The Schiit Bifrost DAC was created by company head designer Mike Moffat, famed for the best-in-the-industry DACs he created for Theta Digital back in the 1990s. Unlike most 24/192 DACs, it doesn’t upsample — put in 16/44.1 audio from a CD and that’s what you get out. Apparently Moffat doesn’t like mucking around with the original signal. The Bifrost costs $349 without USB input and $449 with. What’s really remarkable for that price is that the Bifrost is upgradeable; its motherboard construction allows the DAC and filter boards to be swapped out. Seen next to it is the $449 Lyr tube amp released earlier this year. The Lyr puts out an astounding 6 watts into a pair of 32-ohm headphones, so it can handle even the hardest-to-drive ’phones with ease.
