[jfoxvol]

  How does the Yggy differ from the Gungnir in tone/voicing? Is it more or less the same just with "moar detail"? 

I own both.  The Gungnir did seem to have a warmer tone.  Slightly less in treble.  I haven't done any A/B comparison in a true blind test but I did notice GOBS more detail with the Yggy.  Not just added brightness (though there was some, not much).  Added clarity across the band, especially with imaging and soundstage.  My guess is that maintaining samples maintained the phase far better than S-D chips, which is critical for 3-D positioning to the ear.  At this point, my Gungnir is unplugged and out of my rack.  I'm just rocking the Yggy now.  It's staying. 

 

[reddog]

I own both.  The Gungnir did seem to have a warmer tone.  Slightly less in treble.  I haven't done any A/B comparison in a true blind test but I did notice GOBS more detail with the Yggy.  Not just added brightness (though there was some, not much).  Added clarity across the band, especially with imaging and soundstage.  My guess is that maintaining samples maintained the phase far better than S-D chips, which is critical for 3-D positioning to the ear.  At this point, my Gungnir is unplugged and out of my rack.  I'm just rocking the Yggy now.  It's staying. 

+1 Well said sir.

 

[US Blues]

 

I own both.  The Gungnir did seem to have a warmer tone.  Slightly less in treble.  I haven't done any A/B comparison in a true blind test but I did notice GOBS more detail with the Yggy.  Not just added brightness (though there was some, not much).  Added clarity across the band, especially with imaging and soundstage.  My guess is that maintaining samples maintained the phase far better than S-D chips, which is critical for 3-D positioning to the ear.  At this point, my Gungnir is unplugged and out of my rack.  I'm just rocking the Yggy now.  It's staying. 

+1 Well said sir.

+2
 
My Gungnir is now serving nicely in my bedroom system. The Yggy was better cold out of the box than Gungnir, as it should be given the price and technology. 

 

[RCBinTN]

Well, I guess the Yggr/Rag is where I'm headed.  Heard them at the Nashville meet - the stack sounded great.  Easily beat my G/M stack.  All I need to do now is pay off the house and set-up a solid listening rack...the Y/R are pretty heavy and beg a permanent installation.  Seems like great sound for the price.
 
Enjoy your music,
RCB

 

[reddog]

+2

My Gungnir is now serving nicely in my bedroom system. The Yggy was better cold out of the box than Gungnir, as it should be given the price and technology. 

I might get a Gungnir to go with my Liquid Carbon, although I would prefer a smaller, more portable balanced dac.

 

[Maxx134]

The HE1K sounds bloody fantastic through my Yggdrasil and Ragnarock stack. I have yet burn in the HE1K properly, but I am impressed with the synergy so far. Will write a full impression after I have burned them in over 100 hours..

I have herd all those items and fully expect that combo to be have bassy signature.

I am a bit dissapointed with the HE1000, but thats another story.
Suffice to say it does not replace an HD800.

Also I feel the yggy fully settles into a transparent state at the two week period.

And I am not saying the yggy is the best dac for everyone.
But I will say it is the most truthfull to the recording dac there is.

It really is up to the person whether they want such realism, or a more "colorful" or "euphoric" dac.
And that would be perfectly acceptable, as it is music enjoyment we are after and everyone prefers different things..

As for the Rag, I was disaapointed with it's performance..
Being a bit heavy in the bass region,
and while that is actually not a bad thing,
because it does have great clarity,
the soundstaging extremes is not at level of the great tube amps out there in the "above 1k" range...

So to get the most out of your yggy, the tubes or hybrid is the way to go..


There you go ..

 

[reddog]

I have herd all those items and fully expect that combo to be have bassy signature.

I am a bit dissapointed with the HE1000, but thats another story.
Suffice to say it does not replace an HD800.

Also I feel the yggy fully settles into a transparent state at the two week period.

And I am not saying the yggy is the best dac for everyone.
But I will say it is the most truthfull to the recording dac there is.

It really is up to the person whether they want such realism, or a more "colorful" or "euphoric" dac.
And that would be perfectly acceptable, as it is music enjoyment we are after and everyone prefers different things..

As for the Rag, I was disaapointed with it's performance..
Being a bit heavy in the bass region,
and while that is actually not a bad thing,
because it does have great clarity,
the soundstaging extremes is not at level of the great tube amps out there in the "above 1k" range...

So to get the most out of your yggy, the tubes or hybrid is the way to go..


There you go ..

+1 well said sir, and I hope to get the Cavalli liquid fire tube amp to pair with my Yggdrasil. Although I admit I love my lyr 2, I do not like tube rolling persay.

 

[RCBinTN]

I have herd all those items and fully expect that combo to be have bassy signature.

I am a bit dissapointed with the HE1000, but thats another story.
Suffice to say it does not replace an HD800.

Also I feel the yggy fully settles into a transparent state at the two week period.

And I am not saying the yggy is the best dac for everyone.
But I will say it is the most truthfull to the recording dac there is.

It really is up to the person whether they want such realism, or a more "colorful" or "euphoric" dac.

As for the Rag, I was disaapointed with it's performance..
Being a bit heavy in the bass region,
and while that is actually not a bad thing,
because it does have great clarity,
the soundstaging extremes is not at level of the great tube amps out there in the "above 1k" range...

So to get the most out of your yggy, the tubes or hybrid is the way to go..


There you go ..

 
Very helpful info, thanks Maxx.
 
Just a note - at the Nashville meet, I heard both the Yggr/Rag and Yggr/WA5 stacks with the HD800.  Both stacks sounded better than my G/M, and the WA5 amp beat the Rag in terms of smoothness - like nothing I've ever heard.  Exceptional mid/treble.  Of course, we are raising the price bar significantly here...
 
I am also interested in your comments about the HE1K vs. HD800.  Are you posting them on the HE1K forum?
 
Cheers -
RCB

 

[negura]

There you go ..

 
Great post. I very much agree with all the main points: HE1000s, Ragnarok & Yggdrasil. I also agree with most, but not all details.
 
Further HEK comments - for another time/thread.
 
 I was also underwhelmed overall by the Ragnarok and had to let it go. Back when everyone was still singing its all-praises, I thought maybe I had a lemon sample or something else was wrong there. Since then I had a few other opinions coming my way, so I think that's actually genuinely what it is and how it sounds (to me). The Rag left me wanting in transparency to source, articulation, detail, extensions, sound stage, clarity. I felt my Theta Gen V was a bit underperforming with it. Thankfully it is better as a headamp, than as speaker amp. With speakers it was a very mediocre experience compared to a class A solid state speaker amp. I did not really expect much from it with speakers, to begin with, so I was not dissapointed. Quite simply with a proper speaker amp or a better headamp, the Theta sounded like a better source, which it is. I did not have the Yggdrasil back then. 
 
However, that said, in terms of value for the same money, I am not sure what is better in solid states around that budget. For some more money, the next tick up was the Audio GD HE-9, an amp I did like, and which I thought was better than the Moon 430HA. The HE-9 is a notch warmer (something I don't particularly look for, but I don't mind a small amount as long as it's not gooey), but it's articulate, more organic sounding, has an amazing sound stage (and I don't have to add for a solid state) and stupid engaging bass. That said, I would also prefer a good tube amp. 
 
Obviously Schiit knows a thing or two about tube amps, hence what I would like to see is something high-end. A DHT SET "Ragnarok". Oh yeah, that would go instantly up my interest list.
 
I don't think the Yggdrasil will please everyone, thus I always want to make sure to describe what I think it is and isn't. There's simply no "best sound" that works for all. Yes, it is very neutral and very detailed. Also very realistic. I don't think it is "detail forward" and I am not sure this problem really exists at this level of SQ, except when we talk about  a different level of obviously flawed sounding products, which the Yggdrasil isn't.
 
The Yggdrasil does a great job with my solid state speaker amp, which is high class A bias and is a small notch warmer than neutral. But it is amazing with the Eddie Current, which is a SET tube amp.

 

[Maxx134]

Hint:
Yggy
Eddie
Cavali

The right path...

 

[melikeheadphone]

To those with a Ragnarok, I have a question for you:
 
I've only noticed this just now, and I'm not sure if it's a new problem or it's normal, and always been like this:
 
I have a Ragnarok here; but I noticed it still makes sounds through both Balanced and SE output, even though the volume knob is all the way to "zero". Albeit it's very faint but I can hear it. The gain is at the lowest, and the zero-but-audible sound gets louder as the gain gets higher. 
 
Also, the relay doesn't make the clicking noise, until I turn the knob about 20° (that's when I'd hear the first click).
 
Just comparing my Ragnarok with the rest of yours. Is mine behaving normally?
 
 
EDIT:
I think I've only noticed this just now because for the first few weeks I own this, I was using the an HE-6. The HE-6 is notoriously hard to drive, hence I won't even get to an "acceptable" output volume until the knob hits 1 o'clock (with low-gain). 

 

[Viper2005]

  To those with a Ragnarok, I have a question for you:
 
I've only noticed this just now, and I'm not sure if it's a new problem or it's normal, and always been like this:
 
I have a Ragnarok here; but I noticed it still makes sounds through both Balanced and SE output, even though the volume knob is all the way to "zero". Albeit it's very faint but I can hear it. The gain is at the lowest, and the zero-but-audible sound gets louder as the gain gets higher. 
 
Also, the relay doesn't make the clicking noise, until I turn the knob about 20° (that's when I'd hear the first click).
 
Just comparing my Ragnarok with the rest of yours. Is mine behaving normally?
 
 
EDIT:
I think I've only noticed this just now because for the first few weeks I own this, I was using the an HE-6. The HE-6 is notoriously hard to drive, hence I won't even get to an "acceptable" output volume until the knob hits 1 o'clock (with low-gain). 

Yes mine behaves exactly the same as yours.

 

[StanT]

I had a faint hum from the amp itself, until I isolated my ground. Music through headphones has always been dead quiet. No clicking until 20°, either, though I tend to be on the other side of the dial.

 

[melikeheadphone]

  I had a faint hum from the amp itself, until I isolated my ground. Music through headphones has always been dead quiet. No clicking until 20°, either, though I tend to be on the other side of the dial.

 
 
I don't have hums or hiss when I listen to music, very clean. I'm just curious as to why there's still sound coming through the SE/Balanced out when the knob is at "zero". I guess that's the normal behaviour!

 

[jfoxvol]

So, here's my question to you guys.  What would upgrading my Mjolnir to perhaps a Ragnarok do for me?  I've teetered back and forth between a couple tube amps (namely Valhalla2 and Lyr2) but my ears keep coming back to the Mjolnir, especially when running my LCD3s.  Now, I've got a few other cans and they work great for certain types of music and not others.  This system seems to do all of the above quite well.  I recall hearing at some point that the Ragnarok, while more powerful, was possibly a little smoother on the top end a tad?  That would make sense to me as it's sister is somewhat brighter than mid level DAC in the line.  Anywho, I'm looking for someone to convince me to spend even more money, though I'd have a bunch of my other gear that would no longer be required to subsidize it.