Schiit Yggdrasil DAC on order

jap.......Now I understand. No doubt about it, I am a fan of McIntosh and have been for almost five decades. There is another McIntosh system in the living room, and a third McIntosh system in the studio control room.


84580933.jpg
 
Phishphan said:
Good Schiit! Is it replacing the K01?

... I’ve been around too long when I know others systems....
Click to expand...

Kyle.......No, the Yggdrasil is not replacing my Esoteric K-01X in the studio system. It is going into my living room sound system to replace a Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 that is currently connected to my Aurender N100H music server. The W4S DAC2 will go back into my office with my Sennheiser headphone rig.
 
I just finished re-reading Robert Harley's review of the Yggdrasil in TAS May/June 2017 issue. RH stated that he listened to the Yggy a couple times in the first few days and was not impressed. He said Mike Moffatt warned him that the Yggy wouldn’t sound good right out of the box, so he left it powered on for a full month before returning to listen again. He then stated, "When I returned to the Yggy I discovered a DAC that wasn’t superb. It wasn’t even good. And it certainly wasn’t “good for the money.” What I discovered, to my amazement, was a DAC that was stunningly great, period. Price aside, the Yggy turned out to be a world-class contender in the same league as cost-no-object digital-to-analog converters—and I’ve heard some good ones."

What I find most interesting about those comments is Robert Harley is not known as a reviewer who often gushes about audio components, so I have to believe his reaction to the Yggdrasil's performance is genuine and sincere. This is encouraging for me. Saturday can't arrive soon enough.
 
It’s an awesome Dac! Mine was on for 4.5 years without turning off! yep it’s about a 2
month burn-in for completion.........after that if ya turn it off it may take a day or two to get back to speed. It’s such a sonically neutral and detailed dac. It bested a lot of high end DACS that I auditioned till it was supplanted by my Chord Dave at 5x the price. And that was a close call in itself. Ok I admit it was just the upgrade bug jonesing for something new.
 
jdandy said:
I just finished re-reading Robert Harley's review of the Yggdrasil in TAS May/June 2017 issue. RH stated that he listened to the Yggy a couple times in the first few days and was not impressed. He said Mike Moffatt warned him that the Yggy wouldn’t sound good right out of the box, so he left it powered on for a full month before returning to listen again. He then stated, "When I returned to the Yggy I discovered a DAC that wasn’t superb. It wasn’t even good. And it certainly wasn’t “good for the money.” What I discovered, to my amazement, was a DAC that was stunningly great, period. Price aside, the Yggy turned out to be a world-class contender in the same league as cost-no-object digital-to-analog converters—and I’ve heard some good ones."

What I find most interesting about those comments is Robert Harley is not known as a reviewer who often gushes about audio components, so I have to believe his reaction to the Yggdrasil's performance is genuine and sincere. This is encouraging for me. Saturday can't arrive soon enough.
Click to expand...

Congratulations, Dan! Hope you'll enjoy the DAC as much as I do. Be prepared for 4 weeks of break-in time. The DAC will sound reasonable after max. 2 days, so you will enjoy your sound soon, but a final verdict will have to wait.
 
Dguitarnut said:
It’s an awesome Dac! Mine was on for 4.5 years without turning off! yep it’s about a 2
month burn-in for completion.........after that if ya turn it off it may take a day or two to get back to speed. It’s such a sonically neutral and detailed dac. It bested a lot of high end DACS that I auditioned till it was supplanted by my Chord Dave at 5x the price. And that was a close call in itself. Ok I admit it was just the upgrade bug jonesing for something new.
Click to expand...

Larry.......I plan to do the same, turn on the Yggdrasil and never turn it off. Sounds like the Yggy did everything right for you except scratch that upgrade itch. Trust me, I know all about that.
 
Al M. said:
Congratulations, Dan! Hope you'll enjoy the DAC as much as I do. Be prepared for 4 weeks of break-in time. The DAC will sound reasonable after max. 2 days, so you will enjoy your sound soon, but a final verdict will have to wait.
Click to expand...

Al.......Thank you. I appreciate your comments about break-in. I am prepared to go the distance.
 
Dan, congrats on the dac & the venture into Schiit ownership. For the price I am stumped with my recent Freya preamp purchase.
 
Dan - congratulations on the new DAC! I think you made the right call by revising your order to the sliver finish. The sliver looks sharp. I echo others on this thread in that I am very eager to hear your comments on performance. It seems that Ladder DACs are the way to go these days, based on some first hand experience I have with the MSB Reference.
 
Audioguru1 said:
Dan - congratulations on the new DAC! I think you made the right call by revising your order to the sliver finish. The sliver looks sharp. I echo others on this thread in that I am very eager to hear your comments on performance. It seems that Ladder DACs are the way to go these days, based on some first hand experience I have with the MSB Reference.
Click to expand...

Audioguru1.......Thank you. I agree with you about the silver anodized finish versus the black matte painted finish. If the black Yggdrasil had been available in a black anodized finish instead of painted, I probably would have opted for it, bit now that the silver Yggy is in the rack I am pleased as punch. With 240 hours on it since I energized it, the Yggdrasil is opening up beautifully. It is quite easy to let two or three hours slip right by while listening to it.
 
Congrats on the Yggy. A friend has had one since they came out in a SOTA room and it is an incredible DAC. I grabbed one in February after having a GungnirDS and MB and could not be happier. I have yet to hear a better DAC and considering the cost vs. some of the others I have heard, it is a no brainer, at least for me. BTW, I have quite a few DSD files and they sound great converted to 176.4 for playback, so the fact that it does not support native DSD playback, isn’t an issue for me. I have NO interest in MQA.
 
JWhip said:
Congrats on the Yggy. A friend has had one since they came out in a SOTA room and it is an incredible DAC. I grabbed one in February after having a GungnirDS and MB and could not be happier. I have yet to hear a better DAC and considering the cost vs. some of the others I have heard, it is a no brainer, at least for me. BTW, I have quite a few DSD files and they sound great converted to 176.4 for playback, so the fact that it does not support native DSD playback, isn’t an issue for me. I have NO interest in MQA.
Click to expand...

JWhip.......My choice for DSD is held to SACD. That is what I use to listen to music recorded in DSD format. There is not enough music that interests me recorded in SACD or in download DSD format, so SACD discs work for me in my Esoteric K-01X. I'm not fond of loading up my N10 or N100H hard drives with huge DSD files, either, nor paying the inflated prices for DSD downloads. If I find a recording I want on SACD, I buy it. That is the extent of DSD for me. As for MQA, I have a minuscule interest in it, but not enough to invest in any equipment or software at this stage of its infancy.
 
Turns out the Yggy is an extreme high-resolution performer, from plain Redbook CD. This may be the last DAC you'll ever need, Dan. I had already heard in another, superb and very expensive, system that the Yggy excels in separation of musical lines, instruments and instrument groups, which is the most impressive in large-scale orchestral music. Climaxes build and build, harmonically complex layer upon harmonically complex layer, and the Yggy just keeps on going undisturbed, without any congestion whatsoever.

Now I can add another aspect to the story. Timbral resolution is top class, and can easily compete with the very expensive top vinyl that I have heard in other people's systems. Since a few days I have Reference 3A Reflector monitors (their top model), which are an extreme exercise in suppression of cabinet resonances that can blur detail. With the sensational Octave R320 amp (with KT150 tubes) on loan from my dealer in the chain (soon to be bought, or the Octave monoblocks), I discovered uncanny resolution on solo violin, perhaps the most difficult instrument to reproduce in terms of micro-detail on sustained notes and of transients. I could not believe the enormous similarity to live violin sound, even though of course the ultimate live realism is still not quite reached. I just did not think this was possible from a stereo system, and certainly not from plain Redbook CD! The speed, accuracy, transparency, sheer amount of micro-detail, and the naturalness of the extremely complex transients between notes that are due to the bowing of the violin, and as reproduced by the Yggy through that amp and speakers, have to be heard to be believed. This now firmly establishes the CD medium as an extreme high-resolution medium for me. The recording that blew me away was a 1980 analog Philips recording of Gidon Kremer playing Bach Partitas and sonatas, and released 1990 on CD. Thus not even from a particularly 'audiophile' label, and not with the newest AD conversion technology.

And that from a $ 2,300 DAC? Robert Harley is right when he says in his review that the Yggy is one of the greatest bargains in the history of high-end audio.

Add to this the impeccable rhythmic drive of the Yggy -- among the best I have even heard from any source, analog or digital -- and the great bass, and obviously you're all set. I agree with Joe Whip, I have yet to hear a better DAC.

The Yggy is really worth the highest resolution system. I checked that violin recording with Quicksilver Silver 88 monoblocks (also with KT150 tubes) inserted in my system, but while the amps are really very good and in their own right gave an impressive rendition of the violin, the shocking level of resolution heard with the Octave amp in the system was just gone.
 
never really explored anything higher than CD quality -- but am now curious about what percentage of the hi-res market is PCM vs DSD... given the yggy only decodes PCM?
 
Al M. - Thanks for adding your thoughts! Would you please share what you're using as your CD transport and via which input on the Yggy?
 
audio.bill said:
Al M. - Thanks for adding your thoughts! Would you please share what you're using as your CD transport and via which input on the Yggy?
Click to expand...

You're welcome, Bill. [FONT=&quot]I have a Simaudio Moon 260 DT CD transport, transmitting signal to the Yggy through an MIT SL Matrix Plus digital XLR interconnect ([/FONT][FONT=&quot](AES/EBU interface).[/FONT]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top