[landroni]

 
 
The Theta Gen V-Va has only one advantage over an Yggy.  That is, the analog PCBs are teflon without solder mask.  Everything else on the Yggy is radically better - From the Power supply to the Digital implementation to vastly superior DAC chips to the analog circuit are all VASTLY better on the Yggy.  The teflon PCB is an impossibility for the Yggy, since teflon PCBs without solder masks are completely unsuited for surface mount assembly.

Does the Theta's use the same closed-form upsampling algorithm as the Yggdrasil? Or did it evolve in the past two decades?

 

[Baldr]

Same closed form, but far shorter filter length, less precision, and lower passband bandwidth due to DSP processor limitations.

 

[koolblue3]

quoting "Phasure NOS1a. Best NOS DAC for redbook PCM at many times its price IMO. Wipes the floor with MSB Analog which I sold." by YATES7592
 

apparently it is quite fiddly requiring quite a bit of software tweaking to get the best out of it, i almost went that route as I'm decently software/computer savvy but decided i wanted to listen to music not play with computers

 

[Torq]

  I use the Auralic Vega with my Woo WA5.  Handles everything I have.  Dual femto clocks with a variety of filters to play with.  It also has variable output with a useful remote so I don't have to be within arms reach to adjust volume.

 
I may take another listen to see how it pairs with the WA5, but when I selected the Yggdrasil originally it was because I preferred it over the Vega (and every other D/S DAC I'd heard to that point).  Appreciate the input there though ... I probably should have listed DACs I've already auditioned and discounted in my original post.
 

  Audio-gd Master 7 perhaps

 
This is on the list primarily because I can audition it very easily (one of my friends has one they're willing to loan me for a weekend).  While I've been generally impressed with everything I've seen (heard) from Audio-gd, I've never really gotten on with PCM-1704 based gear.  I preferred the 1702, the PCM-63 and the PCM-56.
 
Again, appreciate the input!

 

[Torq]

So, as it stands, the list of DACs I'm going to attempt* to audition, along side Yggdrasil, right now are, in no particular order, as follows:
 
MSB Analog, Select & Diamond
TotalDAC
Chord DAVE & Hugo TT
EC Designs Mosaic T
Metrum Pavane
PS DirectStream
 
And then just to see if things have changed, synergy wise, I may revisit the Auralic Vega and add the Audio-gd Master 7 (though I'm still not a PCM-1704 fan).
 
As per my original post, my default purchase decisions is another Yggdrasil.  It's stood up to everything else I've been able to listen to so far and bested even the more expensive units in my opinion (things like my Akurate DSM and a Merging NADAC).
 
While there were lots of DACs mentioned both directly, and in some of the lists that were linked, the input on which I am genuinely grateful for, I found that as I did more research on them I was ever more turned-off by the "off the shelf DAC chip" approaches coupled with excessively fancy clocks or super-quiet power-supplies (that wind up sitting next to a tube stage with 10,000x higher noise levels) or "for the sake of it" tube buffers/analog stages that wind up costing $30K.
 
I do have some odd quirks when it comes to how, and on what, I'll spend my money.  *The first of which is that I will not jump through endless hoops to do it.  If a company wants me to buy their product then they need to make it easy for me to do (that's true whether I'm spending $10K on an audit component or $20 on lunch).  Whether this is having a solid dealer network, or offering home-trials, I don't care.
 
I expect I'll have to face some DACs off against each other rather than against Yggdrasil directly, before being able to compare the winner of that face-off to Yggy.
 
And once we're north of about $10K, the DAC will have to be immediately and obviously better (not just "different") to it's cheaper peers.  I'm not going down the brain-burn-in route nor worrying about differences that are so subtle they take hours or days to become apparent.  Raw cost is not a big factor (I didn't see any DACs listed that I couldn't just write a check for), but value will become so at some point.  I value aesthetics - but I'm not paying $20K for a pretty case on $5K worth of electronics
 
Finally, when it comes to actually buying, I'm not going to deal with enormous waiting periods.  If I am paying up-front, then you've got 30 days to deliver.  If you're just taking a small, refundable, deposit, I might wait 90.  More than that, and too much can change and my patience will falter.

 

[rgs9200m]

What about the Chord Hugo TT? It's really great.

 

[murphythecat]

AMAZING.
 
As far as I know, this is one of the most epic dac shoot out.

 

[Torq]

  What about the Chord Hugo TT? It's really great.

Chances are I'll put it up against the DAVE while I'm at my local Chord dealer, though I wasn't much of a regular Hugo fan (love the Mojo though).
 
So far the Chord stuff is the only gear I've heard that has imaging that rivals my Yggdrasil (as tested in my speaker system).

 

[Torq]

  AMAZING.
 
As far as I know, this is one of the most epic dac shoot out.

Well ... there's what I'm going to TRY to do, and there's what actually happens!
 
And, again, I don't see it being something I can pull of where I have all of the DACs together to directly compare to each other.
 
A group of local head-fiers did a big, if somewhat casual, headphone shoot out recently, covering the Abyss, HE-1000, Edition X, HD-800S and three flavors of stock/modified HD-800.  It would have included an LCD-4 as well, but I despite my best effort I couldn't get anyone to sell me one!
 
Since I now own my own Abyss, LCD-4 and HD-800S, and the Edition X and other HD-800 units were all owned by local members, all we need to do is snag an HE-1000 again and we're going to repeat that little get together, only with a lot more seriousness and formality to the evaluations.  Ideally that'll happen in the next month or so.

 

[rgs9200m]

The Hugo TT is way better than the Hugo, and it's probably a lot easier to get your hands on than a Dave. And the TT is compact and runs cool. I sure would not decide on another in its price range without hearing it if you are going to the trouble of comparison shopping. I have not heard the Yggy so I cannot comment on it vs. the TT, but I do feel the TT is a revelation in sheer listenability combined with insight. The Hugo was nice, but was kind of a work-in-progress compared to the TT.
I would not have any assumptions about the TT based on the Hugo (and this is about the DAC performance alone, not considering the amp section).
(As an aside, there is also the Luxman d06 out there which goes for about $2500-$3000 new that used to be $6000 new.)

 

[Torq]

  The Hugo TT is way better than the Hugo, and it's probably a lot easier to get your hands on than a Dave. And the TT is compact and runs cool. I sure would not decide on another in its price range without hearing it if you are going to the trouble of comparison shopping. I have not heard the Yggy so I cannot comment on it vs. the TT, but I do feel the TT is a revelation in sheer listenability combined with insight. The Hugo was nice, but was kind of a work-in-progress compared to the TT.
I would not have any assumptions about the TT based on the Hugo (and this is about the DAC performance alone, not considering the amp section).
(As an aside, there is also the Luxman d06 out there which goes for about $2500-$3000 new that used to be $6000 new.)

In what areas/ways did you find the TT better than the Hugo, sonically that is?
 
Is it the same tonal profile/signature or something different?
 
Like I said, I'll listen to it next to the DAVE.

 

[yates7592]

quoting "Phasure NOS1a. Best NOS DAC for redbook PCM at many times its price IMO. Wipes the floor with MSB Analog which I sold." by YATES7592



apparently it is quite fiddly requiring quite a bit of software tweaking to get the best out of it, i almost went that route as I'm decently software/computer savvy but decided i wanted to listen to music not play with computers

Yes, you're right up to a point, the NOS1A does require a bit more effort to get the best sound. I spent quite a few days of aggregation first getting the damn thing to play sound of any kind, and then some more again to get, well, the best music I have ever heard, period. Nothing worthwhile in this life comes on a plate. With the NOS1A the more you put in the more you get out.

 

[landroni]

 
 
Since I now own my own Abyss, LCD-4 and HD-800S, and the Edition X and other HD-800 units were all owned by local members, all we need to do is snag an HE-1000 again and we're going to repeat that little get together, only with a lot more seriousness and formality to the evaluations.  Ideally that'll happen in the next month or so.

Would be awesome if HE-6 somehow made the cut....

 

[rgs9200m]

 
In what areas/ways did you find the TT better than the Hugo, sonically that is?
 
Is it the same tonal profile/signature or something different?
 
Like I said, I'll listen to it next to the DAVE.

How do I count the ways? Bass depth and transparency. Inner glow and richer texture of mids. Silkyness of highs. Better more natural boundaries of musical objects.
Much better handling of digital glare (in fact as good in this aspect as I have heard on digital and amazing still not being rolled off or sacrificing resolution). Better layering and placement of sounds. More natural overall.
I used the Hugo for almost 2 years and liked it, but right out of the box the TT was a different animal.
 
In many approaches to redbook digital over the years, digital fatigue and glare is often approached accompanied by a queasy-like softening of the upper bass and lower mids (I could name some high end ones that do this).
The Chord TT somehow avoids this terrible trade-off, and that really impresses me. Therefore you can use headphones (or speakers I would guess, too) that would normally be too intolerant of digital recordings that have glare or shrillness or sound peaky.
I can use all my headphones without EQ, which I think is a major achievement.
 
The Hugo, subjectively was more forced and I did use EQ many times.
 
For what it's worth, although it's reported that the Dave is a league ahead of the TT and I have not heard it, I'm so comfortable with my TT I'm leaving well enough alone for quite awhile.
I was planning on trying the Yggy, the Pavane, even the Dave, but I never got around to it because I'm just very happy with the TT, a lot more than I expected.
I do use my own amps though for the best sound. The TT really scales with better amps and cables, but that's another story...

 

[Torq]

 
Would be awesome if HE-6 somehow made the cut....

I'm not sure if anyone in our local group actually owns a set; but if we can find a pair we'll include them this time around!