plankwalker

I've had an original bifrost USB for about 4 years. And it's been sitting in a drawer unused. I have a love hate relationship with this Dac, and I know there has been a lot of topics on its merits for sometime. Reason being, I listen to a lot of acoustic music. And I found it kills transients and muddies up stringed instruments. What I love about it is that it's upgradable. So, before decide to sell it, I'm wondering if you think the Uber or the latest Dac chip will make this more suitable to this type of music? Or your thoughts in general. I preferred the sound of the little gen 1 dragon fly i borrowed over the bifrost because it was more transparent. I have had it playing through my totem mites, emotive air motive 6 monitors, and a pair of Atom bookshelves which sounded the best with their tweeters.

Im still amazed at the difference of opinion on the sound signature of this DAC. I dont think it sounds that transparent in the upper frequency range. Does any one else here notice this? Ive had it for a few months now and it is well "broken in" since I posted a while back in this thread. Listening to the Bifrost through 3 different speakers with three different tweeters (metal dome, soft dome, and AMT), I can say with all three that acoustic transients are lost. I can really tell when listening to my guitar teachers recordings that the sound signature of his guitars are not accurate at all since I know what his guitar sounds like in person. Yet, if I hook up my amp or powered Airmotiv 6's directly to my crappy netbook's jack I get a more accurate representation.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Yeah I will clean things up and get rid of the furniture. Im glad to hear that the airmotivs are a go. I see the stealth 6 is soon to come as well. I thought I needed side walls to have some reflections, minus room modes. Question: If I place my speakers 2 feet off the wall they sound thin and bright. The lower mid range fades. Thats why I thought side wall reflections would help give a fuller sound. Maybe larger speakers will do better? Otherwise, they seem to do well 7 inches from the wall.

I work from home and have migrated my "office" (if you can call it that!) to the unused front room of our row-home. I am listening in the near field in a way because the house is very narrow. The floor plan is open on one side and there is a fireplace in the way. This is about 7 feet deep with a lot of clutter. Like my speaker stands? I'm planning on making some to a custom length if I can find a more permanent placement. I often sit pretty lower to the floor than up right. How much will this open area destroy my sound? I plan on getting rid of these Totem speakers. They dont provide enough of a full sound, but even more importantly I would like to switch to a tweeter with more air like a planar or ribbon - I listen to a lot of acoustic music. And these aren't cutting it for me despite lots of placement positioning and DAC auditioning. I like the metal dome on my cheap Paradigm Atoms more. Options for speakers, $700 budget: 1. Would love a pair of MMG's. Any chance this would enough to make it worth my while? Biggest problem is getting them off the wall. And would the open area to the right have a major negative impact? Could also try the Mini Mags, are they worth it? 2. Emotiva Airmotiv 6. My reservations with these are reports of thumpy bass and less detailed mid range. 3. Totem dreamcatchers with sub. Im afraid of a sub because I dont want to disturb my neighbor next door. I was thinking I could build 1 or 2 small subs perhaps. Or Totem Rainmakers. (I have a dealer nearby) 4. I'm considering getting bang for the buck and going DIY. read good things about Jeff Bagby's designs. I also have an itch to try my hand at building. But I dont want to sink my cash and be stuck with something I don't like. Something under .5 cu feet. So, maybe I am wondering if I can get away with MMG's with my room, or even a 2 way floorstander.If not, are the Mini's worth breaking my budget, or will my room prevent me from getting my money's worth. Perhaps someone has heard the Airmotivs and would recommend them over my other choices. Thanks!

cool thank you. I like free.

Can anyone recommend a global system wide EQ for windows? Something to use with streaming music like Pandora. have googled and searched and only came of with one solution, a software that re routes sound in windows - very complicated. I'm surprised there isnt much out there that is not a plug in of some sort.

My system is in my signature (at the bottom). In addition to the totems I have a pair of Paradigm Atoms. I listen in semi near field (about 5-6 feet away) so I found small monitors to be ideal. I auditioned a few speakers, amps and dacs and settled on the Totems and Emotiva. I have an old xfi xtream music gaming soundcard in which I upgrated the output op-amp. I can't believe it, but it sounds almost if not better than the Schiit. I also use a netbook too. USB sounds slightly better on the schiit and the Dacmagic than through coax out on the soundcard. The Halide looks interesting. CASH list is good, although i'm not fond of the peahtree. Even the Grand-pre didnt do it for me hearing it at the store. I really liked the sound of one of the NAD Cd players and the NAD all digital amp (way out of my budget though) I'm confused on USB power supply though. I assumed it would be inferior and more of a convenience?

I'm Looking for a DAC under $500 with Async USB a must. I listen to a lot of music with acoustic instruments - flamenco, bluegrass, Jazz and some rock as well. I like a detailed airy high end but I also dont want to be murdered with Pandora either. I need something more neutral I guess. I don't really have many choices in this price range I realize. I am considering an Audio-gd, an HRT streamer +, or an XDA-1 with a V-link II. John Darko seems to favor the Audio-gd in his reviews. So far I have tried the new DacMagic 100. A good DAC with great transparency but it sounded pretty thin in my rig. Now I am using a Bifrost via USB and am disappointed. I thought I would love it with all of the great reviews, good power supply, good USB implementation etc. But it sounds like I am playing music through a $150 sony receiver. Maybe thats a bit harsh but there is little transparency, a lack of high end detail ( I can hear more detail in an acoustic guitar with the analog out in my soundblaster soundcard). Granted, I am have not invested in a good usb cable yet, but I consider that a polish on the end piece. Notes on instruments decay rapidly and there is too much connective tissue in between notes. Instruments ive heard in person do not sound at all true. With all that said about the Bifrost I do like that it doesnt sound thin or murder my ears. It has a very detailed midrange through my little speakers, and its got weight to it. Thats why I'm leaning on the Audio-GD. But I could use some opinions. Buying and returning/auditioning equipment was fun at first but its getting old - and now frustrating. This is the last piece. Thanks, Jason

Darn I posted a quick reply and it didnt post... Brunk, thanks for your recommendations. The Yulong is out of my price range though. I am not enjoying this dac much. Its been running constantly and it has a high end roll off at a certain frequency. It has a big midrange and a full sound that I like but no transients, the plucked string of a guitar or even any instruments decays rapidly. My gaming sound card - hell even my netbook sounds better. Other wise, this dac is very pretty to look at. Just wish i liked its sound.

I got my Bifrost today and I was so excited based on all the good reviews, but Im a bit disappointed I have to say. Compared to the new DacMagic 100 I find the Bifrost lacks clarity in a way. This is through USB and spdif. Im not saying the DacMagic is better, but I was expecting something similar with the Bifrost. When first hooked up the DacMagic it sucked until I installed the Drivers, then a veil was lifted. Highs and mids were very crisp and slightly clinical. On my rig the Bifrost has a much better soundstage and wider imaging than the Magic, but the highs are subdued. To me it has a drier sound kind of like the Dac-It in a way. This is what I hear in my rig anyway. I listen to a lot of acoustic guitar so I like clear as a bell highs. Im going to give it some time as it is a nice dac, but maybe the Wolfson chip is my cup of tea. My last one to try is an Audio-gd. Anyone have one and want to trade . Don't get me wrong, I think it is a nice DAC, but maybe I expected too much and thought it would be a lot better than the DacMagic. Jason

In the book "The Complete Guide to High End Audio" the author refers to the Lynx AES16 as an option for a good interface. Id like to know how it compares to devices like the Audiophilio http://www.lynxstudio.com/product_detail.asp?i=13

I know the question of USB vs SPDIF has been talked about a lot. I have done research on google and the forums here. It seems that in many cases Asynchronous USB is better than SPDIF on a PC, a Squeezbox? an Apple TV? Im not sure about Toslink on Macs. I just bought a new DacMagic 100 (might be trading for a Bifrost) but so far the USB sounds just a little better than than the RCA SPDIF out on my Soundblaster X-FI Extreme music when set to ASIO and Bit perfect. I may try a DIY Galvanic isolation as well. I know there are a lot of adapters like the Audiophilleo, and the USB card used on the CAPS server. So is USB pretty much the best connection at this point? Since the "books" call RCA SPDIF the best, are there any PCI interfaces that would best USB? Somehow I dont think a Julia@ or M-Audio or something is at this point. That is just my layman assumption. Is there a way to build a better interface for a PC or MAC perhaps? Linear power supplies or something? The whole Jitter vs PC noise/interference thing is really confusing to me. I know clean power in only a part of it, but something that takes advantage of SPDIF

Ok, so I have been playing around with all kinds of placements, both in bookcase with EQ and out on make shift stands in various configurations. I found that out of the bookcase is the way to go, and I cut up a hard foam gardening cushion to isolate resonances. The left is on a 2 foot high stand, the right siting on a chair toed in slightly next to a breakfast bar counter you cant see in the pic. Im kind of shocked because I hooked up my Paradigm Atoms again and I found that the bass was controlled and the highs finally came through out of the shelves. They were so subdued in the bookcase. I think I actually like the Paradigms over my Totem Mites! They have a little less detail in the mids, and less imaging, but considering i picked these up used for $120 bucks vs $750 Totems im shocked. I might just sell the totems and save up! ...maybe Thanks guys Jason One more question... is having an entertainment center, desk, etc between speakers not a good idea? In other words is it best to keep a clear space between the 2 speakers?

I always love the expert help and advice here:) Thank you all. Well, I definitely learned something from all your post. I knew placement was important but not "Overly" important. I guess it just depends and my listening area/ whole house isnt really that great. There is no way I can achieve the golden ratio, nor can i take walls into consideration because of my home layout save bedrooms maybe. And of course WAF. I found a post on AVS forum where a guy has the same speakers and bookcase setup and says it works fine, even after extensive out of bookshelf experimentation. Taking the speakers out of the bookcase definitely made a big difference in perceived bass, so thats a plus. It wasnt really boomy or thumpy, but I cant hear the bass on the second floor anymore so thats good. In the picture I can still get a stereo image if im sitting right at the apex of the triangle but not really off axis imaging like i heard at the store. Thats an attribute that was important for me in a speaker. Totems do it well. I dont know if i should keep these speakers and just save some money with a small studio monitor since I cant take advantage of their potential. I do listen in near-field, so maybe a studio monitor would suffice. BTW "Changing the Flavor of disappointment" That sums it up! Also, I took a video of the store where i auditioned the speakers. these are smaller totems playing but you can see how high they have the speakers placed and they still sounded great.. although the phones mic is no stereo condenser mic obviously.

Hello all, I have been putting together my first system for the past 2 months on a small budget of around 1k. I have 2 questions: Should I scrap my setup and get a small pair of monitors? Or some advice on setup of my current speakers. My room is small and I sit about 6 feet away from the speakers so I am using small monitors. I also have a problem with the fact that I live in a city row home and the neighbors can hear my stereo even at reasonable levels (although they don't mind)its a concern.I also have to place the speakers in bookshelves next to my TV and HTPC. I have attached a pic below if you can make it out. There really is no room on the sides of the bookcase for stands. Right now I am using a pair of Totem Mites powered by an Emotiva mini amp (50 watts)and radioshack zipcord. I liked their sound in the store but in my house they dont sound nearly as alive and detailed, but more importantly from my last pair of speakers, paradigm atoms i got for $140 bucks and my M audio cheap monitors, its just not $800 dollars better. I decided to go the passive speaker route because I "heard" that studio monitors can be overly revealing. I also didnt want highly directional speakers with a tiny sweet spot. Maybe im wrong but if I want detail wouldnt it be cheaper to go with powered monitors? Or would it get fatiguing over time? I just feel like im spending a ton of time and money buying differnt amps and different speakers and testing them out and not seeing much improvement over my cheap M audios (other than off axis performance) Maybe my room is just not good for hifi, or my speaker wire is the culprit? I am considering trying the Emotiva pro monitors for $400 buck and I have a feeling these will sound close to my 1k speakers and amp.