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Measurement and Review of Schiit BiFrost Multibit DAC
- Thread starter amirm
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Jimster480
Major Contributor
No it will not. The original tests were done with SPDIF from the analyzer.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #584
In Schiit DACs with less than "Gen 5 USB" the USB interface is not well implemented and S/PDIF does better.
Or the modi 3, which afaik doesn't have "Gen5" USB, just a much better implementation of the cmedia receiver.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
I believe it is Gen5.
Gen5 is just a better implementation of the C-Media USB receiver.
There are no other chipsets running on Schiit products right now as far as I have seen.
rebbiputzmaker
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The Modi 3 is not Gen 5 is you read the specs.
Yes, I think the way they implemented the electrical isolation in the Gen5 USB was not amenable to the smaller DACs due to the space required to do it. So the modi 3 isn't Gen5, nor are the add-in 4490 or multibit cards for the Jotunheim and Lyr3.
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Oh man this thread is fun to read. The subjective audiophools will defend anything with the most rediculus rationale. Warm up for days for best performance? LMAO. How did they design it if it keeps changing performance over days?
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The good new is anyone with a PC sound card can validate these results.
I have the Lyr 3 Multibit and while I'm happy with the amp I'm honestly I'm finding the DAC just plain sucks; it's soft, veiled, lacking clarity, depth, and dynamic range. After hearing it, it doesn't surprise me the Schiit Multibit DAC's measures so poorly; had to go back to my old DAC and the amp actually sounds like it should now. My mistake for not reading up on the measurements ahead of time. Thank you for posting these measurements, the DAC does really does seem to sound as bad as it measures.
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Hi Kman,
Did you conclude the Dac was bad prior to, or after, you saw the terrible measured behavior here? I ask because the mind can massively alter your perception. Just a thought, as many think these multi bits sound great, even with the poor design engineering. A DBT of these mixed with a proper design would be really interesting.
Did you conclude the Dac was bad prior to, or after, you saw the terrible measured behavior here? I ask because the mind can massively alter your perception. Just a thought, as many think these multi bits sound great, even with the poor design engineering. A DBT of these mixed with a proper design would be really interesting.
I researched the DAC's measurements afterwards, I was wondering why it was so dull sounding. It's very smooth sounding though and does seem to pair well with some gear so I can understand why people like it. I'll spend more time with it though and see if my impressions change any compared to other DACs, maybe I am jumping to conclusions and letting bias from previous experience influence my views as it's definitely different sounding.
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Nah. You get an A+ for helping create good information for future purchasers. Much appreciation for loaning it to me.
Exactly! @Sylafari, thank you so much for providing this unit for review. It’s so valuable to dig into the good and not so good results we get from devices.
Jimster480
Major Contributor
JA did get some bad measurements with Schiit products. But he specifically downplayed the horrible measurements that he got; likely due to a nice payment from schiit.
If you check his reviews and measurements of other products; he condemned them for poor measurements when they still measured better than some schiit products.
ALthough as @Dana reed mentioned; I think he measured the AKM 4490 version of the bifrost which does measure better than the multibit version.
Hmmm... I think the review I read was for the Bitfrost #2 , which he said the measurement was very good for the price range. I’m not sure if that’s the same as the AKM 4490? I’m presently in the market for a new dac, and have been reading up. I thought I had it narrowed down between the mojo and the bitfrost based on the reviews I been reading, but I may have to re think that. Currently have an Arcam Irdac, so lm looking for something better.
Own both like I do since they serve a completely different purpose and if you really need Mojo as desktop DAC, just remove the battery and run from mains.
The Bifrost 2 uses the AD5781ARUZ DAC chip instead of AKM 4490
On a side note, what made you interested in the Bifrost 2 or Mojo? Is it sound upgrade? Hate to break it to you but Bifrost 2 and Mojo won't improve your sound one bit. It would be wise to just perform room treatment and DSP to your speakers and actually hear significant sonic upgrade
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