Hi Mark,
Really curious to hear your evaluation of the bifrost 2 with lyr 3 and with jotunheim. What the differences are in sq and synergy.
Greetings, Anouk,
I have both Lyr 3 and Jotunheim. I think both are great amps and pair well with Bifrost 2. Both are great with planars such as the Aeon Flows. Both are somewhat warm amps.
I'll describe what I hear, but it's hard for me to be super descriptive about amp / DAC differences.
The Jotunheim has narrower sound stage and not very holographic. However, it has a really meaty bass response and does well with bassy dynamic headphones like Atticus and Emu Teak, but also adds some kick to the Aeons and ETHER headphones. Prior to getting the Bifrost 2 I was listening to the Lyr 3 more. However, I really like the Bifrost 2 / Jotunheim pairing. I think some of the hardness in the treble I was hearing in the past was related to the DAC / USB implementation rather than the amp. All that cleared up with the Bifrost 2.
Lyr 3 has great soundstage and still very good bass (may be tube dependent; I've only used the Tung Sol - haven't had much time to tube roll). Transients are fast, but slower vs. Jotuneim. Mids are very smooth and forward with Lyr 3. Treble is non-fatiguing, but very detailed. Lyr 3 benefits from the bass response of the Bifrost and the combination has significant holographic effects where instruments start to sound delineated in space.
Both have ample power planar headphones.
Overall, the simplest differentiation is that Jotunheim has faster transients and more bass slam, while Lyr 3 has larger sound stage and overall smoother mids and treble.
More relevant to this thread, the Bifrost 2 is my first higher end DAC and the improvements in sound are really noticeable vs. Modi Multibit and Modi 3. Again it's hard for me to describe, but the Bifrost 2 adds increased resolution between instruments and seems to have a quieter background, which likely is related to the Unison USB.
vs. Modi 3, Bifrost 2 adds more detailed and noticeable bass response and clearer and more extended treble. Modi 3 does string instruments very well, but there is a bit of a digital sound at times. With Bifrost 2 everything sounds more natural and "live" to me.
vs. Modi Multibit, Bifrost 2 adds more clarity in the treble while retaining the aggressive bass response.
The biggest thing I noticed moving up to Bifrost 2 was layering of complex sounds. For example guitar chords gain what sound like reverberating harmonics that decay naturally and sound very much like live guitar. I didn't get this clarity to the same extent with Modi Multibit and much less with Modi 3.