Schiit Audio Yggdrasil Review

jdandy said:
kzhtoo.......Once you have past 500 hours of break-in you will be 98% there. My Yggdrasil now has 924 hours of continuous break-in. Once past 500 hours I noticed only slight improvements in timbrel accuracy. Instruments, particularly acoustic instruments like guitar, double-bass, violin, piano, drums, and horns, achieve an astonishing accuracy that is so satisfying. Instruments and voices sound real, whole, full of life. Once I past 700 hours I have notice little to no additional change in the Yggdrasil's sonic signature, but I made the decision to keep a digital signal fed to it through 1000 hours. That should arrive by next Monday. At that point in time I will consider the break-in officially complete and will cease the 24/7 digital feed, but I will keep the Yggdrasil energized as recommended by Schiit Audio. It will always be ready to immediately rock when I send a digital file to it.

There is no shortcut for break-in. Keep the Yggdrasil energized and fed with a signal 24/7. The hours will while away before you know it. Nothing says you can't enjoy listening to it along the way.
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As always, thanks for being very informative, Dan. Yes, I’ll have the music keep playing through it for another few weeks. It already sounds a bit better than when I first turned it on. I think I started to grasp the sonic character of Yggdrasil and it’s one I like. I had a concern going in based on few reporting Yggy as jumpy. I haven’t felt that way so far.


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I just reread the Yggdrasil review. There isn't a single word in the description of the Yggy's performance that isn't the absolute truth. It is a truly remarkable digital to analog converter.

Last night I listened to Bill Frisell - Good Dog Happy Man on CD from the MOON Neo 260D transport through the Yggy. The layering of guitars, organ, bass, and drums is so well presented on this recording. The six minute tune "Shenandoah" drew me deeply into the interplay between Bill Frisell's unique guitar style and that of Ry Cooder's guitar. The Yggdrasil presented this entire CD in my living room as if there was no equipment at all, just sweet music at my beck and call. I have yet to listen to the Yggdrasil and not be immediately mesmerized when the music flows. This is a phenomenal DAC. It is worth all the praise it has received and then some. Adding the MOON transport is icing on the cake.


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absolutely true! listened to Elgar violin concerto, Hilary Hahn. you can hear the rosin on the bow on the incredibly high notes. the detail is amazing. I am lucky to find this DAC, I have no room in my budget for a $10,000 DAC. every thing Dan said is true! bob:hey:
 
Old Bob said:
absolutely true! listened to Elgar violin concerto, Hilary Hahn. you can hear the rosin on the bow on the incredibly high notes. the detail is amazing. I am lucky to find this DAC, I have no room in my budget for a $10,000 DAC. every thing Dan said is true! bob:hey:
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Yes, I hear this extreme detail too. Here are my experiences with solo violin:

http://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=13376&page=4&p=226992&viewfull=1#post226992

Now that I have my Octave RE320 amp and the new speakers are broken in, I can report more on the Yggy's performance as it shines through after my system upgrades.

Stunning sound of orchestral massed violins (and violas, celli), just stunning. Silky smooth and fluid, superb resolution, surprisingly similar to what I am used to live. Even though it will never be the exact same of course, and a direct comparison might not be favorable, it still reminds me strongly of my last concert with the Boston Symphony and Stravinsky's Firebird, experienced from a very good seat.

I have rarely heard such superb sound of orchestral strings from analog (in other systems with top vinyl set-ups, can't speak for tape), even though on some occasions I did. Sorry, that's how I perceive it, can't do anything about what my ears tell me. And that from plain ole Redbook CD (Simaudio Moon transport --> MIT digital cable (AES/EBU) --> Schiit Yggdrasil DAC). I am super-excited about what I hear.

The massed violins on digital now have a lot of this elusive not just silky, but also airy quality that is just so rarely heard in home reproduction. I find it interesting, because for decades massed violins had always been a glaring (literally) weak point of digital, and in particular on Redbook CD. The Yggy clearly outshines all the DACs I had so far on massed violins, I know that from comparisons even before I had this level of resolution.

Digital has arrived. The Schiit Yggdrasil DAC rocks.
 
Totally agree. I think that the orchestral groups of violins have always been the great heel of Achilles of digital.
 
Jeff.......Thanks for the link to the SoundStage review of the Yggdrasil DAC. I believe Erich Wetzel and I came to essentially the same conclusions. The Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC is a serious performer worthy of inclusion in a high-end sound system. It is a remarkably musical DAC.
 
Curious... didn't see in the Soundstage review anything about updating the firmware when going to analog 2. That's one of the reasons Schitt gives for requiring factory installation.

I'm over 400 hours now on my upgraded Yggdrasil, so don't expect much more change, if any. I notice a more 3-D sound and a hard-to-define sense of ease to the music.

Had a musician friend over a few days ago and when I played a song for him, he just kept shaking his head in amazement. He also listened to a song from his band's latest album, that had a certain down-mixed drum bit (he's the drummer) which he wasn't able to hear on other sysytems but was able to hear on mine.
 
Mrppv said:
Curious... didn't see in the Soundstage review anything about updating the firmware when going to analog 2. That's one of the reasons Schitt gives for requiring factory installation.

I'm over 400 hours now on my upgraded Yggdrasil, so don't expect much more change, if any. I notice a more 3-D sound and a hard-to-define sense of ease to the music.

Had a musician friend over a few days ago and when I played a song for him, he just kept shaking his head in amazement. He also listened to a song from his band's latest album, that had a certain down-mixed drum bit (he's the drummer) which he wasn't able to hear on other sysytems but was able to hear on mine.
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Mrppv.......I agree, there is a true sense of genuine musical character and timbre in the analog output of the Yggdrasil 2 that is completely engaging. I would also agree that the Analog 2 and USB Gen5 upgrades should be performed at the factory so that the firmware updates can be installed at the same time. It would be silly not to take full advantage of the available upgrades by doing a board swap yourself.

I am still loving my Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC. It is an astonishing digital to analog converter.
 
Hi Dan,

So happy you love that Yiggy. Can the Analog 2 and updates be ordered direct as a full unit? Or, is it a self-serve affair?

I am curious now :)


jdandy said:
Mrppv.......I agree, there is a true sense of genuine musical character and timbre in the analog output of the Yggdrasil 2 that is completely engaging. I would also agree that the Analog 2 and USB Gen5 upgrades should be performed at the factory so that the firmware updates can be installed at the same time. It would be silly not to take full advantage of the available upgrades by doing a board swap yourself.

I am still loving my Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC. It is an astonishing digital to analog converter.
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joeinid said:
Hi Dan,

So happy you love that Yiggy. Can the Analog 2 and updates be ordered direct as a full unit? Or, is it a self-serve affair?

I am curious now :)
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Joe.......Schiit Audio is shipping the new Yggdrasil fully updated with the new USB Gen5 board, Analog 2 boards, and a full firmware update. When you order a Yggdrasil now for $2399 you get the full upgraded package. Older Yggdrasils with the Gen 3 USB board and original analog output boards can be upgraded by owners but Schiit does not recommend it. Yggdrasil owners wishing to update to the latest hardware and firmware are encourage to ship their DAC's to Schiit Audio. That's the only way I would do it. Fortunately for me, my Yggdrasil came with the Gen5 USB board, the Analog 2 boards, and the latest firmware. I am so impressed with the Yggdrasil DAC.
 
Dr Tone said:
Dan, what was the verdict on Coax vs AES?
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Jeff.......Yesterday I made a direct A/B comparison of the Wireworld Silver Starlight coaxial digital interconnect with the Wireworld Gold Starlight AES/EBU balanced digital interconnect. I had both the Gold Starlight AES/EBU digital interconnect and the Silver Starlight coaxial digital interconnect installed between the MOON Neo 260D transport and the Yggdrasil DAC. The Gold Starlight cable has 165 hours on it. The Silver Starlight cable has 400+ hours on it. I wanted to wait until I had over 150 hours on the new Gold Starlight AES/EBU cable so that I was comfortable it had a decent amount of break-in before making a comparison. What I notice with the AES/EBU cable feeding the Yggdrasil DAC is a slightly more refined musical essence, a sensation of the sound being ever so slightly more realistic in warmth and timbre. It is not a night and day difference that you would immediately identify without direct A/B comparison with a number of different recordings. The added refinement appears most in the dimensional characteristics of vocals, particularly female vocals. I also notice a tiny improvement in the tonal richness and lingering harmonics of solo piano notes and full chords.

After a couple of hours of direct A/B comparisons yesterday I am satisfied that the Wireworld Gold Starlight AES/EBU balanced digital interconnect is the superior digital connection between the Simaudio MOON Neo 260D transport and the Yggdrasil DAC. I am not certain how much of the difference I noticed between the coaxial and AES/EBU inputs is attributed Schiit Audio's implementation of the two Yggdrasil SPDIF inputs versus the sonic impact of the two different Wireworld digital interconnects. In either case I decided the Gold Starlight AES/EBU balanced digital interconnect reins supreme. I have removed the Silver Starlight coaxial digital interconnect from the system.
 
I borrowed a Transparent Reference AES cable from my dealer and ran it all weekend. Yesterday I finally had enough, something just wasn’t right, everything was soft and had lost focus. Switched back to USB. Soundstage snapped back into focus. Instruments and passages started catching my attention again.

So I disagree with Mike, his AES port isn’t the best input. Or maybe the DAC USB output on the Aries G2 is just that good.
 
Dr Tone said:
I borrowed a Transparent Reference AES cable from my dealer and ran it all weekend. Yesterday I finally had enough, something just wasn’t right, everything was soft and had lost focus. Switched back to USB. Soundstage snapped back into focus. Instruments and passages started catching my attention again.

So I disagree with Mike, his AES port isn’t the best input. Or maybe the DAC USB output on the Aries G2 is just that good.
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I haven’t tried the Transparent Reference AES, but my AES cable took about 300 hours before it opened up. Before then, I experienced the same thing you did.
 
asindc said:
I haven’t tried the Transparent Reference AES, but my AES cable took about 300 hours before it opened up. Before then, I experienced the same thing you did.
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It wasn’t new. He pulled it from a demo room in the store and has had it for a while.
 
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