Yup, grateful! I’ve been proactive in informing him that I’m ready to return and it remains in good care, but that I’d also enjoy as much time as I can have with it. The hum issue is nonexistent since I was more tidy in how i situated and ran the power cable - not scientific and I haven’t had to troubleshoot.
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You try and nullify that by finding as many reviews as you can; however, there are probably less than 20 of these things out and about and not everyone who has one will post about it. There’s two of us here and maybe around 5-10 on SBAF? Im not on HF or reddit so who knows whats going on there.
Tubes makes a positive difference with it if you are interested in putting in the resources and willing to accept that some of your trials may not yield much improvement or may make things worse. The general consensus is, which I agree with, is that stock is absolutely fine and you are not silly for not wanting to tube roll.
That is very good, have you used any other DACs with it yet? Or headphones?
True and agreed. Some have a personal threshold of what’s “good enough.” Others seek to explore. Others enjoy the chase/hunt. We each have our own respective audio compass.
@Roark I now have the Bifrost 2 DAC and African Blackwood Eikon and HD650 – much enjoyment of the music.
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Awesome, I may have to check the Bitfrost 2 out as everyone seems to be loving it. Maybe I do not need to spend the extra $1k on a Chord Qutest.
I’m quite happy with the BF2. I haven’t heard the Qutest, but I’ve heard the Hugo 2 DAC/amp. Schiit multibit and Chord FPGA topologies are each enjoyable in their own right, with the BF2 maybe having a bit more color (not a negative in my view). I’d personally allocate the $1k elsewhere.
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Thanks for that quick comparison, I enjoy the Chord sound. It wouldn’t hurt to venture out of my comfort zone and give the Bitfrost a shot.
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Chord products seem to divide opinion. I havent listened to any of their offerings myself and for some reason I always find a reason to not buy products from them. Not helpful I know.
If you like the Chord sound than cool, but I agree with you and think you should really try the BF2 if you can. Works really well with the Starlett and would more than likely pair well with the Stratus. Plus less $$.
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Chord does tend to divide opinion, I have heard the Hugo 2 and the Hugo TT2 which were very solid and a significant step up from the Mojo as expected. I really wish the Schiitr had the BF2 available for demo when I visited back in July. I still have about five months wait left for my Stratus, so plenty of time to deliberate on the DAC upgrade. I may say F_ck it and get the BF2 in the next few weeks. Hell, I probably would have bought it if I did not spend as much on tubes for my Stratus placeholder, WA3. I went a bit tube crazy and spent about $450 on power and driver tubes…I am staying away from buying any more tubes for now…So with the amp and extra tubes that is about $800 
Thanks guys, appreciate the nudge on the BF2. It is on the try list for now, if any other suggestions come to mind that would pair well with the Starlett/Stratus please let me know.
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@tommytakis how would you describe the Sonic Frontiers DAC? I have seen a few come across the used market, and thought about it.
Is the tube portion the killer feature, or is there more?
I recall Donald referencing this company in our first in-person conversation, at least I think this was the DAC he liked with his equipment.
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I have the SFD2 Mk II w/ Siemens A frame tube and I love it, possibly my favorite DAC (so far). Before this I’ve mainly used Schiit multibit DACs as my main (Bifrost 2, Gumby A1/A2, Yggdrasil A1) and SFD2 has much better layering and dynamics (micro and macro) than my previous DACs. Downside is these are kind of ancient and be wary of buying from unknown sellers. I bought mine from a friend that also refreshed the internals recently so I felt safe buying from him. Oh but they’re also being serviced by Parts Connexion so you can still upgrade or refresh outdated parts whenever you want to!
I think having tube stage is what gives such expansive and 3D staging.
Yep, Donald uses the Sonic Frontiers CD Player (SFCD I think) whenever he showcases his amps.
SFD1 is the entry level which has a more warm tilt tonality whereas the SFD2 is more towards “neutral.” Tonality can be fine-tuned by tube rolling. telefunkens sound a bit more laidback and warmer and Siemens sound slightly lean,aggressive, and lively (my preference)
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Are there any new production DACs that somewhat resemble the SFD2 in performance? It is held with high regard by a few folks.
I like my BF2 but Im always curious.
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Thanks for the lowdown on it, and for the advice on buying used. I will definitely keep peeking at it when it comes up for sale again, worth checking it out as one of my Musical Fidelity DAC has a tube stage, and it definitely does some stage magic over my Chord Mojo. One recommendation I was provided for a tube DAC is the Border Patrol SEi, which seems similar in execution to the Sonic Frontiers.
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Hmm honestly i’m not too sure, did you have a specific aspect of sound you wanted to improve on from bifrost 2?
Dangerous Convert 2 I heard had wide staging with r2r like timbre and crazy slam, but it’s balanced only and I haven’t heard it myself so I can’t say much in terms of synergy w starlett or a thorough comparison
Crane song solaris apparently has one of the best staging with a decent headphone amp but kind of tipped up bright with weak macrodynamics?
They all seem to have some trade offs and depends on which aspect of sound you prioritize
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I know its way too simplistic to just say I want a better DAC than the BF2!!
I was more just curious since you mentioned better layering and dynamics, which given the genres of music I listen to, is appealing to me.
Overall Im happy with the BF2 as a DAC, think it would be very hard to beat what I have now unless I go crazy on the $$$. Im not sure it makes much sense to upgrade the DAC unless I upgrade the Starlett first but Ive got it to a really good place now with my tubes so I dont think Im missing a whole hell of a lot. Honestly, Id first try to pair the best cans I could with my setup before I went and ventured on to another DAC. The reason I jumped on a used Utopia was I wanted improved treble performance and it is a really nice combination.
My experience so far with tube rolling, which Im now done with, and expanding my headphone stable, which Im not done with, is Im surprised at how much more value I am placing on dynamics/transient response. At first I was more about tonal balance and timbre (which are still important to me) but I found with my rolling I tended to like tube choices that effected the more “technical” aspect of the amp rather than trying to change its balance. I went from trying to optimize the tonality of the Starlett to trying to get that blue beast to jump.
If I were to nitpick the BF2-Starlett combo I wouldnt mind a bit blacker background, maybe a touch more treble energy (although it plays well with the Utopia so thats a double-edged sword) and a bit better transient performance. And more slam would be fun at times. Those are really nitpicky though. For the price the BF2-Starlett combo is close to a no-brainer to try to get a step or two out of midfi. Im happy with the staging and layering, at least to the point that Ive never thought to myself I wish this was a bit better.
If I had the cash Id go out and get a Wavedream and a Stellaris and convince myself that my search is over!!
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Honestly think you’d love my SFD2 but you live so far from me 
more expansive staging, better slam, blacker background, resolving af → SFD2. It’s crazy they used to cost A LOT more before
you and me both we can only dream for now
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This amp is very tempting to try
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If you wanna try get your order in, it’s a 6 month wait
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It’s only small downside is that it doesn’t kick very hard. Having said that it still has good macrodynamics, the top end of that just won’t knock your head off.
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