Schiit Bifrost 2

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. :joy:

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. :sweat_smile:

@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.

2 Likes

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.

2 Likes

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.

1 Like

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. :rofl:

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 implementationā€”we are shrinking the size of the FPGA needed to run it, which is good for availability and pricing. Second, measurementsā€”weā€™re 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.

1 Like

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. :wink:

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 theyā€™re 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 itā€™s any better than the 1st gen and if itā€™s not, I can save even more and just get a pre-owned 1st gen for even less.

1 Like

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 canā€™t justify it for a desktop setup.

1 Like

I can understand that, and in my case the solution is to add another piece of furniture to my existing desk. :joy:

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. :thinking:

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!

2 Likes