Dragonfly Red in desktop system - replace with Schiit Bifrost Multibit?
Hi Folks,
I am seeking some honest input/reality check in regards to a potential purchase: I am currently using an Audioquest Dragonfly Red on a Mac with Audirvana for nearfield listening at my desk. It's hooked up to a pair of B&W MM-1 via a stereo minijack cable (though a seriously upgraded one is on the way as I write this). Let me give some background here:
In my experience, going from the original setup (USB connection from the Mac to the MM-1's onboard DAC through iTunes as the frontend) to the Dragonfly Red to stereo minijack line in on the MM-1 and through Audirvana frontend was quite a huge change for the better. After a few dozen hours of playback/burn in, the soundstage just exploded in terms of width - I am now getting a soundstage a few feet in either direction of the speakers. My jaw dropped. Pretty shocking results from a few numbers, notably Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", John Coltrane's "Pursuance", Roger Waters' "Watching TV" and Gomez' "Tijuana Lady" come to mind. In some cases, the soundstage is so wide that it seems like things are coming from the next room (Waters' "Watching TV" is a great example- that track is absolutely spooky, especially listening to late at night!) I am very, very pleased with what I am hearing thus far, I must admit.
So what's missing? The depth. This is something that I have been searching for ever since I got into music and heard a setup that had it, and I know many others who are also on the same hunt. I have the same issue in my main system, which is a Wadia 151 PowerDAC coupled with Dynaudio Excite X12's. Great soundstage width, but the depth is relatively flat in comparison. To be fair, I do hear *some* depth in the current Dragonfly Red/MM-1 setup, but I would like more separation of instruments/air - if that is even possible, considering my rather budget-level speakers.
Back to the question at hand: I am thinking of possibly replacing the Dragonfly Red with a Schiit Bifrost Multibit. So I am asking those of you having experience with both of these options - do you think this makes sense, given the speaker choice, or an overkill for the MM-1's? (Yes, I realize the irony of a $600 DAC paired to a $400 set of speakers... but hey, you never know.)
From what I have read, it seems that some people say the depth comes from a good tube amplifier, though I cannot realistically fit one of those onto my desk. Others say it is both the amplifier and careful speaker placement. I have experimented a fair bit with the latter and seem to have found the right placement for my ears and my desk.
Anyone know of any good options? It doesn't need to be limited to the Bifrost Multibit, or even the DAC at all, if you think that isn't the bottleneck. In the case of the Bifrost Multibit, I have read that Schiit offers a 15 day return policy, but as I am currently living overseas, that isn't realistically something I can take advantage of at the moment, unfortunately.
Maybe I have hit the limit of what my speakers can do with the Dragonfly Red/Audirvana setup, which is fine - as I said, I am quite pleased with the setup that I have now, just wondering if there's possibly something I haven't considered that might make for a more enjoyable (and 3-d/holographic) musical experience. Note: I am listening to FLAC (though converted to Apple Lossless FWIW).
Feel free to also chime in with any recommendations you may have for specific songs or even albums that show off a great soundstage!