New, mid-price Schiitt Bifrost DAC on the way

[Feanor]

Further impressions =>

Now with >25 hours of burn-in the unit should now be stabilizing. My early impressions are confirmed and enhanced ...

...
Bifrost characteristics, (relative to my other DACs):

1. Really great PRaT, (microdynamics)
2. Relatively full, robust, but somewhat forward midrange
3. Very good resolution & transparency
4. Very good depth & width of soundstage ...

Actually the positive above were understated. What I'm hearing is more palpable instruments and voices, more like real performers in a real space. Furthermore the stronger dynamics/PRaT have made percussions sounds, including piano, virtually a new experience.

This is well beyond my expectations -- it's the stuff of audiophile delight. I know it's a cliché but almost like hearing my recordings for the first time.


I note that my "early post-initial" impressions were mostly established using the S/PDIF interface; shortly after my earlier post I switch to the USB interface and I'm pretty sure I am hearing sweeter, more transparent highs and maybe less obtrusive midrange forwardness.

I suspect my better result with USB is more than burn-in because I noticed it immediately when I switched over. The reason might be just that my S/PDIF cable is too long: it's 30 feet, and while S/PDIF cables should be longer than 1.5 m (~6 ft) according to techno-pundits, they should ideally be shorter than 12 ft. In any case the Schiit's custom USB driver is highly effective

[blackraven]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. It is always gratifying when a new piece of kit works out.

[Feanor]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. It is always gratifying when a new piece of kit works out.

Thanks; yes, like I said, this is what the audiophile experience is all about.

My expectations were exceed though not necessarily in the way I expected. Having tried Schiit's much lower priced MODI and enjoyed its smoother, slightly fuller-bodied presentation, I expected the BIFROST to be more of the same. Instead the BIFROST is neutral and doesn't cloak the upstream nasties the way MODI does to some extent. Rather, as indicated, its strengths are transparency and PRaT, (though it's a bit fuller-bodied than my other, older DACs).

I'm also glad to note the my Class D Audio SDS-258 amp and my Magneplanar speakers are able to convey, and not cloak, the superior qualities of the BIFROST. On that point, my opinion is the Class D Audio amp remains that it is a garbage in => garbage out, quality in => quality out device.

[blackraven]

Thanks; yes, like I said, this is what the audiophile experience is all about.


I'm also glad to note the my Class D Audio SDS-258 amp and my Magneplanar speakers are able to convey, and not cloak, the superior qualities of the BIFROST. On that point, my opinion is the Class D Audio amp remains that it is a garbage in => garbage out, quality in => quality out device.

I really like my Class D Audio CDA-254 amp. They are quality amps and as you say, they convey the quality of music that is put into them. For the money, there is no amp that compares. They are not perfect, leaning a little to the bright side but paired with the right gear they are stellar amps.

Does the Bitfrost tame some of the brightness of the amp? My GF DAC-11 with the tube upgrade did this for me and took the sound of my MMG's to a new level of sound quality and enjoyment.

[Feanor]

I really like my Class D Audio CDA-254 amp. They are quality amps and as you say, they convey the quality of music that is put into them. For the money, there is no amp that compares. They are not perfect, leaning a little to the bright side but paired with the right gear they are stellar amps.

Does the Bitfrost tame some of the brightness of the amp? My GF DAC-11 with the tube upgrade did this for me and took the sound of my MMG's to a new level of sound quality and enjoyment.

Succinctly, no, the Bifrost does nothing to tame, cloak, hide, mask, or mitigate the class D brightness: it's tonally very neutral. I guess if want to do that you're going to need a different amp or a tube preamp, tube buffer, or the like.

Personally I could loose some of the brightness, but not at the expense of loosing transparency, detail, or dynamics.

[blackraven]

Feanor, I was just on the AC forum reading in the planar circle about a guy who decided to try a Peach Tree Nova integrated amp/dac combo with his Magnepan 3.7's. He loves the sound. I did not know this but the Nova has a built in tube preamp using 6N1P tubes that AVA.hifi use to use. PT did this to tame the version 2 Class D Audio Amps that it puts in the Nova.

Is Peachtree Audio Full of It?

[Feanor]

Feanor, I was just on the AC forum reading in the planar circle about a guy who decided to try a Peach Tree Nova integrated amp/dac combo with his Magnepan 3.7's. He loves the sound. I did not know this but the Nova has a built in tube preamp using 6N1P tubes that AVA.hifi use to use. PT did this to tame the version 2 Class D Audio Amps that it puts in the Nova.

Is Peachtree Audio Full of It?

That's interesting. Their 'nova125' integrated looks like a great deal combining Sabre DAC, tube-buffered preamp, and 125wpc class D power amp for MSRP $1499.

On the other hand much less of a deal is Peachtree's 220 power amp that looks suspiciously like Class D Audio's SDS-440CS amp -- except 2x the price !!!

I'll repeat what I've said on several occasions: these Class D Audio amps, (I have an SDS model), sound just fine with really good recordings -- it's the crappy recordings and/or poor associated equipment that makes them sound bad. I say this again with emphasis now that i have the BIFROST, which for its part, is neutral but provides superior transparency & PRaT.

I suspect the same garbage in/out, quality in/out principle applies to various other class D makes as well as A/B solid states like Bryston or Krell that are so often maligned by many audiophiles.

Also, I'm sticking with my hypothesis that injecting a little 2nd order harmonic distorion into a system can mask nasties from recording or other components, whether this is done with a tube DAC, standalone tube buffer, tube preamp, a tube power amp -- or may be any decent s/s amp with zero or minimum negative feedback. (Hello, Pass Labs.)

[Feanor]

My Bifrost is currently back at Schiit Audio being fitted with the Uber Analog upgrade -- I can't hardly wait to get it back since I'm having to make do with my previous, cheapo SMSL SD-1955, which while great for $60, ain't in the same league as the Bifrost. (See my concurrent post about rolling opamps in the SD-1955 HERE.)

The Bifrost, both standard and upgraded versions, are reviewed in the August '13 Stereophile by Jon Iverson. Iverson said, "the Biforst has the highest ratio of value to price of any product I've reviewed".

[harley .guy07]

Now that's the Schiit (I know corny). But I have also heard great things about the Shiit products and Paul McGowan of PS Audio just wrote a piece about Schiit products and how good they are for the money and he knows the guys that started the company. I believe it is Jason Stoddard from Sumo, and Mike Moffat of Theta so Schiit has a good pedigree. I would have probably looked at them as a possible product back when I bought My PS Audio Digilink 3 but after buying that piece then trading it in for the NuWave I love the PS Audio sound. But would love to hear the Schiit and see how it compares to some of the other dacs out there under 1k. I really like the option to change out the USB card on the dac so if things change or you want to add another capability to it later they might offer another USB card so that can be done. And I like the ability to do upgrades to it as well.

[Feanor]

.... I really like the option to change out the USB card on the dac so if things change or you want to add another capability to it later they might offer another USB card so that can be done. And I like the ability to do upgrades to it as well.

In fact they are (already) offering in a USB upgrade for the Bifrost and the Gungnir DACs.

The only improvement they mention is the ability to handle 176.2 kHz sampling rate. I don't have any music that rate. I did get the original USB with my Bifrost and it works very well, plus I generally use S/PDIF coax, so I won't be upgrading.

[Feanor]

Bifrost now UPGRADED to Uber Analog!

I sent my Bifrost to Schiit Audio for their recent Uber Analog upgrade, $100 installed (plus shipping). You can order the board and install it yourself for $70, but I think the small extra charge & shipping cost is worth it. See HERE.

The Uber Analog is the single-ended version of the analog section of the higher-priced Gungnir DAC. It's all descrete and without capacitors in the signal path. I'm pleased with the results and recommend it although the improvement over the base version is fairly subtle. The character of the sound remains the same, i.e. excellent transparency and PRaT, but no tube-type warming.

Sterephile recently review the Bifrost and Bifrost Uber, see HERE. John Iverson, the reviewer said, "Regardless of price, the Schiit Bifrost is a carefully designed and beautifully built DAC. I can see its appeal. In fact, the Bifrost has the highest ratio of value to price of any product I've reviewed.".