New CD Player or DAC?

Nope.
I can plug it into my PC and play the files with VLC.

 

No...you'd just upload the files to the Pono
It's a DAP not a DAC.

 

Okay, that makes sense now.

Like the "most expensive USB stick in the world" that you were talking about.

It would bypass the Pono DAC and use the PC DAC - but it would still play.

Got it.

 

Yes...this is why I can connect it to my Oppo 95 and compare the exact same HD files between the Pono DAC output and the Oppo's.

 

It's two new versions of the Bifrost DAC. A new delta-sigma version using a new DAC chip and a lower price ($399). And a new multibit version at $599.

The new delta-sigma version is unexpected. Especially the price lowering (it also now comes standard with USB rather than having USB as an option). I was expecting the multibit version.

I've no idea if the multibit Bifrost would have the sort of "magic" that could give you some of that Pono experience. I just don't know. I haven't heard it yet. Haven't heard the $2300 Yggdrasil yet either. I'm wondering if the Yggdrasil has a right sort of magic that I'm listening for? I don't know. But I aim to find out. The Pono is able to do something magical even though it's using a Sabre delta-sigma DAC chip. Can the Schiit multibit DACs manage to do magic that the Schiit delta-sigma DACs do not?

 

Give that Oppo 95 some time. I wouldn't be surprised if it provides the level of sound improvement you're seeking - it's an impressive unit.

 

Cheers but it doesn't need time...I know it's great.
It just didn't occur to me that replacing it in my TV room with a cheaper BD Player would solve my dilemma when I started this thread.

 

yes i'm sure the pono is "magic"

 

It's only the people who haven't listened to the Pono that seem to take issue with my saying that the Pono has some magic in its sound. The people who have heard it know there is something special in the sound. That something special is what I'm referring to as "magic". Tyll Hertsens found that magic and tried to explain it in his review of the Pono.

 

Thanks for your valuable input.

 

It's only valuable when the pono/ayre folks are telling how special and musical their player is then?

 

Have you heard it?
If yes...with what other equipment?
Please post something useful like a better system for $400.00 instead of acting like a troll.

 

Sorry to necropost, but I'm currently in a similar boat as the OP was last year.

I currently rip CDs lossless to a Pono for playback (which I love), but lately have been finding myself digging through old and used CDs and just playing redbook via a Pioneer combo DVD player. I would like to improve quality of redbook playback, so wondering if a new CD player would do the trick, or getting an external DAC and using the old Pioneer as a digital transport.

I'm currently looking at the Onkyo C-7030 vs. a Musical Fidelity DAC. The DAC would give me flexibility in addition to CD playback for playing hi-res digital files via a laptop, but as mentioned, I already have a Pono to do that. I choose the Musical Fidelity DAC because I have a phono pre-amp in the same V90 line, so the two would match nicely.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I've got a Bifrost and think it's great. I use it with my Oppo 83 for CDs and DVDs and my Apple TV for other material I access with that device. Schiit has a home trial deal. You're only out shipping and a small restocking fee. I ordered my Bifrost thinking I'd try and return it. Kept it. Give it a shot. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Got a bifrost multibit fro the office. It is very good. Have a Gungnir upgraded for home. Finally digital delivers.

 

Just curious for my own information. Have you listened to the new Bifrost or Bifrost Multibit and do either have that magic that you're talking about
Thanks

 

I haven't heard the new $399 delta-sigma version of the Bifrost. I can't offer any comparisons with it.

The Pono magic and the multibit magic are different flavors of "magic". They aren't doing the same thing. One doesn't substitute for the other.

The Pono does a spacious and deep soundstage that lets headphone sound seem to be out of your head. Especially in balanced mode. That is something that I would expect only from $1000+ headphone gear. Not $300 gear. And it does so with a smoothness and naturalness that is beyond its $300 price point. The DAC is doing the spatial thing and the deep soundstage. The amp is doing the naturalness and allowing the deep soundstage to come through without getting flattened. I think the magic that I hear is mostly from the amp and its fully balanced zero-feedback design. My Geek Pulse Xfi DAC has the same deep soundstage (it uses the same DAC chip) but doesn't have the magic and naturalness that the Pono does. Which leads me to believe the magic I hear in the Pono is due to the amp. A balanced design with zero-feedback.

With the Schiit multibit the magic is in the DAC. The smoothness of the sound from the DAC. The microdetails it presents. The soundstage doesn't pull out of my head to the degree that the Pono and Geek Pulse Xfi does. But the soundstage it does present is more natural and nuanced with more microdetail. The sound is also more natural and more correct in timbre. The multibit doesn't have the treble sheen or treble hash that delta-sigma DACs, and especially the Sabre DAC used in the Pono and Geek Pulse Xfi, often have. That lack of treble sheen lets the multibit DAC sound more natural and more analog-like. The smoother and better your amp the more you'll notice that the multibit DAC has less treble sheen going on. Once you hear digital played without that treble hash going on you get spoiled. It's something that you don't really notice until it is gone and then you realize that treble hash has been spoiling your music and a large reason why digital doesn't sound like analog. People have been comparing the Bifrost Multibit and the other Schiit multibits to analog style sound. And that lack of treble hash is one reason. The other part of the reason is the natural sound of the multibit digital filter used. Combine the smoothness due to the lack of treble hash and the smoothness due to the multibit digital filter and you've got digital DAC magic. Combine the Schiit multibit DAC and an amp that has a smooth sound and you've got a magic combo.

So the Pono and Schiit Multibit are doing different things. With the Pono the magic is in the amp. With the Schiit Multibit the magic is in the DAC. Different flavors of magic in each. Each doing a flavor that results in smoother more natural sound.

 

Excellent synopsis HS.
I'm no technophobe, and your explanation is one that I have no problem digesting. Thanks.

 

Thanks Ham Sandwich your responses are always informative and more importantly understandable

So I'll start saving up for a bifrost multibit and a ATI 2 channel amp
All I need is to pick a pair of speakers
So in other words starting from scratch

 

I went with the Musical Fidelity V90 DAC (should arrive tomorrow), but based on the love for the Schiit Bifrost here and other forums, I kinda wish I had ponied up the extra coins to try that out.

Oh well, if the MF doesn't do it for me, I can always return it and sample some Schiit.

 

I wish Ayre would make a dedicated headphone amp based on their balanced zero-feedback circuit. A quality dedicated headphone amp with balanced inputs and balanced headphone output. Priced in the $1000-$2000 range. It would be awesome. I'd buy it. I'm looking for a solid state headphone amp and keep hitting a wall, literally, in terms of sound quality with solid state. I'm looking for an amp able to do a deep soundstage. An amp that doesn't flatten or otherwise restrict the soundstage. It's difficult to find a solid state amp that does a deep soundstage that doesn't feel like it's flattening the soundstage. Combine that style of soundstage presentation along with the "magic" that the balanced zero-feedback design enables and you've got a solid state headphone amp that I want. Unfortunately it's an amp that doesn't seem to exist. I can find that style of sound in a few tube amps and a few hybrid amps. Can't seem to find it in solid state. Some get close, but ultimately don't quite do it to the degree I'm after.

An Ayre headphone amp combined with a Schiit multibit DAC and you'll have a big slice of a summit-fi headphone setup.

 

The only way to find out how the MF and Schiit compare is to try them both yourself. Comparing DACs is tricky. Differences can be subtle. At the same time, some differences can be "night and day". But even a "night and day" difference in the world of DAC comparisons can be subtle depending on gear and listening. Sometimes I feel like I'm overstating what the Schiit multibit is like, and then other times I feel like I'm understating what it's like. It's tricky to strike a balance. It's tricky because that balance depends on what sort of amp and headphones you're using as a reference when comparing the DACs. When I use my reference headphone amp (it's a $3000 amp) the differences I hear in the multibit and other DACs are much more obvious. Things like the difference in timbre with the multibit due to the lack of treble hash is very obvious to hear. But switch to a lower quality amp and suddenly that obvious difference becomes just hints of what I heard when using the reference amp and much more subtle. The differences are still there, but not in a way that would blow you away by being so obvious.