Just got a Yggdrasil!

[manisandher]

 

4 hours ago, jabbr said:

The PCM1704 was the pinnacle of R2R accuracy that have actual published measurements.

 

4 hours ago, manisandher said:

 

My regular DAC, a Phasure NOS1a, uses four PCM1704U-K chips per channel. Here's its 1kHz @ -90dBFS measurement:

 

 

That's probably as good as you're going to get from a PCM1704 DAC. Mind you, it's pretty damn good.

 

Mani.

 

1 hour ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

Is this even relevant to the thread?

 

jabbr mentioned the PCM1704's measurements, without showing any. I simply showed the measurements of a particularly good implementation of the PCM1704. Yeah, it just happens to be my regular DAC. (I actually have two - one in my main system and one in my office.)

 

1 hour ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

So, including VAT, that DAC had to cost around the U.S. equivalent of over $4,000.  The Yggy costs $2,300.

 

More like $5k [edit: $6k actually] now. But it's the best DAC I've ever heard, by a fair margin.

 

The other thing that's great about it is that you can use HQPlayer or XXHighEnd to upsample redbook to 24/705.6 and send it to the NOS1a. Being a non-oversampling and filterless DAC, it leaves all the DSP to HQP/XXHE in the audio PC, fully utilizing the power of the audio PC's CPU. No FPGA can stand a chance to match this. Oh, and it makes redbook sound absolutely phenomenal.

 

Samuel, just ask if there's anything else you'd like to know about it - I'd be more than happy to oblige. I mean, that's all I'm here for - to slag off the Yggy and promote the NOS1a.

 

Mani.

[Jud]

37 minutes ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

His affluence is his bias.  I know that's taboo to some, but it's abundantly transparent to me.  Sorry if that upsets you.  He doesn't make DACs.  He just buys them.

 

That makes so much sense: George, who has mentioned on the forum that one of his other hobbies is nice sports cars, talks about the MSB DACs, some of which sell for over $20,000.  Mani then mentions his DAC, which sells for a fourth of that, to say his DAC's measurements *are not as good* as a sigma delta DAC's.  And it's *Mani* who is therefore bragging about wealth and his DAC.

 

Transparent?

[firedog]

39 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

That makes so much sense: George, who has mentioned on the forum that one of his other hobbies is nice sports cars, talks about the MSB DACs, some of which sell for over $20,000.  Mani then mentions his DAC, which sells for a fourth of that, to say his DAC's measurements *are not as good* as a sigma delta DAC's.  And it's *Mani* who is therefore bragging about wealth and his DAC.

 

Transparent?

True. And of course one can come up with a totally opposite explanation for how someone could afford these DACs without being wealthy: priorities. A person who lives frugally in other ways (spends little on cars and lives in very  modest housing, for example) could have quite a bit left over to spend on audio. 

 

I don't know enough about the vast majority here to assume anything about how they spend their money outside of andio. Probably not smart to assume anything about a given individual. 

[Ralf11]

I'm curious which brands and vintages of nice sports cars you like, George(?)

 

More on topic, what DACs at or near or under the price of the Yggy sound better or as good?  Mytek Brooklyn?  others?

 

And feel free to limit the response by digital format (redbook) or music type (rock vs. jazz, classical), blind testing or sustained listening or wayward impressions -- all welcome.

 

 

[tyvo]

12 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

I'm curious which brands and vintages of nice sports cars you like, George(?)

 

More on topic, what DACs at or near or under the price of the Yggy sound better or as good?  Mytek Brooklyn?  others?

 

And feel free to limit the response by digital format (redbook) or music type (rock vs. jazz, classical), blind testing or sustained listening or wayward impressions -- all welcome.

 

 

I'm not George but I'll jump in and risk getting burned, I think Audio Alchemy DDP-1 with PS-5 up front (a tad more expensive, but just a tad) sounds better across the board  

[gmgraves]

3 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

I'm curious which brands and vintages of nice sports cars you like, George(?)

 

More on topic, what DACs at or near or under the price of the Yggy sound better or as good?  Mytek Brooklyn?  others?

 

And feel free to limit the response by digital format (redbook) or music type (rock vs. jazz, classical), blind testing or sustained listening or wayward impressions -- all welcome.

 

 

Italian ones. Specifically, pre-Fiat Alfa Romeos. 

[crenca]

5 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

Italian ones. Specifically, pre-Fiat Alfa Romeos. 

 

That top one reminds me of the GTV my dad had in the late 1970's. He would take me to the SCCA autocross (timed through cones) events so I could watch him run it up through second gear...

[Speed Racer]

Here is my favorite car:

 

 

It happens to be mine....

[Jud]

8 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Here is my favorite car:

 

 

It happens to be mine....

 

Good stuff.

 

Do you take special precautions regarding your hearing?

[Speed Racer]

10 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

Good stuff.

 

Do you take special precautions regarding your hearing?

 

Yes, to a point. My helmet has ear muffs with speakers for my pit-to-car communication system. It lowers the ambient sound down from ~103 dba to ~80 dba. I m also a Skeet shooter. There I wear ear plugs that provide 33 dba of attenuation.

[Silly goose]

7 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

 

Yes, to a point. My helmet has ear muffs with speakers for my pit-to-car communication system. It lowers the ambient sound down from ~103 dba to ~80 dba. I m also a Skeet shooter. There I wear ear plugs that provide 33 dba of attenuation.

Do you notice any differences in the sound of your Yagi fresh after a race or skeet shooting session? 

[Speed Racer]

Just now, Silly goose said:

Do you notice any differences in the sound of your Yagi fresh after a race or skeet shooting session? 

 

Another sad excuse added to my ignore list........

[gmgraves]

47 minutes ago, crenca said:

 

That top one reminds me of the GTV my dad had in the late 1970's. He would take me to the SCCA autocross (timed through cones) events so I could watch him run it up through second gear...

 

Similar body but your dad's car did not have the "power bulge" in the hood, because his car had a 2.0 liter inline-4 motor, while my car in the picture has a 3-liter V-6 outputting about 250 horsepower at the flywheel (about 220 bhp net). Mine is not stock, having about 75 bhp over the factory spec. The model is called a GTV-6, and the year was '86. The silver one is a '72 GTV And it has the same motor as your dad's, but a different body. Both cars are mint.

[Speed Racer]

I love the body style of the '72 GTV. That is an Italian car I could own!

[gmgraves]

28 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

list........

 

59 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Here is my favorite car:

 

 

It happens to be mine....

 

Izzat an air-cooled GT-3? At any rate, it's cool car. I used to race Alfa GTAs in my youth but since I drove for a TASC team, the GTAs weren't mine.

[Speed Racer]

It fits in the PCA GT-3 class. It's built for a special class called GT-L for the PRC here in Northern California. We race with NASA. It has a 3.6L air-cooled normally aspirated engine.  The second race weekend of the year is next weekend. At the first race weekend, I put the car pole both days, had the fastest laps in both races, and won both races!

[gmgraves]

7 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

I love the body style of the '72 GTV. That is an Italian car I could own!

 

Agreed. The Alfa GTV and GTA were designed by Giorgio Giugiaro and are probably among the prettiest small cars ever made. Personally, I prefer the earlier "step nosed" model, which is essentially identical except for the front-end treatment. Don't get me wrong. Mine is gorgeous and with it's 400cc bigger engine is faster and easier to drive fast, it's just not quite as pure a body design as the earlier step-nose.

[gmgraves]

7 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

It fits in the PCA GT-3 class. It's built for a special class called GT-L for the PRC here in Northern California. We race with NASA. It has a 3.6L air-cooled normally aspirated engine.  The second race weekend of the year is next weekend. At the first race weekend, I put the car pole both days, had the fastest laps in both races, and won both races!

 

Congrats! Do you ever race at Sears Point? Love that track! BTW, I used to shoot skeet and trap when I lived in the SF Bay Area. Haven't done so since I moved up here to the Reno area, though. And for "Silly Goose", yes I wore hearing protection when I was shooting.

[Speed Racer]

2 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

 

Congrats! Do you ever race at Sears Point? Love that track!

 

Yes, most of our races are there. It is my favorite track by a large margin. Technical and challenging. I have about 6000 laps around that place on bikes and in cars and I am always learning new things about it.

[gmgraves]

3 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

 

Yes, most of our races are there. It is my favorite track by a large margin. Technical and challenging. I have about 6000 laps around that place on bikes and in cars and I am always learning new things about it.

 

I agree. I've done many a lap there myself in my GTV-6 (although not in a race - I haven't raced since I left Virginia right after college). I raced at VIR, Roebling Road track in Georgia, and the Allegheny track in WVA.

[manisandher]

Lovely, lovely cars guys. I've loved Alfas all my life, but have never had the pleasure of owning one. Porsche, I love too, and currently do have the pleasure of owning one.

 

Here's my previous run around:

 

 

Most people take a while to figure out what it is, but I doubt that'll be the case here.

 

Mani.

[PeterSt]

WOW, I see you have been enjoying yourselves. 

 

OK, back to cars now.

We over at Phasure's know that by some strange incidence (or not ?) quite many people own very nice cars (up to world's fastest). I think I can easily count 25 or so Phasure DAC owners with seriously great cars and that includes ~10 from the US. If we talk about "racing" as such, then I only know a few. But for Mani, did you know this one ? (this is ~20 years ago).

 

Last rally I did was the WC Rally of Great Britain in 2000. Then I thought to get rich by quitting that hobby.

 

Peter

 

 

[mourip]

As long as we are having an intermission. I used to have one like this except in robins egg blue with a red interior. 57' Speedster with 63' Super90 engine. I paid $1800 for it. Worth a tad more now...

 

[Ralf11]

There is no substitute for an old Pooschey.

 

 

Mine is a '73 (well, the unit body is a '73)...

 

I am going to start a Car Audio thread (for times when you are not listening to the engine, like on a freeway)

[manisandher]

7 hours ago, PeterSt said:

Last rally I did was the WC Rally of Great Britain in 2000.

 

Hey Peter, I knew you had done some rallying, but I didn't realise it was at this level. In a way, I'm glad it didn't work out for you... if you know what I mean.

 

Mani.