Schiit Bifrost 2

I haven't listened to the A2 Gungnir myself, but usually it is described as being one of Schiit's brighter DACS... similar to the Yggdrasil A1 (hence why I've never had the desire to find one to audition).

 

Bright by Schiit house standards or bright bright?

Seriously though. Despite bright(er) how else would someone describe Gumbie's A2 sound? If I understood from early comments I've read , A1 is much closer to BF2 sound and perhaps have qualities of a baby Yggie.
A2 slightly differentiates from that path towards the warmer and brighter side? Am I correct? But what other qualities differentiate it from Bifrost 2 if someone can help? Would it help me achieve the sound signature I'm looking for?

Again thanks everyone for the help..

 

Well it’s bright compared to BF2 but not bright bright. In fact when I first listened to it for first time after owning Chord Qutest for longest time, I was taken aback with tonal correctness with right amount of warmth.

 

I can only speak to the Schiit DACs, not the Pontius. But if you're looking for warmer than Bifrost 2, Gungnir A2 is definitely not warmer. It'll push the stage back a bit, it'll give you more texture in bass notes, but it's definitely not anywhere near as warm as Bifrost 2. It's very neutral. Compared directly to Bifrost 2 it sounds lean but on its own it's really just tonally very neutral.

Edit: And if you're looking for a baby Yggdrasil, you already have one. It's called the Bifrost 2. Just be happy with what you have and roll tubes in Freya+ to adjust the sound to your liking.

 

So just to be clear, the main criteria you want over BF2 is:

• More laid back
• Better technicalities
• Less dark?

Is that right? Regarding more laid back, do you mean less incisive? IOW, less sharp and forward? But you’re still ok with it being a bit brighter? If so I’m not sure going higher in the Schiit DACs is going to achieve this. However I’ve not heard BF2 or compared to the Gungnirs, but I’ve heard all the Schiit Multibit DACs other than BF2, and they generally tend to get more incisive the higher you go. And triangulating impressions of BF2, Gungnir Multibit A2 is not likely where you want to go.

 

Thank you clear and concise information! I certainly don't even need a bright DAC. Thus the "darker" BF2. And just because I think Schiit's sound doesn't strike me as "the brightest of brights" even if we supposingly talked about a bright DAC I made the jest

Thanks. Ok thank you for letting me know that A2 is definitely not warmer. If it is slightly more bright than BF2 with the qualities you mentioned I'd be happy with it.. I don't mind for not being warmer, I'm only concerned with the "lean".. I like the richness of BF2 I just find it lacking a bit in depth and soundstage and perhaps be a little more laid back and musical.
Question is now.. Does the A2 provide enough difference in these qualities to justify the difference in price especially in EU?
This is something I have to answer myself though . But yeah I'm certainly amused by Bifrost 2 it's just that there are some genres like jazz,bepop,classical,ambient where I feel another DAC could potentially be a better match . As with many DACs I presume, very few can attest to the "amazing all arounders" .
Perhaps I could find a used A2 which would make it a much more rational buy?

Thanks for your reply. No I don't find BF2 incisive to be honest.. I find it strikes a good balance in analytical terms and in resolution without sounding like a delta sigma.
Laid back as in having more depth and not be punchy where it shouldn't be sometimes.. More musical in a sense.. Less dark for sure. I loved the fact that tubes have brightened the sound signature without sounding bright or lean! Timbre is just fine in this DAC I don't have an issue with it.. I just think its dynamic nature sometimes can be a weakness.
And maybe less congested. But this is a quality you usually find in more expensive DACs I presume.. I hope I was more helpful in understanding!

 

I had Gungnir Multibit A1 and moved to Yggdrasil GS. The Gungnir A1 is warm, tonally thicker and slightly sweet with laidback character. The GS is neutral, more incisive, slams harder and has an exciting character on BAL, and is more laidback and thicker on SE, but still not to the degree G1 one is, it's just slightly more that direction, with none of the sweetness. Previous comments indicate BF2 is closer to G1's sound, with edge to the G1, but unless you've got nervosa probably not worth the upgrade. Never heard BF2 so can't comment on personal experience.

 

Yep, the Bifrost2 is both warm (in the bass and lower mids) and bright/incisive (in the lower treble). In a headphone system, especially with the Sennheisers, the incisiveness becomes quite noticeable and ends up killing the timbre. Whereas on speakers, the incisiveness doesn’t stand out and the warmth fleshes out in a nice way. So I love the Bifrsot2 on speakers and hate it on headphones.

 

So BF2 is closer to A1's sound signature as I initially thought. Question is, A2 beyond being brighter, does it have the qualities I'm looking for? Slightly better stage,slightly warmer and more laid back?

From what I understood thus far A2 is brighter but which one is more laid back and slightly warmer with relatively higher soundstage? Maybe none has these qualities in the point I'm looking for?

That is really interesting. And would certainly explain why I almost dislike the sound of my already bright DT1990Pros especially when I hook up in the chain the Bifrost2 (not that much with my HD600s). While on my Focal speakers I find it really good! Come to think of it, it's really that much of a difference.

 

GS and Gungnir A2 are considered to have similar signatures, so more neutral, higher clarity, more layering. I think there's an opportunity cost at a certain point where you're just going to have to sacrifice warmth and tonal thickness in order to get better clarity/blackground which is essential for good layering which you might consider part of the discussion on soundstage. I was having a discussion with Jh4db536 about all of this and we both noticed a pattern where people ping pong between DAC's because it's about trade-offs.

 

I couldn't agree more about this trade off between clarity-resolution and holographic stage with slightly warmer harmonic approach. With my limited knowledge I'm willing to give up just a tad more resolution from what my BF2 offers in order to get the latter.
Thus the search for a DAC with these properties.. You've been really helpful thanks a bunch

 

For me, I don’t “tune” with the digital front end. I want to unravel all the inner detail, timbre, texture, touch, and dynamic flow that is available in every recording. So I want the best dac I can afford, and that pays off in making the downstream components better.


My preferences in sonic personality-presentation can be adjusted with headphones/loudspeakers, and to a lessor extent amplifier.

 

One person’s neutral is another’s bright (or dark). Nobody has the exact audio chain to replicate artist intent for every recording so the best we can do is to assemble gear that sounds the best to us.

 

Do you like Schitt DAC more than Chord Qutest?

 

Does anyone have an opinion on which is more neutral between the BF2 and Gungnir MB A1?

I need a neutral DAC for my speakers as they are my reference.

I currently have a BF2 but have been waiting to find G A1 instead. But the recent comments here have me questioning that.

for reference I found the Gungnir A2 to not be neutral in tonality. Typical complaint about bleached/dry/cold tonality. FR seemed neutral.

or maybe there is a better option... B2 Bomber! Ha

 

I currently own both. They’re in different chains but between the two I think the BF2 is more neutral. I think they sound more similar than different, but the BF2 nudges more towards neutral than the A1.

 

Anyone happen to know what length RCA interconnects I'll need to connect a Bifrost II sitting next to a SW51+? The Bifrost will be to the right of the SW51+ on my desk. Cheers.

 

I believe 50cm will be more than enough.

 

Thanks!

 

Bifrost 2 (BF2) vs Modius. I'm sure someone did this comparison already so here is my stream of consciousness:

- BF2 is like... 30% taller than Modius. Same width and length, though.
- Upon first listen, BF2 is much more detailed than Modius. Modius sounds obviously veiled and sibilant now to me in direct comparison. It's like... "Holee Fukk, what the hell have I been listening to?"
- BF2 is markedly brighter no matter which output. BF2 RCA is still brighter than Modius XLR.
- BF2 is less sibilant overall.
- Modius sounds like it has a lot of bass in terms of quantity, but BF2 has better quality bass.
- Modius sounds almost "compressed" (RCA output, XLR helps a bit).
- BF2 sounds less forward than Modius on some tracks for some reason.
- Soundstage, ambient cues, etc... are much more obvious with BF2 than Modius.
- BF2 is more incisive, cleaner, and detailed with XLR compared to RCA. RCA just seems to smooth over some small details, though. It's very subtle.
- With BF2, the differences between my amps are very obvious even with RCA output. THX AAA is not as spacious, dynamic or detailed as Zana Deux, for instance.

BF2 to me is probably like... the most neutral DAC ever. It's bright but not sibilant or too aggressive. I can remember feeling Gungnir A1 is a smidge warm, A2 a bit bright, Yggdrasil a bit too forward... but this, this is like it splits all of those differences. Modius just can't hold a candle to BF2 in anything, and I'm not sure I'd prefer the bigger DACs over BF2. Maybe it's a matter of taste as well. I mostly prefer warmer/darker sound and I have somewhat warm-ish amps + warmer/darker headphones. BF2 balances out my gears very well.