I hear you, it will be a pain to get the Yggdrasil to fit on my desk, but I can be creative with my desk realestate.
I never heard the Bifrost 2 OG, but the 2/64 version is really good this far. It will be part of a second setup once it gets retired from my desk setup. I will be doing the desk shuffle myself to fit the Yggdrasil next year.
@MindBreak @Raptor168 Love my BF OG too. @WaveTheory did an OG/64
comparison when it first came out. Later added that balanced out is a bit better. However, I understand Yggy is another level,
lol.
It has taken me 4+ years to get to this point in my audio journey, so I will be able to better appreciate the differences between those DACs. I never recommend people dive into the higher end of this hobby at the beginning of their journey, even if they can afford it (I have a friend that most definitely can, lol). It is better to start at a base line to get a sense of your tastes in sound, or you might be disappointed even with $20K+ setups. I had my friend start with a Sundara/Magni/D50s combo. I personally started with a HD660s/Asgard 3/modi combo.
Absolutely agree with you on this. I have a lot of folks around who jump into the higher priced gear at the beginning of their journey not knowing what they want and ended up being unhappy with the gear.
There is also the time it takes to train your ears and mind to comprehend the differences between Head-fi gear and Bluetooth Spotify listening on distorted bass cannons. Too large of a gap to wrap your head around.
Hmmmm, so for BF 2 (2/64 in my case) owners who are thinking of progressing to the new Gungnir 2, my earlier comment is off the mark. This morning, Jason, on head-fi, stated the following WRT Gumby2:
It will start as a multibit product. A bit of a different take on our current approach, but still multibit.
Delta-Sigma still coming, but it needed a bit more baking time. This is mainly to address two issues: first, efficiency of the implementationāwe are shrinking the size of the FPGA needed to run it, which is good for availability and pricing. Second, measurementsāweāre applying some optimizations to make it measure better, much along the lines of the distortion compensation used in ESS DACs.
So, delta-sigma? Next year.
So, the complete opposite of what I was assuming; I thought for sure he had said lat last year that DS version would be the first Gumby2 release.
He also confirmed that the Valhalla 3 might have a solution to the power/heat issue, and might be priced around $499. Good news about both pieces of Schiit. As I stated before my upgrade path is still heading towards the Yggdrasil MIB next year. It is good news for you, and others regarding the new Gungnir 2 MB. That $1k to $2k price point DAC space has been Schiit-less for quite some time.
Yggy I found to work best in speaker chain than a HP. Gumby on the other hand, is the best value for money DAC one can get in my opinion if theyāre looking for a natural and organic sound with good technicalities. I initially planned to upgrade to Yggy from my Miro AD1862 NOS DAC but after hearing both the Yggy and Gumby, I realised that I prefer Gumby over it and it costs less too. Waiting for the 2nd revision to be released to see if itās any better than the 1st gen and if itās not, I can save even more and just get a pre-owned 1st gen for even less.
I would be surprised if the Gungnir 2 MB was worse than its predecessor. As for the Yggdrasil MIB upgrade, I have been having a lot of conversations over on Head-fi regarding the pairing with the Mjolnir 3. Nearly all of those using the combo agree it is a near perfect pairing. The MIB version is supposed to sound different from the OG (some would argue for the better). I still have until early 2025 to finalize my decision, but that is my choice for now (you never know what Jason will do in 5 + months).
Honestly, the size of these things is a deal breaker for me too. I have tried but canāt justify it for a desktop setup.
I can understand that, and in my case the solution is to add another piece of furniture to my existing desk.
It will also be used to store headphones, cables, and eventually a large tube amp (in 2026). A whole lot of desk rearranging will happen once I get my Yggdrasil MIB. It might require me getting longer interconnects as well.
Copy that. I should backtrack a littleā¦ It can be done. For me, it would require a wholesale change of the system, and I am not ready to do that at this time. Ask me again in a year or so, and I might be in a different frame of mind. Never say never!