[tafens]

I think he meant if you name them GYST, it also sounds like the English word "gist" so it's, like, twice the pun XD

Well, PYST does sound like the word “pissed”, doesn’t it?

 

[Wes S]

Well, PYST does sound like the word “pissed”, doesn’t it?

It does now.

 

[ev666il]

Well, PYST does sound like the word “pissed”, doesn’t it?

Well, it only took me three years and this post to connect the dots between "PYST" and "the god of drinking in Norse mythology. He’d be much better-known if he wasn’t getting schiit-faced all the time." XD

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

It would be very interesting to hear how you would
compare Bifrost1 with Unison and Bifrost2 when you get it. All comparisons so far leaves the question of how much of the difference is due to Unison and how much is the dacs themselves.

I have a BMB (last revision) and B2, and primarily use coaxial SPDIF for both. I rarely use USB, even with my xDuoo X10TII as a transport (and it is a very good transport), Unison loses out to coaxial SPDIF from my Oppo BDP103 in PureAudio mode... by just a hair.

Comparing the two side by side, it's no competition. The B2 paints with a finer brush, aka more details, depth, clarity, and better bass extension/quality. Also, BMB has a thicker, warmer, darker sound. B2 is more neutral, just slightly on the warm side of neutral. Not a massive difference, but it's pretty clear that B2 is superior. I personally prefer the darker warmer sound of BMB, but B2 is superior in just about every other way.

I use B2 with my headphones and BMB with my speakers.

Edit: Early impressions but... I never actually bothered hooking Bifrost 2/Unison up to my laptop after the xDuoo X10TII (portable digital transport) + Unison lost out to SPDIF coax, and besides, I'd been used to not having my computer be a part of my audio chain for a while now so I hadn't given it a second thought until tonight, and... I am a little blown away. I am sure that this is as good as I have ever heard these songs sound. The finesse and clarity with which it renders textures and subtleties and captures the sense of space is very compelling. In particular, the depth, separation, imaging, staging, the overall way that the stereo image is rendered is stunning. I would be more upset that I didn't try this sooner if I wasn't enjoying myself so damn much. I wonder if the xDuoo's USB output was under-performing due to having to power the receiver, or the receiver was slightly underpowered? I can't imagine that xDuoo had in mind this little device having to charge anything so I'm not sure what its maximum output would be, but I have a USB cable that separates power and data at work, I'll bring it home on Thursday and give it another run.

 

[JerryLeeds]

Does anyone know where I can get a 3 way digital splitter? Right now I'm using two of the below and a few gender convertors plus wires.

I want one digital source to feed 2 DACs and one set powered speakers

The current way I have it setup is working but messy wires with a bit of strain on the RCA connections

 

[theveterans]

. I wonder if the xDuoo's USB output was under-performing due to having to power the receiver, or the receiver was slightly underpowered?

That's my issue with Unison USB. Despite Schiit's claim that it uses the least amount of power, it cannot be powered by just my iPod Touch alone. With the a good power feed to Unison such as the iUSB 3.0 Micro (fed with Wireworld Starlight 8 USB 3.0 from my Surface Pro) and Gemini 2.0 cable, I preferred the Unison over the SPDIF input as it's ultra revealing without being sharp on the edges during transients. SPDIF fed using W4S uLink is also excellent, but Unison sounded more natural in its delivery while the SPDIF is a bit more etched in its transients.

 

[adydula]

Ok, just ordered one....will compare with my B1 and see if I keep it or not..

Alex

 

[adydula]

I ordered the black one after years of silver from Schit!
Think it will sound better than the silver!!!!!!!!!

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

A quick follow-up... I had originally thought that the coax SPDIF output of my Oppo BDP-103 bested Unison USB. For those impressions, I was using an xDuoo X10TII (portable digital transport), however, I now think that it was having a hard time powering the receiver or something because, plugging the Oppo into Bifrost 2 alongside my laptop (Unison has an isolated bus all to itself) and playing the same tracks while switching back and forth, it's pretty obvious that Unison is superior. The dead giveaway is the way that Unison renders drums and cymbals, which is clearly more detailed/textured and natural sounding. Subtle details like textures and spatial cues are better resolved.... everything just sounds cleaner and more focused. Is it night and day? No, but it's still plainly obvious. Coax sounds a tad hazy and unfocused in comparison.

This is a good thing, because the Oppo takes up quite a bit of my desk space and is a bit of an overkill solution just for a digital transport for some FLAC files. I'll still grab a dedicated USB transport at some point in the future, but I'm not in any hurry and also feel like they're just starting to get really good, so I'm content to let manufacturers duke it out. I also have more important things on the list (anyone wanna trade me an Airist R2RDAC for my Oppo? LOL) Actually, the laptop sounds pretty damn good as a source.... something I never thought I'd ever say... I did try the xDuoo as a USB source into Unison with a split signal/power USB cable, and used a portable USB battery for the power, but I kept getting this horrible popping/clipping with low bass on some tracks. Will figure out what the deal with that is at some point, but not tonight... I'm enjoying listening much to be bothered).

 

[tincanear]

A quick follow-up... I had originally thought that the coax SPDIF output of my Oppo BDP-103 bested Unison USB. For those impressions, I was using an xDuoo X10TII (portable digital transport), however, I now think that it was having a hard time powering the receiver or something because, plugging the Oppo into Bifrost 2 alongside my laptop (Unison has an isolated bus all to itself) and playing the same tracks while switching back and forth, it's pretty obvious that Unison is superior. The dead giveaway is the way that Unison renders drums and cymbals, which is clearly more detailed/textured and natural sounding. Subtle details like textures and spatial cues are better resolved.... everything just sounds cleaner and more focused. Is it night and day? No, but it's still plainly obvious. Coax sounds a tad hazy and unfocused in comparison.

This is a good thing, because the Oppo takes up quite a bit of my desk space and is a bit of an overkill solution just for a digital transport for some FLAC files. I'll still grab a dedicated USB transport at some point in the future, but I'm not in any hurry and also feel like they're just starting to get really good, so I'm content to let manufacturers duke it out. I also have more important things on the list (anyone wanna trade me an Airist R2RDAC for my Oppo? LOL) Actually, the laptop sounds pretty damn good as a source.... something I never thought I'd ever say... I did try the xDuoo as a USB source into Unison with a split signal/power USB cable, and used a portable USB battery for the power, but I kept getting this horrible popping/clipping with low bass on some tracks. Will figure out what the deal with that is at some point, but not tonight... I'm enjoying listening much to be bothered).

I suggest using an old USB 5V (700mA to 1 amp rated) adapter instead of the USB battery. The USB battery, like many of the newer high-power wall adapters, communicates over the signal lines with the attached device.

 

[tafens]

I ordered the black one after years of silver from Schit!
Think it will sound better than the silver!!!!!!!!!

Of course. Color the amp, color the sound!
Black for a blacker background.
Red for a warmer presentation.
Blue for a more watery, liquid sound.


By that reasoning, silver would give more glare..

 

[ev666il]

By that reasoning, silver would give more glare..

You say it like it didn't...!

 

[bboris77]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to run this by anyone who owns one of these marvels just to satisfy my curiosity and help deal with my paranoia Because they had that bad run of capacitors with the launch units, I decided to really test out my Bifrost 2 and found some quirky things.

Basically, it appears that the right channel only is picking up some minor digital interference from within the unit. I can only hear it very faintly when I turn up my receiver all the way up without anything playing. At this point, I am at 127dB SPL. Obviously, I would never listen at that volume. The only reason why I tested it at that volume was to ensure the Bifrost 2 was not picking up my local airport's radar which a lot of units do. Happy to report it does not seem to pick up any outside RFI.

What I do hear, only in the right channel, is a very faint rustling sound that is rhythmic in nature and definitely seems digital in origin. The left channel is interference free. Obviously, I ruled out all the usual suspects, such as cellphones, WiFi, USB, power adapters, ground loops etc. It does it also when only Toslink is connected. As soon as I switch to an unused output or press the mute switch on the Bifrost 2, the faint rustling sound is gone.

What I am suspecting is that the LME49724 opamp, known to be sensitive to EMI, is picking up interference from some of the microprocessor-based digital circuitry, either the Unison receiver or the SHARC DSP processor.

Keep in mind, this is all very academic because this stuff is all buried deep within the noise floor and is audible only because the noise floor is so damn low and I turned up the volume WAY past the normal. I just wanted to see whether you or anyone else with the Bifrost 2 has experienced anything similar. If you do test it, PLEASE make sure that your computer is not playing anything at these volume levels. I am not responsible for any hearing/equipment damage.

 

[theveterans]

You might wanna shoot a PM to @Jason Stoddard for what you’re experiencing. At sane listening volumes I hear no such quirks or concerns.

 

[bboris77]

You might wanna shoot a PM to @Jason Stoddard for what you’re experiencing. At sane listening volumes I hear no such quirks or concerns.

I don't necessarily wanna bother him directly about this as it really is a minor thing. Plus, this is Mike's domain anyway. I emailed their support just to let them know under which circumstances it happens. Does not hurt for them to be aware of it.
Keep in mind, we are fully in the realm of measurebation when it comes to this issue since it really has zero impact for non-insane volumes. My post was mostly intended to help alleviate any concerns that a future super-picky user like myself may have if they come across the same quirk.