[Barry S]

  I am very much looking forward to the release of the Ragnarok.  I am wondering just how much of a step-up the Ragnarok would be over my current "Überfrost" - in what sonic qualities will it outshine it's little Bifrost brother?     
I'm not unhappy my Bifrost by any means, but I am something of a gear-person and can already see myself rationalizing a Ragnarok
I predict a buyers market on gently used Bifrost's here in the for-sale forum.

 
The Rag is a solid state amplifier and the Bifrost is a DAC.

 

[T Bone]

 
The Rag is a solid state amplifier and the Bifrost is a DAC.

Yeah - I screwed that up and edited my post.  I can't pronounce either one!

 

[TwoEars]

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=yggdrasil
 
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=ragnarok

 

[Barry S]

  Yeah - I screwed that up and edited my post.  I can't pronounce either one!

The Gungnir is an excellent DAC at less than half the price of the Yggdrasil. Depending on what you're using as an amp--it may be a better choice. Having compared a lot of DACs, I have some doubts about the Yggdrasil being noticeably better than the Gungnir. More expensive-yes, a little different sounding-it has to be, but better? We'll see.

 

[musicinmymind]

  I am very much looking forward to the release of the Yggdrasil.  I am wondering just how much of a step-up the Yggdrasil would be over my current "Überfrost" - in what sonic qualities will it outshine it's little Bifrost brother?     
I'm not unhappy my Bifrost by any means, but I am something of a gear-person and can already see myself rationalizing a Yggdrasil.
I predict a buyers market on gently used Bifrost's here in the for-sale forum.

 
+1

 

[T Bone]

I work from home and spend a large portion of my work day under a set of Sennheiser HD650's powered by my Schiit Valhalla. 
Most of my sources are lossless rock / alt-rock (White Stripes, Black Keys, etc) tracks.  I have a special fondness for live tracks and concert DVDs.  
 
So I as read this thread about the hot new Schiit, I'm considering my usage and downstream gear and wondering what kind of improvements I would realize.  Schiit enjoys a well deserved reputation for great sound for the money.  (you can always spend more!)   That has me wondering if trading in/trading up to the Yggdrasil will prove to be good value.

 

[TwoEars]

  I work from home and spend a large portion of my work day under a set of Sennheiser HD650's powered by my Schiit Valhalla. 
Most of my sources are lossless rock / alt-rock (White Stripes, Black Keys, etc) tracks.  I have a special fondness for live tracks and concert DVDs.  
 
So I as read this thread about the hot new Schiit, I'm considering my usage and downstream gear and wondering what kind of improvements I would realize.  Schiit enjoys a well deserved reputation for great sound for the money.  (you can always spend more!)   That has me wondering if trading in/trading up to the Yggdrasil will prove to be good value.

I'm not sure how much of a difference you'd notice with a HD650. I love that headphone, and it's great for wearing for long streches of time, but it's not as transparent as say the HD800 or LCD-2/3/X.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Remembering what Jason said about Ygg, that it would be revolutionary and not use off the shelf solutions, I can't help but think that maybe PS Audio has just pulled the rug out from under them a little bit with their DirectStream DAC and its use of an FPGA instead of a DAC chip.  If this is what Schiit had in mind I'm still looking forward to seeing it because they'll be coming in dramatically below PS Audio's $7,000 price tag.

 

[paradoxper]

I think a lot of us are pulling for a R2R solution. Something similar to the HEX has been expected.
(without the scratching off of serials and other garbage!)
 
PS Audio is full of fluff. Plus, who would pay $7k with all the woes of their current mk2. Can't even get the
software side of things right. No thanks.

 

[eugenius]

Come on, you just know the ygg is going to be better than lavry gold, custom r2r laser trimmed with temperature control and all the latest femto-level clock plus a filtering solution that teaches meridian how it's done. Nevermind the future Mimameior battery PSU ugprade, obviously. Schiiiiiiit!

 

[johnjen]

I've been following the Directstream and they have spent several years on this project thus far, and that was after the designer had spent even more years trying several variants of this design.
 
That is a whole lotta work.
 
 
And I'm not saying that the schiit that these two heads of schiit are capable of is of any lessor quality nor time spent.  They may indeed already have a 'leg up' on this.
 
AND they have always aimed at bit perfect…
 
 
And from the 'early' PSA reports, the efforts spent seem to be well worth it.
And in the oft touted "game changer" category no less.
 
And perhaps where others live, it can be $7000, but I figure if I go this route, it'll cost me $3K, and go for just the upgrade.
 
Interesting times.
 
I did like this bit though, 'these designs can be completely input source neutral'.
IOW it won't make any difference how the data stream gets to the dac, they all sound the same.  AND it may change (as in greatly reduce) the need for tweako data stream cables.
 
Interesting times indeed.
 
JJ

 

[paradoxper]

  I've been following the Directstream and they have spent several years on this project thus far, and that was after the designer had spent even more years trying several variants of this design.
 

I'd just slow down. Chord has been using FPGA's so it's not new. Not saying it won't sound great, maybe, but I just don't have much trust in these guys.

 

[johnjen]

Yeah there does remain much to 'verify' as to possible foibles that may (or may not) be hitching a ride with these new dacs.  Early adopters are a service to the rest of us… 

 
And in general digital audio front ends, both h/w and s/w still seem somewhat cobbled together at this point.  The h/w communication 'standards' being used all seem to have some type of limitation in one way or another.
The popular DAC chips themselves are VERY complex and are created making choices which aren't necessarily for the 'best' sound
To name but 2 areas of focus.
 
Indeed the whole industry could be poised to deliver DSD without to much of a problem.  Transfer of digital files instead of shipping CD's is already here, and changing the format of the files is an easy shift to make.
 
Especially when you push for the upper limits in SQ.
It seems like the ability of the various hardware 'standards' and the s/w to provide complete reliable full functionality, has 'holes' in its execution.
 
And if this FPGA & DSD marriage truly is a game changer, as some are suggesting, it will become oh so clear soon enough, if not by PSA, or Schiit, or who knows…
 
Or not.  
 
We'll see.
 
Still, there is much to improve in digital audio and these 'new' approaches are addressing some of these areas.
 
And I must say that despite ALL of the many and various foibles that haunt my use of the PWD, the SQ is simply amazing in my system.  
And it scales really well.
 
And the Mojo not only keeps up but has actually surprised me with the degree and range of its scalability as well.  The bass is truly bottomless, and the mids and tops have a degree of articulateness, unfettered by artifice that is quite astounding.
 
JJ

 

[SoupRKnowva]

I don't think there is a prayers chance in hell of the Yggy being anything even close to resembling DSD in any way shape or form. Mike's head seems to explode anytime anyone even thinks too hard about DSD in his vicinity.

 

[magiccabbage]

I don't think there is a prayers chance in hell of the Yggy being anything even close to resembling DSD in any way shape or form. Mike's head seems to explode anytime anyone even thinks too hard about DSD in his vicinity.

what do you mean by that? That it wont give good playback of DSD?