Background: A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is that piece of hardware that turns your music files into signals that your speakers or headphones can play. DACs are a mature technology, so even the one in your smartphone can do the job almost perfectly. Schiit, an audio company, released a DAC claiming to improve music through "multibit technology", which is, as you may imagine as with many audiophile claims, complete snake-oil. People hailed multibit DACs as the new latest and greatest, then somebody decided to actually check if the claim was true.

The review of the Bifrost DAC:

Even the Topping D30 at $129 shipped runs circles around it in how clean its output is relative to Schiit BiFrost Multi-bit. There are serious design problems here to cause this many distortion products.

A massive engineering black eye.

I want one of them with a straight face tell me how their music is better where a spray of distortion and noise is added to any single tone in their music.

A follow-up review of Schiit's $2,400 Yggdrasil DAC:

If you play high-resolution audio, this DAC is not for you.

The new board seems to be much worse the lower the frequencies get.

I couldn't believe a solid state DAC in this day and age can have such a frequency response error.

I am sure we will be told that these two DACs are broken and that they need to go to service.

Bottom line, I can NOT recommend the Schiit Yggdrasil DAC.

Some salty reactions from Super Best Audio Friends, the Internet's #1 Schiit fan forum (highlights compiled courtesy of /u/valar_k):

Defending their waifu Schiit:

It's obvious he is jealous of Schiit's success and feels he deserves more recognition that he has.

Digging into the guy's past to smear him:

Can you ask your partner if he got canned by MS or actually retired?

This Is Actually Good For Schiit:

A quick response to all of this: yes, multibit products, especially 16-bit multibit products, won't measure as good as delta-sigma in terms of THD, linearity, etc, especially if you're talking about multibit products without dither. ... Now, the interpretation of "what is good" and "what is bad" is a whole different thing, one we can discuss endlessly.

Let's combine some shilling and sexual favors jokes into one:

He stated he got 2 dacs from Topping, one is not even on the Topping website yet. It is pretty clear the bottom line is he is bending over backwards or it it forwards for topping!

Let's joke about his masculinity because we're adults:

Yes, we should keep the kicking him in the balls stuff (it's pointless: he doesn't feel a thing) there.

And a few more:

Some aren't happy unless there is something to BMW (Bitch Moan & Whine) about.

Always an internet bully Even in his MS heyday he was a forum plague. Egomania, not to be confused with Beatlemania!

He had to start his own board because he is unable to function in the real world, he need total control in order to manipulate others. He attacks good designers because he is not one and is jealous of their accomplishments.

hey obviously you don't like Schiits stuff maybe you should just stop trying to review it.

Guys: leave him alone. You'll never convince or change him, nor will you ever win an argument with him because he's too slippery.

Amidst the rage, a single glimmer of self-awareness rises:

The key is not having your identity tied to your possessions. Or creations. Or company. Etc.

It's amazing how when you are critical of gear that someone owns they take it as an insult to themselves because they aren't able to separate the two. That's why you see these discussions turn ugly. People take it so personally.