were over for dinner. All my dad could say was "whoa" as he kept clicking on tracks to play next. My mother probably 2 minutes in said "I need speakers that sound like these headphones". Needless to say we're looking at options...

 

[tamtrum]

Ive been enjoying my bifrost 2 ever since I got it a month ago. Well worth the upgrade over the iFi Zen Dac.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Ive been enjoying my bifrost 2 ever since I got it a month ago. Well worth the upgrade over the iFi Zen Dac.

HOW did you get a black Val 2???? Did I miss the boat somewhere where they offered black?

 

[tamtrum]

I found the Val2 due to pure luck when I was browsing usaudiomart one day. Schiit might be upgrading it soon so that might be why they’re not restocking black Valhallas.