Dedicated Schiit Yggdrasil thread

Lots of Yggy fans on here but I hope you won't mind a contrary opinion. I heard the Yggy a couple of times and in my own system. Lots of detail and quite a 'hifi' sound but I always went back to vinyl as my preferred source (accepting the massive cost difference between my digital and vinyl front end).

I've recently bought a Border Patrol SE DAC and maybe its my natural preference for a non oversampling DAC, but I find the BP sounds more lifelike and natural (to my ears and in my system - YMMV).

All goes to show that its not easy choosing a DAC, and that there are very few absolutes in terms of one DAC being utterly better than another - at a certain level in the market its more about subtle differences than large gaping improvement.

The Yggy is still a very good DAC and good value as far as I'm concerned.

 

what input on the yggy did you use?

 

USB from an Aurender N100H and SPDIF (rca) from an Oppo transport. Redbook and hi-res files used. Its worth noting that the BP say it doesn't doesn't do hi-res but I've had it playing 24/96 just fine.

 

You're set. The T1 is a serious headphone.

You should start another thread to figure out speakers that will work nearfield in your setup at a desk.

 

Anyone with experience with Wadia DACs have a chance to compare?

I have heard several high end DACs and yet none seems to outdo my Wadia S7i, the closest having been the Audio Research CD9 (but the ARC still fell short of the Wadia.)

The Yggy sounds promising, but I also remember Theta Digital products being very high resolution but also very fatiguing to listen to.

Thanks in advance!!

 

I've had a few days with the Yggy and the Ragnarok and........wow. Hard to imagine me ever being able to afford something that's tangibly better than these 2. Just amazing. I had a set of LSiM 703's that I used as my rear speakers in the living room and just moved them to the PC and everything whether it be with the headphones or the speakers, it just sounds so good. The clarity is the most amazing thing to me, I mean it's all just so clear. I've ordered a pair of LSiM 702 f/x's to replace these in the living room, and we're all set.

I'm not sure I even feel compelled to get a sub with the 703's, the bass sounds pretty damn solid to me as-is. Maybe if I see a solid deal on a 10" or 8" down the line or something. But overall, I'm good. Time to settle in and enjoy what I have. Finally.

 

No fatigue here. Can listen to the Yggy for hours while the excitement remains undiminished. Very high resolution indeed. Natural sound. Weighty and rich, but at the same time nimble, dynamic and incisive.

 

So today I picked up a Chromecast Audio with the hope of hooking it up to the Yggdrasil and streaming audio from my iPad to the Yggdrasil/Rag, and for some reason it's not working.

I have a 3.5mm to XLR cable and I'm running that to from the Chromecast the AES input, but I get no audio at all. Is the Chromecast just not made to work in this instance because of the type of device it is, or should this be possible?

I also used a 3.5mm to rca cable and plugged that directly into the Rag and while it did work....it sounded pretty bad for some reason. Distant and just not great sound at all.

 

I don't have a Chromecast, but shouldn't you connect the optical out of the Chromecast to the optical in of the Yggdrasil?

As you have it, you're trying to connect the analog out of the Chromecast into the Yggy, which wants to see a digital source.

 

Yeah I would.....but the optical input of the Yggy is currently occupied by a PC.

 

You could swap it out to test the chromecast. And you could just stream from the PC to the chromecast, too. You don't want a DAC (Yggy) to come after an analog source (the built-in DAC in the chromecast) in your chain.

 

With this you're connecting analog audio to the DAC, so no, that's not supposed to work. Freeing up the optical port by switching your PC to a usb to spdif adapter with coax is your only real option to use the Chromecast with digital out.

 

My Yggy is being delivered tomorrow, I'm very excited. I would appreciate a little help in getting the most out of it with my setup. I plan on playing Redbook, flac & Tidal. Here is my setup; Oppo bdp-105d, Parasound HINT, Goldenear Triton 1's & JL Audio Fathom f113 v2. Anyone have a opinion as to the best connections to use both inputs and outputs.

 

Plug it in. Power on. Play lots of music and wait 2-3 weeks? That's what I'm doing with my Gumby anyway. I expect it will become apparent.

 

I also have the 1's. interested with why you also have the Fathoms?

 

I have one Fathom, my room is large and besides 2 channel (90% vinyl playback) it is also serves as a 7.1 home theater. I use the sub for both and feel that it adds very much to the 1's.

 

How are you getting Redbook, flac and Tidal into Yggy? From your Oppo (via S/PDIF, for example)? If your Yggy is a new one (from end of July 2017), it has the new, significantly improved Gen 5 USB interface, so you can use any input interface that works with the rest of your source components and obtain the same D/A performance as any other input interface.

If your Yggy is brand-new, plan for 3-4 weeks for it to fully burn; I would highly recommend you leave it turned on all the time; it does not need to be processing digital files to burn in, it just needs to be powered up. A month from now, you should be really happy...

 

Thanks Puma Cat appreciate your thoughts. I was under the impression that it had to be hooked up to a source as it is new, thanks for clearing that up. Also, I didn't realize that USB will work as good as S/PDIF with the Gen 5 USB interface. That is good to know. The only time I have used a stand alone dac was on my pc and this is a little new to me. I can't wait for that month to pass for break in to complete after reading so many positive reviews on the Yggy. Thanks again!

 

Hi Clayton. That is my "understanding" from all the end-users I've read that have had the Gen 5 USB upgrade done to their Gungnir Multibits (aka Gumbys) or Yggys; that Schiit have developed a USB interface consistent in quality with S/PDIF. Whether that is actually true is a controlled experiment I plan to run I get my Gungnir back metamorphosed into Gen 5 Gumby. I've been using their incredible new Eitr USB/S/PDIF convertor, so I will be able to compare both Gen 5 vs S/PDIF in a nicely controlled way because the USB interface on both is identical, Gen 5, which means I can tell if the S/PDIF interface itself will bring any improved performance. I'm thinking there may be a possiblity that using Eitr > S/PDIF> Gumby might provide a bit more improved sound quality performance because the Eitr's S/PDIF circuit has it's own noise isolation separate from the Gen5 USB circuitry's isolation, which Schiit describes as "isolation on your isolation". Be interesting to see...

Regarding burn-in, I spoke to a Schiit rep at the CA Audio Show specifically about burn-in, and whether the DAC needs "music files" being converted to burn-in or if the DAC just needed to be powered on, and he stated that the DAC just neeeded to be powered up to burn in, it did not need to be processing signals (unlike components with Teflon caps, which have to have signal currents flowing through them to burn-in).

 

Awesome, I just learned there is a Gen 5 USB available from this thread.

I'm currently running a Singxer F-1 into my Yggy.

Ordered!

 

It is much better than the Singxer as far as digital sources go. Enjoy

 

I'm using the Eitr with my two year old Gumby that still has the 2nd Gen USB. I haven't done a comparison yet between the Eitr Gen 5 USB and the Gen 2 USB. I'll do a comparison before I send the Gumby in for a Gen 5 upgrade. But I'm in no hurry. And right now I don't know if my ears are up to hearing the potential difference. I want to wait till the ears are doing better. Good news is that the Eitr is working. Haven't had any glitches or other problems. Been using the Eitr with a Windows 8.1 computer. Haven't tried it with a Windows 10 computer yet.

I also want to wait and see what Schiit announces over the next few months. If they end up announcing something that would involve getting the Gumby upgraded then I'd rather just wait and get the USB and whatever upgraded at the same time. For now I've got the Eitr so I'm good for now.

 

I will be looking out for your results with interest Puma Cat.

Good to know about the burn-in as my Yggy was delivered 10 minutes ago by FedEx and I am about to unpack it and power it up. This is going to be a long 4 weeks. The timing is good though as I have a trip coming up to Michigan in a couple weeks to visit family and friends. I also will be going to Ann Arbor and have some updates installed on my LP12.

 

Surely it will just sound perfect straight away? Doesn't this thing cost >£2,000?

 

Yes, it was released around the middle of July. It is now being installed in all new Bifrost, Gungnirs, and Yggys. You can also send your unit in for upgrade, of have them sent to you for "self-install" by a professionally trained electronics technician.