[Plautus001]

This is the current state of my mid-fi headphone stack. The S.M.S.L DAC has been a step up from my prior equally-cheap DACs, but I intend to upgrade to a Schiit model early in 2024 (the amp will be upgraded sometime shortly thereafter). It would be now, but I no longer trust my current car so it's gotta go and that takes priority over hobby spending for the moment.

I'm looking at the Bifrost for cost, but the Yggy keeps winking and giving me "come-hither" looks. The Bifrost will end up at about $1,700 Canadian Pesos which is within reason. The Yggy will end up at between $5,000 and $5,800, depending on which flavour. That will be harder to justify to my wife and myself (she's not at all into audio), but there are some redundant and expensive items in another hobby that can be liquidated to cover it.

Is the gulf in audio quality between the two really that big? Would upgrading to the Bifrost provide a noticeable step up from my current DAC? If I went with the Bifrost my fear would be regretting not going with the Yggy. Unfortunately I have no way of auditioning and comparing before opening my wallet.

$250 US is roughly $425-450 CDN "to your porch"

Hence why I love the Modi multibit 2, a $550-600 CDN bargain

 

[earnmyturns]

it does benefit from being allowed to reach thermal stability, which can take several hours, and from never being turned off so it stays there

... which is not unique to Y., I've also experienced this with other resistor array DACs (Holo, Soekris, Metrum, Sonnet).

 

[AstronomerXI]

FOMO is only ever as real as you allow it to be.
(I feel like those old Stoics would have made for horrible audiophile forum pundits, but they were absolutely onto something. )

It's not much of a secret that I'm not among the Bifrost's biggest supporters around these hallowed halls. Personally, I find it too veiled and outright muddy. That said, most opinions that I have read describe it as perfectly clear and highly detailed, so pretty much the polar opposite of what I am hearing. Where that discrepancy comes from? Beats me, I don't have a clue. But people also say that Jotunheim 2 would be "warm," "lush," and "forgiving," while I think that it's Schiit's most analytical and harshest headphone amp by quite some margin, so there's probably just something wired up wrong between my ears and my brain.

What I'm trying to say is: Just audition. Try to find a Schiitizen in your area who'd be willing to let you listen to their stuff for a little bit. London's just a hop and a jump from Toronto, if memory serves, so chances are that there's quite a lot of Schiit in driving distance.
If that's not an option, I'd suggest you make good use of Schiit's 15 day return policy. Don't feel bad, the stuff you send back won't be treated like Amazon treats their returned Levi's; it'll find its way into somebody else's hands eventually, not the shredder. That policy exists precisely because Schiit knows how difficult it can be to properly audition their wares.

Personally, and especially for headphone use, I'd try to find a "pre-loved" but well maintained Gungnir MB. The Yggy is fantastic in almost every regard, but based on your choice of headphones and (pre-)amps I have a hunch that you wouldn't mind some thiccc bass. And a juicy, slappin' bottom end is the Gungnir's strong suit, more capable even than the otherwise almighty Yggy (OG).

It's interesting how differently we perceive sounds and tonality, which aural keys turn the tumblers on our perceptions of what makes a sound or collections of sounds pleasurable. It truly is a subjective thing and worthy of further study.

I do like a solid low end, but I'm definitely not a bass-head. I was listening to a long jam by the original line-up of the Allman Brother's Band last night and my new K712's had a solid low-end, but it was not muddy at all. I could hear the bass notes wonderfully clear and mixed perfectly with the rest of the band. I also like to hear what the bass player is doing on a jazz track, something the K712's do well with in this stack with their wide soundstage and great separation. I also like to hear Neil Young's electric guitar's fat low-end distorted notes as fat and fuzzy and further distorted as possible, which the Sundara excels at.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Gungnir. I'll definitely keep that in mind as I peruse the Canuck Audiomart and Kijiji websites. Dangerous places for a wallet, those. My new job will see me in Toronto fairly regularly over the next while. I should hop onto a Canadian audio forum and the Schiit user's FB page to see if I can try something out. As an aside, in 18 years of living near London, I've only gone to Toronto (pronounced "T'rawna") less than 10 times in all that time. Driving there is the worst. The joke is that Toronto is a 2 hour drive from Toronto.

Also as an aside, I saw a video a couple of days ago on a small audio company in Quebec that has an interesting DAC. I thought, "Hey! Canadian, small shop. Could be interesting and probably affordable". USD$38,000. Nopenopenope.

 

[wout31]

@Jason Stoddard can you tell me what kind of connector is the connection thing with the 4-5 metal teeth that sticks out of the SOL turntable? I am asking Hart Cables to make a 'that thing' to XLR for my new Skoll coming today. But they can't figure out what 'that thing' is.

Help? Anyone?

Connector for the tone arm wiring.

 

[AstronomerXI]

Nice setup. Differences between the d/s DAC you have now and either multibit (BF2 / Yggy) is likely large compared to Bifrost 2/64 vs Yggdrasil. Consider going with BF2 first- lower price means easier to resell in Canada than Yggy should you prefer the d/s sound

Good advice. I appreciate it.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

It's interesting how differently we perceive sounds and tonality, which aural keys turn the tumblers on our perceptions of what makes a sound or collections of sounds pleasurable. It truly is a subjective thing and worthy of further study.

I do like a solid low end, but I'm definitely not a bass-head. I was listening to a long jam by the original line-up of the Allman Brother's Band last night and my new K712's had a solid low-end, but it was not muddy at all. I could hear the bass notes wonderfully clear and mixed perfectly with the rest of the band. I also like to hear what the bass player is doing on a jazz track, something the K712's do well with in this stack with their wide soundstage and great separation. I also like to hear Neil Young's electric guitar's fat low-end distorted notes as fat and fuzzy and further distorted as possible, which the Sundara excels at.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Gungnir. I'll definitely keep that in mind as I peruse the Canuck Audiomart and Kijiji websites. Dangerous places for a wallet, those. My new job will see me in Toronto fairly regularly over the next while. I should hop onto a Canadian audio forum and the Schiit user's FB page to see if I can try something out. As an aside, in 18 years of living near London, I've only gone to Toronto (pronounced "T'rawna") less than 10 times in all that time. Driving there is the worst. The joke is that Toronoto is a 2 hour drive from Toronto.

As an aside, I saw a video a couple of days ago on a small audio company in Quebec that has an interesting DAC. I thought, "Hey! Canadian, small shop. Could be interesting and probably affordable". USD$38,000. Nopenopenope.

Hm… "Bass-head" sounds like Apple Beats oontz-oontz-oontz stuff. Maybe I should clarify, just in case…

Gungnir MB isn't for bass-heads, per se, although I don't think a bass-head would disapprove of the way the Gungnir sounds.
It's more like…

If you want to hear precisely where on that stage in front of you that upright bass was standing, you should buy a Bifrost.
If you also want to hear every last nuance of how that upright player's bow was dancing across the strings — and I literally mean every single detail of every single one of those two, three, four hundred times a second that that bow hops away from the string just to land back on it a fraction of a hundredth of a second later — you'll be equally happy with a Gungnir MB and an Yggy OG.
But if you want all that detail to also Slappp A$$$ without ever losing even just a tiny bit of all that highly resolved minutia, then the Gungnir is Ya Boi!

But I have to warn you, that Gungnir and Yggy level of perfection does not come without its dark sides. Sol Gabetta is quite the loud breather, for example. She's mastered the cello like nobody else has on this planet. But, boy!, the way she breathes while she plays, especially during those more emotional passages? It does get a bit tiring after a while. And Simon Rattle? Man, what a maestro! Second only to Karajan, that's for sure. But as much as I adore the guy's artistry, he god-damned effing hums along while he conducts! And no, he's not hitting the right notes, either.
And on a somewhat more serious note, bad recordings can be a bit less enjoyable as well. That's especially important if you're mainly listening to (mainstream) stuff that's been recorded in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

 

[O8h7w]

Hm… "Bass-head" sounds like Apple Beats oontz-oontz-oontz stuff. Maybe I should clarify, just in case…

Gungnir MB isn't for bass-heads, per se, although I don't think a bass-head would disapprove of the way the Gungnir sounds.
It's more like…

If you want to hear precisely where on that stage in front of you that upright bass was standing, you should buy a Bifrost.
If you also want to hear every last nuance of how that upright player's bow was dancing across the strings — and I literally mean every single detail of every single one of those two, three, four hundred times a second that that bow hops away from the string just to land back on it a fraction of a hundredth of a second later — you'll be equally happy with a Gungnir MB and an Yggy OG.
But if you want all that detail to also Slappp A$$$ without ever losing even just a tiny bit of all that highly resolved minutia, then the Gungnir is Ya Boi!

But I have to warn you, that Gungnir and Yggy level of perfection does not come without its dark sides. Sol Gabetta is quite the loud breather, for example. She's mastered the cello like nobody else has on this planet. But, boy!, the way she breathes while she plays, especially during those more emotional passages? It does get a bit tiring after a while. And Simon Rattle? Man, what a maestro! Second only to Karajan, that's for sure. But as much as I adore the guy's artistry, he god-damned effing hums along while he conducts! And no, he's not hitting the right notes, either.
And on a somewhat more serious note, bad recordings can be a bit less enjoyable as well. That's especially important if you're mainly listening to (mainstream) stuff that's been recorded in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Somehow you make me want all of the Schiit multibit DACs, not just the Yggy. Oh how I wish my wishlist could shrink instead of grow a little more often.

 

[sixergixer]

FYI, for the youngsters amongst us ... this is an analog computing device.

Do I still have to turn it off and turn it back on if it doesn't work?

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Somehow you make me want all of the Schiit multibit DACs, not just the Yggy. Oh how I wish my wishlist could shrink instead of grow a little more often.

I know! It's a real problem. Gotta somehow weasel my way into Schiit's non-existent superfan discount program or something, what with all the upcoming new TI flavors and Singularity…

 

[NoBodyNoWhere]

I just picked up the B-Stock Skoll that I had shipped to the Schiitr. I had been using an iFi Zen phono preamp that seemed to be doing the job just fine. But over and over, I find that Schiit products out perform expectations so even though I ”didn’t need” a new phono preamp, I bought it nevertheless.

I’ve listened to three records thus far and I’m surprised at how much better my vinyl system sounds. While I probably won’t become a complete convert, I’m beginning to understand why some people are so in love with vinyl.

 

[misterpumpy]

My Hel+ just came in, really fast turnaround from purchase to delivery (the perks of being in the same state as the warehouse?). Hel+ is a definite improvement over the Fulla E and not just in power delivery. It just sounds better when I'm playing Impulse Voices from Plini.

Excited to listen to the dac/amp more, and I'm excited to take my Fulla E to the office for its permanent location. I don't know what I expected from Hel+ when I bought it, but I am very happy.

 

[FLTWS]

Do I still have to turn it off and turn it back on if it doesn't work?

I had that happen twice, maybe three times in 7 years. The slightest of power interruptions, even if that may not shut down other equipment, seems to have been the issue in my case. No big deal. Shut it down completely including standby switch, check to make sure the female plug on the back is tightly seated, wait 2 minutes and restart it. That procedure never failed to work for me. Never caused any damage to my Yggdrasil's.

 

[JamminVMI]

I'd go with any of their HP amps using a relay stepped attenuator. This will ensure proper volume tracking / channel balance at low volume.

Which is, IIRC - just Lyr + ? Or am I forgetting something?

 

[adias]

… And Simon Rattle? Man, what a maestro! Second only to Karajan, that's for sure. But as much as I adore the guy's artistry, he god-damned effing hums along while he conducts! And no, he's not hitting the right notes, either.

This Zimerman/Rattle collaboration of the 5 Beethoven piano concertos, done under ‘social distancing’ conditions does not suffer from that predicament.

 

[mks100]

Good afternoon. Just received my new Skoll to replace my Mani 2. I'm a moron, so I just want to make sure I have this set up correctly for my Rega Ania cartridge. Currently have Resistive Loading set to 100 ohms, Capacitance Loading set to 200 p (max), and Gain set to 70 db (max) on the Skoll. See attached photo. Thanks in advance.

I think these are the right settings. Playing Peter Gabriel "So" currently. Sounds amazing.