The Schiit Yggdrasil 2 DAC

[Don C]

When the next version of the Yiggy is released I may reconsider buying the new model.

Until then I am happy with the Gumby multibit 5.

I do not chase the most expensive and want a big improvement before spending more.

 

[ack]

I'll just add that, ever since installing the Shunyata Denali 6000S/V2 and Venom NR cords on various equipment including the Yggy2, its performance has skyrocketed.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I'll just add that, ever since installing the Shunyata Denali 6000S/V2 and Venom NR cords on various equipment including the Yggy2, its performance has skyrocketed.

So sorry, ack, but the Hyperbole Police just knocked on my door demanding that I launch an investigation into this claim.

What do you mean by "skyrocketed"?

Do you feel these power changes have increased the suspension of disbelief of your system by a factor of two? By a factor of three?

Can you be any more specific, or can you quantify in some relative way the performance improvement of the DAC you are attributing to a power conditioner and power cords?

 

[ack]

Ron,

As you might expect, no one can accurately quantify our experiences with numeric values; but, I can briefly repeat what I wrote under my system thread. It all starts with clean power, and the question is, what does that look like. The Shunyata as a whole deliver in here in spades. Every component benefited, and most of all, my DACs and tuner, then my phono. With cleaner power to the transport and the DACs, the Yggy2 reached that Wow factor with redbook digital.

This translates to: wonderful piano rendition with all the sustain and decay, metallic tones and complete notes; almost devoid of any glare and typical digititis; all the detail I would expect to hear; sensational micro-dynamics and -detail; beautiful and believable timbre. And most of all, it played right through my reference Mahler 2nd and Shostakovich 5th and 9th symphonies - all with the BSO - with no strain whatsoever; this alone is a remarkable feat.

At the same time, the power-conditioning experience also tells me that I need to re-evaluate all other DACs and players I've had in here, because the effect was so profound as to invalidate all previous comparisons. You can read more of that I experience with Shunyata in Robetr Harley's and others' recent reviews of the Everest and Omega & Sigma power cords, in issue 311 I think.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for this very thoughtful and descriptive elaboration! I understand what you mean now!

 

[Don C]

I'll just add that, ever since installing the Shunyata Denali 6000S/V2 and Venom NR cords on various equipment including the Yggy2, its performance has skyrocketed.

I have had a similar experience using the Chang Lightspeed CLS709 powerline filter in my main audio system and home theater setup.

Very , very impressed with much quieter nose level and improved 3 D imaging on music, and much brighter and sharper image on HDTV.

If electricity was like water using it unfiltered would.be like drinking from the sewer.

I have found only a very few power conditioners work well. AC regenerators all have a small amount of harmonic distortion, and most passive ones have coils that introduce current lag due to inductance.

Powerline Filter | United States | Chang Lightspeed Audio

Chang Light Speed Audio produces powerline filters for audiophiles that eliminate AC contamination without the use of lag/noise inducing transformer or coils.

www.changlightspeed.com

 

[Alpha121]

@Alpha121, have you had a chance to compare the Yggy to the DS DAC? If so I’d be interested in your thoughts on how they compare, and which DS FW was used for the comparison.

Guys, I have now gone from a PS Audio to a Yggy fed by a DCS Network Bridge, and listened for about a month. Comments soon.

 

[Fca]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post in this thread that I follow with great interest. I listen to classical music.
I have read the posts about the Ygddrasil 2 very carefully. I have been able to make a D2 / T2 comparison and obviously there is a clear improvement in the sound quality. I have not had the opportunity to listen to the Ygdrassil. I wanted to ask you which one you think is the best option to improve: D2 + Yggdrasil or T2.
Thanks a lot

 

[Fca]

Sorry, I'm referring to the Lumin D2 and T2 streamers

 

[MadFloyd]

Guys, I have now gone from a PS Audio to a Yggy fed by a DCS Network Bridge, and listened for about a month. Comments soon.

@Alpha121 you promised us some comments...

 

[ack]

A couple of updates regarding the Yggy2 in my system

1) The application of the 3M AB5100SHF shileding material, as suggested to me by a fellow audiphile and described under my system thread, has rendered phenomenal results - see https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/acks-system-end-of-round-1.2740/page-53#post-710793

2) The introduction of the Shunyata Omega AES/EBU 1.5m digital cable has taken it to analog levels. I had the Sigma v2 prior to that, and it was also spectacular. The Omega adds another subjective 5%. Yes, the cable is more expensive than the DAC.

The overall sonic results are simply sensational, if your upstream digital source is up to par; there is brio, dynamics, clarity, beautiful timbre from all instruments but especially strings - yes, strings - and very controlled bass; angelic, ethereal female vocals; and best of all, extreme low levels of distortion even with the most complex passages. Even DG CDs sound spectacular and linear.

I cannot praise the Omega enough... and the Sigma v2 is the bargain here, at roughly $1K less.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations, Tasos! I am happy for you that you are satisfied with these new developments!

 

[sbo6]

The Summary

We have praised its virtues in many a thread, but after some 6 months of ownership, I felt it deserved its own thread.

Initial thoughts were posted under Al M's system thread https://whatsbestforum.com/threads/my-monitor-subwoofer-system.25101/page-18#post-623618 with his own unit in my system, and I am just going to paste a couple of things that described it best:

Me: So far, the Yggy2 fed through AES/EBU and this Spectral SDR-3000SL transport offers the cleanest, most resolving redbook sound I have heard to date [in here, and that includes the dCS Vivaldi 2.0, the Spectral SDR-4000SV player and the MSB Premier+outboard PS & stock clock; I don't do tube DACs]​

Harley: "It’s a spectacular performer on an absolute level, and an out-of-this world bargain. The Yggy is not just a tremendous value in today’s DACs, it’s one of the greatest bargains in the history of high-end audio." ​

I have determined that the Yggy2's RCA outputs are a little colored, partly due to its summation circuit, so I run it XLR-to-RCA, and always AES/EBU in. In addition, as wonderful and super dynamic as it sounds with that connection (for a claimed max 4V output), it does cause the preamp to distort at loud crescendos, so I have to engage the preamp's -6dB filter for that input.

The Yggy2 (v2.01 analog board) via AES/EBU and as connected is a new benchmark for me in here. Let me explain:

1) it has enabled me to fine-tune my speakers' crossover, to a point that analog sounds best as is as well
2) it has pushed me to fix that Pass XP-25 phono preamp, and I can now use its 76dB gain plus 47K "loading" for additional dynamic headroom, with simultaneous very low noise at loud levels and very life-like timbre and articulation; other changes were also necessary
3) it has enabled me to voice my modded Berkeley Alpha DAC even further to a point that it actually surpasses the Yggy2 with HDCD material

Let me start with #3; here's how I recently summarized the two DACs on HDCD (the Yggy does not decode HDCD, the Alpha does):

a) The Alpha outshines the Yggy2 with HDCD in terms of dynamic headroom and harmonic structure (at least with strings); the difference in macro-dynamics is really staggering​

b) It does so - especially the macro-dynamics - even with its output volume slightly less than the Yggy's (51.5; output voltages are equal at 52.5)​

c) By virtue of their analog section designs, the Yggy's bass is rounder and more well defined, with all material (HDCD or not)​

d) The HDCD encoding is responsible for raising the Alpha's performance and dumbing down the Yggy's, and in addition, the HDCD process does affect timbre. One of the HDCD algorithms is to compress and expand dynamics​

e) The Alpha's superiority with HDCD (excepting the bass) is evident despite the SPDIF input and the "lesser" Shunyata Venom RCA interconnects, which I think are a fascinating cable for some $400 on the street. I use the famed Illuminations D-60 SPDIF cable​

Along the way and over the past few months, the Yggy2 with redbook guided me how to best voice the Alpha with HDCD, in terms of mods and output volume setting (51.5)​

Among the DACs I've had in here, the modified Alpha, Yggy2 and MSB Premier stand out because they have an extremely similar sound character, which indicates truth to the recording. They are not euphonic, they are not lush, they are not fake, just limited in what they can do with the format. The Yggy2 and Premier stand out for their clean sound with redbook.

Regarding #2, and how it compares to my analog now, there is no mistaking that analog is still the higher resolution format over redbook (with or without HDCD). But it took a lot of analog tweaking to get that: from anti-skating, to the XP-25 mods, to a new turntable suspension, and cartridge isolation with Isodamp. All these have been described elsewhere on this site.

The Sound

As compared to the other DACs, excepting the 4000SV player, the Yggy2 excels at rendering complete notes which raises truth of timbre and articulation, thus realism. It does piano unlike anything else so far in here but the 4000SV - but the latter's presentation is still slightly euphonic (which for me kills its rendition of complete notes), though less so than their old SDR-2000 DAC and much less than the Vivaldi's. It is incredibly low in noise, which increases transparency, palpability, realism and separation of instruments. It does still require a very low-noise and -jitter digital source, despite the manufacturer's reclocking claims. No experience so far with the Unison USB.

Its bass matches that of the 4000SV in tightness, roundness and musicality, and leaves the Alpha far behind in that respect. It is really very well defined and refined, but perhaps not as deep as other DACs. With the right recordings, strings can be phenomenal, with real palpability - out of redbook. This DAC has LIFE.

I posted sonic impressions with certain music material under Al's thread, but one thing that stands out is the BSO/Shostakovich recordings on DG (of all!), which render a very good replica of Boston Symphony Hall's acoustics as experienced from near and above the orchestra (basically, Balcony 1, seats A1-3), very much where the microphones would be. Symphony #11's second movement is just Wow material.

Al himself does a better job at describing sonic attributes, and he's done a very good job at that over the years; so I defer to him, plus I am out of time... I hope he'll chime in.

At the end of the day, I can listen to this DAC all day, every day; and I am obviously keeping the Alpha for HDCD.

-ack

I know I'm very late to this thread, but I couldn't help but comment. If the OP is correct, that a DAC beats a competitor that costs ~17x, why aren't we all running out and buying the Schitt? Also, I heard the Vivaldi and it is quite excellent IMO. What am I missing? Anyone else with a similar experience?

 

[ack]

I will take stab, with a counter question: why are people paying astronomical sums for cables; are cheaper cables not up to par or even better?

 

[Al M.]

I know I'm very late to this thread, but I couldn't help but comment. If the OP is correct, that a DAC beats a competitor that costs ~17x, why aren't we all running out and buying the Schitt? Also, I heard the Vivaldi and it is quite excellent IMO. What am I missing? Anyone else with a similar experience?

Yes, I have a similar experience. It compares well in high-resolution systems to much more expensive DACs. It is spectacular. Since the Yggy is cheap enough in typical modern high end terms, you could try it out and hear for yourself. So indeed, why aren't you running out and buying the Schiit?

Even better, purchase is not necessarily final. It comes with a 15 day trial period (which you may need for burn-in) and a 5 % restocking fee. At the price of the Yggy that makes $122.50 plus shipping. Pretty cheap for a simple audiophile experiment.

 

[gds7368]

I know I'm very late to this thread, but I couldn't help but comment. If the OP is correct, that a DAC beats a competitor that costs ~17x, why aren't we all running out and buying the Schitt? Also, I heard the Vivaldi and it is quite excellent IMO. What am I missing? Anyone else with a similar experience?

I'm a casual observer here (though a friend runs Freya / Bifrost / Kef LS50 system for his computer room, including movie editing, and it sounds engaging and fun), but doesn't it omit DSD and MQA? So maybe not the DAC for those formats but worth a strong audition otherwise?

 

[Mikem53]

I'm a casual observer here (though a friend runs Freya / Bifrost / Kef LS50 system for his computer room, including movie editing, and it sounds engaging and fun), but doesn't it omit DSD and MQA? So maybe not the DAC for those formats but worth a strong audition otherwise?

The Yggdrasil does PCM only

 

[DaveC]

I think it's often difficult to overcome being biased by pricing and whether people admit it or not, "You get what you pay for" seems to be an ingrained belief that is not very easy to put aside.

I do think most of the time the adage is true, especially in commodity markets with well established and understood products. In a luxury market where the product is not entirely understood, and/or where technology is allowing the rapid advancement of the product, this isn't necessarily the case because the price of one product may be higher for many different reasons that have nothing to do with the overall purpose of the product. Many times the reason for the price is simply to position the product in the market, the item requires the high price to be taken seriously. Some examples are the new AER BD4 and BD5 drivers cost $40-70k. They don't cost more to make. I have also heard several times of a product not doing well, then it's re-introduced at 2-3x the previous price, and now it does well. OTOH, often there is indeed a plausible explanation for price differences and I have certainly been more than impressed with a couple auditions of high-$ MSB DACs!

I think it would be interesting if the Yggy was put in another super-fancy case and re-introduced at 20x it's current price, I'd be very interested to see how it's received! Kinda like the Oppo disk player put into the Lexicon chassis some years ago...

My biggest gripe with the Yggy is the refusal of Schiit to support DSD. IMO, it's a superior format. I don't have a ton of DSD music though.

 

[ack]

to position the product in the market, the item requires the high price to be taken seriously.

Exactly THAT

 

[ack]

My biggest gripe with the Yggy is the refusal of Schiit to support DSD. IMO, it's a superior format. I don't have a ton of DSD music though.

and an interesting comment I got from Berkeley is that PCM is time-domain correct, over anything else. Not sure myself.