[jimmers]

I think it is, but wanted to confirm: Schiit True-Multi-bit is different than R2R ladder DACs? if so, how?

It is not different, it is Schiit's implementation of an R2R ladder DAC. Different companies will design an R2R ladder DAC in different ways. ...

The AD DACs that Schiit use are segmented DACs, for the AD5781 and AD5791 ICs the 6 MSBs are converted by a Kelvin/Thermometer DAC and the remaining LSBs by a R-2R DAC

edit: the 20 bit version ? (it says 14-bit but it only has S0 - S11 so a 12-bit R-2R, should be S0 - S13)


Kelvin/thermometer DAC, why only a few most significant bits
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-2914#post-14771579

 

[grapefarmer]

Fixed!

The info on the analog stage is great. But there is no mention of any clocking scheme used. As I recall Bifrost had a better clocking scheme than ModiMultibit, but not the AdaptiClock that Gungnir and Yggy have. Does Bifrost 2 retain the Bifrost clocking scheme? This is probably a Mike question.

 

[XERO1]

Here's another Asgard 2 story to add to the collection:

I had an old cat who -during winter- loved to sleep over my Asgard. I tried many times to prevent it, but as any cat owner knows, those little furry fellas do whatever they want to do, all the time. So I was, "ok, you win, sleep there if that's what you want!!!".

Now, the weirdest thing happened one day: I just observed -in shock- that it seems she was so comfortable there, that she got relaxed to a point where drops of pee began to roll down through the top grill. Just when I realized that, I quickly pick her up to put her on the floor and at that moment short circuit noises begin to come from the Asgard while at the same time the left channel of my Genelec monitors was announcing the agony of my beloved Asgard. I shut down the amp faster than a gazelle running from a lion and proceeded to inspect it with a flashlight...

...yep... just on the surface of the board... a good amount of resistors and transistors(?) soaked on pee and looking blackest than the black hole in the center of our galaxy, it was an area of a thumb approx.

So I tried my best to dry the board introducing through the holes of the grill some long sticks with cotton on the tip. At some point it looked dry to me, so I turn the amp on and hell yeah... no short circuit noises and no buzzing, sadly... no music either. The left channel was 100% dead.

I felt so depressed for my bad luck that I said to myself "desperate times call desperate measures":

1.- I put warm water with detergent in a plastic container and I just immersed Asgard while shaking it violently until bubbles where flying everywhere. I left it there for 10 minutes then proceeded to rinse it for 5 minutes.
2.- I climbed up to the roof of my house and left Asgard there, where the surface was hotter than hell (it was winter but it was a sunny day).
3.- Three hours later I picked the damn amp and proceeded to inspect it, it looked totally dry.
4.- I connected everything, turn the amp on and HOLY SCHIIT, it was alive and kicking... both channels working perfectly!!!!

That was two years ago and until this day, my Asgard keeps working like nothing happened!

This is exactly why I never buy anything used.

 

[hearditontheX]

Or worse...you pay us for the products, then help. I feel a bit guilty.

Though the local brewery is kinda the same. They have a club for people who give them a yearly fee (for nothing other than a shirt) and then they are allowed to buy even more expensive beers than they normally offer, and go to special events (not free) and spend more money. Yeah, I'm a member. Yeah, I'm an idiot.

Wolf Creek? Does The Refinery make their own beer now?

 

[Scott Kramer]

Bifrost 2 Question.

Can the phase only be inverted with the remote? I don't see any extra buttons on the chassis?

Same for the mute.

Yes its only done with the remote.

try the konami code

Spoiler

 

[Rensek]

If only....

 

[knivek]

Does Schiit have any plans on introducing a Canadian distributor?

 

[valiant66]

This is one of the best but understated changes! The laser-bright LEDs on my Schiit gear get covered in two layers of slightly naff looking dimming film to bring them down to tolerable levels.

On the other hand, I'm really not sure that remote is worthwhile if it doesn't incorporate volume control. How often do you change source or want to mute, compared to adjust volume. And phase inversion on a remote? How often do you need that?

If there was an option to drop even 10 off the price by dropping the remote, I'd take it.

Personally, I change source multiple times a day. A remote helps with that.

Mute is damn handy if you want to, say, answer the phone without powering down your "always on" component.*

As for phase, the remote is the most logical place for it. It's not a "set it and forget it" thing - any given recording can have an opposite phase. Especially in these days of streaming you want to be able to flip phase on a track-by-track basis.

My remote has a phase button and I'm happy for it.
.

*EDIT: I like it when mute just knocks, say, 20db off the current volume as opposed to just turning sound completely off.

 

[JamminVMI]

Precision as you can see in de AD data sheet. And price fore that matter.

Made on the same wafer, no doubt. Some go BRUZ, others don’t test so well and are dubbed ARUZ and the remainder are junk. Brilliant in terms of cost recovery.

 

[JamminVMI]

Wolf Creek? Does The Refinery make their own beer now?

Pocock brewery in what we call the “Industrial Center” - danger close to a certain audio company... oh, and Draconum (in newhall close to the refinery) does brew as well.

 

[Rensek]

Personally, I change source multiple times a day. A remote helps with that.

Mute is damn handy if you want to, say, answer the phone without powering down your "always on" component.

As for phase, the remote is the most logical place for it. It's not a "set it and forget it" thing - any given recording can have an opposite phase. Especially in these days of streaming you want to be able to flip phase on a track-by-track basis.

My remote has a phase button and I'm happy for it.
.

Yeah my skepticism has abated. I think the remote is a good idea. I'm sure it's probably just as cheap or cheaper to include the extra functions on the remote as opposed to adding two extra buttons on the chassis. It makes sense to me now.

I still hope to see a dual function remote come to fruition. I'm not worried about changing a Bifrost function when aiming at saga. You have to be damn precise with the saga remote.

 

[valiant66]

I would characterize the Vidars as more natural, and with much more dynamics. The Quad is more held-back, as if the signal is squeezed off at some points.
4 ohm speakers that go to 2 ohm in some frequency ranges is not advised with Vidar used as mono blocks.The Quads are 8 ohm, go no lower than 3 ohm and do so without any weird phase responses due to the absence of frequency filters. All speakers have a push back effect on an amplifier that influences the sound. So no 2 combinations are the same.

I wonder why always that information on how low the bass goes on speakers. It's like a fetish to mention this number. The detail in mids and percentage of distortion is way more important (and never given by loudspeaker manufacturers).
That 26 Hz is a totally non relevant number that is only met in anechoic rooms, which for sure our listening rooms are not. And/Or measured 10 cm in front of the speaker at say 70 dB. What are the numbers at 1 meter and 90 dB? Or even better listening position (3-5 meters from the speaker) and 85-90 dB listening levels in a real room? I bet you wouldn't like those numbers! That's why the manufacturer doesn't mention any relevant numbers, but hides behind the likeable numbers. And we as audiophiles accept them without any context. The manufacturer trust we interpretate these numbers a being the numbers that are met when we listen to our music at normal listening levels in our room. I can assure they at not for any speaker out there in the real world.

If Vidar is your choice I don't know, it certainly is mine. Sold off the 405-2. Kept the 520F for historical value.

Thank you for the reply! Useful impressions re: the dynamics.

I see that there are a lot of mods out there for the Quads, and of course the capacitors are all 40 years old now (with a service life of 10 years...). Updates may help with that, and other shortcomings.

I don't run balanced, so the monobloc restrictions of Vidars weren't a concern - it's the 100W of Quad vs 100W of Schiit vs the 50W of Meitner.

I was a bass player so bass matters to me. As I said originally, though, my priorities are human voice then soundstage then bass. That being said, you tell me how a loudspeaker manufacturer can meaningfully give you measurements of "percentage of distortion of the mids". I would be curious as to how they would comparably measure that so you could use it with your KEF vs Dynaco reviews.

As for the 26 Hz being totally non relevant, I cannot agree. If a speaker is rated to play within spec down to 50 Hz and another speaker is rated to play down to 30 Hz within the same specs, I would expect the latter speaker to reproduce the sound of a bass guitar more authentically than the former. That's what those measurements are trying to do.

You are of course correct about how the numbers relate to the real world. Of course! But that is not the intent: it's fallout from the car stereo wars of the 70s. The measurements are intended to provide a crude comparison between competing components, not between said components and the original sound.

For me, tiny speakers and a subwoofer do not do the same job as a pair of full(er) range speakers that reach down. The sub/satellite combo lacks authenticity and gravitas. For me.

My speakers are capable of astonishing feats of sound reproduction within those criteria I value. Finding good power amp(s) for them is A Good Thing.

Thanks for your observations.

Cheers!
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[valiant66]

Does Schiit have any plans on introducing a Canadian distributor?

YES! I would like to know this too!!!
.

 

[valiant66]

I like the sound of Bamby (Bifrost Automomy Multibit) but Bamu would be more accurate (Bifrost Autonomy Multibit Unison). Maybe someone else has a better acronym, have to see what catches on. Does Schiit have an in house nickname for Bifrost 2?

Ack! At a certain point these competing nicknames and acronyms become more confusing than useful. A couple of posts back someone was talking about NOS and I was confused about how New Old Stock applied in Sciitts case.

If the person had used Non Over Sampling the first time they mentioned it, I would have been fine, but just assuming I knew what they meant by NOS (or Mambo or Bambu or whatever) was confusing, not helpful.
.

 

[valiant66]

Drop (massdrop) is advertising a TEAC PD-501 CD PLAYER. Asthetically pleasing. I'm looking forward to what Schiit's transport will look like...

I saw that - but it's around 12" wide. For space reasons I'm hoping for something closer to 8 or 9"...
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