[Misterrogers]

Jason has stated a number of times that Bifrost is galvanically isolated. The real 'kicker' with USB, is the HUGE variance of USB implementation, electrical noise, number of other USB devices on a bus (you can be plugged directly into a single USB port and the motherboard can be sharing that USB bus with other devices). One user can plug in and have a clean, quiet experience. Another can plug in and get all sorts of noise. Add to that, the effect on your USB bus timing/noise when various other applications are ran.
 
In my experience, it's a very difficult thing for a USB device to eliminate all possible USB related issues. To date, I've yet to see a USB audio device that always worked, never dropped out, zero noise, etc. YMV, but that's been my reality with USB and the audio software that uses it.
 
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Is this true, some usb power noise with the bifrost? What, can't believe this, in these day and age, a good company would offer dacs without galvanic isolation build in and tested..
So what happen now, will I have usb noise with the bifrost.. if yes, i'll remove the usb option from my order..
We all want and need pitch black background is this so hard to isolate noise?
bah, I think i'll keep the usb anyway and try it out

 

 

[Maxvla]

Is this true, some usb power noise with the bifrost? What, can't believe this, in these day and age, a good company would offer dacs without galvanic isolation build in and tested..
So what happen now, will I have usb noise with the bifrost.. if yes, i'll remove the usb option from my order..
We all want and need pitch black background is this so hard to isolate noise?
bah, I think i'll keep the usb anyway and try it out

It does have galvanic isolation. I can't test myself since I didn't need USB and skipped it, but I think we'd have heard more about this by now (1000+ units in the field) if it were not the case.

 

[isberg]

I did the same. Had a direct order pending with Schiit (#1264) for Lyr+Bifrost. I came here and saw that I was a few hundred back in the shipping queue, so I canceled and then hit the Amazon link and got the Lyr from HiDEF lifestyle (free 2-day Prime shipping) and the Bifrost (w/USB) from Audio Advisor (free ground shipping). Both have shipped and are in transit for delivery before the end of the week. Fast (and free!) delivery; plus Amazon's 30-day return window instead of Schiit's 15-day (though I don't expect to exercise that option).
 
Had to get the 6N1P tubes direct from Schiit though as I couldn't find any reputable dealers on Amazon. Those aren't on backorder though, so they have shipped as well (though it cost $7 for USPS ground).
 
p.s. Both HiDEF and Audio Advisor are listed as official dealer's on Schiit's site, so no worries about the warranty being honored.
 
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I guess I need to give a tip of the hat to the person/people up-thread who talked about vendors having some stock. I ordered a non-USB version from Audio Advisors on the 9th of Feb, and am currently listening. I guess I feel a bit of a twinge of guilt at jumping the queue, but not enough to impair my enjoyment.

 

 

[grokit]

IMO the Bifrost is a great match for the HD650 and the Lyr is a great match for the K701 so either can sounds great with this combo.

 

[Llloyd]

Anyone here heard the EE Minimax vs the Bifrost?  The minimax seems like it'd be an amazing buy(i use optical not usb).  I'm just wondering how it'd compare or how much of an upgrade it would be.

 

[luke99]

how is galvanic isolation for USB better than a simple dedicated power supply? 

 

[grokit]

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how is galvanic isolation for USB better than a simple dedicated power supply? 

Paging leeperry...

 

[dyl1dyl]

Schiit Balanced Stuff! Sigh, the anticipation is killing me. I suspect it's probably going to be about another 6 months before the Statement DAC and Amp start shipping The midrange one should see an announcement relatively soon I believe, probably by end of March latest.

 

[gh0st0]

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Schiit Balanced Stuff! Sigh, the anticipation is killing me. I suspect it's probably going to be about another 6 months before the Statement DAC and Amp start shipping The midrange one should see an announcement relatively soon I believe, probably by end of March latest.

It's a killer, and right at the time I'm in the market for an end-game* balanced dac (just finished my balanced-only beta22 build). Matrix mini 'rental' will have to plug the gap ;/ 
 
* like this hobby ever has an end-game 

 

[dyl1dyl]

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It's a killer, and right at the time I'm in the market for an end-game* balanced dac (just finished my balanced-only beta22 build). Matrix mini 'rental' will have to plug the gap ;/ 
 
* like this hobby ever has an end-game 

Haha, very true. I'm probably going to get either the Schiit Statement or the planned Ibasso quad 9018 DAC.
 

 

[ninjikiran]

Eh it has an endgame, the Lyr was near that to me in what I wanted.  The Taboo adds the cross feed I miss from the concerto and slightly higher fidelity.  I think i'll be happy for years~
 
The bifrost on the other hand, only reason for it not being an endgame for me is primarily due to the fact that I am 90% sure the statement dac will take everything amazing in the bifrost and make it THAT much better for a price that may break the bank but not require the selling of a lung.

Far as headphones go, there is no endgame.  I love my rev 1's but I want more flavors in my collection =D  A room full of headphones.
 
Far as speakers go, I havent even really started.  Just wetting my feet into speaker tech, and I shudder to think about how expensive my speaker end game is going to look like.  Granted I don't buy esoteric $500 cables but still, good speakers and amps/monoblocks dont come cheap.  Nor do the radial speakers I want.

 

[gh0st0]

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The bifrost on the other hand, only reason for it not being an endgame for me is primarily due to the fact that I am 90% sure the statement dac will take everything amazing in the bifrost and make it THAT much better for a price that may break the bank but not require the selling of a lung.
 

if nothing else, I'm super intrigued by the mysterious technology that Jason has been promising in the statement DAC. Anyone want to hazard a guess? A novel R-2R / multibit implementation? Who knows...

 

[sridhar3]

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if nothing else, I'm super intrigued by the mysterious technology that Jason has been promising in the statement DAC. Anyone want to hazard a guess?

My money's on fairy dust and unicorns.

 

[IEMCrazy]

 
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hello IEMCrazy, yes I do find that the sound of the Lyr gets much better after it reaches its full temperature, your opinion seems to match up really well with what everyone is saying, that is that the Lyr and Bifrost is just a great combo and matches really well with the 650, I just find that the 650s can be a bit too laid back some times for my liking but I have been doing a lot of low level listening of late which doesn,t really catch the 650s at there best.

 
One thing if you do get Bifrost is that while not the most illuminating DAC on the market compared to some multi-kilobuck machines, it's far more illuminating than most, meaning it will perform far better at low volumes than you're likely used to. 
 
You may also find my recent post on the HD650 Appreciation Thread interesting about driver position and sound.  The gist is: HD650 cups are huge, and I found major sonic differences depending on if I put my ears at the bottom of the cup with a short headband straight up versus putting my ears at the top of the cup with a long headband a bit forward on my head.  The main difference was the air and soundstage (plus a little more treble forward.)  Neither sound is "better", just a different presentation by putting the driver in a different place in relation to the ear.  I'm really liking my brighter airier sound position, but the old lusher warmer closer sound is excellent for low volume with the Bifrost + Lyr.  I actually found myself preferring HD650 in a quiet mode in that more IEM/Active-Monitor like presentation. I prefer it louder in the more open presentation.   Some will think I'm nuts with the "different presentations", but few will dispute that driver positioning makes huge differences in a headphone, and I'm literally shifting the driver position several mm. 
 
Still, if you would find a brighter, less laid back presentation to suit you more and you can't get it with tube rolling or any HD650 positioning, I'd suggest LCD-2 is not the way you want to go since it's also laid back in presentation.  Maybe HD800, HE-500, something like that if you want to play with the big numbers.  In the HD650's price class, Beyer 880's and AKG 70x are supposedly a bit brighter and more forward and both pair well with Lyr, or so I've heard. And there's always Grado if you like the smell of Ozone from Lyr...

 

[Argo Duck]

FWIW you could read this thread about it I suppose. However, you may be talking about the MiniMax DAC plus, whereas it was the original model reviewed.
 
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Anyone here heard the EE Minimax vs the Bifrost?  The minimax seems like it'd be an amazing buy(i use optical not usb).  I'm just wondering how it'd compare or how much of an upgrade it would be.