Opinions on some Schiit

Yaayuh! · 24 Aug 2017 at 19:39

I'm looking at getting a Schiit stack and wondering if anyone here has the Bifrost and can comment on it? Is it worth it over the Modi 2 (Uber)? Reviews praise it quite well.
I'll be hooking up an Asgard 2 (with mainly HD650, AKG K550 hopefully Beyerdynamic DT1770 PRO and an assortment of others too) and a Marantz Receiver.

Anybody been able to compare?

GTiPUG · 25 Aug 2017 at 08:26

Bahaha, that title

james.miller · 25 Aug 2017 at 08:29

I've heard it's some pretty polished schitt, that's for sure. Not had the fortune to play with it, though.

Aurhinius · 28 Aug 2017 at 10:27

I've got the bifrost multibit and find it fantastic with my HD650's but haven't had a modi 2 uber to compare it too sorry. I would suggest that the bifrost uber isn't going to offer much more than modi 2 uber would probably same DAC chip isn't it? You'd have to go to the multibit. Drop the guy that runs schiit eu an e-mail and ask his opinion.

mistersprinkles · 1 Sep 2017 at 21:40

Get the Teac UD-301 instead. I used to have one. It is excellent and it does DSD out of the box. If you've never heard a track in DSD format you haven't lived. It's better than even vinyl IMO.
The 301 looks like a more serious piece of equipment than the bifrost and was recommended to me by my rich malaysian audiophile friend (creator of fidelizer software).

I used to have a Schiit Asgard 1 and Hifiman HE400i's. It was a nice combo. They make some nice schiit over at schiit.

BTW if you want an "invisible" dac that sounds as good as the 301 (albeit a bit I/O limited and functionality limited) at a fraction of the price look at an audioquest dragonfly. They sound extremely snappy and aggressive if you're into that sort of thing they might be for you. The 301 is a more rounded sound. Not sure what Schiit DACs sound like never listened to one.

Glanza · 2 Sep 2017 at 09:30

I'm more than happy with my Schiit Stack (Modi & Magni 2) owned it for over 2 years now and had 0 problems powering my DT770's. I've listened to the next tier up and I can't say I can hear a difference myself.

mistersprinkles · 2 Sep 2017 at 11:54

Glanza said:
I'm more than happy with my Schiit Stack (Modi & Magni 2) owned it for over 2 years now and had 0 problems powering my DT770's. I've listened to the next tier up and I can't say I can hear a difference myself.

Were you listening to FLAC or directly off a CD/SACD?

Glanza · 2 Sep 2017 at 12:43

mistersprinkles said:
Were you listening to FLAC or directly off a CD/SACD?

Flacs, tried a 'blind' test with both with my DT770's and the only little thing I could notice was it sounded warmer due to the tubes, I didn't go for the tube version in my stack.

mistersprinkles · 2 Sep 2017 at 13:11

Honestly, IME, most people don't really need to spend hundreds or thousands on headphone amps for sub 1000$ headphones. Most people can't hear the difference.
Using a humble and mediocre setup of Kef Q300's and a Marantz PM5005, when I went from an Arcam rPAC DAC to a TEAC UD301 the only difference I noticed was better separation and a perhaps slighly more aggressive sound. Wasn't worth the $$.

I also noticed a difference going from 18 gauge garbage grade speaker wire to terminated good quality 12 gauge wire. But a minor one.

Cables make a difference. High quality (read: high quality not ripoff expensive) USB and RCA cables make a difference but their are ceilings where you cross over from "Ya that cable is better quality" to "I paid $500 for an oxygen free copper gold plated nonsense cable".

Rroff · 4 Sep 2017 at 19:01

mistersprinkles said:
Honestly, IME, most people don't really need to spend hundreds or thousands on headphone amps for sub 1000$ headphones. Most people can't hear the difference.

Sennheiser 600 series are generally regarded as an exception to that - however that is somewhat because a lot of amps really aren't well designed to fully control the drivers while the more expensive ones there is a higher chance they are - a DIY "balanced" design I've put together gets really good results with them and the materials cost probably under £100 - haven't costed them up exactly.