[RCBinTN]

I had a Supremes LP in the 70's, one song skipped at a certain place. When I hear that song now I expect the skip. I do not even remember which song, but if I hear it when it gets to the right place I anticipate the skip.

Like many here, I too had a vinyl system (years ago). It was okay ... Panasonic TT, Yamaha receiver, Advent speakers. Monster Cable for speaker wires (ha). The TT was direct drive and had bumps on the platter edge to verify correct RPM.

The story, however, is about a skip. On the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here" the lyrics are: "Did they get you to trade, Your heroes for ghosts?" But my TT returned: "Did they get you to trip, Did they get you to trip ... " Even now when I hear that song digitally, I expect that skip. We fixed it by adding a coin to the tone arm

 

[Vtsailor]

Yes, most do, but not all of them. While I don't outright dislike my Bifrost 2, it is by far my least favorite of all the Schiit DACs I've "tasted".

Please note that I have never listened to a Modi (Multibit or otherwise), but I own(ed) a Hel 1, a Hel 2e, a Modius, a Bifrost 2, a Gungnir Multibit, and an Yggy OG. And out of all of those, Bifrost 2 is the least euphonic to my ear. It's much too warm-sounding for my taste, and it very much lacks when it comes to imaging and staging. I'd say that it is probably the least resolving of all the Schiit DACs I'm familiar with.

Depending on your rig, however, this could end up being a feature, not a bug. Here's what I mean:
I am more or less exclusively listening through tubes, not solid-state (pre-)amps. Tubes tend to be on the warmer end of the spectrum to begin with, and layering Bifrost 2's warm sound signature on top of that might just be "too much of a good thing" for me.
So if you enjoy a somewhat tube-y sound yourself and you're predominantly using solid-state (pre-)amps, however, I think you've got a pretty good chance of actually enjoying what you get out of a Bifrost.

Personally, I'm a total sucker for detail retrieval, so I prefer the output that Modius, Gumby and Yggy deliver over Bifrost's. The huge downside to this is that sub-par recordings and compressed stuff can sound much better on something that's less revealing and thus more forgiving; like Bifrost.

My best guess would be that you will not enjoy Bifrost 2 if most of the following applies to you:
- you use a tube (pre-)amp
- you prefer revealing headphones like planars or ribbons
- you like your sound "clean", by which I mean detailed and revealing
- you want a maximum of staging and imaging
- you have access to lossless and/or exceptionally mastered sources
- you predominantly listen to classical music (where detail and imaging is crucial)

…and that you will enjoy Bifrost 2 if most of the following applies to you:
- you use a solid-state (pre-)amp
- you prefer the sound you get from dynamic headphones
- you enjoy revealing headphones like planars or ribbons, but sometimes find them a bit too harsh
- you feel that "loud" is more important to you than "accuracy"
- you like a "tube-adjacent" or "analog-adjacent" sound signature
- you want to listen to compressed sources and need a way to somewhat "hide" the harsh highs and other compression artifacts
- you predominantly listen to acoustic, indy, rock, or pop music
- you absolutely MUST have a remote control ;p

As you say, it depends very much on your equipment. I’m using the Freya S pre-amp, Bifrost 2(now, Cambridge Dac Magic before) Acura’s power amp and Focal 726 speakers. All of them were selected with the goal of detail, especially for midrange instruments. When I go to concerts I’m usually on stage in the middle of the viola section so my idea of what sounds “right” is probably very different than someone sitting in the audience. When performing it’s import to be able to distinguish individual instruments so you can know when to come in, adjust tuning or phrasing. (The conductor can’t give all the cues for everyone). I couldn’t really do this with the Cambridge unit but I absolutely can with the Bifrost. It’s the only DAC from Schiit I’ve tried, and I’m happy with it.

 

[A Jedi]

is there a 'technician' I can bring this to locally

Sure. Look for electronics repair close to you.

 

[Odin412]

3. Bifrost 2 and Gungnir flavors using TI DAC chips.

+1 to that!

 

[JamminVMI]

Have that same experience with home recorded cassettes. Wanted to use it to the full, so most of the time the last track didn't fit.
I also have songs where I expect the tracks to stop at that certain point where the cassette ran out of tape.
For the Dutchies among us, I called my compilation cassettes "Krentenbol muziek". Currant bun music?

Dying a little. Same exavt experience with Don’t Shoot Me, I’m only the Piano Player. One song had a ’click’ in it from a small scratch across four grooves. I still expect that as well (with a smile, I will admit).

 

[macdonjh]

Hi, has anyone noticed an appreciable difference in sound when moving from Modi Multibit to Bifrost 2? In the context of using optical/coax wi RCAs.

Just considering my next potential move.

Andrew

I generally agree with those who've responded so far: my Bifrost 1 multi-bit has more detail and sounds "bigger" than my son's Modi multi-bit. He and I both use USB for digital in, and RCA for analog out. This is based on a whopping hour or so of comparison while I was reviewing a pair of head phones. For me the most immediately obvious difference is Modi's bass is not as textured as Birfrost's bass, it's more one-notey. Modi's highs may be smoother, but I, like a couple of others here, hear that as more detail retrieval from Bifrost rather than harshness. To me, Bifrost (at least I multi-bit) is a worthwhile upgrade over Modi multi-bit. I've had a tougher time describing the differences I hear between Bifrost and Gungnir (now both multi-bit versions).

I pay very little attention to imaging when listening to head phones. If I want a sound stage, I turn on my speaker amps.

For what it's worth, I use my Bifrost with my Mjolnir I and a pair of planar head phones.

 

[emorrison33]

I learned to drive in New Joysey. And have no problems driving NYC and Boston. Vermont has some cool twisty roads, though nothing like the Tail of the Dragon. That poop's bugnuts insane. And I'll never look at my commute the same again.

I've lived in NJ most of my life. Relatives live in Vermont. My uncle decided to drive down and visit one time. He got to the Parkway and called my father. "Bill, there's 5 lanes!! I can't handle this". We had to go pick him up.

 

[rkw]

Anyway I'm really excited for the change and I think it may really help the problem I have with high frequency in my system.

What problem do you have with high frequency? Differences between Yggy cards are subtle and it is unlikely the LIM update will change your issue. I would look elsewhere in your system or room setup.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

Like many here, I too had a vinyl system (years ago). It was okay ... Panasonic TT, Yamaha receiver, Advent speakers. Monster Cable for speaker wires (ha). The TT was direct drive and had bumps on the platter edge to verify correct RPM.

The story, however, is about a skip. On the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here" the lyrics are: "Did they get you to trade, Your heroes for ghosts?" But my TT returned: "Did they get you to trip, Did they get you to trip ... " Even now when I hear that song digitally, I expect that skip. We fixed it by adding a coin to the tone arm

Growing up with 8 tracks made me think that there were supposed to be a few songs on every album that had a pause/click at some point.

 

[emorrison33]

The twisty roads I like. It's the twisty road with a downhill slope of 70deg that give me the willies.
(sister-in-law up there).

And no street lights anywhere!

 

[Lavakugel]

I do need some advice...

I'm eyeing an aegir from schiit...is it correct that a need to buy a preamp, a dac and a source (streamer) to listen to spotify? Is there another solution? Which setup are you using?

 

[Balthazar B]

I do need some advice...

I'm eyeing an aegir from schiit...is it correct that a need to buy a preamp, a dac and a source (streamer) to listen to spotify? Is there another solution? Which setup are you using?

You will need all those functions upstream from your Aegir. You can go about this in different ways:

• All-in-one (streamer/DAC/preamp) solutions that support Spotify Connect. Examples: BlueSound Node 2i, Cambridge Audio CXN(V2);
• A Spotify Connect source and DAC/Pre combo. Example: Raspberry Pi w/Raspotify and a Schiit Joutenheim w/DAC module;
• All separates. Many, many component choices ranging from cheap to $W.T.F.

As you might guess, the more functions you separate, the more functionality and flexibility you get.

FWIW, for Spotify, I run a RPi -> Mimby -> Freya+ -> monoblocks.

 

[Lavakugel]

Thanks for this information. But is it correct that Aegir will outperform in terms of sound vs bluesound and cxn. Otherwise why should I invest time for individual components.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

"Outperform in terms of sound" is somewhat hard to quantify. Maybe start off with something like a Bluesound Powernode which would be a "just add speakers" setup, meaning that it has a streamer/dac/pre-amp/and amp. More expensive options include the Naim Uniti Atom and NAD M10.
See how you like it and upgrade/not upgrade as you see fit. My two cents.

 

[Balthazar B]

Thanks for this information. But is it correct that Aegir will outperform in terms of sound vs bluesound and cxn. Otherwise why should I invest time for individual components.

The Aegir is just a power amplifier. But a very, VERY good one at a bargain price. So as a power amp, it will almost certainly sound better with resolving speakers than, say, the power amp in a BlueSound PowerNode. You'll still need to feed the Aegir with Spotify's digital stream converted to analog and then with some line current that a preamp function provides. Both the Node 2i and CXN(V2) include DACs for the conversion and at least rudimentary preamp functions (like volume control) for the line current.

If you're using an Aegir, the simplest upstream source/processing setup for Spotify that I'm aware of are the all-in-one combo solutions I described above.

Hope this helps!

p.s. I should add that the differences between the PowerNode amp and the Aegir will be somewhat reduced with Spotify's 320 bit Ogg stream, which introduces compression artifacts into the music. If/when Spotify releases lossless HiFi streaming, then the differences will almost certainly become more pronounced.

p.p.s. @Lavakugel, in the other thread, you mentioned that you're running Dali speakers. Which model? Also, interesting name you chose. Wohnst du in Deutschland?