Schiit Bifrost Multibit Loaner

Will do.

I am really looking forward to trying it! I don't have a decent headphone rig I can test it on (I only have a Dragonfly 1.2/AKG 553 combo for listening at work) but I hope to test it out on my home system and my brother's:

Mine:
Cubox-i4Pro music server running Arch Linux/LMS/Squeezebox -> S/PDIF -> (Bifrost MB vs. Modi Uber) -> Musical Fidelity X-T100 amp -> Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers

My brother's:
Simaudio Moon 360D CD Player -> S/PDIF -> (Bifrost MB vs. Berkeley Audio Designs Series 1 DAC) -> Adcom GFA-555 -> Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M speakers

I don't have great reviewing chops but will try to post some hopefully coherent impressions in the Schiit (MultiBit) Bifrost discussion thread when we're done.

 

If I get it early to mid next week I will do my listening on my system evenings in what remains of the week. Then my one hope is to have it for at least part of the weekend so I can take it to my brother's for an audition on his system (he's an extremely busy guy so weekends are best for him.) But then I should be able to get it to @paranoidroid either by driving it to him from my brother's house (10/30 or 10/31, depending on which day he has free) or shipping it first thing Monday morning (11/1). I might also be able to convince my brother to free up an evening during the week, but then we won't have much time for it to warm up before auditioning (but if @paranoidroid wants to take advantage of @velvetx 's nice offer, I'd like to try to get it to @paranoidroid with enough time for him to give it a good listen...)

 

I don't think I can make it to the meet at Massdrop (I wasn't on the list) but I'm happy to mail it out to the next person (in Las Vegas) myself.

 

Yeah. @drfindley changed his mind in the end. What a...

LOL

Just kidding. But honestly, I think I've gotten just about enough time with Bifrost Multibit. Tonight marks the 72-hour mark of when I first plugged Bifrost Multibit in (Tuesday night). I've got until about tomorrow night for some more impressions.

 

Have to chime in and thank @purrin for handing off the Bifrost Multibit/BitFrost to me first.
I snuck in time with this DAC and found it to be a natural-sounding DAC with bass impact, good treble <that did not hurt with sibilant HD800>, and a bit "less-forward" in vocals/mids than my PS Audio PWD with v2.0.3 firmware.
Overall: solid, musical, pleasing DAC at a price point punching far above weight depending upon your priorities...
This DAC, The Geek Out V1/V2, & the TransDAC get my vote (depending upon your priorities) for "DAC at best price-point".

 

I'd love to be on the loaner program, but I may actually get the Gungnir Multibit before the Bifrost Multibit ever gets to me. I'll definitely keep this in mind.

 

Thanks for that, I'll be looking forward to it!

 

Hey @velvetx,

Take me off the list. I already have a Gungnir Multibit and I'm happy with it. Didn't even know I was on the list at all. Lol.

 

Update: @drfindley handed the Bifrost Multibit off to me this morning and I've had it up and running in my system at home for ~1-1/2 hours so far. It hasn't even fully warmed up yet and already it is a significant, striking improvement over the Modi 2 Uber that it is temporarily replacing. The sound stage is much larger and more detailed and I am discovering bass extension in my Wharfedale 9.1s that I didn't know existed. I can't wait for it to finish warming up!

 

It doesn't like it will make it to be at #16 any time soon. If the group is OK with it and wouldn't mind shifting things around, if we could get the unit the first couple days of December here in Boston then I could take it to the combined MA/NH meet on 12/5/15 to increase exposure.

No worries if not, just throwing it out there.

Edit: Nashua, New Hampshire Meet: December 5th, 2015 thread link

 

BTW, when the Bifrost Multibit was given to me, it wasn't in its original packaging. It was just lying in an old amazon shipping box that barely held it and its cable (no padding). This was fine up until now because so far it has been lovingly passed off by hand. But when it passes on from paranoidroid, it will start getting shipped.

I've dug up an old Cisco ASA part box that, while not designed for the Bifrost Multibit per se, should provide better padding for shipping. I'll put it in that before handing it off to paranoidroid. Given how much traveling it is going to be doing, I just wanted to suggest that we should all take pains to make sure that it is well packed before moving it on to the next step, particularly when shipping it...

 

I do have a schiit box, but i was planning on using it to ship my uberfrost for the upgrade after I get a listen of the Bifrost Multibit loaner.