[TheGrumpyOldMan]

...Or simply disconnect the cable if you're not listening to music anyway...

 

[Maxvla]

I use my headphone rig to watch movies and YouTube and various things so unplugging is more annoying than the light clicking I've learned to all but ignore.

 

[ben_r_]

Huh, this clicking issue sounds very annoying. I have a NuForce HDP and it def doesnt click. That would drive me nuts had I gone the Schiit route.

 

[judmarc]

A little more about "digital" cables -
 
People are worried too much about data dropouts (which very seldom happen - if they do, you have real problems), and too little about jitter and electrical noise. 
 
The second of these, electrical noise, "digital" USB and coax cables have in common with "analog" cables.  As I've mentioned before, unless your analog cables are made by a rather incompetent manufacturer and have gross frequency response deficiencies, most of the difference in the sound of analog cables should be along the lines of how they deal with electrical noise.  So digital coax and USB cables, being subject to the same electrical noise problems (or even more so in the case of USB, since they've got power running in the same cable with signal and ground) as analog cables, are fully capable of sounding as different from each other as your analog cables do. 
 
And that's even before we start talking about jitter.  Jitter consists of timing errors *short of data dropouts* that produce audible distortion in the reconstructed analog signal.  The distortion is primarily of two types: raising the "noise floor" of the music (thus decreasing effective dynamic range), and harmonic distortion.  An async USB DAC like the Bifrost will eliminate most of the jitter due to anything in the chain before the clock in the DAC (though electrical noise can reach the clock circuitry through a USB digital cable and cause jitter that way).
 
From theory to practicality: Anyone looking for a USB cable could IMHO do a lot worse than the reasonably priced (about $30 for 3/4 of a meter) Audioquest Forest.

 

[ben_r_]

Since we are talking cables, how are monster cables? They seem to me for their average ones such as this: LINK to be just another copper cable with fancy sheathing and gold looking contacts. I bought the one I linked to just because I needed a longer cable and it was fancier looking than the one my HDP came with. I of course, hear no difference between the two.

 

[Audio_newb]

I'm waiting it out for the statement DAC, but I have to say I hope it doesn't use the same relay system.  I understand that the clicking issue is "normal," and was likely a design decision based on getting the best sound quality out of the product, but things like this in the audiophile world bother me.  I don't want to have to stand on my left leg and turn out all the lights in my house just so that my products perform at their best.  If 99% of dac's out there can function without clicking, i feel like it is a bit odd to treat something like this as if it were a feature.  I'm willing to take a hit in the sound quality department in order for my dac not to annoy me on a regular basis.  Schiit's products look great, sound great, and the price is right, but features like dimmable led's, remote controls, and other functions that make products a joy to use shouldn't be sneered at.  Ultimately, I think that the gear that gets out of the way and you love to use is the kind of gear that best lets you enjoy your music, which when it comes down to it is what this is all about.

 

[Kremer930]

I am surprised that people think the click is such an issue. You can barely hear it with out headphones. To pick a dac with lesser sound quality to avoid a click which only happens between songs of different sample rates baffles me. 
 
Even if the statement dac makes the same click I will buy it because it will still have awesome sound quality. 

 

[ben_r_]

Quote:

I am surprised that people think the click is such an issue. You can barely hear it with out headphones. To pick a dac with lesser sound quality to avoid a click which only happens between songs of different sample rates baffles me. 
 
Even if the statement dac makes the same click I will buy it because it will still have awesome sound quality. 

I dont know, there are lots of good sounding DACs out there. For me its kinda like, dang, all the engineering you did, all the design work you did, all the cost analysis you did, and youre just ALMOST there! Couldnt you have at least taken care of this one annoying noise?! I means its an AUDIO product for crying out loud! ANYTHING audible about it should have been the FIRST and foremost priority!

 

[Anaxilus]

Play it all in the same format and you won't hear anything.  I wouldn't sacrifice transparency to hide a click when switching resolutions.  Why get a DAC that sounds the same as others if that would be the result?  Of course having both would be great, otherwise if I had to pick....
 
Hell, some multi-thousand dollar DACs decide to quite playing anything at all whenever they feel like.  

  Remote controls and dimmers?  I'd begin to wonder about getting the Statement if they went crazy w/ non-sense.  It's a DAC, not a transport or server.  Keep it simple, extracting as much of the recording as possible and keep the price as low as possible.  Even for the Statement.  If they want to make some pimp version w/ a candy apple red chassis and Kinect motion sensors and double or triple the price go for it but count me out.  

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

Personally, it doesn't bother me at all, and I certainly wouldn't make it a consideration when buying a DAC. I actually take it as a sign of a quality component rather than all the non-mechanical never-really-switch(off) device design these days. But I'm old-school you could say.
 
And it's not as if you hear it while listening to music, it's only when you start, stop or switch. For that matter, the D2 has relays clicking when switching sources as well, so it's not the only DAC. And the E9 clicks after short delay when switching on etc...

 

[olor1n]

I like how the Bifrost "disappears" from the chain for the most part. It means I'm content with the level of fidelity and overall balance, and any gripe can usually be attributed to the particular recording or the tubes I have in place in the Lyr. It makes for an engaging listening experience when glaring flaws don't detract from the music.
 
However, the illusion is sometimes shattered when the sound degrades to a static screeching for a short period, or when the dac seems to lose the signal mid song causing the track to skip and the Bifrost to click profusely. I've experienced these things on 3 different MacBooks, running SL and Lion. I use a Furutech Formula 2 usb cable and run BitPerfect with iTunes and never had this issue with past dacs.
 
When the static occurs the sound returns to normal after a brief period and usually does not persist. I don't recall experiencing this via optical, so it may be confined to usb, but again I never had this issue with my other dacs. The skipping during playback and clicking mid song is more problematic. It happens through both usb and optical and usually persists, prompting the need to turn the Bifrost off.
 
BitPerfect is set to output native bit and sample rate. It switches output on the fly without the need to restart iTunes but most of my library is 16/44 ALAC. The skipping/clicking also occurs when BitPerfect is not in play (iTunes launched by itself). I'm confident the issue is not software related.
 
I've also experienced these issues on two different Bifrosts. One other person admitted to experiencing the static/screech a while back when I first mentioned it here.
 
These things are random and thankfully not a common enough occurrence to be a major distraction.

 

[Maxvla]

I too hope the statement DAC does not click, but if it is necessary to maintain quality perhaps the crew can figure out a way to insulate it more to make it quieter. It isn't very loud now, but I'd rather the DAC make it's statement through the sound coming out of my headphones than from it's own body.

 

[hp300plus]

One of the first Bifrost batch receivers here, running optical from my iMac listening to music on a daily basis and have not had any issues other than the clicking which as many have said, is hardly noticeable and for sure not audible when listening to headphones.  (Enjoying every minute with the Bifrost still, BTW.)
 
EDIT:  I don't know if the phrase "it grows on you" is appropriate for the clicking sound, but I sure don't even notice it anymore (even though it's happening). 

 

[Kremer930]

I ordered a Bifrost as soon as they were announced.  I use PureMusic and have never experienced the sounds and symptoms that you describe.  I am also running a Mac.  Most of the time I output via optical but sometimes I use the USB also.
 
Quote:

I like how the Bifrost "disappears" from the chain for the most part. It means I'm content with the level of fidelity and overall balance, and any gripe can usually be attributed to the particular recording or the tubes I have in place in the Lyr. It makes for an engaging listening experience when glaring flaws don't detract from the music.
 
However, the illusion is sometimes shattered when the sound degrades to a static screeching for a short period, or when the dac seems to lose the signal mid song causing the track to skip and the Bifrost to click profusely. I've experienced these things on 3 different MacBooks, running SL and Lion. I use a Furutech Formula 2 usb cable and run BitPerfect with iTunes and never had this issue with past dacs.
 
When the static occurs the sound returns to normal after a brief period and usually does not persist. I don't recall experiencing this via optical, so it may be confined to usb, but again I never had this issue with my other dacs. The skipping during playback and clicking mid song is more problematic. It happens through both usb and optical and usually persists, prompting the need to turn the Bifrost off.
 
BitPerfect is set to output native bit and sample rate. It switches output on the fly without the need to restart iTunes but most of my library is 16/44 ALAC. The skipping/clicking also occurs when BitPerfect is not in play (iTunes launched by itself). I'm confident the issue is not software related.
 
I've also experienced these issues on two different Bifrosts. One other person admitted to experiencing the static/screech a while back when I first mentioned it here.
 
These things are random and thankfully not a common enough occurrence to be a major distraction.

 

 

[Denosha]

I'm running my Bifrost through USB using Foobar (ASIO driver) for playback and I've never had any sort of problems with static, weird noises, the sound cutting out, etc. And I'm using a generic usb cable that I dug out from somewhere. Perhaps the problem is USB port related? Some kind of internal interference?
 
Anyway, just to share my personal impressions of the Bifrost over my previous DAC which was a Centrance DACPort. Both DACs fed a Yamamoto HA-02 Amp with a LCD-2 (Rev1) on the other end (Q headphone cables). ICs for the DACPort were the QED J2P and Chord CobraPlus for the Bifrost. Both were using generic USB cables (i'm in the camp that doesn't believe cable quality really matters for digital signals). I haven't done any AB comparisons thus far but my first impression with the Bifrost right out of the box was "WOW!". I happened to have a song paused in my foobar from the night before and through the Bifrost it sound noticeably different. Better extension on both ends (especially the low-end), tighter bass and greater transparency. It probably isn't fair to compare a portable USB DAC/Headphone amp to a desktop dedicated USB DAC though. But the amount of improvement in audio quality really does speak volumes about what great value the Bifrost offers (considering the DACPort is quite similar in price).