[pseudohippy]

Quote:

Impressions of the Bifrost compared to the MS+ would be greatly appreciated.

 


 

If you make it to the Seattle meet on Jan 21 your more than welcome to compare the Bifrost to the MSII+ all you like. Not the best place but you should pick up some generalities quite easy.

 

[M-13]

Sweet! Only problem is that I'll probably have my Bifrost by then. I'll probably be looking at the PerfectWave DAC and the Liquid Fire then. Is constant upgrading a sin?

 
Quote:

If you make it to the Seattle meet on Jan 21 your more than welcome to compare the Bifrost to the MSII+ all you like. Not the best place but you should pick up some generalities quite easy.

 

 

[estreeter]

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I went from a MSII+ to the Bifrost as well.  My initial impressions are great!
 
 

Good to hear, but it would be great if you could elaborate further. FWIW, Mike at Headfonia consistently uses the MSII+ as his 'reference' for budget DACs, and that included the $500 DACPort. I know that many here want the BiFrost compared with 2K DACs in elaborate cases etc, but I'm more interested in hearing comparisons with DACs like the aforementioned - neither MSII+ nor DACPort (or its $50 cheaper LX sibling) put form over function. Keep those impressions coming. 

 

[M-13]

Yeah... I had the MS+, DACport LX, and even borrowed my friend's Nuforce HDP, and none of those DACs had a noticeable improvement over my E7, which was dissapointing to say the least. There were differences of course, but I could not say one was better than the other, just different. I'm hoping the Bifrost will be a clear and obvious upgrade. So far, upgrading amps, tubes, headphones have been the more obvious "upgrade"
 
Quote:

Good to hear, but it would be great if you could elaborate further. FWIW, Mike at Headfonia consistently uses the MSII+ as his 'reference' for budget DACs, and that included the $500 DACPort. I know that many here want the BiFrost compared with 2K DACs in elaborate cases etc, but I'm more interested in hearing comparisons with DACs like the aforementioned - neither MSII+ nor DACPort (or its $50 cheaper LX sibling) put form over function. Keep those impressions coming. 

 

 

[judmarc]

120 hours:
 
Doing a couple of things today - going back through the music collection to hear old favorites with the new DAC, and listening to high-res things for the first time.  
 
I heard something pretty amazing to me when listening to a rip of the Beatles' Love DVD-A recorded in 24/96.  The version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps on this recording is an alternate acoustic take.  I noticed during the first few acoustic guitar notes that I could hear the notes resonating in the guitar body just as you can if someone is playing an acoustic guitar in the room with you.

 

[45longcolt]

Hey Judmarc - how do you rip DVD-As? I've got a few I'd love to listen to, but haven't figured out how to get them into the Imac. Hints appreciated.
 
With almost 60 hours on my Bifrost,I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I would have to say that while the bass is cleanly presented, there's just a little bit less at the very bottom end. This is especially noticable over speakers, where there's also a subwoofer.
 
As far as "thin" or "harsh," I don't hear that on phones or speakers. This is true even on things like cymbal crashes or horn notes that can really startle me sometimes. Upfront, yeah; overdone, no. But if you don't want to hear everything, this may not be the DAC for you. It ain't gonna sugarcoat a bad recording or file.
 
And like Judmarc, I find it easier to hear details of the mix, and of individual instruments. Which I like, but some may find a case of too much information. 

 

[Megalith]

I just received my Bifrost today, but I'm not sure what to think.
 
Compared to the DAC in my Audiophile 192, everything sounds much less lifeless now---it's as if the bass has been sucked dry. While everything seems to sound cleaner with more notable separation, I'm also hearing a very harsh boost in the treble. Dynamic range also seems significantly compressed.
 
I don't know if my Audiophile 192's S/PDIF output has anything to do with it. (AFAIK, its output is bitperfect.)

 

[M-13]

That S/PDIF out should have nothing to do with it unless it's malfunctioning. Many here have said the Bifrost improves with burn-in. Please keep us updated as to whether this is the case or not.
 
Quote:

I just received my Bifrost today, but I'm not sure what to think.
 
Compared to the DAC in my Audiophile 192, everything sounds much less lifeless now---it's as if the bass has been sucked dry. While everything seems to sound cleaner with more notable separation, I'm also hearing a very harsh boost in the treble. Dynamic range also seems significantly compressed.
 
I don't know if my Audiophile 192's S/PDIF output has anything to do with it. (AFAIK, its output is bitperfect.)

 

 

[leesure]

Didn't think this was the place to put comparisons between complete sub-$1K rigs...Schiit Bifrost/Lyr vs. Audio-GD/Bottlehead, so I stared a new thread here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/579578/a-comparison-review-of-2-1000-value-rigs-schiit-vs-a-gd-bottlehead#post_7880895
 
in case you want to read.

 

[ninjikiran]

Give it a bit, going from sound card to outbaord dac takes a bit of an adjustment period.  But going back to a sound card after adjusting to the dac will probably be much harder once you get used to what things are more closer supposed to sound like.
 
Otherwise you might to look for something with a warmer output if it still doesn't meet your tastes or go back to the audiophile if it still doesn't meet your tastes.  If we were all the same life would be boring~
 
Quote:

I just received my Bifrost today, but I'm not sure what to think.
 
Compared to the DAC in my Audiophile 192, everything sounds much less lifeless now---it's as if the bass has been sucked dry. While everything seems to sound cleaner with more notable separation, I'm also hearing a very harsh boost in the treble. Dynamic range also seems significantly compressed.
 
I don't know if my Audiophile 192's S/PDIF output has anything to do with it. (AFAIK, its output is bitperfect.)

 

 

[188479]

 
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But if you don't want to hear everything, this may not be the DAC for you. It ain't gonna sugarcoat a bad recording or file.

X2
 
I was just thinking about how poorly recorded some of my CD's are...and how fantastic some others are.  It's been a lot of fun going through all of my music now that the Bifrost is hooked up!

 

[judmarc]

Quote:

Hey Judmarc - how do you rip DVD-As? I've got a few I'd love to listen to, but haven't figured out how to get them into the Imac. Hints appreciated.

 
I'm using DVD Audio Extractor, which has a free trial available for Win and OS X.  http://www.dvdae.com/  On the lookout for something with similar capabilities and no license fee that runs on OS X.
 
If you don't have the capability of ripping from DVD-A, some of the same material, as well as other high-res stuff, is available at HD Tracks.  Use caution, though, as their quality control has been reported to be highly variable.  There may be threads here about various HD Tracks offerings; I haven't checked.  There are extensive threads at the Computer Audiophile forums.

 

[Butler]

I'm also hearing a very harsh boost in the treble. Dynamic range also seems significantly compressed.

People have said that this should go away with burn in, and I really hope that's the case. The last thing I need is more harsh trebles on the W5000's...

 

[ninjikiran]

I would just go with different headphones if their treble is not to your liking.  I tried the ultrasone 500 series headphone and couldn't last an entire day before returning those suckers
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Yeah... I had the MS+, DACport LX, and even borrowed my friend's Nuforce HDP, and none of those DACs had a noticeable improvement over my E7

Just goes to show different ears and gears.  The E7 is not even in the same class as the DACPort LX for me.  When I hear 3-4 DACs such as those offering little to no audible benefit over the E7 I tend to suspect some other bottleneck in the chain.