[Guidostrunk]

Oh boy. never mind.

 

[Shane D]

Yeah, it never happens for me with Apple Music either, just Tidal, and when Tidal's System Output is set to "Schiit Bifrost 2 Unison USB".

The clicking is Tidal and the BF2 negotiating changes in bitrate. A bit disconcerting when you first hear it, but completely normal and something you soon forget about.

Sometimes I'll switch Tidal Sound Output to "System Controlled", which allows the excellent SoundSource app to merge two or more apps' sound into the sound output, handy for Zoom meetings, Videos etc. when you want to hear your tunes in the background. I don't hear the BF2 clicking when set this way, I assume because SoundSource is not changing bitrate output.

Edit: Actually, @Shane D , if you want to hear this on your Mac with iTunes/Apple Music, open Audio Midi Setup, select the Bifrost, and change the bitrates. If you're using your Cascade, you might not hear it, but you will with the LCD-2C..

I recently changed the bit rate to 24bit at 192,000Hz. I don't hear any sounds with any headphones or any amp.

 

[Ripper2860]

Oh boy. never mind.

Lol!

That's the new bitperfect Win10 audio engine. Built-in. Windows Audio Sound API. No need to download, if you've selected exclusive mode in your app, it is using it.

 

[Neweymatt]

I gently changed the bit rate to 24bit at 192,000Hz. I don't hear any sounds with any headphones or any amp.

Hmmm, maybe SoundSource was doing more than I thought. I quit the app, and sound disappeared from the BF2 as well, coming from MBP speakers instead. In Audio Midi setup, right click on the Schiit Bifrost 2 Unison USB and select Use this Device for Sound Output, sound is now coming through BF2/Amp again...

 

[kkrazik2008]

Hmmm, maybe SoundSource was doing more than I thought. I quit the app, and sound disappeared from the BF2 as well, coming from MBP speakers instead. In Audio Midi setup, right click on the Schiit Bifrost 2 Unison USB and select Use this Device for Sound Output, sound is now coming through BF2/Amp again...

@Shane D it only clicks when the bit rate changes, changing your audio output in Audio/MIDI will not demonstrate the clocks as you will have a;l your audio output at 24 bit, rather than 16 bit.

 

[Shane D]

@Shane D it only clicks when the bit rate changes, changing your audio output in Audio/MIDI will not demonstrate the clocks as you will have a;l your audio output at 24 bit, rather than 16 bit.

Cool. I have no interest in hearing clicks every time it goes from ALAC to AAC.

 

[Guidostrunk]

So... should I switch WASAPI to 16/44.1(cd quality)? Even if I'm using exclusive mode in Tidal?

 

[Ripper2860]

Personal preference. I did it because when Tidal released control, Windows would reset the bitrate and BF2 would click. When Tidal retakes control it would click again if track's bitrate was different than Windows bitrate. I just set both Tidal and Windows to play 44.1 so they always match.

 

[cgb3]

I recently changed the bit rate to 24bit at 192,000Hz. I don't hear any sounds with any headphones or any amp.

I've used this setting for several years, for the same reason. No noise.

As an aside: There's damn few tunes that exceed that quality, and no (0) human ears that can hear a difference.

 

[kkrazik2008]

I've used this setting for several years, for the same reason. No noise.

As an aside: There's damn few tunes that exceed that quality, and no (0) human ears that can hear a difference.

The click occurs when the track changes from say 16 bit to 24 bit, if there is no change in bit rate there will be no click. So if your files are all 16 bit, doesn’t matter if they are ALAC, AAC, or FLAC, there will be no clicking sound.
https://www.schiit.com/guides/dac-problems

 

[ckhirnigs113]

With Unison, has anyone noticed a difference using their iPhone with the CCK adapter as the source vs a computer? I really like the convenience of the phone as a source, but I could dust off my old laptop if it would improve the sound in any way.

I assume something equivalent to “exclusive mode” doesn’t exist on the iOS Tidal app, but is there anything I can do to improve the sound quality? Right now I just flip the “silent mode” switch on my iPhone to prevent notifications interrupting the music playback.

 

[Neweymatt]

With Unison, has anyone noticed a difference using their iPhone with the CCK adapter as the source vs a computer? I really like the convenience of the phone as a source, but I could dust off my old laptop if it would improve the sound in any way.

I assume something equivalent to “exclusive mode” doesn’t exist on the iOS Tidal app, but is there anything I can do to improve the sound quality? Right now I just flip the “silent mode” switch on my iPhone to prevent notifications interrupting the music playback.

I don’t think there’s much in it between using iPhone as source vs. MBP, but then again I haven’t really used the phone much. One huge advantage of using just about anything other than an iPhone is the ability to EQ, which is fairly gimped on iOS.

I do plan to test out a new pair of IEMs this weekend with my BF2/Asgard3, iPhone as a source will be interesting to compare.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I don’t think there’s much in it between using iPhone as source vs. MBP, but then again I haven’t really used the phone much. One huge advantage of using just about anything other than an iPhone is the ability to EQ, which is fairly gimped on iOS.

I do plan to test out a new pair of IEMs this weekend with my BF2/Asgard3, iPhone as a source will be interesting to compare.

I personally don't really ever use software EQ, so this is not a big deal to me. I do have a Schiit Loki that I use with certain headphones to make some small tweaks.

 

[mbritt]

With Unison, has anyone noticed a difference using their iPhone with the CCK adapter as the source vs a computer? I really like the convenience of the phone as a source, but I could dust off my old laptop if it would improve the sound in any way.

I assume something equivalent to “exclusive mode” doesn’t exist on the iOS Tidal app, but is there anything I can do to improve the sound quality? Right now I just flip the “silent mode” switch on my iPhone to prevent notifications interrupting the music playback.

I use an iPhone 6s+ via CCK to Bifrost 2/Asgard 3 and its a great digital transport. I mostly use it as a Roon endpoint with lots of options for EQ if needed. During a recent internet outage I fell back to playing local through the Onkyo HF player. It will send FLAC and high resolution files out the iPhone usb and it's a better sounding player than iTunes. I often put the phone into Airplane mode but then switch WiFi on. Post pandemic I'll update my phone and make this one a stripped down iPod. Oh, and you can EQ from Onkyo HF as well.

 

[TheRealDz]

I really like the Onkyo player - it definitely sounds better than iTunes through an old iPhone that I use as my desktop source. It is one of the few apps that I have ever spent money on, for premium features. I also use the Onkyo player on my main phone - an android (Xperia 1mk2). From what I can tell, the upscaling sounds better. That said:

1) I can't get the Onkyo player via the iPhone to pass EQ settings through to my DACs

2) I realized that although digital bits are digital and all, my music sounds way better through my main Windows pc rig vs iPhone

3) So I have now moved to an old Surface tablet, and it sounds better than the iPhone too. More detailed and more body - night and day difference, and I don't know why

4) Since there is no Onkyo player for windows, I used iTunes. But then I tried Sony Music Center app, and it sounded better still. I swear the upscaling plus Sony's DSEE algorithm sounds even better yet - it is subtle, but brings back just a touch more atmosphere without any harshness.

5) My Chord Hugo does not have any adjustable filter settings, but my Smsl su-8v2 does. My homework is to see how the different filters may interact with Sony DSEE...

I use an iPhone 6s+ via CCK to Bifrost 2/Asgard 3 and its a great digital transport. I mostly use it as a Roon endpoint with lots of options for EQ if needed. During a recent internet outage I fell back to playing local through the Onkyo HF player. It will send FLAC and high resolution files out the iPhone usb and it's a better sounding player than iTunes. I often put the phone into Airplane mode but then switch WiFi on. Post pandemic I'll update my phone and make this one a stripped down iPod. Oh, and you can EQ from Onkyo HF as well.