DUH… been a long day 
2 Likes
I’ve got a Bifrost2 of the way!!! I’m super pumped. I plan on running it head to head with my Topping D70 this week and will reports back when I’ve formed an opinion.
9 Likes
I am an owner of a Topping D70 too and right now I was looking for an upgrade and the Bifrost 2 is on my radar! what amp are you planning to pair the bifrost 2 with?
1 Like
I recently got a ZMF Pendant which I will pair with the Bifrost2. I’ll be listening with a pair of Verite closed.
10 Likes
Killer combo. I’ve got the Bifrost 2 and Pendant SE, and a Verite Closed on the way.
3 Likes
I almost feel like a meme for this forum with Bifrost2-> Pendant → VCs.
Good combos are talked about for a reason. Kinda like the the Bottlehead Crack and the Sennheiser 650 or 600.
3 Likes
Bifrost 2 > Valhalla 2 > VO. Because I’m a rebel. 
6 Likes
So I’ve had the Bifrost2 for about 24 hours. It’s still early days, but I can certainly understand what reviewers mean when they say that it is smooth.
It has been confusing for my brain because my mind associates that smooth quality of sound with a lack of detail, but the detail is there. How can this be? It’s almost as if the detail is there, but I just don’t care to pay attention to it, if that makes any sense. This is in stark contrast to the Topping D70, which kind of forces the detail down one’s throat (or ear canals in this context).
I still have a lot more listening to do in order to further appreciate the sound, but that’s what we call ‘a good problem’.
18 Likes
It is an amazing DAC. It does a lot of obvious things that are easier to notice (slam, macrodynamic, detail) and also subtle things that need time to appreciate (microdynamic, timbre, image body, etc).
Enjoy bro.
7 Likes
That’s awesome to hear–thanks for sharing! Quick question: any thoughts on the soundstage/imaging for BF2?
1 Like
Still TBD. I recently got a ZMF Pendant and so it’s been difficult to disambiguate what effect the Pendant is having vs the Bifrost when it comes to soundstage/imaging.
I’m going to pull out the GCHA solid state amp tomorrow and I’ll be able to make a better assessment.
2 Likes
TLDR: So after listening a while on my solid state amp, a PS Audio GCHA, I am really impressed with the staging of the Bifrost2.
I have always found soundstage to be very confusing when trying to relate what I hear to how reviewers describe it. I never really have heard my headphone setup produce a stage in the way I visualize a stage from the audiences perspective.
My ear’s eye (if that makes any sense) has always put me on the the stage, so to speak. I hear instrument around me from about 270 degrees (like missing the 90 degrees directly behind my head). In addition I also perceive a great deal of vertical differentiation. Many time I feel like an instrument is coming from a higher or lower angle.
With all of that said, each instrument when separable is only placed very vaguely in my mind, somewhere low and to my left and even that placement is fuzzy, I wouldn’t be able to point in that direction. One might say I have both poor accuracy in placement and poor precision.
With the Bifrost 2 the precision of placement is hugely increased. I would also say the accuracy of placement is improved, but not to the same extent. In addition the separability of the instruments is far more refined. The piano is in this area and the sax is over there. The effect of this has been really interesting. Often times when I listen to a track I know well, I will follow an instrument I like throughout the song, really listening to the bass for example. However, unless that instrument has an extreme positioning (like faaar right or left) I wouldn’t really take it’s spatial information into account. Now, with the Bifrost2, I feel like that spatial information is hard to ignore even when the positioning is much more subtle.
Comparing the GCHA and the Pendant using the Bifrost. The GCHA is a tad cleaner and brings greater precision to my placement and the Pendant seems to fill the ‘space’ between instruments (without bring them closer together) in a way that makes the music feel more natural, live, and realistic.
Thank for coming to my TED talk 
11 Likes
Lol awesome–thank you for the comprehensive assessment! And to compare with the solid state and tube amps is also super helpful.
If you don’t mind, just one more question: how is the latency for the BF2? Anything noticeable or is it good to go?
1 Like
As for latency I don’t have a great test.
For music, I use Audirvana and there is a noticeable delay that Audirvana introduces when changing sample rate. However, the Bitfrost also make a loud click when changing sample rates, reconnecting to the source of unplugged, and turning on. This is a delay, but since the music doesn’t start until after, it isn’t latency per se. Pause and start feel very quick.
I have watched movies with the bifrost as the dac and didn’t notice any discrepancies between the screen and audio, however many of these movies were animated and for the kids.
The real test would be for gaming, where latency becomes more noticeable (and annoying), however I don’t have anything set up for gaming currently.
3 Likes
I’ve never found there to be any noticeable latency.
Not my own screenshot, but this is what Schiit support said.
4 Likes
Same. No issues here.
3 Likes
Impressions
I received a Bifrost 2 from Schiit a few days ago. These are my impressions.
Test setup: Amazon HD → Schiit Bifrost 2 → Rebel Audio RebelAmp → Focal Clear
Test tracks: My standard set, plus rediscovery of The Stone Roses (self-titled first album) – this complex studio confection includes all sorts of panning, reversed, and overdubbed content. It was a landmark of the 1980s, and directly led to the Shoegaze and Britpop genres in the 1990s. I retired it from testing some time ago (as being overplayed), but shouldn’t have. It sounds muddy, flat, and congested on less resolving hardware, but not on my test setup. Good portions for testing include the left-right panning of Bye Bye Bad Man and the rapid movements in Fools Gold. And more.
Habituation, Neural Training, or “Brain Burn”: The Bifrost 2 sounded like trash to my ears for the first hour. I heard a thousand crickets, cicadas, or a loud rainstorm. I’d read other comments about the need for either warm-up or for one’s hearing to adapt. Yes, this is real. My evidence suggests neural training or habituation is the key factor. It sounded downright broken for the first hour and then the first few minutes of several later sessions. It also sounded worse in my left ear for longer periods (this is standard for me). I never turned it off, so it has been fully warmed up from the first day.
I interpreted this as evidence that Schiit’s multibit technology does indeed preserve additional content versus Delta Sigma DACs. Those who are accustomed to listening to music with other DAC technologies may not correctly process the additional content. In my case, the cricket sounds disappeared and led to a more nuanced perception of the music. This occurred over several days and perhaps 10 hours of listening.
Audio Impressions: The Bifrost 2 stands out for several reasons, as compared to my prior daily-driver DACs (AKM 4490 and Burr Brown chipsets). The differences include:
-
The Bifrost 2 has much, much greater nuance in reverberations, harmonics, and resonances. This means hearing the vibrations in acoustic instruments, the details of brass instruments, and the fluctuations in human voices. One hears complex changes as a voice fades or as a guitar is strummed. My other DACs tend to render these details as flat additional volume or brightness. Some consider the Bifrost 2 to be warm, but maybe not really. In revealing additional mid range details and clipping the air (versus AKM 4490 especially), the overall tone remains neutral. Note that I’m listening on the neutral to bright Focal Clear, so DAC warmth would offset headphone brightness.
-
The Bifrost 2 fails in the direction of dithered roughness rather than piercing brightness. It is relatively technical, but has limits too. Noise and randomness become non-painful sibilance or a dithering (fuzzy harmonics). My AKM and Burr Brown DACs err in the direction of over smoothing plus piercing whines. These are actually much better than my older cheaper (e.g., Cirrus Logic) DACs, as those whined constantly.
-
The Bifrost 2 has better control over volume differences and localization than my other DACs, and keeps each instrument or voice in its own lane. This increases perceived detail, and does indeed allow one to hear things for the first time that otherwise would disappear.
-
In my setup the Bifrost 2 has solid staging and blackness. These aspects are equal or better than my other DACs but perhaps not unique to this product or technology.
30 Likes
One of the best albums from a band that not many have heard of…
@PaisleyUnderground and I were just chatting about them and this album last week.
6 Likes
For anyone looking to buy a BF2…
1 Like
What would be the final 10% in this case, @lost33? Or anyone else who could answer?
5 Likes