Schiit Yggdrasil - Best DAC available!?

[mordante]

I was really waiting for this DAC to come out. However it is more expensive then I hoped. Three times more expensive then then Gungnir. I am sort of looking for a DAC around the 1500 euro mark, maybe 2000 if the DAC is really good. The Yggy is 2600 euro. That is just too much for me. It makes me a little sad.

 

Hoping Schiit will come with a DAC between the Gungnir and Yggy. Maybe a Gungnir mkII with gen3 USB input.

[firedog]

Just wait a bit and you will be able to get a used one in budget.

 

I was really waiting for this DAC to come out. However it is more expensive then I hoped. Three times more expensive then then Gungnir. I am sort of looking for a DAC around the 1500 euro mark, maybe 2000 if the DAC is really good. The Yggy is 2600 euro. That is just too much for me. It makes me a little sad.

 

Hoping Schiit will come with a DAC between the Gungnir and Yggy. Maybe a Gungnir mkII with gen3 USB input.

[wino]

I was not aware of the 160 hours of warm up ( as opposed to burn in), I heard it again today but only 72 hours since it was last powered down for an hour. I will have to wait a few more days for it to hit a state of being on again for 160 straight hours.

 

p.s. it is a very nice DAC, but it didn't quite slay the MSB.

 

No 160 hour warm up needed ! I would however say, the less than one hour unplugged Yggy, never probably warmed up at your groovy pad ! After bringing it back… I think it takes 3 days to get 'back together'...

[wino]

I will post a more considered reply tomorrow. I this it is a very nice DAC for the price. I think the MSB Analog DAC is to my tastes a better DAC for my listening tastes. It draws you in better and is more relaxing and engaging to listen to for long periods of time. A bit richer and full as well. But these are all matters of degrees and personal preference. If I could sell my Analog DAC for the entire cost I have into it, take that money, buy a Yggdrasil and bank the rest, I would not do so. Please be mindful I don't want to start any sort of "my DAC is better than your DAC" wars, and I do think the Yggdrasil is a very nice DAC but I don't have experience with enough DACs at that price point and above to compare it to others or give any thoughts as to its overall value vs a PS Audio DS, Hugo, and many other fine DACs.

 

It it is quite enjoyable to listen to and I am sure it will make lots of folks happy.

 

Nothing you are saying is true, you are completely insane !

 

Haha, just kidding of course… Only true honesty accepted at my house !

 

Interestingly, there may be more in store for Yggy, in that our friend Stephen (Puma Cat) said his Schiit Bifrost took over 400 hours to really groove...

 

As well, I have no experience w/ this price range of DAC… it was soooooo hyped & after hearing the Modi Uber that's crazy cheap & so great, I decided to give it a whirl...

 

For me, I think the Yggy is 'detail driven' & crystalline pure… yet unfatiguing…

 

The Yggy so far (270ish hrs w/ a dynamic signal playing 24/7) is quite great… maybe it'll become more analog sounding & have a better 'flow' like Barr's Analog DAC-

 

I've been comparing the Yggy to Barr's DAC since Sat afternoon (thanks again for the very generous loan !)… the Yggy is indeed great… so far it doesn't beat the much more expensive Analog… maybe after 400 hrs-

 

David

[PewterTA]

Even if Yggdrasil (I hate the Yggy name) is close to MSB and others in the range of well over 4x the cost... then to me that's a win for Schiit. My favorite DAC (more because I've gotten a lot of time with it) is the Bricasti M1. I've also like the sound of the Total DAC as well... so I think my tastes lie in that range, just wish my budget did as well. ha ha.

 

I guess for now I'm stuck with my modified NAD M51. Though I have to say, since adding a Mutec MC1.2 and MC3+ Smart clock with a Rubidium 10Mhz clock... I've not heard sound like this from my M51 ever... and I have to say it's much closer to what I was hearing with the Bricasti M1. Which makes me wonder what adding this layer of time precision in front of much better DACs would do... even to the effect of using two reclockers right after each other... hmm.

[koushik]

Thanks for the thread. Although I don't have anything to contribute on this topic but Yaggdrasil is on my radar for long and I am only getting positive on buy it.

[ilok]

Get a NOS DAC instead.

[wino]

Get a NOS DAC instead.

 

Huh ?

[Foggie]

Thanks for the thread. Although I don't have anything to contribute on this topic but Yaggdrasil is on my radar for long and I am only getting positive on buy it.

 

As with ANY component, do the research and don't get too caught up in the hype as it could turn out to be a disappointing experience (as some have already found out). Again this applies to any product and I have no horse in this race.

[koushik]

I am particularly not going by hypes. It is more for Mike Moffat and also for the USB 3 implementation. I only need USB and it should be really good and at the moment they seems to be ahead of competition in this department.

[fabythom2713]

Nothing you are saying is true, you are completely insane !

 

Haha, just kidding of course… Only true honesty accepted at my house !

 

Interestingly, there may be more in store for Yggy, in that our friend Stephen (Puma Cat) said his Schiit Bifrost took over 400 hours to really groove...

 

As well, I have no experience w/ this price range of DAC… it was soooooo hyped & after hearing the Modi Uber that's crazy cheap & so great, I decided to give it a whirl...

 

For me, I think the Yggy is 'detail driven' & crystalline pure… yet unfatiguing…

 

The Yggy so far (270ish hrs w/ a dynamic signal playing 24/7) is quite great… maybe it'll become more analog sounding & have a better 'flow' like Barr's Analog DAC-

 

I've been comparing the Yggy to Barr's DAC since Sat afternoon (thanks again for the very generous loan !)… the Yggy is indeed great… so far it doesn't beat the much more expensive Analog… maybe after 400 hrs-

 

David

 

David!!!

I feel a relieve, uhhh ... I've seen what you've said in HF forums ( which by the way i unsubscribed already, it became a joke) and you have big money equipment. When you compare Yggdrasil with top notch dac like msb and it get close to it. I think for the price it gets too close... So i made a good purchase and i am loving it every single moment i play music...

[PewterTA]

Fabythom2713 - How long have you had it and can you describe some of the changes and compare it to what you were using before hand to get somewhat of a baseline on where you were before and compared to now?

[Mike Mcsweeney]

does the yggy include power isolation from the usb interface?

[Audio_ELF]

Just wait a bit and you will be able to get a used one in budget.

You think it's so bad people are going to be selling them quickly :-) <weg>

 

(Now I'm going to stop being naughty and sarcastic)

[koushik]

For some reason or other people do sell their gears. Not always because it is sounding bad

[fabythom2713]

Fabythom2713 - How long have you had it and can you describe some of the changes and compare it to what you were using before hand to get somewhat of a baseline on where you were before and compared to now?

 

For sure. I've had it almost 2 weeks now.... My references are Schiit Gungnir and NAD M51 dacs. The difference is huge, more detail, more space, tighter bass, soundstage is much wider now. But they way I see yggy is that you no longer listen to music, you become part of the music, remember in the movie Matrix, when Neo is on the street and everything is stopped except him and the other guy? Or in Swordfish movie when there is an explosion and little balls are flying in slow motion. That's kinda how I listen to music with the Yggy.. There is so much realism, all instruments playing at the same time and each having its own life and you can walk through it. Uhh the feeling is spectacular; but you better play good recorded music or good files, because those crappy recording you'll want to not hear it again. It brings out the life of those good recording and same with bad recordings. That's how I see it.. I don't know how a six figure dac sound but with Yggy i am more than happy.

[Audio_ELF]

For some reason or other people do sell their gears. Not always because it is sounding bad

It was intended as a joke...

[koushik]

It was intended as a joke...

I knew you will say that. I got your joke but just couldn't help myself to post that because a friend of mine also asked me the same question when I said that I will wait for an used unit which should be available very soon. Hahaha [emoji4]

[PewterTA]

Who would want someone else's Schiit? Ewwwww.... ha ha.

[dapla]

I figure you guys have seen this, maybe already linked in a post in another thread here I missed, but just in case:

 

yggdrasil technical measurements

 

Guy seems to have done a very nice job of it.

[JoeWhip]

I was able to listen to the Yggdrasil for 5 hours last night at a friend's place who has a megabucks system. I own the Gungnir DAC. The Yggdrasil is the real deal. My friend had several expensive DACS in for testing, including the Berkley DAC. They all went back. He and his testing partner both felt that the Yggdrasil was better then them all. This guy can afford whatever he wants. The fact that he got the cheapest priced DAC should tell you something its performance. I can't wait to get one in my system to do a direct comparison to the Gungnir. The best thing I can say for the Yggrasil is that it has no sound of its own. It just gets out of the way. The ease of sound yet with details galore was astounding. The fact that is is now backordered means that somebody is paying attention.

[koushik]

Thanks Joewhip. That is a helpful feedback.

[audio.bill]

JoeWhip - do you recall which Berkeley DAC your friend had? There are big differences between their series 1, 2, and the newest Reference model. TIA!

[audio.bill]

JoeWhip confirmed that it was the Berkeley Reference DAC that was compared to the Schiit Yggdrasil, and the listeners all agreed that the Yggy was preferred. That's quite an endorsement!

[wino]

I was able to listen to the Yggdrasil for 5 hours last night at a friend's place who has a megabucks system. I own the Gungnir DAC. The Yggdrasil is the real deal. My friend had several expensive DACS in for testing, including the Berkley DAC. They all went back. He and his testing partner both felt that the Yggdrasil was better then them all. This guy can afford whatever he wants. The fact that he got the cheapest priced DAC should tell you something its performance. I can't wait to get one in my system to do a direct comparison to the Gungnir. The best thing I can say for the Yggrasil is that it has no sound of its own. It just gets out of the way. The ease of sound yet with details galore was astounding. The fact that is is now backordered means that somebody is paying attention.

 

Hi Joe-

 

I'm sorry to be doubtful to your statements & apologize up front-

 

Who is your 'friend' ? Does he post anywhere ? What is this "megabucks system" ? What are these "several expensive DACs in for testing"

 

I agree that the Yggy is great for the price.. mine has 600 hours on it today, w/ a constant load on it-

 

There are many good attributes…

 

Depending on what you consider "megabuck", my system is pretty good… had a MSB Analog DAC + Power Base here for a week a week or so ago for side by side & owned one for almost 2 yrs-

 

IMO (& visitors) the Yggy DOES NOT cream it as said by other fanboy/hypers in other forums… nor does it sound like analog/a turntable…

 

It is absolutely detail driven… it has tremendous bass… it is NOT fatiguing… It DOES get 'glassy' & 'pushed' if played a little loud on many tracks...

 

I have played most genres & most resolutions for about a month straight...

 

I would call the Yggy accurate & a reviewers tool… although it does not have a natural analog ebb & flow-

 

The Yggy is great… I have a Shunyata Digital PC coming which should make a further improvement… it MUST be on footers too, to sound better-

 

DO NOT believe fanboy hype ! Don't drink the Koolaide !

 

The Yggy is great, it DOES NOT kill DACs 5-10 times it's price ! Can you name any gear that does ???

 

I can only name one giant killer… a line stage.. compared to far more expensive preamps, it kicks major butt… the Coincident Linestage...

 

David