Here is my comparison of the Yggy and the Dangerous Source.
First, some context. I’ve owned my Source for a couple of years and have been very pleased with it. But I was curious about the whole ladder DAC thing, not to mention the “special sauce” fliter in the Yggy, and the great user reviews. So I took the plunge. Over the years I have had in my system a couple of Musical Fidelity DACs (notably the Tri-Vista), Ben Duncan X-Dac, Lavry DA10 (in my opinion a very underrated product), Lynx Hilo (great DAC, but with more features than I needed), and an Anedio D2 (didn’t much care for it) I listen almost exclusively to speakers, not headphones. I hang out here, because Head-Fiers are careful listeners and I have gotten good information and opinions about source components from this site.
Set Up: Before I got the Yggy I drove my amps (Quad 303 or EL-84 tube) directly from the Source with Neutric XLR adapters on the Speaker 1 outputs, which works well using the Source’s analogue attenuator to minimize the amount of digital attenuation needed with the JRiver internal software volume control. I auditioned the Yggy exclusively with my Quad 303. At first I drove the amp directly from the Yggy, but the gain structure of these devices was not optimal, so I now run balanced out from the Yggy to balanced analogue inputs on the Source and from there use XLR adapters to drive my Quad 303. Speakers are Quad ESL-57s. With this setup, I’m still listening to the output section of the Source, which I find is excellent. So, I have esentially changed only the DAC sections. (Well, the output buffer the the Yggy is also in circuit.)
Listening Impressions: In my opinion, the Yggy and Source differ principally in perspective, detail, space, and believability. The differences are not day and night, but they are audible and important to me.
a. Perspective--The Source presents a flatter, up-front perspective with lots of image width, whereas the Yggy offers lots of depth and proportionate width. Yggy layers the performers front to back and separates voices and instruments in a way the Source does not. I prefer the Yggy here.
b. Detail--I hear lots of stuff with Yggy that I do not hear on the same files with the Source. I do not especially value listening to audience sounds, rustling sheet music, or fly farts, but hearing them adds to the sense of being there. It’s not a day or night difference, but Yggy does better here.
c. Space-- A sense of the recording venue is very important to me and helps me believe that I’m hearing the real thing. Yggy is the winner here. It gives audible cues about the back, sides, and ceiling of the recording venue in a way that help me imagine that I’m there with recordings that offer this information. Source gives a fair measure of this, but not to the extent of Yggy. With Yggy you can hear the studio or concert space open up as soon as the recording begins, if the track allows, to a greater extent than Source.
d. Believability--for me, Yggy creates a more plausible listening experience than Source. It’s not day or night, but it is present.
e. Ease--When I listen to a high-resolution recordings, I often find that the main difference between this sort of file and standard res files is the ease of the listening experience. Yggy gives lots of this, even on Red Book files; more so than the Source.
f. Body--Yggy allows me to hear the body of instruments better than Source. For example, on double acoustic bass, Yggy presents the “woody” sound of the plucked or bowed base believably, as it does the sound of a piano case rather than just the strings. Same goes for voices. Singers seem have their own space in the recording venue have a flesh and blood quality that comes close to what I imagine they really sound like.
g. Bass--Yggy gives the impression that it goes lower than Source. I also hear better bass pitch and definition with Yggy than Source.
h. Reverb trails--Yggy follows diminishing volume levels and overtones farther toward silence than Source, in my opinion.
Which one is telling the truth? Hard to say, since we are almost never at a recording session. I guess it comes down to which one “fools” you the best. For me that’s the Yggy. You may have a different experience.
So those are the differences between Yggy and Source that I hear. Are the differences night and day? No. I could easily live with either DAC. And I will. I’ll keep both DACs. I use the Source as a pre-amp with Yggy, DAC for my Raspberry Pi streamer, and headphone amp. It’s a multi-function, great value. Yggy will stay, because it sounds great and is upgradable as new technology arrives.
