[Alcophone]

I feed both the BF2 outputs to a Jot2 and use the 4pin xlr headphone out to headphones, currently using Denon D5200 and Hifiman Sundara.

So the "cheap ass" balanced conversion in the Bifrost 2 does a better job than Nexus in the Jotunheim 2? Surprising. Thanks for your feedback!

 

[omniweltall]

The difference is very slight, to my ear. I don't think it's worth much investigating, to be honest.

It is smaller than the difference between Jot 2 SE out vs Balanced out.

Or Jot 2 Low Gain vs High Gain.

 

[SolaVirtus]

The difference is very slight, to my ear. I don't think it's worth much investigating, to be honest.

It is smaller than the difference between Jot 2 SE out vs Balanced out.

Or Jot 2 Low Gain vs High Gain.

This was my experience too. I like being able to put a Loki in the SE path and not feel like I'm losing much, and still have the balanced path all the way through.

 

[Smoothstereo]

I agree that the difference between SE and BAL input to the Jot2 is not as huge as the difference between SE and BAL headphone output on the Jot2. But for folks who want to maximize the potential of the Jot2/BF2 combo, going Balance all the way has its place. I have both SE and XLR inputs being used and I choose my flavor based on mood and song selection. Can't go wrong with either to be honest.

 

[Mozbach]

Deleted post... found an earlier post answering the query posted..
(Apologies)

 

[Friskyseal]

If the SE out gives more usable volume range, that to me seems to be a far greater benefit than the minute differences in sound quality, if there are indeed any.

 

[buson160man]

well just got my bifrost 2 delivered today. Hooked it up balanced to my Jottenheim 2 which is a couple of weeks old now. Things are sounding better than the internal multibit card dac in the Jottenheim 2. Not worldly better so far but got to get time on the bifrost 2 before I can make any sound observations on the differences. The bifrost 2 seems pretty solidly constructed. It does seem to be better at drawing out the details than the captive multibit dac in the jottenheim 2.

 

[buson160man]

Well been burning in my new BF2 on my desk top all day since 8 am this morning with my three week old Jottenheim 2 . It is 11 and a half hours now . Wow so musical is the pairing it is mesmerizing. Very little if any digititis none that I can hear. And I am using akg 712 pro headphones which can sound kind of analytical(not as analytical as the akg 701s though) at times. They have never sounded this musical before. The tonality of this pairing is gorgeous. It is going to be interesting to see how much better the schiit stack gets . Time will tell do not know how much better it will get but it sounds promising already. I am going to listening to this pair for hours at a time when it fully fleshes in.

 

[cgb3]

yeah thats why I said I like using software for precise, lower db tweaks. It's better as a scalpel.

Bifrost question though: On the GoldenSound review on youtube, the dude says that the balanced outputs sound better than single ended - true or BS?

I watched a recent GoldenSound video. The subject was the

Well been burning in my new BF2 on my desk top all day since 8 am this morning with my three week old Jottenheim 2 . It is 11 and a half hours now . Wow so musical is the pairing it is mesmerizing. Very little if any digititis none that I can hear. And I am using akg 712 pro headphones which can sound kind of analytical(not as analytical as the akg 701s though) at times. They have never sounded this musical before. The tonality of this pairing is gorgeous. It is going to be interesting to see how much better the schiit stack gets . Time will tell do not know how much better it will get but it sounds promising already. I am going to listening to this pair for hours at a time when it fully fleshes in.

For a truly epic experience, purchase a Schitt Lyr 3. Install a decent tube, and route the pre-amp of the Lyr 3 to the input of your jottenheim 2.

 

[Alcophone]

my three week old Jottenheim 2

 

[Lvivske]

I watched a recent GoldenSound video. The subject was the

The suspense is killing me

 

[omniweltall]

The suspense is killing me

LoL.

 

[buson160man]

I watched a recent GoldenSound video. The subject was the

For a truly epic experience, purchase a Schitt Lyr 3. Install a decent tube, and route the pre-amp of the Lyr 3 to the input of your jottenheim 2.

you want to talk epic. When the Bifrost 2 is broken in I am going hook it up balanced to my Rogue RH-5 headphone amp preamp that should be really epic. The Rogue is a pretty awesome headphone amp. The rogue RH-5 is in a different universe.

 

[Lvivske]

Bought some XLRs and can now say on balanced:

1. Zero volume change between the outputs

2. I can't hear any difference. I toggle inputs and can basically flutter it back & forth with no distortion of a frequency. If there's a difference, it's specific and I haven't found an example track to pull it out yet.

 

[Ripper2860]

Well, maybe you should clean your ears out. It's obvious that the difference is SIGNIFICANT based on the THD+N numbers published by Schitt.

BF2 Balanced THD+N
Ch1 0.002610 %
Ch2 0.002642 %

BF2 Single-ended THD+N
Ch1 0.002786 %
Ch2 0.002774 %

Balanced represents a clear and audible win (for bats)!!

** Granted it is just one measurement from their extensive APx555 results