[comzee]

Is the ygg + mjolnir2 a waste on my current headphones even if i run them balanced? I planning to run hd650, hd600, he400i, k701, k7xx, and thx00 on them.

This question is the essence of ymmv. With that said, my experience, I would always upgrade headphones first. 
 
Again, from my personal experience, what matters the most: Headphones > Amp > Source(DAC)
 
I would rather listen to hd800 off $350 Valhalla all day, than listen to the HD650 running off a $1700 Ragnarok. I have extended listening experience with both headphones. 

 

[shultzee]

Is the ygg + mjolnir2 a waste on my current headphones even if i run them balanced? I planning to run hd650, hd600, he400i, k701, k7xx, and thx00 on them. Maybe they might be a bit of an overkill for my current headphones?

 
IMHO even running single ended out of the mj2 wouldn't be a waste.  But get yourself a balanced cable for the hd650 and it will make you smile.

 

[EinZweiDrei]

IMHO even running single ended out of the mj2 wouldn't be a waste.  But get yourself a balanced cable for the hd650 and it will make you smile.

Well according to a certain person, he rather use hd800 single ended on a valhalla2 than a hd650 balanced out of mjolnir2,

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Internet groups...you can find a certain person to support every conceivable position

 

[EinZweiDrei]

The biggest improvements are headphones, followed by amps then dacs. That was the main concept and seems the commonly accepted idea a few years back. Does that still apply now? I means it has been a few years and amps and dacs should improve drastically by now. Back then people were running k701s out of otl tube amps and calling it worse than hd650, and now they know more about amps and there dont seem to be as much polarized opinions now.

 

[GUTB]

I would say it's still true BUT there is a minimum level every component in the chain must satisfy before they drag down everything else. In my current case, while in an equipment transition, I am using a Pioneer VSX-816, which has poor noise performance, making my HE-6 (when using speaker taps) sound unacceptably bad. My much easier-on-amps TH900 can achieve acceptable results out of this amp. Prior to the Pioneer I was using horrendously bad SMSL sApII chip amp unit, and it was unable to drive even the TH900 to an acceptable performance level (bass was gutted and highs were sub-par). It was laughable with the HE-6. Indeed, NONE of my headphones sounded very good out of it -- including my K553s, HD600s and HD668Bs. Digging out an old Pioneer from out of the basement was a large improvement to my listening experience, higher in total than the move from, say, HD600 to TH900 on the SMSL was.
 
Another example. Introduction of a Wyrd in front of a my Modi 2 Uber finally eliminated the digital-like smearing of notes that always plagued my system. Those artifacts were audible regardless of headphone and amplifier, and upgrading headphones would simply highlight them all the more.

 

[Xcalibur255]

There's no such thing as endgame beyond a single moment in time.  All that matters is deriving satisfaction from whatever you currently have.  My old DAC was once the strongest component in my system, and over the course of nearly 8 years slowly became the weakest.  Now Yggy is the strongest, but there will undoubtedly come a day years into the future when it too gets replaced.  I've come to accept that's what it means to be enthusiastic about this hobby.  Either you get the OCD or the OCD gets you and you have to walk away from it. 
 
As for Yggy, the "moment" purrin and others elude to came for me.  At 2:15am this morning as a matter of fact.  I'm not sure how many people are actually listening to their Yggys when the gears shift, but I considered it quite an exhilarating experience made more than a little trippy by being far past my bedtime.
 
Within the space of a single song I was listening to I suddenly began to perceive the sense of "black space" in the music become much, well, blacker.  The decay of notes became much more prominent and everything seemed to emerge from this black and then fade back into it.  It was a way of experiencing music I didn't even know existed.  But what blew me away the most was how the decaying notes seemed to have this sort of tangible presence that makes the space seem filled when before it was empty.
 
What I was listening to before I would compare to viewing the stars in the night sky from the city.  You see the individual points of light, and there is nothing else there but the darkness.  What I heard early this morning is like when you take your first camping trip as child up into the mountains.  You go out and look up at the stars on a perfectly clear night and you see the stars, but you also see so so much more.  All the colors and textures of the Milky Way occupying the space between those points of light.
 
I went back and listened to everything I had played a couple of hours before the change and it all sounded different, there was just fundamentally *more* there to hear than before.
 
There was a whole dimension of sound and presence I had no knowledge even existed.  Yggdrasil is an incredible machine for people who feel their music when they listen to it.
 
Chalk me up as another believer.

 

[EinZweiDrei]

i see so wait like 10 years til yggy is cheaper then grab it. j/k. but yea i know how that feels seeing those clusters in the sky for the first time.

 

[Peaceofmind]

Xcalibur255, approximately how many days has your Yggy been left on until, as you say the gears shifted? Great post.

 

[EinZweiDrei]

According to this thread, ygg has a burn in period. Im really curious about how it changes in sound.

 

[slambanna]

The biggest improvements are headphones, followed by amps then dacs. That was the main concept and seems the commonly accepted idea a few years back. Does that still apply now? I means it has been a few years and amps and dacs should improve drastically by now.

 
In my opinion, the traditional thinking that you prioritize headphones first, then amp then DAC does not apply when you're considering the Yggy.
 
Headphones are still generally first priority.  You need a headphone with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's.  You also need an amp with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's. 
 
If you don't already own HP's and amps capable of showcasing the Yggy (I'm confident your current gear will audibly scale as much as it can), they can be purchased for much less then the price of this DAC.  I use a modded HE-560 (available for 700 USD when on sale) and either my Cambridge Azur 351r via speaker taps (Less than 700 CAD new) or my Liquid Carbon (599 USD).  This setup was improved enough by the Yggy to easily justify it's 2300 USD price for me. (FYI I prefer the Azur to LC YMMV)
 
So the cost me Yggy $2300 USD  and the rest of my current HP setup can be had for 1300 USD combined.  I don't believe for a minute that spending less on a DAC and more on an amp would result in better sound for the money.
 
Although this setup currently provides audio ecstasy I could call end-game and live happily ever after with.... I firmly believe the Yggy is demonstrating only a fraction of its potential for me.  This is based on what I hear with my own ears and the countless opinions I've read from users with ton's of experience with higher end gear.
 
99% of Yggy users will testify to the best of their knowledge, you cannot buy a better DAC for less than the Yggy's price.
 
BOTTOM LINE:  If you can afford the Yggy, BUY IT.  It is a great investment to build your setup on.  You can then feel free to upgrade the rest of components as you wish to try and reveal all that the Yggy can offer.  
 
I estimate I'll spend 10 years and 10-20k on the rest of my system (speakers and headphones) before I would even consider looking to upgrade from this DAC.  The Yggy will not be the bottleneck in my system for many years if ever.
 

According to this thread, ygg has a burn in period. Im really curious about how it changes in sound.

 
Read back through the thread and other forums.  You'll find over a hundred relatively consistent descriptions of this experience. 

 

[zeissiez]

The biggest improvements are headphones, followed by amps then dacs. That was the main concept and seems the commonly accepted idea a few years back. Does that still apply now? I means it has been a few years and amps and dacs should improve drastically by now.

In my opinion, the traditional thinking that you prioritize headphones first, then amp then DAC does not apply when you're considering the Yggy.

Headphones are still generally first priority.  You need a headphone with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's.  You also need an amp with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's. 

If you don't already own HP's and amps capable of showcasing the Yggy (I'm confident your current gear will audibly scale as much as it can), they can be purchased for much less then the price of this DAC.  I use a modded HE-560 (available for 700 USD when on sale) and either my Cambridge Azur 351r via speaker taps (Less than 700 CAD new) or my Liquid Carbon (599 USD).  This setup was improved enough by the Yggy to easily justify it's 2300 USD price for me. (FYI I prefer the Azur to LC YMMV)

So the cost me Yggy $2300 USD  and the rest of my current HP setup can be had for 1300 USD combined.  I don't believe for a minute that spending less on a DAC and more on an amp would result in better sound for the money.

Although this setup currently provides audio ecstasy I could call end-game and live happily ever after with.... I firmly believe the Yggy is demonstrating only a fraction of its potential for me.  This is based on what I hear with my own ears and the countless opinions I've read from users with ton's of experience with higher end gear.

99% of Yggy users will testify to the best of their knowledge, you cannot buy a better DAC for less than the Yggy's price.

BOTTOM LINE:  If you can afford the Yggy, BUY IT.  It is a great investment to build your setup on.  You can then feel free to upgrade the rest of components as you wish to try and reveal all that the Yggy can offer.  

I estimate I'll spend 10 years and 10-20k on the rest of my system (speakers and headphones) before I would even consider looking to upgrade from this DAC.  The Yggy will not be the bottleneck in my system for many years if ever.
[CONTENTEMBED=/t/766347/schiit-yggdrasil-impressions-thread/2040#post_12400425 layout=inline] [/CONTENTEMBED]

According to this thread, ygg has a burn in period. Im really curious about how it changes in sound.

Read back through the thread and other forums.  You'll find over a hundred relatively consistent descriptions of this experience. 

That is possible if you stay away from listening to TotalDac/Rockna/MSB DACs for >10 years . The only assurance to not upgrading your gear is not to listen to gear at a much higher level than the one you own.

 

[draytonklammer]

Does anyone know if this DAC would be much better than the one found in my Simaudio Moon Neo 430HAD?

 

[EinZweiDrei]

In my opinion, the traditional thinking that you prioritize headphones first, then amp then DAC does not apply when you're considering the Yggy.

Headphones are still generally first priority.  You need a headphone with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's.  You also need an amp with enough resolution and all-around prowess to demonstrate what advantages the Yggy offers over other DAC's. 

If you don't already own HP's and amps capable of showcasing the Yggy (I'm confident your current gear will audibly scale as much as it can), they can be purchased for much less then the price of this DAC.  I use a modded HE-560 (available for 700 USD when on sale) and either my Cambridge Azur 351r via speaker taps (Less than 700 CAD new) or my Liquid Carbon (599 USD).  This setup was improved enough by the Yggy to easily justify it's 2300 USD price for me. (FYI I prefer the Azur to LC YMMV)

So the cost me Yggy $2300 USD  and the rest of my current HP setup can be had for 1300 USD combined.  I don't believe for a minute that spending less on a DAC and more on an amp would result in better sound for the money.

Although this setup currently provides audio ecstasy I could call end-game and live happily ever after with.... I firmly believe the Yggy is demonstrating only a fraction of its potential for me.  This is based on what I hear with my own ears and the countless opinions I've read from users with ton's of experience with higher end gear.

99% of Yggy users will testify to the best of their knowledge, you cannot buy a better DAC for less than the Yggy's price.

BOTTOM LINE:  If you can afford the Yggy, BUY IT.  It is a great investment to build your setup on.  You can then feel free to upgrade the rest of components as you wish to try and reveal all that the Yggy can offer.  

I estimate I'll spend 10 years and 10-20k on the rest of my system (speakers and headphones) before I would even consider looking to upgrade from this DAC.  The Yggy will not be the bottleneck in my system for many years if ever.

Read back through the thread and other forums.  You'll find over a hundred relatively consistent descriptions of this experience. 

you think senns hd6xx k7 series and 400i is enough for this dac?

 

[claud W]

you think senns hd6xx k7 series and 400i is enough for this dac?

We will find out if they ever ship me my Yggy. My first move when I started my headphone system renovation was to order nice headphone and balanced ICs from Wywires. I then ordered a set of Ether C headphones from Mr. Speaker to go with my HD600s and 702s. On 2/11, I ordered my Yggy, but so far it has not been shipped. It's a complex product so I'm not rushing them.