Denafrips Ares II Vs Schiit Bifrost 2

[Prateek-Epitome]

Hi All,

I am planning to upgrade my DAC to one of these (Denafrips Ares II or Schiit Bifrost 2). I haven't personally heard Ares II, i have demoed Schiit Bifrost (Original 1st version) from one of our forum members. I couldn't demo Ares II.

I went through several online reviews / comparisons and following are the points that i gathered through reviews.

Denafrips Ares II : Has rich Harmonics, wide soundstage, lot of space between instruments, round edges (not fatiguing), tube-amp like sound. Bass is bit softer, slightly less resolution compared to Bifrost 2.

Schiit Bifrost 2 : Has rich timber, detailed and smooth sound across the frequency, punchy bass with good texture. Soundstage width is less compared to Ares II. Bifrost has more detail (without fatigue) compared to Ares II

As we are all aware, online reviews can be misleading at times. I am sure many of our FMs have used / heard these two DACs. I would like to hear your thoughts on strength / weakness / comparison between these two DACs

My current components are Ifi Zen Stream - SMSL D300 DAC - Naim Nait 5si amp - Wharfedale Evo 4.2 speakers

I like all that is being shared about Denafrips Ares II, i am bit afraid if the bass would be bit weak (I don't have subwoofer). Bifrost has a good quality / quantity of bass, but soundstage is bit narrower.

Appreciate your thoughts. Thank you

I am not sure about soundstage being narrower or wider, but Ares is definitely rolled off in treble. A bit too much I feel. If you have overtly bright system, might be useful.

 

[shibashis]

I have a little bit of a different question for OP, have you considered any other DACs, how did you come up with the shortlist of these two only?

 

[ajuvignesh]

Headphonezone has stopped selling schiit products other than modi dac. So, Bifrost 2 is out of the equation now.

 

[Ebenezer]

Hi All, thanks for your response. I have bought a pre-owned Denafrips Ares II. It sounds great in my setup, with the recent firmware update, i don't think it is too much rolled off in HF. Soundstage is wide and very good timber in lower mid and mid frequencies.