Schiit Bifrost vs Topping D90

Audio Gear Talk
1

Ready to buy a new DAC, my budget is $700. HELP me decide.
Leaning toward the Schiit Bifrost or Topping D90.
Send me comments. Thanks for the time.

2

The Topping D90 would be my choice for no reason other than I have the D70 and still consider it an absolute bargain.

3

I have a D90 for my headphone station.

How about an R2R like a Denafrips Ares II?

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4

How about get a Topping E30 or Schiit Modius and then pat yourself on the back for saving all that money? :grinning:

5

I love my Schiit Biforst
Never heard the Topping

6

I have a Bitfrost and I love it. The reason I got it is because it is a multibit/R2R DAC (similar to the Denafrips Ares II, but better in my opinion). I prefer the sound of multibit DACs, so that is something to consider about my opinion. Nothing wrong with the Topping D90 though. In fact, the D90 has more features and can do MQA and DSD. Schiit DACs do not do DSD nor MQA, as they are focused on PCM. If MQA and DSD are important to you, then get the D90. If not, I would go with the Bitfrost.

2 Likes
7

You really can’t go wrong with the Schiit Bifrost 2. It’s a really nice piece of audio kit and the R2R DAC makes CD resolution come to life. So much so that I started getting rid of my high resolution SACD and DVD Audio discs. Using Roon you can still listen to MQA tracks from Tidal. You just let Roon do the transcoding then send it to the DAC. If you want to save some money and space, the smaller Schiit Modi Multibit is very good and is no slouch compared to the Bifrost. I have both of them and never feel like I’m missing out on anything when listening to the ModiMulti which is feed by the Allo DigiOne. You need a pretty revealing system to hear any major differences between the two. They both sound like high end analog instead of digital.

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8

I really like having volume control on my Topping and SMSL DACs. I go straight from the DAC into a power amp. It works great and it’s simple.

9

I was considering the Ares II but its 300 more.

10

Hmmm. This is what I wanted to hear. Do you have a modius? Just wondering how good unison USB is.

11

Hmm I have a DigiOne as a endpoint in one room, a RPI-Allo-Boss in another so the Multi…is a good option if I use RPI. I think you hit the nail on the head.

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12

Yep, I have one (and an E30 as well). The only downside of the unison is that it is a bit fiddly because it is a micro adapter. However, if you are simply going to plug it in and forget it, it is not an issue. The DAC itself is completely transparent. The downside is that, unlike the E30, it lacks a volume control, so you need a pre-amp or similar for that. You cannot control it through Roon. Unlike the E30, it does have balanced outs, which can be helpful.

13

Huh?

The Bifrost is $700 and the Ares is $760.

The prices on the Denafrips’ site are in Singapore dollars.

14

Thanks for the comments, and I am leaning more toward multibit…as DSD or MQA seem to be paths not finalized yet.

15

Holy Moly…thanks

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16

Thanks nice feature

17

thanks for the comment

18

Thanks for the comment, All the reviews I see are good. The only con is hi-res.

19

Not sure if you’ve already checked it out, but ASR’s measurements are always worth considering. They’re not the be-all and end-all, but can be helpful…


On SINAD at least the D90 comes out strong…
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20

Thanks for the tips…