Schiit Bifrost 2

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by RobS, Aug 28, 2019.

  1. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    True.

    But to get a True Multibit DAC that's a significant step up from Modi Multibit, but that costs significantly less than Bifrost 2 (say, $350-400ish) means zero upgradability (I mean seriously, NO upgradability) and a 2-year warranty. Which brings up the instantly obvious question of, "Are you guys cool with that?"

    It also brings up the less instantly obvious question of "Does this cause too much confusion?" I mean, if we have DACs at $99 and $249 and $349 and $699 and $899 and $1299 and $1599 and $2449, some delta-sigma and some True Multibit (which fragments and confuses the market, with all of the attention on measurements these days), does this cause wayyyyy too much confusion, and cause people to go elsewhere?

    Like I've said before with Mani, we don't need a $129 Mani 2, or a $199 Mani Uber, and maybe not even a $299 Super Duper Uber Mani, but I could get behind an all-out assault on the state of the art at $1299-1899. Because there's no confusion. People who want to spent $129 won't be cross-shopping $1299.

    Lots of factors involved. This ain't easy. We have to make some choices, which means we won't please everyone.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
  2. bboris77

    bboris77 Friend

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    To my mind, the Asgard 3 is by far the best value proposition from you guys. With Modi 3 as a companion DAC you have a fantastic $299 combo. The only issue is that their form factor does not match. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people would spring another $100 to have a DAC very similar in functionality to the Modi 3 except in with a built in power supply and perhaps a discrete amp stage. No upgradeability, cheap-ass balanced or remote necessary so it is not confused with the Bifrost. Heck, I actually prefer the Modi-style selector switch. I am sure that the issue with the d/s Bifrost was that it was $399. If it can’t be done for $199 then don’t do it.
     
  3. squishware

    squishware Friend

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    The Schiit lineup is well spaced for stages of one's audio journey, pricing is secondary.
    While I think an unbalanced, remote-less, Bifrost 2 at a (lower price point) would sell you would ultimately only be stealing business from yourself. People should pony up for the Bifrost 2 or they don't deserve such good sound.
     
  4. squishware

    squishware Friend

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    Per Mr. Moffat it takes 12 hours to fully resolve. (I think I read it on HF)
    Turn it off/on before bed and by lunch she is ripe as soft avocado.
     
  5. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Per Schiit instructions, I leave my Yiggy on 24/7. I give the Stratus 5 to 10 minutes warm up.
     
  6. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    I’m sorry to steer this thread off course again but I have no choice but to call out my recent experience of Schiit Audio’s mind-boggling laziness and greed. I ordered a b-stock Magni 3 the other week. I made the mistake of doing so fairly late in the afternoon (Pacific time), and you know what, they took their sweet time to process my order. I had to wait until first thing the next morning, like 7:30 a.m., to get the shipping notification. What had they all been doing all night? Sleeping? The worst part? In their greediness, the folks at Schiit peeled me for $49 for my new amplifier.

    To make matters worse, you can imagine my dismay to discover that I have to turn the volume pot on my overpriced and lazy amplifier all the way to 7 or 8 o’clock to be able to listen to the Rolling Stones through my fairly new Audeze LCD-2C headphones (I suppose I should be grateful that I was even able to turn the volume pot in the first place, what with it being so close to the headphone jack). And don’t get me started on greedy Audeze. At least Schiit Audio adheres to a proper religion and worships the right gods. Those folks at Audeze… they had this whole satanic “Black Friday” thing, after the annual, ritual thanksgiving sacrifice of turkeys, and they gouged me for $495 for a pair of b-stock headphones that usually cost $800. Outrageous.

    And then there’s The Rolling Stones, so lazy they’ve barely ever bothered to write new songs let alone go on tour.

    [Edit: to be clear, my post here was in response to the original comment now in the “Schiit hater from ASR trolls SBAF” discussion under “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” I'm sorry for distracting from the Bifrost 2 discussion.]
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
  7. will_f

    will_f Friend

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    Not disagreeing. Just saying that most of the time I’m not able to listen carefully enough to tell.
     
  8. tranq

    tranq Friend

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    @schiit

    I read an article the other day where a Target executive talked about how can opener sales went up once they went from selling 11 or so to 3. So you may be on to something.

    But in their case I can't imagine the can openers started at 99 and ended at 2599.

    I still think a comparably priced companion DAC for Asgard would be great. But I don't run a company, so...
     
  9. gefski

    gefski Facebook Friend

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    Other than standard consumer price brackets, I don’t find any reason for dac and amp pricing to “match”, and think a Bifrost2/Asgard3 combo is WAY sensible and will be hugely rewarding for those wanting a window into the music.

    Reminds this old man of listening to a $1000 turntable & cartridge into a $175 NAD 3020 in 1979.
     
  10. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    I definitely think there's a market for a $350 or $400 DAC. If Schiit wanted one less DAC in the lineup I'd think it'd make more sense to merge Gungnir and Yggdrasil into a single product that's priced closer to Ragnarok.
     
  11. Pogo

    Pogo Friend

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    Think about how quickly the Bifrost OG MB "A2" sold out last fall at the close out price of $349, less than 96 hours, especially after the deal was posted on the deals thread and the link to Torq's positive but informal review was posted on this thread.
    Yeah,I jumped on that deal and ran it mano y mano vs the Eitr/Modi Multibit v.2 ($428 back then) that was my primary DAC at the time. Clear winner was the last iteration of the Bifrost.
    Winner for me as I got a clear upgrade at a downlow price.
    Loser for Schiit as they got less profit and they lost a BF2 sale @ $699 which I would have eventually gotten anyway. Not saying I still won't get a BF2, but I'm not foaming at the mouth for one as I was last fall.
    So a $400-$450 Bifrost2-Lite would be attractive especially for those of us who don't need balanced outputs,a remote or a phase switch but do want to upgrade from entry level multibit.
    DAC Thunderdome Jason?
     
  12. Martigane

    Martigane Acquaintance

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    I did not see thar bifrost A2 review by Torq. Any chance you remember where it was, or have the link?
    By the way i totally understand why such update could not always be communicated or schiit would be swimming in bifrosts to update/replace.
    Its good that at least each update seems to improve both subjective and objective aspects :)

    Cheers
     
  13. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    https://forum.headphones.com/t/schiit-audio-bifrost-dac-official-thread/2472/2?u=lyer25
     
  14. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Apologies in advance if my lack of judo-search skillz didn't net the answer to this: Has anybody compared MDxAirist RDAC to Bifrost 2 directly?
     
  15. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    Yes. I had both for about 3 weeks. The bf 2 was simply in a different class all together. The rdac was quite decent for its price point. And I liked it plenty until I got the bifrost 2 in for comparison. It's not a fair fight honestly given the price gap. I did like the form factor of the rdac as it stacked nicely under my drop amp. But I sold it fairly quickly after the bf 2 arrived.

    The resolve of the bf 2 along with the spot on tone make it one of my favorite purchases in quite some time.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2020
  16. Carles

    Carles New

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    Hi all,
    It is my first message... I just wanted to show my gratitude to this community since the Bifrost 2 and Lyr 3 threads have been useful to me, to end with this combination: Lyr 3 + Bifrost 2 + Sennheiser HD600.

    [​IMG]

    I like tweaking sound combining different cables to tune the sound to my taste, currently I use these:
    - Furutech ihp-35s for Senn HD600
    - Powercords IEC Furutech + Lapp 110 CY cable + Schuko Bals (own build)
    - Qed Reference 40 RCA
    - Schiit Pyst USB
    - Superspikes adhesive (below Bifrost 2)

    [​IMG]

    I really like the Lyr 3 and think that it deserves a huge DAC as the Bifrost 2.
    Previously I had a Leben CS300XS and a Cambridge 851N, and although I don't have it now to compare, from memory I consider that Lyr3 is at the same level as the Leben for Senn HD600, and Bifrost 2 is much better than the 851N, it is just another leage... the level of detail, layers, "plankton" and the musical engagement is way ahead than 851N.

    Next step would be to change the current TS tube for a better one... :)
    Thanks,

    Carles
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
  17. GoodSchiit

    GoodSchiit Acquaintance

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    I picked up a B Stock Bifrost 2 for $639 and have had it running for the past 24 hours. Previous DAC was the Multibit option on the Jotunheim.

    I was happy with the performance from Jotunheim c/w Multibit but needed more inputs than the USB only. The Bifrost 2 can have USB and Digital Coax which allows me to use the BF2 as the DAC for my CD Transport. The optical S/PDIF could be used in the future if I get into streaming.

    Sound wise, I am thinking it’s warmer than the MB option. @purr1n mentioned it was similar to the tube bloom from the pre-Amp. So far I’ve only listened to Blu Ray audio disks - Stevie Wonder Talking Book and Simple Minds New Gold Dream. There is a definite’ richness’ to the sound. I’m liking this setup a lot.
     
  18. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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    I just received mine. Bought used from @foo_me . (TYVM!!) I've only had it hooked up a little while, but it does sound phenomenal.

    -I think I'm hearing tighter bass than my Gungnir D/S, and the smoothness that others are talking about doesn't bother me a bit so far.

    -Sounds a bit wider & airier.

    -Less bass slam I think,but plenty full for my tastes

    I'm really just wrapping my ears around this thing, but initial impressions are really positive...I think I'm quite happy.
    (anyone want to buy a Gen 5 USB Gungnir D/S....?)
     
  19. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I gotta say, I'm really happy that I switched to the Bifrost 2 a few months back since I'm working from home for the foreseeable future. The non-fatiguing nature of this DAC is a godsend for long-term listening during my workday. The lack of any frequency anomalies, grain or other crap during listening means I can listen for hours without needing to give my ears a break, and I can always glance up from my work and enjoy a really beautiful and engrossing performance. I hope everyone is remaining safe and healthy and getting to enjoy their setups during this shitshow.
     
  20. sp33ls

    sp33ls Friend

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    Just placed an order for one to upgrade from a Modi Multibit + Eitr. I'm excited! It'd be amazing if it arrived by EOD Saturday since I live in Cali, but I imagine I'll have to suffer through the weekend. :D

    Quick question, though, does the Eitr provide any real value to BF2 with the new Unison USB? It sounds like it's an improvement over Gen 5 and that it even sounds better in some cases to the onboard SPDIF input.

    I'm assuming it's better to just keep things simple and use the BF2's Unison USB port? Any advice appreciated.
     

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