I am curious, coming from a modi/heresy stack, what upgrade would have a bigger impact; a bifrost 2 dac or a singxer SA-1 amp?
I have heard that amps tend to effect overall sound quality more than DACs but have heard so many good things about schiit’s multibit dacs. I intend to eventually replace both but don’t want to splurge all at once.
Well, what headphones do you currently have, and any that you plan for in the future? When you are making the jump from an entry level to midrange stack, synergy plays a larger role in what you might want to consider going with. Also generally what type of signature are you shooting for as well?
In this case I would agree, but the dac is important as well and you don’t want to skimp on it if you don’t have to
Personally a fan of the higher tier ones, but I can’t say I like schiits older or lower end multibit designs, the bf2 is a great middle ground for sure
Makes sense, you can stick with your modi for the time being and be ok, but later on you can get a decent bit more out of your setup with a dac upgrade, but prioritize the amp first
Currently I have Sundaras and 6XXs but looking to move to Aeon Noire at some point and even higher tier down the line (Arya, ZMF Verite maybe).
I am looking for a slightly warmer, less analytical sound with bigger soundstage and depth but don’t want to sacrifice too much detail so not sure tubes are the way to go (for now, wink wink).
Cool cool, that can be done for sure. I will say that for an arya or verite you would probably want to step up to the 1k ish range for amps to get more out of those later on though
Generally out of what you mentioned the singxer would make the larger difference here than the bifrost, the singxer would be a solid choice for the aeon and would work well with the sundara too. The 6xx would be decent. Another good alternative could be the flux fa-12s imo for what you are after. While the bifrost is a nice dac, I personally thing with the singxer it can get a bit too smooth, but it is still an enjoyable combo. I would also consider a denafrips ares ii as well as personally I think that’s a bit more satisfactory pairing with those amps
I will mention the monolith liquid platinum, as when it goes on sale it’s a similar price to other options and would def meet your goal, but it does have tubes, but it’s a hybrid and is still pretty detailed for the price imo. Pairs well with the bf2
Awesome, thanks for the input. Will research everything you listed!
For me, the priorities are headphones, amps, then dacs and cables at the bottom. Id say the amp makes more of a difference
I like to look at it like this: closer the piece of gear is to your ears, the greater impact it will have on the sound (exceptions ofc). So headphones/speakers > amp > dac > source. Dependent on your specific chain though.
I would typically agree in the entry level to entry-high end range, but I think when you really start to get up there, the dacs and potentially sources start to make a larger impact than the amps imo