That is an excellent point that I’m sure a lot of folks overlook. So much music is so poorly mastered it won’t sound smooth or etch free on anything but the warmest tilted systems. I listen to a lot of genre’s of music but one that typically can be found fatiguing is metal……some of those recordings are just way too hot in the upper treble, even more so on a lot of “Remastered” albums
Schiit Audio Bifrost 2
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schneller
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I just plugged my BF 2/64 into my chain. Out of the box, connected to power for four hours first to warm up, and now playing for the first time via SE out. This is right after unplugging my Gungnir MB A2/Unison, so a back-to-back comparison of sorts.
Immediate impressions:
More treble clarity but not harsh at all. I am hearing more detail in the music. A lot more. More insight. Maybe slightly wider sound stage. For sure better blackground.
Does it perhaps lack the overall bass heft of the Gungnir MB A2? No. But the BF 2/64 feels more agile in a sense while not lacking in bass response at all.
I will post updates as the BF 2/64 warms up for the next days and I switch back to Gungnir. The BF 2/64 is sounding more "hifi" and is a great match to my NAIM Supernait 3/Dynaudio Contour system, which is very mids-focused/neutral (sometimes to a fault).
Immediate impressions:
More treble clarity but not harsh at all. I am hearing more detail in the music. A lot more. More insight. Maybe slightly wider sound stage. For sure better blackground.
Does it perhaps lack the overall bass heft of the Gungnir MB A2? No. But the BF 2/64 feels more agile in a sense while not lacking in bass response at all.
I will post updates as the BF 2/64 warms up for the next days and I switch back to Gungnir. The BF 2/64 is sounding more "hifi" and is a great match to my NAIM Supernait 3/Dynaudio Contour system, which is very mids-focused/neutral (sometimes to a fault).
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Poimandres
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Looking forward to your additional impressions on the 2/64.
Quick question are you able to utilize the se and balanced outs simultaneously?
Quick question are you able to utilize the se and balanced outs simultaneously?
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Yep, I've got my BF2 balanced out to the Jot2, and SE out to the Vali2+, and they both operate at the same time.
What's your use case?
Poimandres
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I figured it could, just wasn’t certain. It is nice to be able to feed two amps the same signal and run them both at the same time.
schneller
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I could run BF 2/64 to a Lokius via both SE and balanced and use it to switch (with Lokius in pass through mode) but then it goes from Lokius to my amp via SE to DIN. My amp has no balanced input.
Had my OG Bifrost upgraded in 2019 to MultiBit. Does that make it a defacto BF2, or were there other changes when the BF2 was introduced?
Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
Yes, OG Bifrost MB and Bifrost 2 very different beasts sonically and component wise.
Runrunsmithfly
Previously known as ssmith3046
I could discern little difference between my original Bifrost multibit and original Modi multibit with the firmware update.
strider1007
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My new Bifrost 2/64 has arrived! Two months ago I was listening to the Asgard3/Modius combo. I upgraded from the Asgard to the Lyr+, which turned out to be a very good decision. I already owned a couple of 6SN7 tubes, so tuberolling was a given. Improvement across the board. More details, more spacious, bigger soundstage, better defined and deeper bass, mid and top-end brighter without turning harsh, voices sounded more natural.. Good choice.
Then I was able to increase my income because my employer agreed to up my 30 hour workweek to 38.. Even with the by now ridiculous energyprices here it provided the opportunity to replace the Modius with the Bifrost 2/64. Last week I noticed Schiit-Europe had the Bifrost in stock, and five minutes later the order-conformation popped into my mailbox.
And this morning it arrived. Working from home today gave me the opportunity to unbox and connect it within minutes. That was around eleven in the morning. I let the internetradio play while I kept working untill five in the afternoon. After dinner I got ready for the first impressions..
Overwhelming sums it up I guess. I did not expect that much difference. It all changed again, mostly improving on every aspect. Again. Most noticably the fullness of it all. Fuller, deeper and much more defined bass. Drums sound much more lifelike. Upright bass has a bigger body, sounds warmer. As do voices. And there is so much more micro-detail in the voices.. Wow.
Soundstage is wider and deeper. And the seperation of instruments is really awesome. Where I used to hear the string-section I now hear seventeen individual violins.. A choir now turns out to be a few rows of separate voices.. Who knew..
But.. After an hour of intense listening some doubt crept in. Voices are my main focus, and they sounded a bit too thick, too dark somehow. Obviously depending on the recording, but still.. I switched the Lyr+ from tube to SS and that did the trick.
While tuberolling I had made some notes, and the Brimar 6SN7 I was using had gotten the remark of being a nice and warm, very tubey sound. Which worked very fine while using the Modius, but really not with the Bifrost. Switching to a Sylvania (very bright, a bit thin in the Modius combo) hit bulls-eye. Much better balance, the darkness or thickness in the voices was gone.
A little context: I am listening to FLAC files from my PC, using optical cable while listening to my QUAD ERA-1 headphones.
These are only first impressions, tha dac hasn’t played more than twelve hours. I can’t wait to see what happens over the next few days. I’ll keep you posted.
Then I was able to increase my income because my employer agreed to up my 30 hour workweek to 38.. Even with the by now ridiculous energyprices here it provided the opportunity to replace the Modius with the Bifrost 2/64. Last week I noticed Schiit-Europe had the Bifrost in stock, and five minutes later the order-conformation popped into my mailbox.
And this morning it arrived. Working from home today gave me the opportunity to unbox and connect it within minutes. That was around eleven in the morning. I let the internetradio play while I kept working untill five in the afternoon. After dinner I got ready for the first impressions..
Overwhelming sums it up I guess. I did not expect that much difference. It all changed again, mostly improving on every aspect. Again. Most noticably the fullness of it all. Fuller, deeper and much more defined bass. Drums sound much more lifelike. Upright bass has a bigger body, sounds warmer. As do voices. And there is so much more micro-detail in the voices.. Wow.
Soundstage is wider and deeper. And the seperation of instruments is really awesome. Where I used to hear the string-section I now hear seventeen individual violins.. A choir now turns out to be a few rows of separate voices.. Who knew..
But.. After an hour of intense listening some doubt crept in. Voices are my main focus, and they sounded a bit too thick, too dark somehow. Obviously depending on the recording, but still.. I switched the Lyr+ from tube to SS and that did the trick.
While tuberolling I had made some notes, and the Brimar 6SN7 I was using had gotten the remark of being a nice and warm, very tubey sound. Which worked very fine while using the Modius, but really not with the Bifrost. Switching to a Sylvania (very bright, a bit thin in the Modius combo) hit bulls-eye. Much better balance, the darkness or thickness in the voices was gone.
A little context: I am listening to FLAC files from my PC, using optical cable while listening to my QUAD ERA-1 headphones.
These are only first impressions, tha dac hasn’t played more than twelve hours. I can’t wait to see what happens over the next few days. I’ll keep you posted.
decooney
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@strider1007 give it a few weeks to settle in - more. There are split camps on this forum around this topic, and the good folks here who advised me to give it a few weeks, and a few others who said give it a month were correct. The first 24hrs, mine was notably detailed. I switched back and forth between NOS and MCB filter modes. NOS was always smooth after the first 24-72hrs. Interestingly enough, the MCB filter smoothed out more gradually so between 2-4 weeks.
Schiit will tell you this dac does not burn in. Some here will call bull-Schiit on that. Let your ears be your guide. Please report back on your findings.
Schiit will tell you this dac does not burn in. Some here will call bull-Schiit on that. Let your ears be your guide. Please report back on your findings.
All of which completely undermines the confidence a 15 day return window is intended to inspire in the customer. That kind of Schiity bullSchiit really annoys me. They have to say there’s no burn in, otherwise they’re admitting that the return window is… bullSchiit. Sigh.
Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
Jason Stoddard is very clear about burn in and fancy cables. He doesn’t believe in them. IIRC he only recommends leaving it on to warm up before making sonic judgement.
But doesn't Mike Moffat?
Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
I don’t remember. But to assume Schiit is being disingenuous by somehow promoting burn that takes months but only 15 day return window is not factual.
If you don’t like something after 2 weeks, the chance of liking it in two months is pretty low. That’s been my experience. My initial BF2 impression was a solid meh. The 2/64 upgrade made it better. My first impression of Yggdrasil OG was shockingly good. This was after keeping both DACs turned on, playing music for about 2 days prior to critical listening.
YMMV
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