[Currawong]

Should Bitrost 2 start to support 384/24 bit now?

I thought about suggesting this for the Yggdrasil, but in the end, I reckon the answer is "no". The only reason for 384k support is so that you can experiment with different digital filters, and the reason you buy a DAC from Schiit is so that you get Mike Moffat's lifetime of work with digital filters.

 

[adydula]

I have the original Bifrost here and its become my standard reference, goto Dac.....and with the advent of the Bifrost 2 I like many others are once again drooling and wondering
whether to update or not...

One person has done some listening tests between the first and now second generation and has not been able to discern any real work differences between the two...

I am fortunate to have a Beta Unison board in my Bifrost "1" and its working very well.

The new chips, and over-sampling, new power supply circuitry, the ability to update is nice....but to me its all about the sound...

So here we go again, to update or not.....

Its a great pastime!

Alex
:>)

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

I own the Bifrost 2 and the Bifrost Multibit (never heard the D/S Bifrosts except briefly at a meet with other unfamiliar gear). Whether to upgrade or not is a personal choice based on your budget and what you want out of your system, but here's what I find the differences to be, in order of magnitude of difference. ymmv based on all the other variables in your own setup of course:

* Staging is the big one. Soundstage is bigger, deeper, and imaging/separation are more coherent. Renders spatial cues better. Unison USB (source: xDuoo X10TII) takes on a slightly tubey sense of space.

* Tonality is still on the warm, dark side but way way closer to neutral than Bifrost Multibit. BMB leans harder into the warm/full/dark tuning, B2 is more neutral. Keep in mind I mostly use super warm DACs so my definition of neutral is a bit off. I actually prefer the BMB tuning, but B2 is superior in just about every other way.

* Bass extension, slam, texture, and dynamics are better.

* Blacker background yields better microdetail and dynamics.

Using Oppo BDP-103 as a SPDIF source and xDuoo X10TII as a USB source. I actually find the Oppo's SPDIF to be slightly more focused and snappy with percussion in particular than Unison. I had really high hopes for Unison but I still prefer coax.

I am really enjoying this DAC and it's probably too soon to say for sure, but right now I don't see myself upgrading from it (especially since I'm pretty sure I couldn't even afford anything competitive). I feel like this could easily be end-game for all but the most discerning (or wealthy) audiophiles.

 

[Alcophone]

I thought about suggesting this for the Yggdrasil, but in the end, I reckon the answer is "no". The only reason for 384k support is so that you can experiment with different digital filters, and the reason you buy a DAC from Schiit is so that you get Mike Moffat's lifetime of work with digital filters.

Well, as far as I know the Modi Multibit still works at 192 kHz internally, acting as a NOS DAC if you feed it 192 kHz.

Also there's this x8 LED on the Yggdrasil just in case the unlikely happens

 

[ev666il]

Pulled the trigger on a black Bifrost 2. Hopefully it'll be here by next weekend along with a pair of PYST RCA to hook it up with my Asgard 3.

Time to upgrade to Windows 10, then...

 

[exdmd]

Should Bitrost 2 start to support 384/24 bit now?

Not according to the published specs up to 24/192 for all inputs. Even Yggdrasil only supports up to 24/192.

 

[441879]

This thread is exactly why I need to stop visiting Head-Fi. I ordered a Bifrost 2 today to replace my Topping D50. On the bright side, if I can’t hear any difference, I have 15 days to send it back.

will

 

[Ripper2860]

Bifrost 2 replaced my Topping D50 into Lyr 3. I do not think you will be disappointed.

 

[441879]

Bifrost 2 replaced my Topping D50 into Lyr 3. I do not think you will be disappointed.

Now that you mention it, I remember your signature included a D50 for some time. I didn’t realize you upgraded. Anyway, thanks for saying so. It makes the departure of $699 a little less painful.

 

[Ripper2860]

I replaced Modi MB with the Topping D50 in my HP rig and then moved Modi MB to my 2-channel rig. I got the Bifrost 2 for the HP rig and moved the Topping D50 to my 2-channel rig, replacing Modi MB. I liked Bifrost 2 on my HP rig so much that I got a 2nd Bifrost 2 for the 2-channel rig, replacing the Topping D50 again.

I have 2 of them, so I'm pretty invested in Bifrost 2.

I have this problem with selling gear, so Modi will be a Christmas gift along with a Magni 3 I had prior to Lyr 3. Topping D50 will be used in another room with my Valhalla 2.

 

[theveterans]

This thread is exactly why I need to stop visiting Head-Fi. I ordered a Bifrost 2 today to replace my Topping D50. On the bright side, if I can’t hear any difference, I have 15 days to send it back.

will

You probably will notice the difference especially in the mids and bass impact

 

[441879]

You probably will notice the difference especially in the mids and bass impact

That should be interesting. From what I’ve read it’s a very musical DAC so I’m looking forward to hearing what that means for this particular piece of gear.

 

[AlanU]

One main difference aside from the sound between the Bifrost MB and the Bifrost 2 is that the Bifrost 2 definitely runs much warmer than the original. Maybe it has to do with balanced output running simultaneously with SE though I haven't tried the Balanced output since my Saga is only SE.

Anyways, I'm loving how Bifrost 2 sounds with SPDIF Coax. It's just so frigging musical with no sibilance while giving off that "Chord signature micro level detail and timing retrieval" that I enjoy with their Hugo/Hugo2 DACs when I demoed them

Try looking for an old pre owned Stello U3 usb to spdif converter. I have no documentation on specs but it simply changes the solid state dac to something more tolerable eliminating shear highs and creates an almost vinyl presentation (for digital files/streaming). I recently purchased a topping D10 for the purpose of DDC (usb to spdif). I still would like the D10 to settle in before I get very critical. Even though it's quite fluid with slight analog characteristics taking away digititis from solid state dacs, it's no comparison to the April Music Stello u3. Easy listening presentation but this still has not create "even" pleasant harmonics and "air" surrounding instruments like Vacuum tube gear.

Oddly it seems even with the newest USB implementations, having 24bit digital information fed via coax input creates pleasant presentation in solid state dacs.

 

[theveterans]

.

Try looking for an old pre owned Stello U3 usb to spdif converter. I have no documentation on specs but it simply changes the solid state dac to something more tolerable eliminating shear highs and creates an almost vinyl presentation (for digital files/streaming). I recently purchased a topping D10 for the purpose of DDC (usb to spdif). I still would like the D10 to settle in before I get very critical. Even though it's quite fluid with slight analog characteristics taking away digititis from solid state dacs, it's no comparison to the April Music Stello u3. Easy listening presentation but this still has not create "even" pleasant harmonics and "air" surrounding instruments like Vacuum tube gear.

Interesting that you have that kind of synergy using usb to spdif coax on your system. Actually, I use to have my W4S uLink fed to the original Bifrost MB that I have since the USB implementation didn't reproduce microdetails such as the overtones of common instruments as well as coax and it also gets congested in the bass region. Now with Bifrost 2, I find that the synergy with my W4S USB to coax solution sounded a tinny bit analytical/slightly edgier on the overtones nevertheless far less straining than hyperclean/hypermeasuring DS DACs. With Unison, it retained the same overtones and microdetails that I crave with the coax input but this time the sound is a tiny bit more relaxed in presentation. The bass region and staging + layering between Unison and Coax are indistinguishable to me though, but the hi-hats and other mid to mid-high frequency overtones with Unison sounded a bit more relaxed to me yet retaining that delicate overtones with "lifelike" presentation while hyper-measuring DS DACs reproduce the overtones (omitting some as well) without sounding "lifelike".

 

[AlanU]

.

Interesting that you have that kind of synergy using usb to spdif coax on your system. Actually, I use to have my W4S uLink fed to the original Bifrost MB that I have since the USB implementation didn't reproduce microdetails such as the overtones of common instruments as well as coax and it also gets congested in the bass region. Now with Bifrost 2, I find that the synergy with my W4S USB to coax solution sounded a tinny bit analytical/slightly edgier on the overtones nevertheless far less straining than hyperclean/hypermeasuring DS DACs. With Unison, it retained the same overtones and microdetails that I crave with the coax input but this time the sound is a tiny bit more relaxed in presentation. The bass region and staging + layering between Unison and Coax are indistinguishable to me though, but the hi-hats and other mid to mid-high frequency overtones with Unison sounded a bit more relaxed to me yet retaining that delicate overtones with "lifelike" presentation while hyper-measuring DS DACs reproduce the overtones (omitting some as well) without sounding "lifelike".

Have you put many hours on the DAC? I can say in theory speakers requires "break in" period due to the woofer suspension causing congestion. For electronics I even consider break in period to be questionable but I do feel it can be a potential change in SQ.

As this is much of a casual hobby pastime, I have noticed that DDC can have quite a different sound signature. When i used my concero HD as a USB/Spdif converter it was just as digititis as you can get. The Stello U3 has been raved about back in the day in UHF magazine with great musical qualities. I just installed the Topping D10 yesterday as a DDC to coax input to my preamp. The Topping DAC/DDC sounds great making the SQ more pleasant but not in the same league as the stello u3. When I do a/b comparison with my solid state dac to Tube dac it's quite a drastic jump.

Time and time again I've purchased, tested and auditioned gear. The more I discuss tube gear with a designer he warned me that it's really hard to walk away from Vacuum tube gear once you've experienced it. The life like presentation you speak of has been a quest for me to find with holographic sound coming from solid state gear. I love reading about brand new gear.......

Nice to read that you also experience pleasant improvements from Digital to digital conversion.......