[bluesound]

I like your take Stan... That said, differences in amps, speakers, even interconnects seem distinct to me so I'm interested in any a/b impressions. 

 

[JR2014]

Uber Analog Upgrade installed!  Now for some listening time...

 

[StanD]

  Uber Analog Upgrade installed!  Now for some listening time...

Time for fun, don't forget to report back. 

 

[Tuco1965]

  Uber Analog Upgrade installed!  Now for some listening time...

What's on the play list?

 

[Byrnie]

  What's on the play list?

The most important question

 

[henree]

Sent my unit off a week and a half ago. Haven't received a return shipment email. How long does it take to do the uber upgrade?

 

[bleudeciel16]

I might do a how-to on upgrading it DIY style.  I see so many people sending it off when it's soooo easy to do yourself.  A screwdriver and a few minutes is all it takes.  And plus, you save $30 on the price of the upgrade.  ($70 for the upgrade if you do it yourself)

 

[henree]

  I might do a how-to on upgrading it DIY style.  I see so many people sending it off when it's soooo easy to do yourself.  A screwdriver and a few minutes is all it takes.  And plus, you save $30 on the price of the upgrade.  ($70 for the upgrade if you do it yourself)

Good idea. I am ready to die not having my bifrost for almost two weeks. I had no idea it would take so long for schiit to do the upgrade. And I live in California.

 

[ben_r_]

Nothing, they just dont want to be bothered with it for so little money. Just do it yourself, its really not hard and a "tutorial" was already done earlier in this thread.

 

[bleudeciel16]

  Nothing, they just dont want to be bothered with it for so little money. Just do it yourself, its really not hard and a "tutorial" was already done earlier in this thread.

 
ah, you're right.  found it on 2nd page of this thread.  good call

 

[ruleof72]

As a happy Magni owner I'm very interested in the Bifrost Uber as an upgrade for my Squeezebox Classic's internal DAC. But before I spend the money I'd like to get any feedback available from anyone who has hooked the Bifrost up to a Squeezebox and what the differences were.
 
Any feedback on this?

 

[bleudeciel16]

Woot, uber board came in today.  Popped that sucker in first thing.
 
I gave my setup several hours of straight listening to yesterday.  Today, I went through many of the same songs.  There's no day and night difference of course, but MY ears seem to pick up a better sense of resolution and texture.  Especially on vocals.  Best example I can think of is when I'd have female vocals holding a note.  With the uber upgrade, I feel like I can hear more texture in the vocals now.  I hear the singer's unique voice instead of a generic "note".  It's really hard to put into words what I'm hearing, but I hear something.
 
And I never leave out the possibility that it's placebo.  If so, that's still good news, because it's working, and it means I still got my money's worth! lol
 
ASUS Xonar Essence STX > Digital COAX (blue jeans) > Uberfrost > blue jeans interconnects > Lyr (russian tubes) > HD650 (stock cables--I don't believe in that crap)
 
Oh, and did anyone else get angry at the three leds?  It wasn't quick or easy to get them back into the holes on the front of the unit.  I had to get the PCB close to the front, with a flashlight shining light in from the side, then use a skinny screwdriver to get in to bend each one to the height of the holes to get them to line up.  I had to take a couple attempts before getting all three perfect, but I finally got it.  That's probably the single hardest part of the install.  The power button I held in place with masking tape from the front.  It never fell out the entire time. 

 

[StanD]

Did you ever look at the specs for Uber vs. Non-Uber? The numbers are far lower than what any human can perceive. Nonetheless I got the Uber with my Bifrost anyway as they're not charging an arm and a leg for it, so what the heck.
 
We're talking about difference in THD and IMD in the thousandths of a percent, great for lab equipment but us bags of water can't tell the difference. You can compare the below numbers for distortion, but like I implied, you don't have a snowball's chance in hell to be able to discern the difference.
 
Ooh, here's a sneaky one. The Bifrost SNR measurments are made at 2V and the Modi at 1.5V  This makes the measurements for the Bifrost appear better than the Modi by about 2.5 dB so the Bifrost SNR is not 6 dB better than the Modi, it's 3.5 dB better and the Uber is not 10 dB better it's 7.5 dB better. Well, the Uber is definitely better than the Modi as far as SNR.
 
Bifrost:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB, 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB
Maximum Output: 2.0V RMS
THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.007%, CCIR
S/N: >106dB, referenced to 2V RMS
 
Bifrost Uber:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB, 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB
Maximum Output: 2.0V RMS
THD: <0.002%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.002%, CCIR
S/N: >110dB, referenced to 2V RMS
 
Modi:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB
THD: <0.003%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.004%, CCIR
S/N: >100dB, referenced to 1.5V RMS, unweighted

 

[bleudeciel16]

  Did you ever look at the specs for Uber vs. Non-Uber? The numbers are far lower than what any human can perceive. Nonetheless I got the Uber with my Bifrost anyway as they're not charging an arm and a leg for it, so what the heck.
 
We're talking about difference in THD and IMD in the thousandths of a percent, great for lab equipment but us bags of water can't tell the difference. You can compare the below numbers for distortion, but like I implied, you don't have a snowball's chance in hell to be able to discern the difference.
 
Ooh, here's a sneaky one. The Bifrost SNR measurments are made at 2V and the Modi at 1.5V  This makes the measurements for the Bifrost appear better than the Modi by about 2.5 dB so the Bifrost SNR is not 6 dB better than the Modi, it's 3.5 dB better and the Uber is not 10 dB better it's 7.5 dB better. Well, the Uber is definitely better than the Modi as far as SNR.
 
Bifrost:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB, 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB
Maximum Output: 2.0V RMS
THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.007%, CCIR
S/N: >106dB, referenced to 2V RMS
 
Bifrost Uber:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB, 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB
Maximum Output: 2.0V RMS
THD: <0.002%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.002%, CCIR
S/N: >110dB, referenced to 2V RMS
 
Modi:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz, +/-0.1dB
THD: <0.003%, 20Hz-20KHz, at max output
IMD: <0.004%, CCIR
S/N: >100dB, referenced to 1.5V RMS, unweighted

 
I'm an EE and can't argue raw numbers.
 
But don't forget that the raw specs of a DAC aren't as important as the implementation of the DAC.
 
And I'm not really making any specific point, and definitely not saying for sure that there's a difference.  My brain sure perceived it, whether it's fabricated or not, but unless I have two bifrosts to do side by side testing, I won't ever know for sure.'
 
But like you said, for that price, why not.

 

[Byrnie]

  Woot, uber board came in today.  Popped that sucker in first thing.
 
I gave my setup several hours of straight listening to yesterday.  Today, I went through many of the same songs.  There's no day and night difference of course, but MY ears seem to pick up a better sense of resolution and texture.  Especially on vocals.  Best example I can think of is when I'd have female vocals holding a note.  With the uber upgrade, I feel like I can hear more texture in the vocals now.  I hear the singer's unique voice instead of a generic "note".  It's really hard to put into words what I'm hearing, but I hear something.
 
And I never leave out the possibility that it's placebo.  If so, that's still good news, because it's working, and it means I still got my money's worth! lol
 
ASUS Xonar Essence STX > Digital COAX (blue jeans) > Uberfrost > blue jeans interconnects > Lyr (russian tubes) > HD650 (stock cables--I don't believe in that crap)
 
Oh, and did anyone else get angry at the three leds?  It wasn't quick or easy to get them back into the holes on the front of the unit.  I had to get the PCB close to the front, with a flashlight shining light in from the side, then use a skinny screwdriver to get in to bend each one to the height of the holes to get them to line up.  I had to take a couple attempts before getting all three perfect, but I finally got it.  That's probably the single hardest part of the install.  The power button I held in place with masking tape from the front.  It never fell out the entire time. 

Congrats!