Schiit Bifrost 2

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

  1. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    No point using Eitr instead of the built in Unison: it’ll sound worse, add more clutter and occupy an extra power outlet.
     
  2. Maven86

    Maven86 Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2016
    Likes Received:
    395
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    DMV
    I wouldn't think so. Isn't Eitr based on USB Gen 5? I haven't heard unison on BF2 yet but supposedly it's a step up from Gen 5.
     
  3. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    I'd much rather use Eitr than Unison, but I, of course, though Unison sounded kinda like doo-doo.

    That said, I'd much rather use something like the DigiOne Sig or Pi2AES than any of the above. And in that regard, no, I wouldn't bother with Eitr.
     
  4. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,455
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Not sure why you feel like Unison sounds like crap. I think that it sounds pretty damn good. Besides fixing my usb jitter issues, I had both EITR and Unison at the same time and easily preferred Unison. But it's all good. We each have different setups and different ears. ;)
     
  5. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,697
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I only spent an evening comparing Unison to DigiOne Sig and came to a similar conclusion. Not a huge difference, but both are noticeably better than Gen5 (using Yggdrasil A2), with DigiOne Sig BNC out besting everything else in my system.
     
  6. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    I talked about it at length in my Bifrost 2 impressions. I think it's somewhere in this thread.

    Unison is too soft, bloomy, tubby. Lacks proper incisiveness and dynamics. That it sounded spacious was the only thing I thought it had going for it, albeit this was at the expense of sounding too diffuse sometimes as well.

    It reminded me of older USB implementations, but with a warmer, tube-like quality to it.

    Maybe it sounds different in the other Schiit DACs. Maybe it's really sensitive to USB input quality, which is not a tweaking road I want to travel.
     
  7. Sean H

    Sean H New

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2020
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Omaha, NE USA
    This is fairly similar to my experience but maybe not to the extent you’re describing. I found the new Unison to sound really good but have found that there is a sense of a diffuse soundstage and imaging. I don’t really feel any lack in dynamics though. I’m now going optical to a Musiland rate converter/reclocker and then coaxial to the Bifrost 2 and It sounds better than the USB with better focus and accuracy. I still think the Unison sounds great and quite honestly I think I only noticed the diffuse quality when I compare to using the Musiland.
     
  8. bjack70

    bjack70 New

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    3
    I have been experimenting with various dacs and jitter filters for over 20 years. This year I purchased the Bifrost 2 and gave USB a try. I was immediately disappointed with the sound of the Unison USB. I tried several USB cables; Pyst, WyWires Silver, and others. None equaled the musicality and clarity I achieved with S/PDIF. I have modified my Schiit BF2 and Eitr by replacing the RCA digital connectors with BNCs. I tried several highly regarded digital cables and found a winning combination; a WyWires Silve USB cable to the Eitr and a custom WyWires Platinum cable with Oyaide BNCs to the BF2. As an experiment, I then went back to the WyWires USB direct to the Unison USB. The sound of the Unison was OK, but the soundstage collapsed and became two dimensional. Images of instruments that used to be clearly focussed beyond the speakers were now blurred.
     
  9. boredpanda

    boredpanda Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2020
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    Sweden
    I'm here at SBAF to learn and to possibly get the most out of my money. The BF2 is on my short list and .. I'll need about $1400 worth of cables to make it sound good? This kinda read like a WyWires ad dude.
     
  10. famish99

    famish99 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,714
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    While I'd agree SPDIF is definitely better than USB with the right transport. But if you're using Eitr, you're still running USB there bud.
     
  11. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    233
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Fairfield, IA
    When I run my BF2 with USB out of an old (2012) Mac Mini, I am astounded at how good it sounds. It is within a gnat's ass of SPDIF out of my Pi2Design 502DAC streamer, which many SBAFers use because of its high quality.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2020
  12. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2017
    Likes Received:
    7,738
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Lol, I’m a cable believer, but come on man, seriously??

    Also, as others have alluded to, Pi2AES SPDIF out stomps all over Eitr.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2020
  13. gefski

    gefski Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2017
    Likes Received:
    112
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest USA
    Yep. Eitr is Gen5 in an outboard box. I’ve never seen a Gen5/Unison comparison favoring Gen5, but everyone’s system synergy is different.
     
  14. famish99

    famish99 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,714
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I recently got a Mac for work and I've found the Mac OS audio stack does seem to do a better job with USB than Windows. I experienced a significantly smaller delta between USB and my Rednet than I did on Windows, but I'd still easily say SPDIF wins.
     
  15. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2018
    Likes Received:
    10,517
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Palms Of The Coasts, FL
    Eww, Mac.
     
  16. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Before you f**k with S/PDIF cables, make sure your audio rig is isolated from your noisy source...
    That's why we have galvanic isolation in the first place.

    Unison sounds really good in my B2 at work, running off an isolation transformer.

    Despite being on a separate power outlet and off a power conditioner, my home system sounds better when my desktop PC is off, even when it's not the source.

    All this isolation is moot if you share ground with noisy devices, even if not part of the audio chain.
     
  17. neomax

    neomax RobS / hinterlander

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2020
    Likes Received:
    68
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Finland
    so you like the roundness, fuzziness of Eitr. the gen5 usb boards installed on the schiit dacs are sharper sounding and perhaps unison is even more sharper (idk dont have it)

    what are your issues with unison besides the collapse soundstage?
     
  18. neomax

    neomax RobS / hinterlander

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2020
    Likes Received:
    68
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Finland
    do macs have isolated usb ports that arent shared to a bus? i used to have a thinkpad with dedicated 5V USB port that was better than all
     
  19. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,697
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    Pro tip: you can reply to multiple posts in single post using the "Quote" button. Cuts down on needless clutter.
     
  20. Martigane

    Martigane Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2019
    Likes Received:
    97
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Belgium
    I got both Bifrost 1 multibit Rev B (May 2019). and Bifrost 2 (March 2020) currently at home.
    I thought I'd have some fun comparing them during this lockdown.

    Comparing exclusively via usb so far (rev5 Vs Unison), I have received the Bifrost 2 a week ago, and it remains turned on at all times.
    I mostly use my (modest) work headphone system for this comparison:
    PC -> Bifrost -> DIY W.H.A.M.M.Y HPA -> HD58X modded

    I found that the biggest difference is the sound stage, which is laid back and very wide on B2, and more forward and a bit more flat (in comparison) on B1.

    Bass slam is better on B2, but surprisingly only in the low bass.
    I found Bifrost 2 to sound cleaner than B1, as if B1 suffered from a bit of mid congestion. The more I listen to it, the more this congestion seems related to B1's worse/more fuzzy imaging, and to be responsible for the less clean presentation, mostly when mids are involved.
    It makes for less meat/body on the B2 acoustic guitars, less "saturated" bass lines, which sometimes can sound like a lack of bite on mid-centric tracks.
    On the other end of the spectrum, those transients are really impressive on the B2, with a lot more nuances than B1.
    Because of this, Bifrost 2 sounds warmer on low frequency content (double bass for example), and actually brighter when there is some treble content (acoustic guitars, trumpets..). B2 definitely sounds more extended on both ends, especially top end.
    While B2 is more extended, I get less listening fatigue than on B1. Interesting :)

    Attack and decay sound faster on B2 to my ears, as notes seem to start (leading edge/transient dynamic) and stop (decay) pretty much instantly, at least faster than B1.


    I can post some more detailed/definitive comparison in few weeks once I get cured from the new toy syndrome.

    [​IMG]

    Next steps, new headphones and a Pi2AES..
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2020

Share This Page