Upgrading from my Yiggy

[Blake]

If you don't have the analog 2 upgrade, consider getting it.  Otherwise, IMHO at this level, all you get are different sonic flavors (typically subtle differences evident in direct A/B testing), even going up to something like the Chord Dave will not be significantly better, or even better at all depending on your personal sound preferences.

 

Perhaps a dcs Bartok would be significantly better?  Who knows, I've never heard one.

[Blake]

On 8/31/2019 at 6:45 PM, barrows said:

I find it a bit amusing that some are suggesting it would be difficult to improve on the performance of the Yggdrasil.  I would suggest that in many cases this opinion is only wishful thinking, rather than being based on direct experience of listening to really good DACs in the same system.

 

Please go back and read this thread again more carefully.  The OP is asking for a "significantly better" DAC.  Nobody in this thread suggested it would be "difficult to improve on the performance of the Yggy".  Of course "significantly" means different things to different listeners.

 

I know you are in the industry so perhaps you have tried dozens of TOTL DACs in your system (and if you didn't audition the DAC's in your system, then any opinion should have a huge grain of salt attached to it).  Most of us don't have that luxury. 

 

However, some other very experienced and knowledgeable people have bought and sold many dozens of DAC's (many at much, much higher prices, using their own personal funds), auditioning in their own system and have found the Yggy to be highly competitive and even better than some of these much more expensive DAC's.  That is not to say everyone would hear the DAC's the same way, or even that the majority would agree, but it is a data point to consider.

 

No one DAC will please everyone, same as any other component.  IMHO, at this level it really just becomes a matter of personal taste and system/room matching and that is why I question how many DAC's would be "significantly better" such that I would be willing to pay 3x, 4x, 5x or more.  I am quite certain there are a number of DAC's out there I would prefer to my Yggy and probably even some that I would determine to be significantly better,  but I'm just not that motivated to try or spend a bunch more to try since I'm happy with my Yggy and it gets bonus points for being relatively cheap.