atomicbob
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2015.12.12 update - THD measurement corrected.
I will never know how the first three hours of the yggdrasil sounded as I let the DAC warm up for an hour and proceeded to make technical measurements. If the measurements presented are familiar territory, then you should be as impressed as I am. If such graphs are not familiar, then please note that these graphs are extended, some down to -160 dB for example. Extreme. Much farther than most other graphs you will see elsewhere on other DACs on the internet or in brochures. So be careful when making comparisons. Watch the X and Y axes in other data. The graphs presented here are not marketing graphs. They have not been prettied up as is often the case in mainstream consumer goods.
Schiit claims THD <0.006% THD+N (more stringent) measured Left 0.00233% Right 0.00239%
Schiit claims IMD <0.007% IMD measured Left 0.00067% Right 0.00162%
Schiit claims SNR >117dB Dynamic Range measured Left 121.7 dB Right 122.0 dB
Schiit has specifications for these measurements published on their website and in their operating instructions. In my measurements, my yggdrasil performed better than Schiit's conservative specifications in every single measurement. Every single one. Well done Schiit!
Commentary added to the end of this post.
The data presented were collected as follows:
1. PrismSound dScope III, picoscope 2205, FLIR E63900
2. DAC balanced output used for measurements except oscilloscope square wave response which used unbalanced output
3. 100 Kohm load used for measurements
4. 44 KHz sample rate, 24 bit depth
5. USB input - cables to go USB cable
6. Balanced cables Tecnec Canare starquad Neutrik XLR cables
7. Unbalance cable BlueJeans Belden RCA
8. Vaunix Lab Brick USB hub
Frequency Response
Expanded Y-axis Frequency Response, 0.1 dB / major division
Dynamic Range
THD and THD+N - unweighted - updated 20151212 - measurement corrected
Intermodulation Distortion
Left - Right channel crosstalk
Jitter - what jitter - yggdrasil laughs at your USB cables
For comparison this is the jitter measured for an ODAC
20 Hz square wave response
expanded time base for 20 Hz square wave response - minimal pre and post ringing
exceptional performance for a digital recovery filter
For those of you worried about the Yggdrasil's slightly warm feeling to the touch, don't worry, be happy. Here is a comparison to an Asus Ultrabook
Yggdrasil
Asus Ultrabook
Commentary:
The previous THD+N graph measurements were artificially high due to a driver / OS interaction on my computer. The corrected measurement now appears above. Update made 2015.12.12.
Designers are often faced with trade-offs for various reasons. I believe the Schiit design team has made trade-offs that result in best auditory experience over best measurements possible on all fronts. I have a colleague who gives a "13 dB miracle" demonstration showing that SNR isn't the best predictor of auditory experience. So THD+N may not be that influential on the final sound while jitter may have a bigger effect. Those of you who will reference the 1992 and 1998 AES papers on the topic of jitter may note that no trained subjects were used to determine the masking thresholds. With many more listeners now well experienced in digital audio listening we might see much lower thresholds if the experiments were repeated today and trained listeners employed.
I will never know how the first three hours of the yggdrasil sounded as I let the DAC warm up for an hour and proceeded to make technical measurements. If the measurements presented are familiar territory, then you should be as impressed as I am. If such graphs are not familiar, then please note that these graphs are extended, some down to -160 dB for example. Extreme. Much farther than most other graphs you will see elsewhere on other DACs on the internet or in brochures. So be careful when making comparisons. Watch the X and Y axes in other data. The graphs presented here are not marketing graphs. They have not been prettied up as is often the case in mainstream consumer goods.
Schiit claims THD <0.006% THD+N (more stringent) measured Left 0.00233% Right 0.00239%
Schiit claims IMD <0.007% IMD measured Left 0.00067% Right 0.00162%
Schiit claims SNR >117dB Dynamic Range measured Left 121.7 dB Right 122.0 dB
Schiit has specifications for these measurements published on their website and in their operating instructions. In my measurements, my yggdrasil performed better than Schiit's conservative specifications in every single measurement. Every single one. Well done Schiit!
Commentary added to the end of this post.
The data presented were collected as follows:
1. PrismSound dScope III, picoscope 2205, FLIR E63900
2. DAC balanced output used for measurements except oscilloscope square wave response which used unbalanced output
3. 100 Kohm load used for measurements
4. 44 KHz sample rate, 24 bit depth
5. USB input - cables to go USB cable
6. Balanced cables Tecnec Canare starquad Neutrik XLR cables
7. Unbalance cable BlueJeans Belden RCA
8. Vaunix Lab Brick USB hub
Frequency Response
Expanded Y-axis Frequency Response, 0.1 dB / major division
Dynamic Range
THD and THD+N - unweighted - updated 20151212 - measurement corrected
Intermodulation Distortion
Left - Right channel crosstalk
Jitter - what jitter - yggdrasil laughs at your USB cables
For comparison this is the jitter measured for an ODAC
20 Hz square wave response
expanded time base for 20 Hz square wave response - minimal pre and post ringing
exceptional performance for a digital recovery filter
For those of you worried about the Yggdrasil's slightly warm feeling to the touch, don't worry, be happy. Here is a comparison to an Asus Ultrabook
Yggdrasil
Asus Ultrabook
Commentary:
The previous THD+N graph measurements were artificially high due to a driver / OS interaction on my computer. The corrected measurement now appears above. Update made 2015.12.12.
Designers are often faced with trade-offs for various reasons. I believe the Schiit design team has made trade-offs that result in best auditory experience over best measurements possible on all fronts. I have a colleague who gives a "13 dB miracle" demonstration showing that SNR isn't the best predictor of auditory experience. So THD+N may not be that influential on the final sound while jitter may have a bigger effect. Those of you who will reference the 1992 and 1998 AES papers on the topic of jitter may note that no trained subjects were used to determine the masking thresholds. With many more listeners now well experienced in digital audio listening we might see much lower thresholds if the experiments were repeated today and trained listeners employed.
