Schiit Bifrost 2

High current class A/B (or class A) for the win when it comes to the LS50.

I assumed he meant the Rag 2 since he said amp/DAC, but good to know for the OG Rag.

 

@jerky I run LS50 (also Rhythmik L12 sub) with single Aegir, Freya S, and Bifrost 2. I don’t have any glare or hardness. I think there are some folks here that run LS50 with mono Aegir with good results.

 

Thanks folks! I appreciate the comments and the advice. I'm staring at my compass and its moving all over the place. I think it will settle down soon. I really love the Rogue and the kefs. They actually sound incredible on some well recorded tracks. With the bifrost. The homemade 10sub while certainly not a Rhythmik is pretty good in my small Office. And I am thinking a Mini DSP could help.?.?.and or some crossover work. I already have several amps and at least 3 receivers and 5 sets of speakers. You guys know what mean! I've got to stop buying and start selling.

 

Letting the compass settle down (and just listening to music) is always a good idea. As Roy Hall of Music Hall has been quoted “...relax, there’s never been a hi-fi emergency...”.

 

Not sure if this has been reported before (I'll admit to not having read this entire thread) but after hearing so many good things about Unison and it solving some connectivity issues I was having with USB reliability in the past this came as a surprise.

Been using the BF2 since March and never had any complaints until now. Listening to the Blade Runner 2049 sound track, first track "2049" and was noticing _very_ noticeable distortion at 12-13sec when the drums hit. Was also there (less) at the beginning of the track, but this was the "wait, I didn't imagine that" moment.

MBPro 16" -> USB -> BF2 using Roon/Tidal/Flac. Happening with both a Mangi 3 & Jot (Bal) to Elegia & Elex.

Wwhen I tried the same song through the Modi 3 -> Magni 3, problem went away. Lots of changing cables, devices, etc and I've finally diagnosed the problem to the StarTech Thunderbolt 3 hub not playing nice with the BF2. Skipping the StarTech (I don't have any USB-C to USB-B cables, but I have a small TB3 multifunction adapter) or going through an Eitr got rid of the distortion.

Not sure how much this was altering less challenging tracks, but definitely not going to go through the StarTech anymore. Didn't notice any distortion with the Modi 3 through the StarTech fwiw.

 

I just tried 2049, but I cannot find there has distortion on this track, specially double check 10 to 14 seconds. I got my BF2 on this Monday, love it!

 

Anyone tried to use USB reclock on BF2? E.g. Mutec mc3 or Grimm audio CC1, is there any improvement? I wonder if Unison is good enough so that any reclocker are no necessary.

 

Colossal waste of money. Go Unison, go Pi2Aes.. or go home

 

To simply answer your question, possibly. Rag is rated at 60W at 8ohms. Those only have a sensitivity of 85 db, and power range says 25W - 100W. As far as what I recall, the Rag is a better headphone amp than as a speaker amp. Vidar is probably a better (and cheaper) choice.

 

To echo what @Baten said, you'll need to go to a good SPDIF source to beat Unison out of the box. I recall several members trying USB decrapifiers of various types when Schiit released Gen V USB and found they all degraded the sound versus straight into the port. Unison will be even more so.

 

And something like the Grimm CC1 is 4x the cost of the Bifrost2 and requires an additional transport or device feeding it, which is a bit of a missing-the-forest-for-the-trees kinda thing.

 

To use Pi2Aes with Bifrost2, connect Spdif or Toslink and leave Unison alone?

 

Yep that's right. Good coax cable recommended. Can go Pi2AES BNC>75ohm RCA cable if you are OCD.

 

Thanks! What is OCD?
Will Pi2AES BNC to Bifrost 2 win Unison a lot?

Have you tried power the Pi2AES by Li-ion batteries? Will this win Unison more?

 

-Obsessive compulsive disorder, it's just a joking way to mean 'if you are obsessed about the smallest details'. Spdif RCA is fine. BNC is just better.
-Pi2Aes is fine using stock PSU... others claim LPS benefits but stock is just perfectly fine already.

 

Went from a D50 to the BF2 as well. The BF2 showed me the DAC really does matter.

 

I found Pi2Aes use NDK oscillator for 44.1Khz and 48Khz multiple clock, Allo gears also use NDK, Bifrost 2 Unison use an unknown brand I cannot find it out, I wonder if I change them to Crystek has day and night change. Bifrost 2 use 7805 LDO for 5V source, it is too low end LDO for a $699 Dac, I may change it to a better one

 

Have you changed an oscillator before and experienced a "day and night" difference?

 

If any oscillator has no difference on sound quality, there has no necessary to use of reclockers, actually there has big difference on sound quality between use excellent and normal clock.

 

I will have to take your word on that. Or not.