[landroni]

 
 
Curiously, Ric Schultz, the proprietor of Tweak Audio, also outlined some DIY tweaks to the Yggy. He tried to pick up momentum on one of the Yggdrasil threads for this sort of stuff but was shot (shut?) down. Here's a link for those interested:

 
http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Schiit_mod.html

The consensus in some corners is that you shouldn't touch those tweaks with a ten foot cable, unless you don't value your life and those around you. Some of the tweaks there are literally dangerous.

 

[Torq]

   
Curiously, Ric Schultz, the proprietor of Tweak Audio, also outlined some DIY tweaks to the Yggy. He tried to pick up momentum on one of the Yggdrasil threads for this sort of stuff but was shot (shut?) down. Here's a link for those interested:
 
http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Schiit_mod.html

Not really surprising that such "mods" would get shot down.
 
But the point was more that I've yet to come across a single Gustard X20 owner that hasn't modded their unit.  And I've yet to come across a single Yggdrasil owner that has.
 
That a couple of bits of cardboard, some stickers, and some questionable wiring can allegedly improve the Gustard to the degree claimed (and that if you buy them via that site costs more than the DAC itself), then that might just tell you all you need to know about either a) the performance of the basic DAC, b) how the term "audiophool" came into being.
 
You know what sticking bits of foil to your capacitors does?
 
It makes them look stupid.

 

[yage]

 
The consensus in some corners is that you shouldn't touch those tweaks with a ten foot cable, unless you don't value your life and those around you. Some of the tweaks there are literally dangerous.

 
Oh yeah - I didn't mean to imply that I endorsed them. I think I'll adjust my original post to state that upfront.

 

[johnjen]

Geez guys where's your sense of adventure, your compulsion to explore what if? 

 
I mean really if someone on the internet sez it's better it must be the truth, right? 
 
Damn the torpedos, get them tools out and start hacking away at all those unnecessary parts.
Sorta like with bikes, 'drilled for lightness' to go faster…
 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahahahaha
Snort, chortle, guffaw, etc. etc.
 
JJ 

 

 

[Torq]

  Geez guys where's your sense of adventure, your compulsion to explore what if? 

 
I mean really if someone on the internet sez it's better it must be the truth, right? 
 
Damn the torpedos, get them tools out and start hacking away at all those unnecessary parts.
Sorta like with bikes, 'drilled for lightness' to go faster…
 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahahahaha
Snort, chortle, guffaw, etc. etc.
 
JJ 

 

I'm all for explorative tweaking ... when it doesn't involve a) people that don't know what they're doing* piddling around with mains-level connections and disabling their first-chance protection and b) people paying larger sums of money to possibly gain a minor improvement to an average product than it would take simply to upgrade to something meaningfully better out of the gate.
 
*Guy at work likes to "tune" his cars (or take them to a tuner at least).  I still vividly remember him demonstrating the latest modifications to the motor of his E39 M5.  I don't know what he/his tuner did to that thing, but when he was done it was the only 220 HP version of that car on the road that I know of.  A shame, really, since it was 400 HP before he started fiddling with it.

 

[Baldr]

   
Nice observation. I had the same experience with a Modi Multibit in my speaker system (details in my profile). I think it's the Schiit filter at work here - when I bypassed the oversampling filter by feeding it 24/192 material, the 'v' shaped soundstage went away. My take is that the filter 'spatializes' the presentation much like a DSP effect.Sorry to be a bit slow in the comment

Sorry for the high latency in reply. 
 
This impression seems to imply an attempt to affect the sound of the Yggy (and by extention Gumby, Bimby, and Mimby) with a parlor trick illusion for the sake of euphonics. 
 
As I have already stated in multiple threads in multiple fora, the "megaburrito" filter combines a frequency domain optimized with a time domain optimized digital filter.  The key word is optimized.  All FIR filters are zero phase shift, as are both of the components of our filter.  This means that phase shift in =phase shift out, right or wrong.  Just as a normal filter inputs and averages frequency domain data to optimize frequency response, our unique filter also optimizes temporal (time domain) info.
 
Perhaps @yage may find different recordings presenting different "spaces" or sound stage shapes, as do many, many other users.

 

[johnjen]

snip  
*Guy at work likes to "tune" his cars (or take them to a tuner at least).  I still vividly remember him demonstrating the latest modifications to the motor of his E39 M5.  I don't know what he/his tuner did to that thing, but when he was done it was the only 220 HP version of that car on the road that I know of.  A shame, really, since it was 400 HP before he started fiddling with it.

Yeah but it's custom…

 
 
And of course there have to be unobtanium parts involved, just to earn that custom badge of distinction (and jack up the price). 

 
And you gotta know, that very same sequence of tweaking with reverse results is reminiscent of Ducati and some of their tuning for better performance, or sumpt'n.
 
JJ

 

[yage]

   
This impression seems to imply an attempt to affect the sound of the Yggy (and by extention Gumby, Bimby, and Mimby) with a parlor trick illusion for the sake of euphonics.

 
No - not a parlor trick and definitely not for the sake of euphonics. I was curious as to the contribution that the filter made to the overall performance of the Mimby so I downloaded two versions of Kind of Blue from HDtracks - 24/192 and 24/96. I found that the 24/96 version had a soundstage shaped much like what @Barra had described earlier. I got the sense that it was bowing outwards towards me. When I played the 24/192 version, the spatial perspective was what I normally experience in my stereo. I even ran pink noise at the two different sampling rates and measured with an SPL meter to make sure there wasn't somehow a difference in output level (there wasn't).
 
In any case, it was an interesting result and unexpected.

 

[belgiangenius]

   
Curiously, Ric Schultz, the proprietor of Tweak Audio, also outlined some DIY tweaks to the Yggy. He tried to pick up momentum on one of the Yggdrasil threads for this sort of stuff but was shot (shut?) down. Here's a link for those interested:
 
http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Schiit_mod.html
 
 
NOTE: I don't own an Yggdrasil, modded or otherwise *and* I don't think any of the proposed tweaks are a wise idea.

What complete and utter BS that link is.
 
That guy obviously knows jack about jack.

 

[mulveling]

What complete and utter BS that link is.
 
That guy obviously knows jack about jack.

He's been at it for a LONG time here on head-fi, previously under the cable company "Virtual Dynamics" several years ago. They made power cords with biblical-themed names (Genesis, etc) and MSRP's up to $20K (I don't recommend looking up the photo of patrick82 posing with one of these cables). But everyone knew the few that were getting sold were at a tiny fraction of that price -- yet still leaving room for ample margin. They advertised some kind of "speed of light" magical mystical technology. The infamous $300 garden hose & hardware wire power cord was them. His stooge poster "Acoustic Chef" was one of the most abrasive and untrustworthy MOTs I've ever seen posting here -- that was circa 2005-6ish, I believe. Fun times. 

 

[koolblue3]

He's been at it for a LONG time here on head-fi, previously under the cable company "Virtual Dynamics" several years ago. They made power cords with biblical-themed names (Genesis, etc) and MSRP's up to $20K (I don't recommend looking up the photo of patrick82 posing with one of these cables). But everyone knew the few that were getting sold were at a tiny fraction of that price -- yet still leaving room for ample margin. They advertised some kind of "speed of light" magical mystical technology. The infamous $300 garden hose & hardware wire power cord was them. His stooge poster "Acoustic Chef" was one of the most abrasive and untrustworthy MOTs I've ever seen posting here -- that was circa 2005-6ish, I believe. Fun times. 

Two different people. Ric of EVS is not the same guy as Rick of the former Virtual Dynamics now of High Fidelity Cables.

 

[yage]

  I don't recommend looking up the photo of patrick82 posing with one of these cables

 
No one needs to see patrick82 pose with anything. Fun times indeed...

 

[mikey8811]

 
There's a discernible change between sources, but I wouldn't call the differences between any of them "dramatic".  You'd find the biggest difference going from, say, USB straight out of a laptop to a properly-sorted RedNet configuration, and I don't think that would be particularly hard to distinguish between, provided you were actually listening.  
 
Of course I don't really think the difference between, say, a MIMBY and a DAVE is "dramatic" either.  Readily discernible, obvious and meaningful?  Sure.  Is it a big step up?  In the terms that audiophiles like to bandy about, yeah.  But quality is already so high with the entry-level Schiit gear that you're quickly into diminishing returns and "Dramatic" improvements there are really only going to come if you're moving from sub-standard gear, or changing your transducers!

 
Would be interesting to hear your take on the difference between the Auralic Aries and the microRendu too. Or is it also not "dramatic"?

 

[noshortcuts]

   
............  
My impressions to follow in a little bit (maybe tomorrow), but wanted to make sure the replay chain was completely identified ahead of that.

Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week? Looking forward to your take on the comparison. Thanks.

 

[Don Quichotte]

  Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week? Looking forward to your take on the comparison. Thanks.

Well, I'm eager to read those impressions too, but let's give the man a break, he's doing this as a service to the community, not because it's his duty or anything. Hope this doesn't sound too harsh, this is not my intention...