Article: New Schiit Yggdrasil Blind Listening Comparison

[The Computer Audiophile]

[The Computer Audiophile]

Mid-surgery.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Analog 3.02 boards in and LiM chip in place. 

[JoeWhip]

Chris, I want to be like you when I grow up!

[The Computer Audiophile]

I’m all done. Is this a bad sign? Are the highs going to sound a bit off?

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Ahhhhhhhhhh. Less truly is more. This sounds wonderful :~)

[JoeWhip]

31 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I’m all done. Is this a bad sign? Are the highs going to sound a bit off?

 

 

Chris, I think this just means that you have a few screws loose, no worries, I am sure your family still loves you.

[AudioDoctor]

There are new analog boards as well?

[The Computer Audiophile]

13 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

There are new analog boards as well?

The "analog" boards contain the DAC chips as well. 

[AudioDoctor]

20 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The "analog" boards contain the DAC chips as well. 

 

I see. I'll put my pitchfork away now...

[Exocer]

Yeah, at this point I'm REALLY happy with the LIM. I had some initial reservations about loss of microdetails and expressiveness in the higher frequencies (I don't find OG/A2 to be harsh in my system) but after two days I feel that LIM is most definitely a keeper and a step in the right direction for my system. The higher frequencies are smoother than before but It puts me at ease, but, totally slams when it needs to. I don't think I will be trying MIL any time soon. The actual work of switching out the analog boards and firmware was also very straightforward. Very good job Schiit. I now officially choose LIM as a better fit than OG in my system.

 

Edit: Editing to include that my initial fears of loss in detail no longer exist after two days. Much of those details appear to be back. Yeah, perhaps the OG is a tad bit more resolving of microdetails but the LIM is better with bass and other areas I can't quite put my fingers on yet.

[austinpop]

So…

 

Less is More, more or less? 🙂

[The Computer Audiophile]

LiM all day, every day. 

[Exocer]

4 minutes ago, austinpop said:

So…

 

Less is More, more or less? 🙂

Yes! I would say less is most certainly more in this case. thrilled with what i'm hearing..

[Stin]

I've found that after 24 hours of running, LiM sounds even better.

 

I was also worried that the treble would be a bit too rolled off, or so smoothed over that it would smother the details.

 

Happy to report that isn't what I'm hearing... 

 

This DAC may be the closest thing to a high-quality analog setup I've heard yet. Tho, I don't have a lot of experience with high-end vinyl or tape so... :)

 

I'd be curious if anyone else gets this general vibe tho.

[JoeWhip]

The LIM arrived today. Right out of the box it sounded fantastic. Will be listening here for a few days and then will put it in a SOTA system for a listen as well. Formal review thereafter.

[bbosler]

well, that's another $2300 or so  (with tax and shipping) that Chris has "forced" me to spend 😉

 

I've spent considerable time with many of the top end DACs (DCS Debussy with clock, DCS Rossini with clock, Chord DAVE with external supplies and the Mscaler, PS Audio whatever that was, Denafrips Terminator Plus with Hermes DDC) . After all of these trials I am convinced that the way to judge these DACs is how they make you feel, how well they connect you to the music, how they make you bob your head and tap your feet. Not all the usual audiophile BS that we read in all of the reviews. So we have good news and bad news.

 

Good news.. the Schiit is a contender. It is the type of device that further convinces me that spending mega-bucks on DACs is not required for mega-performance. I have no problem if you want to drop $100K + on a Vivaldi stack and add some $10K cables to it, I'm just saying you don't need to spend that to get superb performance.

 

Bad news.. the Schiit clearly sounds much better being fed by a Mutec MC3+ USB with Mutec REF10 to it's AES input than using the USB input...  I am using

 

Roon with HQPlayer >>> ethernet >>>Jussi recommended  Atom NAA >>> USB >>> Mutec >>> AES >>> Schiit

 

 so open to the possibility that a different configuration for the USB, a different server, a different USB cable, etc. might level the field, but as is,   NAA >>> USB >>> Schiit is clearly inferior to adding in the Mutec gear. 

 

I know I am adding $6K of re-clocking gear to a $2K DAC. Oh well, a man has to do what a man has to do.... My vinyl rig has always been my reference but this is as close as I've gotten. Happy for now and we're only a few hours in.... hoping it gets even better

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

7 minutes ago, bbosler said:

well, that's another $2300 or so  (with tax and shipping) that Chris has "forced" me to spend 😉

 

I've spent considerable time with many of the top end DACs (DCS Debussy with clock, DCS Rossini with clock, Chord DAVE with external supplies and the Mscaler, PS Audio whatever that was, Denafrips Terminator Plus with Hermes DDC) . After all of these trials I am convinced that the way to judge these DACs is how they make you feel, how well they connect you to the music, how they make you bob your head and tap your feet. Not all the usual audiophile BS that we read in all of the reviews. So we have good news and bad news.

 

Good news.. the Schiit is a contender. It is the type of device that further convinces me that spending mega-bucks on DACs is not required for mega-performance. I have no problem if you want to drop $100K + on a Vivaldi stack and add some $10K cables to it, I'm just saying you don't need to spend that to get superb performance.

 

Bad news.. the Schiit clearly sounds much better being fed by a Mutec MC3+ USB with Mutec REF10 to it's AES input than using the USB input...  I am using

 

Roon with HQPlayer >>> ethernet >>>Jussi recommended  Atom NAA >>> USB >>> Mutec >>> AES >>> Schiit

 

 so open to the possibility that a different configuration for the USB, a different server, a different USB cable, etc. might level the field, but as is,   NAA >>> USB >>> Schiit is clearly inferior to adding in the Mutec gear. 

 

I know I am adding $6K of re-clocking gear to a $2K DAC. Oh well, a man has to do what a man has to do.... My vinyl rig has always been my reference but this is as close as I've gotten. Happy for now and we're only a few hours in.... hoping it gets even better

 

I love it!

[firedog]

11 hours ago, bbosler said:

Happy for now

...............

[JoeWhip]

Listening now to a flat transfer of the master tape of Sonny Clark’s Cool Struttin’ through LIM. Utterly fantastic.

[rruffin]

On 9/15/2021 at 3:00 PM, feelingears said:

 

So back to the idea of flavors...I've posted elsewhere here that I've had the pleasure (without all the financial pain, thanks to a friend) of auditioning a Denafrips Pontus II, Chord Qutest, Wavelength "The Brick" N2, and a few other older DACs in my own system.

 

While I do hear that relative to one another there are differences, it's not so simple as better or best. To my ears, I'd say there is not even a linear scale or spectrum of qualities beyond some of the basic ones.

 

I don't want to write a review, so I'll just say Pontus does some remarkable things but apparently its passive output stage means you need to match it with the right preamp, as well as musical taste. The Qutest is the "robot" of the bunch and I can't quite explain how it presents tones vs the others though I've tried with my friend. And Yggy is not exactly in between those two, but sort of. And I'm talking about Yggy via SPDIF coax. Now that I'm running Yggy via AES using the balanced outs, well, that's yet another story.

 

In this way, "flavors" make a lot more sense (and I try hard to keep $ value out of the equation but of course that's difficult/impossible to do).

 

 

Wondering what digital coax cable you are currently using and if you have done much experimenting?

[LarryMagoo]

22 speakers????   WOW!

[R1200CL]

14 hours ago, bbosler said:

Bad news.. the Schiit clearly sounds much better being fed by a Mutec MC3+ USB with Mutec REF10 to it's AES input than using the USB input...  I am using

 

14 hours ago, bbosler said:

I know I am adding $6K of re-clocking gear to a $2K DAC.

Well, you probably will get very close using a Singxer SU-2 plus an AfterDark King clock with an Uptone LPS-1.2. 
 

It’s “interesting” that in your opinion or system Schiit hasn’t been able to make a proper USB interface. Hope I understand you correctly. 
 

Reading your conclusion, I find it even more attempting to test out this DAC. 

[matthias]

15 hours ago, bbosler said:

Bad news.. the Schiit clearly sounds much better being fed by a Mutec MC3+ USB with Mutec REF10 to it's AES input than using the USB input... 

 

The upcoming Schiit URD is also supposed to improve the input to the Yggdrasil. A comparison might be interesting.

 

Matt

[LarryMagoo]

I also use a Bridge to get from USB to AES.  Mine is a Audiobyte Hydra Z.  I power it with 5 VDC from my HDPlex and it works flawlessly with my A2 Yggy!