I believe, from comments elsewhere, that Unison USB will be available for Yggdrasil in Q1/2020.
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I’m hoping for a Yggy 2 redesign with their AUTONOMY™ setup in early 2020 along with that Unison update. I won’t even mind if they make the chassis more affordable like all their new stuff uses.
(Not politically correct, or even very nice, side note:)
I’m sure that a Yggy 2 release will cause all the prissy, overly entitled, detached from reality, Yggy A1 douchebag owners to riot again like they did with the analog 2 update, and I hope Schiit kicks each one of their dicks to the dirt when they do.
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That’s at least two of us, then … and totally on the same page … 
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If Schiit is going to redesign the Yggdrasil it makes sense to sell now before Yggdrasil 2 comes out. From everything Jason has posted it appears they are just going to offer the updated USB board in January but who knows. Actually I have been thinking of down sizing by buying a Bifrost 2 and selling my Yggdrasil A2. @Torq you have heard both what would I miss if I down sized to the Bifrost 2? The down sizing is to free up cash to buy the Jotunheim R and Raal SR1a.
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I got my Bifrost 2 last week and was holding off on posting impressions for several reasons. First, I am not very experienced in this hobby and don’t have a lot of gear (especially higher end) that I can compare it to. Second, and more importantly, I was waiting to be sure that I was hearing what I thought I was hearing - that is, the Bifrost 2 is so clearly better than anything else I’ve heard. The words I’m using are ‘coherent’ and ‘resolving’ - superbly well-placed detail, and lacking that disorganized sense that you don’t really realize is there with lesser DACs until you hear something ‘right’.
At the same time, I read Jason Stoddard’s Schiit history this past weekend, and I think I am a convert.
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Don’t let inexperience stop you from posting impressions. Opinions from “newer” members of the hobby are valuable, as it’s a perspective the very experienced can lose over time.
It also helps remind the crusty old farts how cool it was to experience something new.
BTW, I’m not crusty. Much. I just feel old. And I fart a lot. I mean, A LOT. Even my dog looks at me like “WTF, when will the gas attacks end?!?”. It’s that bad.
At least they are silent. Sneak attacks FTW!
Anyway, I can’t think of a better sounding DAC for this kind money than the Bifrost 2.
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Thanks!
My comparisons are: For my main system, USB into a PS Audio Sprout 100 driving bookshelf ELACs. For desktop, I have limited experience with Chord Mojo, AQ Dragonfly Red/Cobalt, iFi Pro xDSD Black Label, and a Jotunheim with a multibit card installed. All are good in one way or another - I think I liked the iFi best (using as a line level source into the SE input of the Jotunheim) - it seems to have a detailed but neutral sound profile that pairs well with the desktop powered monitors I’m using (Ruark) or with multiple cans when routed through the Jotunheim. However, the Bifrost is just in another league. Makes me wonder how much better (and whether I’d be able to discern a difference) the Gungnir or Yggdrasil may be after they get the unison treatment.
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Bifrost 2 is a lot closer to Yggdrasil A2 than you’d expect, though the gap is closed a lot more if you’re comparing via SE outputs on both. But even with both run balanced, in an optimized chain, it’s genuinely fair to call Bifrost 2 a “mini Yggdrasil”.
Their tonal profile is very close, with Bifrost 2 now exhibiting a bass region that’s much closer to Yggdrasil A2 (and Gungnir A1). Bass was one of the original Bifrost MBs weaker points vs. it’s bigger brothers, but that’s not the case anymore - and there’s plenty of body, substance, texture and slam on offer here.
Yggdrasil A2 is still more resolving, both in terms of raw detail as well as in micro-dynamics, but Bifrost 2 plays against a blacker background with greater apparent clarity. Macro dynamics are very close, and transients might actually be a hair faster here.
So you’ll give up a bit, but not as much as you’re likely to gain with the SR1a vs. well, any other headphone I have heard. Of course, ironically, the SR1a is also probably the best headphone for exploiting the strengths of Yggdrasil A2 (and certainly in making them clearly audible vs. other DACs), but if you’re going for a potential revised Yggdrasil later on then you’ll just get to experience that more fully when you get it.
Put another way … if I had to choose between Yggdrasil A2 -> Ragnarok 2 -> Focal Utopia and Bifrost 2 -> Jotunheim R -> SR1a … with the intention to upgrade the DAC again later, then I’d definitely take the SR1a path.
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Sorry there is no such ifi product - maybe you mixed something up?
Pro iDSD - desk size with round display
xDSD - shiny silver little mobile device
or Nano / Micro DSD BL - black transportable size
Sorry – meant the Micro DSD BL.
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My sentiments exactly. I was going to post this myself but you’ve said it far more eloquently than I ever could.
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so this or a used RME ADI2 for enjouyment and not the overly analytical listener
keep in mind - shiit products and RME products in germany
availability, shipping, taxes and so on…
for the RME I can go to the next music store and take it home - more people have it here
the Shiit products are not as easy to get - the older ones I think maybe
with the new RME ADI with 4493 some might sell the 4490 ones with even a rest of guarantee
plus all the extra functions, crossfeed, remote and the display
so for me they come quite close with the ADI in front
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It would help everyone if iFi gave their products actual names. Hell… Bob, George, Larry would be better than some confusing amalgamation of i/x/pro, micro/nano, and DSD for literally half of the product line.
For what it’s worth, I don’t miss my iFi DAC/Amp. I think it was the x micro iDSD BL nano.
Yep. Bob would be better. 
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they started with the Zen DAC and killed it again with the Zen Blue - nice try
still better than some ZX007 IVii r/s titles for whatever Sony brings out 
I call the nano NiBL and it seemed to stick… pronounced “Nibble” as in little bite… 
I keep one in my EDC for emergencies…(because audio emergencies are nooo joke lol)
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For the purposes of the forum here, I would like to provide the following reference table:
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I won’t lie. I LOL’d.
As a bonus, it should prove interesting when we say things like “I plugged Curly into Darla, and sound came out”.
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so “our” Larry has mqa or Bluetooth support? reverring to Zen DAC or Zen Blue? in the meantime, I get out for a walk with Shempy
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I have my eyes in one of the “Larry Twins”, the One with the antenna and bluetooth. I think @pennstac should rename them… maybe like the Alice in Wonderland twins!!
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I really did think about making two Zens in the table, but then I’d have had to name one of the Joe, or both of them Joe, as there were two Joes that briefly worked as Stooges.
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