Upgrading from my Yiggy

[Torq]

To be fair, I haven’t posted in that thread for over a year.  And a lot has changed in my systems in that time.

 

My primary headphone rig is now a Chord Blu-Mk2 feeding DAVE which then feeds both a Chord Étude (to drive my SR1a) and Woo WA234 MkII Mono for all other headphones (though I do use the direct headphone output on DAVE when   I want solid-state output with non-pathologically-power-hungry cans).

 

My office rig is a Chord Hugo M-Scaler feeding a Hugo TT 2.

 

Speaker system is an all Linn Exakt setup driven by the latest Klimax DSM.

 

I use an RME ADI-2 DAC fs with an SPL Phonitor X as a consistent, neutral, reference for review purposes.

 

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Of all the other stuff I’ve auditioned, DACs in particular, most I’ve not bothered to even comment on unless specifically asked.  And only the TOTL MSB and dCS systems have really performed as well for me as the Chord combo, but since they were only different, not better, there was little incentive to buy into either.

 

[Torq]

Yggdrasil A2 remains one of my favorite DACs for simply enjoying music with.

 

When fed with either the Blu-Mk2 (as an M-Scaler) or Hugo M-Scalers I wound up preferring DAVE.

 

Subsequent firmware updates to the Klimax DSM (when used as a DAC for analog output) and to the Exakt-equipped speakers pushed them ahead also.  Though conventional DACs aren’t useful (don’t work) in an all-Exakt setup anyway.

 

 

[Torq]

8 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

Torq - you use the RME as an accurate reference, but feel that the others you mentioned are more euphonic?

 

is that right?

 

No.

 

I use the RME as a consistent and neutral reference.  Mostly because it’s affordable, relatable, and is both objectively and subjectively a very high performer.  And its relatively low price and small size makes it easy to keep around for long-term consistency.

 

Yggdrasil (and later Yggdrasil A2) used to be my reference DAC for such purposes ... again because it is relatable and relatively affordable (if less so than the RME).  It was taking up more space than I wanted for that purpose.

 

Oh, and I do not consider the Chord DAVE or TT 2 or Klimax DSM to be “euphonic”.  I do consider them better than the RME.

 

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My primary chain gets used in reviews too ... but the “review rig” is intended to be more relatable than a $25K source in a $100K overall headphone rig.  Especially when I am as likely to review a $100 dongle-DAC as I am a $4,000 flagship headphone.