John
It’s going to be a crazy busy second half of 2011 (and early 2012) for Schiit. They’re rumoured to be releasing THREE different DACs, the first of which has just been announced as available for pre-order. The first batch of which will ship at the end of August.
The Schiit Bifrost is unusual in that it’s intended to be user upgradeable: snap in a USB card or DAC board, as and when the need arises. The Bifrost runs an AKM4399 chip that permits up to 24/192 on ALL inputs, even the asynchronous USB (which is a $100 option – smart move).
It’s also bitperfect – nothing gets upsampled. If you send 16/44, that’s what gets decoded. If you send 24/96, that’s what gets decoded.
The Bifrost also sports a fully discrete output stage.
Pricing is US$349 for the S/PDIF-only version and an additional US$100 if you want USB connectivity.
Detailed specifications:
- Inputs: Coaxial SPDIF, Optical SPDIF, USB (optional)
- Input Capability: up to 24/192 for all inputs
- Input Receiver, SPDIF: Crystal Semiconductor CS8416
- Input Receiver, USB: C-Media CM6631
- D/A Conversion IC: AKM4399
- Analog Summing, Filtering: Fully Discrete, DC Coupled
- Output: Dual RCA (single-ended)
- Output Impedance: 75 ohms
- Frequency Response, Analog Summing Stage: 2Hz-100KHz, -1dB (actual frequency response limited by sample rate)
- Maximum Output: 2.2VRMS
- THD: Less than 0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz
- S/N: Greater than 108dB
- Power supply: 5 stages of regulation, including separate supplies for critical digital and analog sections.
- Upgradability: Separate, modular USB Input Card and DAC/Analog Card are snap-in replaceable.
- Power Consumption: 15W
- Size: 9 x 6.75 x 2.25”
- Weight: 5 lbs
More information can be found on the Schiit website.
