I didnt know about the updated og abilities either, i figured when the cards start showing up sub $200 used it may be worth looking at and seeing the longer term impressions.
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Iām going to sit tight on making any changes. Iād like to get a feel from others experiences first. I honestly like the way it sounds now and not really sure I want to change. I think Iād be more in the camp of doing the upgrade (board/firmware) vs just a firmware flash to the OG if it gets to that.
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I donāt know what youāre using as a source, but if you ever have the time/inclination, Iād be interested to know if the NOS mode plays well with external oversampling (could be through Roon, Audirvana, HQPlayer, etc).
Speaking of which, I have a half-written oversampling guide that Iām hoping to post at some point since I fell down the rabbit hole a few weeks ago, might as well share, lol.
EDIT: Guide is now posted here!
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I use Roon with the iFi Zen Stream as my endpoint. Basically it is:
iFi Zen Stream > Matrix X-SPDIF 2 > Schiit Bifrost 2/64 > Quicksilver
I also am normally not a fan of oversampling at all and am anti EQā¦Iām a bit of a purist. To my ears it adds a digital glare and an unnatural tinge to sound. This is why I was surprised by the 2/64 NOS. But with the way Schiit implements and uses their megacomboburrito filter, it is evident that this filter is a huge factor in their dacās overall house sound. Credit is due to them creating such an effective filter.
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In the end, thereās many ways to skin a cat. If it sounds good, it sounds good. Based on how the boards are selling I bet weāll see a shortage again soon and someone will put their A2/64 board up for sale for $425 and someone else will buy it.
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Hereās how cheap I am, Iām thinking about waiting until my warranty is about to expire before upgrading my BF2. At this point, all original owners are still within their original 5-year warranty, so the 2-year warranty for the upgrade card only comes into play for someone that bought a used BF2.
Even if you bought your Bifrost 2 on the day it was released, youāre still under warranty until 8/28/2024! If I could tack on an additional 2 years to my existing warranty period, it would be a different proposition.
Iām pretty satisfied with the sound of my OG BF2, so unless everyone goes on and on about how much better the upgrade is I will probably hold off until the initial hype dies down and opinions become a little more realistic. I had the chance to demo the Yggy LIM and compare it against my BF2 and didnāt notice that much of a difference, well not enough to warrant the extra $$$. Bass texture and detail was the biggest improvement I heard with the LIM.
Disclaimer: I only had the Auteur use for my comparison at the time. I might change my tune if I got to compare again with my Meze Elite.
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Iām of the same mindset. But knowing that I am easily triggered to jump on new shiny things - I am loaning my BF2 out for a while to keep it out of sight outta mind, and poof no temptation lol.
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I think thats more smart than cheap.
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I just got my hqplayer āserverā setup again. Iāll try this out and report back. Could be interesting. But given that bf2 is limited to 24/192, I suspect it wonāt be great. Most DAC that play well with hqplayer need 384k or 768k. (Or DSD
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after ~1hr of moving things around and playing with settings, Iāve got HQPlayer up and running with my BF2/64. The setup is:
M1 Mac Mini running HQPlayer
RPi4 w/ NAA image as network audio end point
USB from RPi4 to BF2/64 (with UIP-1 in between)
BF2/64 running NOS mode
It works and sounds pretty good. Definitely better than running stock NOS mode w/o HQPlayer upsampling. Like anything with HQPlayer, itās all about settings. Itāll take some time to find āoptimalā settings. But for now Iām running:
sinc-L
NS9
PCM
24-bit
4x rate (192kHz)
This config is pulling out more low-level detail than the stock setup. But need to do a lot more listening to have much of an opinion.
but FWIW - if you have HQPlayer, itās worth trying on NOS mode.
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My third day of listening to the BF2/64 straight.
NOS (pulsating) made transients a nudge softer and background elements slightly more muted like crackling static noise. So, it didnāt do much for me. /64 has better separation and sounds a bit cleaner than OG. This is going to sound stupid (I wish I had two BF2s to compare), but some electronic bass leans a bit more ābonkā than ābwompkā from memory, and I donāt know which one I prefer.
I donāt find this to be a gigantic improvement, but an upgrade for most, nonetheless.
- Presentation is better and thereās a touch more clarity/brightness compared to OG
- The clarity changes the bass in a way that boils down to preference. This is a very instinctual observation listening to Madeonās āAll My Friendsā for the millionth time on my RNHP + BF2 combo.
- NOS mode is moot and isnāt what you should be getting this upgraded card for.
[2] Ok, my bonk/bwompk theory is a bit stronger. The kickdrum in Dave & Don Grusin - Glissade is much bonkier/thocky.
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Thanks for the impressions. I was wondering if the BF2/64 would still have the exact synergy with the RNHP.
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This may be somewhat related to my observations that the 2/64 sounded faster to me. I observed faster transients and decay, which may relate to what you are hearing with the bass.
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So as a fun little experiment, I decided to swap the OG BF2 card back in last night and let it warm up over night. Switching back to the OG BF2 card has been interesting.
The OG BF2 card is definitely much wider, thicker, and bass is a lot more boomy. That being said, everything that I had stated in my earlier observations has remained true. Swapping cards made these observations even more noticeable and was a reaffirmation of sorts. The New 2/64 Card and OG Card actually sound more different then I had originally believed. If one cared mostly about bass heft and soundstage width, the OG card is the way to go. I popped the 2/64 card back in for now.
The part that kind of sucksā¦I believe one could actually justify owning both versions. Synergy does change somewhat with the 2/64 (example is the og BF2 had slightly better synergy with the Quicksilver).
Also, believe it or not, NOS sounds better on the OG card than the 2/64, lol. I still prefer the megacomboburrito filter on both cards though.
One other thing I noticed when swapping cardsā¦the 2/64 gets much warmer in temperature than the og BF2 card. I just used the simple hands on the chassis test.
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@Hazi59 Thanks for the work. Good info to save. Iām sticking w. my OG for now since it is still pretty new for me.
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No problem, happy to share. It was a good educational experience listening to both of them. Definitely understand keeping the OG BF2 card, especially from a value perspective.
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I have the BF2 OG, and I like it in NOS mode. It makes the sound a little cleaner and bright compared to the OS. If the BF2/64 is already clearer than the BF2 OG NOS will make it brighter leaning then.
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Oh I absolutely agree. I still prefer the megacomboburrito filter on both cards, but that is mostly out of preference as I prefer neutral or warmer treble and try to avoid fatigue. Though Iām sure that filter preferences will also be dependent on the amp pairing as well.
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I updated the firmware on my OG BF2 and started listening. Testing the NOS vs OS (NONOS? NOTNOS?)
I feel like the OS version is a bit airier, a little bit wider than the old firmware and so far I really, really like it. It feels like the bass is all still present but a little less thick. A touch quicker but generally very similar to before. All the things I liked are there and still do the same on the music I listen to.
NOS isā¦ different. On the wrong music it is not unpleasant but like drums are very. much. more. staccato. Less boom and much more punch. I donāt like it on analogue tracks. Makes everything sound a bit drum machine like. Anything by Snarky Puppy should not sound artificial. On electronic music it sounds better than before. The punch really suits the faster music. The slight metallic edge to the treble works well here. Something like āBorn Slippyā by Underworld, for example sounds great here. Faster, punchier, sharper.
So far I feel like I will use both, depending on what I am listening to.
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Exactly how felt the NOS mode on the BF2 OG. Sounds sharper, faster, less boom. It lost the analog sound for maybe a more clearer and digital sound.
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