I'm close to 100% sure I'll buy Yggy when it becomes available (unless I get laid off or my house burns down etc...i.e. all stuff that happens everyday to peole I know -- yes, I know this is cheap middle age luxury consumption, something my kids will point out when the box shows up).
 
This level of DAC is total new land for me, I've never been here before and have no idea what I'm doing.  So I'm doing this on trust and I'll learn, but actually having the machine on my desk for a few weeks is the only way to find out.  I have started reselling audio equippent last year, so I have leeway from my wife to take a look, since I can get rid of it a not much of a loss at least in the initial period (and hopefully for longer, since people won't want to sell).
 
I have paid quite a lot of attention to DAC design discussions, but I've learned enough that I know that I don't actually know what's important.  Yggy seems to measure well by INL standards, so I'm happy to pay for that.  I'm not at all convinced that 'closed form' time domain filters matter at all, at least not because they are closed form or time-domain.
 
Once I have Yggy for two months I'll know what I think.  I hope it brings out more HD800 detail.

"I have paid quite a lot of attention to DAC design discussions, but I've learned enough that I know that I don't actually know what's important.  Yggy seems to measure well by INL standards, so I'm happy to pay for that.  I'm not at all convinced that 'closed form' time domain filters matter at all, at least not because they are closed form or time-domain."
 
Hi StefanJK. 
If my (now sold) Theta Gen V is any indicator, i think the digital filter is the biggest difference compared to other brand offerings.
I think the designer of that filter has been paying attention to the most important things.
This is just my guess but if thinking about sound wave, you see that the low hz are very long and the high hz are very short. Precise match of those different sound waves added with correct timing is the key to "see" in the sound. 3Dimension.The echoes, instruments etc. now take place because of the precise timing. But what is the algorithm that keeps it going on on every note and all the time and doing it allways correct, is something you have to ask from Mr.Moffat
 
Well, i think i am in camp E, and add 1 to 3 years to buying time (...who knows, maybe there is Yggdrasil Gen II then...)

I have never been a DAC guy until I heard the Ygg/Roc at CANJAM. I have always been convinced that the SQ changes are more apparent in the AMP and that DAC upgrades stop making much difference after about mid level products with small variations in signature. However, hearing the new Schitt stack I have to agree with Mike that the SQ may be coming from the Ygg more than the Roc. I cannot confirm this as I could only audition them paired, but there was just something different about the goodness it was producing that sounded more in the DAC. If I can only have one of the two, I would go for the Ygg. YMMV, this was a 30 minute audition with their music. However, I got to try the HD800, LCD3, and my NT6pro CIEM to see how they each paired. And no, the CIEM didn't blow up and actually to my ears sounded the best of the three.

Yeah I was of the exact opposite opinion. DACs > Amps. Headphones above all. 

I find that Schiit Yggdrasil will go head-to-head with the Bryston BDA-3.
I would like to see some reviews before committing to either.
 
Both of them use the AKM chips; right?

milpai said:

  I find that Schiit Yggdrasil will go head-to-head with the Bryston BDA-3.
I would like to see some reviews before committing to either.
 
Both of them use the AKM chips; right?

Click to expand...

Rumor has it is the AD5791 B version for Yggy.

I too will be an early adopter and order a Jggy ASAP the 1st day.  
 
My spidey sense has been ringing like a bell for quite a while now and I needs to shut it up…  
 
And what with the improvements The Rok brings to the table, and that the size of the step up is supposed to be considerably greater,  I'm finding it difficult to even imagine what this long awaited Dac will provide.
 
And like George Jetson's throbbing finger after a hard day at work, mines itching to 'push the button'.  
 
JJ

estreeter said:

Apologies for cross-posting, but this is encouraging news from Jason in the main thread - bolding is mine:

the kits for Yggy are undergoing final "find the backordered part" stuff that is typical when getting a new product to market, and are going to the assembly house shortly. With metal in-house, this puts us in a good position to make an end Q1 ship date. In addition, I have finally been spending time with a final 0.99 Yggy, and have found no operational glitches or other problems. Which is as expected--this has been baking a long time. 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/693798/thoughts-on-a-bunch-of-dacs-and-why-i-hate-chocolate-ice-cream/2520#post_11306224

Carry on, ladies  

Click to expand...

wow that sounds like one more month (!)

StefanJK,
Are you aware of the differences in the chips that these 2 DACs would be using?
There are too many DACs with ESS. But a few DACs have AKM. Esoteric uses AKM and have gotten good reviews. Schitt also uses AKM in some of their DACs.
 
Honestly, I am not a headphone guy, though I do listen to them from time to time. My main purpose of a DAC would be to use in my system with a Universal player like Oppo and make use of the DAC to play all possible formats available.
I am not sure if the Yggy has a HDMI. But if it does, then it would be VERY HIGH on my list.

Yggy does not have HDMI.

milpai said:

  StefanJK,
Are you aware of the differences in the chips that these 2 DACs would be using?
There are too many DACs with ESS. But a few DACs have AKM. Esoteric uses AKM and have gotten good reviews. Schitt also uses AKM in some of their DACs.
 
Honestly, I am not a headphone guy, though I do listen to them from time to time. My main purpose of a DAC would be to use in my system with a Universal player like Oppo and make use of the DAC to play all possible formats available.
I am not sure if the Yggy has a HDMI. But if it does, then it would be VERY HIGH on my list.

Click to expand...

 
My friend, i think you need to do a lot of homework before parting with your ~2300USD+shipping. The brand name on the DAC chip is a tiny fraction of what Mike and others claim this DAC is capable of, but ultimately we wont know until we've heard one for ourselves. Having owned an Oppo BDP-105D for roughly six months, the last input I would use for music is HDMI and Mike didnt set out to build a HT receiver. 
 
"Yggdrasil is the ultimate expression of Schiit’s bitperfect approach, and the antithesis of noise-shaping DACs and technologies such as DSD. With proprietary technology from input stage to clock regeneration to digital filter to D/A conversion and analog output stage, Yggdrasil (the world tree in Norse legend, and the source of all things) resets the bar for DACs.
 
Inputs: USB, Toslink, Coax, BNC, AES/EBU
Outputs: balanced XLR and single-ended RCA

Estreeter,
I am more than willing to learn about DACs, since I have never used them.
Please tell me why HDMI is not good for audio. Also I do not know much about Yggy. But I have heard good things about Schitt. I want to replace my current SACD player which is getting a bit long in the tooth. My preamplifier is a dual mono TVC, which has only one XLR input. I feel that XLRs provide the best gain in my system. Hence I want to use a DAC with XLR, and then connect the transport to the DAC.
Please do tell me more about Schitt's bit perfect approach. I want to make sure that I understand all this before I spend $$$ on a nice DAC. My problem is, I support SACDs and will definitely download DSDs whenever possible. I don't want to loose the ability to play my SACDs, at he expense of a DAC that can play DSD, but cannot accept inputs from a DSD disc. A best of both worlds for me would be a new Marantz SA-11S4 that could play SACDs, and also accept DSD files.

johnjen said:

I too will be an early adopter and order a Jggy ASAP the 1st day.  

My spidey sense has been ringing like a bell for quite a while now and I needs to shut it up…  :atsmile:

And what with the improvements The Rok brings to the table, and that the size of the step up is supposed to be considerably greater,  I'm finding it difficult to even imagine what this long awaited Dac will provide.

And like George Jetson's throbbing finger after a hard day at work, mines itching to 'push the button'.  

JJ

Click to expand...

I would really like to A/B the Ygg when you receive it with the Vega. Also run it through the suite on the dScope.

That's a BIG 10-4 gud buddy!
 
JJ  

milpai said:

Estreeter,
I am more than willing to learn about DACs, since I have never used them.
Please tell me why HDMI is not good for audio. Also I do not know much about Yggy. But I have heard good things about Schitt. I want to replace my current SACD player which is getting a bit long in the tooth. My preamplifier is a dual mono TVC, which has only one XLR input. I feel that XLRs provide the best gain in my system. Hence I want to use a DAC with XLR, and then connect the transport to the DAC.
Please do tell me more about Schitt's bit perfect approach. I want to make sure that I understand all this before I spend $$$ on a nice DAC. My problem is, I support SACDs and will definitely download DSDs whenever possible. I don't want to loose the ability to play my SACDs, at he expense of a DAC that can play DSD, but cannot accept inputs from a DSD disc. A best of both worlds for me would be a new Marantz SA-11S4 that could play SACDs, and also accept DSD files.

Click to expand...

 
HDMI was a classic case of 'design by committee' and audio played a distant second fiddle to video when the smoke cleared. Much happier to see a BNC input on Yggy than I would have been to see HDMI, but its not a discussion I'd like to get involved in here. You may have more luck at CA - 
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/hdmi-audio-future-14759/
 
As far as the Marantz is concerned, I dont have the $$$ 11S3 but my SA-14S1 has the same chipset FWIW. I would caution anyone looking at the Marantz Reference series to think long and hard about what it is you really want from your music - if it's detail, resolution and refinement with mainly classical, jazz and classic rock, than go for it, but if you want something that lets you believe Van Halen are in the room with you I would look elsewhere. I personally think my player is too polite but it sounds great with the right music - Pink Floyd's DSOTM being a classic example - it's just not likely to have you leaping about the room playing air guitar.