Schiit Audio Releases its Unison USB Upgrade

[matthias]

30 minutes ago, thotdoc said:

What I was asking is 'In what ways is the SQ effected'? For example: Better separation? Punchier base? Tones closer to real instruments? ????

 

I was not asking, 'What is the mechanism by which SQ is effected'? That is interesting, but I need to decide if I want to get the upgrade and want to get some feedback first.

 

Some impressions here:

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-unison-usb.8236/

 

Matt

[thotdoc]

49 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Some impressions here:

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-unison-usb.8236/

 

Matt

Thank you. I'd read what little there is there.  I don't know the people. I have a good idea whom to trust on this site so I'll likely focus here. 

 

As more people get the upgrade, more will be written here. 

 

I do not want to do the upgrade myself, so my hesitancy is really the shipping hassle and the time the entire system will be down...I hardly think the mod will make things worse.

[JoeWhip]

I have not been able to listen for a few days but I was able to do some extensive listening for a few hours before I had to get to other things. Is it worth it? Yes, it is a very nice improvement. First of all, the DAC seems to be a good bit quieter than with the gen 5 board. I hear more very faint details, things such as toe tapping, fingers on bass strings. The sound is a bit fuller, more meat on the bones if you will, not a ton but enough to notice. I also find it to be a tad more dynamic with a deeper and wider soundstage. Listen for example to Ray Brown’s bass on Starbucks Blues. It growls and jumps right out at you. Does it sound like a totally different DAC? No, but all things the Yggy does so well, it now does a bit better. The improvements all add up to a really nice improvement and make a great DAC even more of a joy to listen to. I look forward to getting back to it in a couple of days.

[thotdoc]

4 hours ago, JoeWhip said:

I have not been able to listen for a few days but I was able to do some extensive listening for a few hours before I had to get to other things. Is it worth it? Yes, it is a very nice i....

Thank you

It sounds like a good improvement, especially for the $$.

 

Gordon

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just got the Unison USB card into my Yggdrasil. One word. NICE!

[jonmrife]

I am mostly a serial lurker here, but the Unison upgrade pulled me out of my cave. I bought a used Gungnir MB in December planning to upgrade the USB output when it became available.

 

So my unit is in the que (currently #27 of 49) to be sent back to California. Unlike the Yggdrasil, the Gungnir must make the round trip. OK by me as I am not confident of my ability to self-install the board. I don't do plumbing either, 'cept in emergencies.

 

One benefit of having Schiit do the work is the new warranty. I have none with my used device, but the upgrade/install comes with a two year total new warranty on my Gungnir. That alone is worth the extra cost of factory install, IMO.

 

MIKE

[JoeWhip]

The Yggy is much easier to work with than the Gumby. I would never do that myself. I have been away in the UK for a week after installing the Unison and listened all last night. This card is significantly better then the Gen 5. Well done Mike!

[jonmrife]

8 minutes ago, JoeWhip said:

The Yggy is much easier to work with than the Gumby. I would never do that myself. I have been away in the UK for a week after installing the Unison and listened all last night. This card is significantly better then the Gen 5. Well done Mike!

The Gumby Gen 5 has played nice with my Roon Nucleus and Cambridge Audio amplification, but I am looking forward to the upgrade! Thanks, Joe!

[matthias]

On 2/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, JoeWhip said:

I have not been able to listen for a few days but I was able to do some extensive listening for a few hours before I had to get to other things. Is it worth it? Yes, it is a very nice improvement. First of all, the DAC seems to be a good bit quieter than with the gen 5 board. I hear more very faint details, things such as toe tapping, fingers on bass strings. The sound is a bit fuller, more meat on the bones if you will, not a ton but enough to notice. I also find it to be a tad more dynamic with a deeper and wider soundstage. Listen for example to Ray Brown’s bass on Starbucks Blues. It growls and jumps right out at you. Does it sound like a totally different DAC? No, but all things the Yggy does so well, it now does a bit better. The improvements all add up to a really nice improvement and make a great DAC even more of a joy to listen to. I look forward to getting back to it in a couple of days.

 

Thank you for sharing your impressions.

 

Which USB cable do you use between your Macbook and the Yggy?

 

Matt

[JoeWhip]

Oyaide Neo d+ class A.

[mourip]

For those with an Yggy and want to save a lot of money by not having to ship it back then here are some very good instructions for self-installation. If you can use a phillips head screwdriver you can do this. If you want to extend your warranty then send it in.

 

It took me about 15 minutes to instal it but I did the last USB upgrade also. Have not hooked it up yet but will report back.

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-yggdrasil-gen-5-usb-upgrade-instructions.4842/

[SuperRoo]

I used those instruction too. Had one screw that did not want to come out easily. Just take your time. The upgrade is well worth doing yourself.

[jiminlogansquare]

I have bought and installed the Unison board in my Yggy, and while I was heartened to find when I threw the switch that I hadn't actually destroyed my DAC and it functioned perfectly, I have been struggling a bit to hear any changes to the sound. Maybe this is because I was using the ISO Regen before and after the change-up to the USB input board. Maybe it's also partly attributable to a recent upgrade I made to my USB cable, from a basic Belkin Gold to a fancier one (Synergistic Research Atmosphere X), which could be confounding the comparison. I don't regret making the Unison USB board upgrade, as it cost only $150 and may yet yield some audible improvements.
 

So I may or may not have answered my own earlier question about how the Unison interfaces with a Regen. Anyone else with a Regen and who's made the switch to the Unison board have a different or more clear set of impressions?

 

Sorry for my seeming ambivalence; I might just be posting too soon after making the switch 24 hours ago. 

[matthias]

15 minutes ago, jiminlogansquare said:

I have bought and installed the Unison board in my Yggy, and while I was heartened to find when I threw the switch that I hadn't actually destroyed my DAC and it functioned perfectly, I have been struggling a bit to hear any changes to the sound. Maybe this is because I was using the ISO Regen before and after the change-up to the USB input board. Maybe it's also partly attributable to a recent upgrade I made to my USB cable, from a basic Belkin Gold to a fancier one (Synergistic Research Atmosphere X), which could be confounding the comparison. I don't regret making the Unison USB board upgrade, as it cost only $150 and may yet yield some audible improvements.
 

So I may or may not have answered my own earlier question about how the Unison interfaces with a Regen. Anyone else with a Regen and who's made the switch to the Unison board have a different or more clear set of impressions?

 

Sorry for my seeming ambivalence; I might just be posting too soon after making the switch 24 hours ago. 

 

Maybe Unison sounds better without the ISO Regen?

 

Matt

[jiminlogansquare]

12 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

Maybe Unison sounds better without the ISO Regen?

 

Matt

A possibility I plan to investigate! But it will take some time. I have learned that, in my own case, attempting quick A/B comparisons rarely results in any definitive discernible difference (there have been exceptions, just not many). My MO therefore is to make a change, listen to it for a month or so until it becomes the "new normal" to my ears, and then put things back the way they were (remove the added equipment, reinstall what it replaced, etc.) and listen to see whether that makes it sound different, better or worse. It would be impractical to switch back to the Gen5 USB, but I certainly can do a slow-listening comparison to Unison with and without the Regen. So I promise to try removing the Regen in a month or so and to check back in with the results!

 

(Also, at risk of abusing the Edit window, I definitely found the Regen to improve the sound of the Gen5 USB. I listened to my Yggy for about a year without the Regen after Schiit declared USB was "solved" by Gen5, but when I eventually tried reinserting the Regen - after being fully accustomed to the sound of Yggy/Gen5 USB without Regen - it sounded dramatically better, to the point where I wondered why I had wasted so much listening time without the Regen. So there's that.)

[thotdoc]

Bump-Amazingly few responses. I'm on the list from 2-weeks ago, 48 of 48.

[jonmrife]

12 hours ago, thotdoc said:

Bump-Amazingly few responses. I'm on the list from 2-weeks ago, 48 of 48.

The longer I wait, the behind I get.

 

I started out at 28 of 36 or so when I ordered on Feb 5. As of now, I sit at 23 of 82. So I have moved up 5 slots in 4 weeks. I am beginning to think this list is somewhat specious😃.  Both my and your numbers as reported can't be correct (of 48? of 82?). Just as at the DMV, we wait until our number is called.........

[davide256]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:54 PM, jiminlogansquare said:

A possibility I plan to investigate! But it will take some time. I have learned that, in my own case, attempting quick A/B comparisons rarely results in any definitive discernible difference (there have been exceptions, just not many). My MO therefore is to make a change, listen to it for a month or so until it becomes the "new normal" to my ears, and then put things back the way they were (remove the added equipment, reinstall what it replaced, etc.) and listen to see whether that makes it sound different, better or worse. It would be impractical to switch back to the Gen5 USB, but I certainly can do a slow-listening comparison to Unison with and without the Regen. So I promise to try removing the Regen in a month or so and to check back in with the results!

 

(Also, at risk of abusing the Edit window, I definitely found the Regen to improve the sound of the Gen5 USB. I listened to my Yggy for about a year without the Regen after Schiit declared USB was "solved" by Gen5, but when I eventually tried reinserting the Regen - after being fully accustomed to the sound of Yggy/Gen5 USB without Regen - it sounded dramatically better, to the point where I wondered why I had wasted so much listening time without the Regen. So there's that.)

I found that utility of the ISO Regen depended on source hardware quality and power supply quality. Eventually I reached a  point where the "regen" part

didn't help. However after moving from standalone Eitr/Metrum Octave DAC to Gungnir with GEN5, I discovered that the GEN 5 is very susceptible

to USB 5V quality... so to me the question is whether Unison will eliminate the need for an independent USB 5V supply.

[jonmrife]

7 hours ago, jonmrife said:

The longer I wait, the behind I get.

 

I started out at 28 of 36 or so when I ordered on Feb 5. As of now, I sit at 23 of 82. So I have moved up 5 slots in 4 weeks. I am beginning to think this list is somewhat specious😃.  Both my and your numbers as reported can't be correct (of 48? of 82?). Just as at the DMV, we wait until our number is called.........

 

 

To mt surprise, I got the email this pm to send my Gungnir MB back to California. I will go to UPS tomorrow. Because no one else is posting about this, I will update here when I receive further notifications about the process.

 

Between the time I ordered the upgrade and when my number was called:    28 days.

[Jeff_N]

I placed the order to upgrade my Yggy on January 29th, and got the email to send it in on March 2nd.

[jonmrife]

16 hours ago, Jeff_N said:

I placed the order to upgrade my Yggy on January 29th, and got the email to send it in on March 2nd.

 

Mine will arrive Friday in CA. Will be interesting to see the turn around time. Funny, I miss it already. My weekend will not be the same!

[Jeff_N]

I thought I still had my old DAC in a closet somewhere, but I can't find it and I can't even remember what model it was. So I'm stuck listening to my phone until I get the Yggy back. 😩

[jonmrife]

Yep, I have a ChiFi unit in a box somewhere, and a Dragonfly I could press into service if necessary. I also have an HDMI input on my Cambridge AVR and lots of 5.1 files. That may save me until the Gungnir is returned.

[Jeff_N]

Found it! Peachtree ITx, way back of the top shelf. I'll have to hook that bad boy up this weekend when I have a few minutes.

 

Curious to hear what it sounds like after listening to the Yggy for a couple years.

[gellie]

Using a Oppo 105 as a DAC for my Roon/Nucleus setup. Thinking of upgrading to a new Gungnir. Do you think it’s enough of a upgrade? Or do I need to invest in a Yggy to really notice a difference?