[gefski]

Too late for me to wait. Mine will arrive Wednesday. Thank God I am just one of the 99%. Using my Yggy in a Schiit stack decoding mostly red book cds

Yggy wrings so much information out of 16/44 rips that I rarely consider buying anything in hi-rez.

 

[Torq]

Yggy wrings so much information out of 16/44 rips that I rarely consider buying anything in hi-rez.

 
It wound up doing much the same for me.
 
When I got my first hi-res capable streamer, for my main speaker system, I bought a lot of hi-res material from Linn Records and HDTracks and, while in some cases there were meaningful differences between those and their Red Book versions this pretty much always turned out to be down to a different mastering.  Also, the differences were not always (in fact were often not) in favor of the higher resolution versions.
 
So now I tend to buy 16/44.1 unless I am aware of some reason why the mastering of the higher resolution version of the "regular" album is beneficially different.

 

[shultzee]

 

Too late for me to wait. Mine will arrive Wednesday. Thank God I am just one of the 99%. Using my Yggy in a Schiit stack decoding mostly red book cds

Yggy wrings so much information out of 16/44 rips that I rarely consider buying anything in hi-rez.

Same here.   I use to buy a bunch from HDTracks but really don't feel the need anymore.

 

[tjl5709]

I gave up on the hi-rez downloads as well. All I hear is a higher noise floor (hiss) with no improvement in sound.

 

[Baldr]

Yggy wrings so much information out of 16/44 rips that I rarely consider buying anything in hi-rez.

 
One way of looking at Yggy for Redbook stuff is a D/A box with a built-in real time 352.8 or 396K 21 bit hiRez converter.  It is indeed the only hiRez converter which retains all of the original info.  Based on my experience, it is my bet that this converter will sound better than others.

 

[steved21]

   
One way of looking at Yggy for Redbook stuff is a D/A box with a built-in real time 352.8 or 396K 21 bit hiRez converter.  It is indeed the only hiRez converter which retains all of the original info.  Based on my experience, it is my bet that this converter will sound better than others.

Based on my experience i completely agree. I am building my system around my Yaggi.  So far its an unbelievable journey into digital audio. I'm not dropping any brand names but my system is pretty cool and the quality blows me away. MISSING... still is my player.  I use  NAS and Mac air with Audirvana, via USB, with a Schiit Wyred. There lies the weak link.  (USB) It's 3k for a Bryston BDP 2 which makes a huge difference, slightly less than 1k for a Simaudio moon 180 MIND streamer ( not as good as the Bryston), about 2k for an Auralic and I'm not really sure if thats an upgrade. 
If Schiit made a player connecting with AES / EBU I think we could all go to heaven. Would that be the Manhattan , not sure?  Should i wait or should I drop the money on the Bryston or Simaudio?

 

[Torq]

 
Based on my experience i completely agree. I am building my system around my Yaggi.  So far its an unbelievable journey into digital audio. I'm not dropping any brand names but my system is pretty cool and the quality blows me away. MISSING... still is my player.  I use  NAS and Mac air with Audirvana, via USB, with a Schiit Wyred. There lies the weak link.  (USB) It's 3k for a Bryston BDP 2 which makes a huge difference, slightly less than 1k for a Simaudio moon 180 MIND streamer ( not as good as the Bryston), about 2k for an Auralic and I'm not really sure if thats an upgrade. 
If Schiit made a player connecting with AES / EBU I think we could all go to heaven. Would that be the Manhattan , not sure?  Should i wait or should I drop the money on the Bryston or Simaudio?

 
Auralic Aries via AES/EBU to the Yggdrasil works very well at either $1000 or $1600.  Can't say I could discern any difference between that or the BDP 2 in that configuration.  Haven't heard the Simaudio unit, so can't comment there.
 
I run Roon, so the Aries has a big advantage there for me, also.
 
Since the Schiit "Manhattan" project is for something that isn't already available elsewhere, there's little chance it's a player with an AES/EBU interface as those have been around for a good while now.
 
Edit: One thing I'll add ... if I wasn't a Roon user then I would NOT have gone with the Aries.  While I bought it specifically because I hadn't found a better sounding streaming interface and wanted Roon end-point support if at all possible, if I had to use this thing with the "Lightning DS" app in its current form I'd have passed on it.  It was painful enough just getting it setup through their app.

 

[steved21]

YES I hear you re the Manhattan. Your right,, I'm just hoping,, however a player needs a good app ( better than Manic Moose that Bryston offers) and the app means software development, which I doubt Schiit wants to do,,, that's where partnering with an existing app would be smart.   Regardless of the Manhattan Schiit has an established market that would buy into the player if they chose to make it.   Have a look at the Simaudio mind 180.. Not a lot in that box!!   Your paying for app development, which Simaudio did in house. 
FYI I'm north of the Canada USA border and Auralic wants 2200 for the higher of the two models  AND no dealers outside of Vancouver so no way to demo it.  When they learn marketing 101 i might visit that choice. 
That's why i am waiting for Schiit.................

 

[noshortcuts]

 
Based on my experience i completely agree. I am building my system around my Yaggi.  So far its an unbelievable journey into digital audio. I'm not dropping any brand names but my system is pretty cool and the quality blows me away. MISSING... still is my player.  I use  NAS and Mac air with Audirvana, via USB, with a Schiit Wyred. There lies the weak link.  (USB) It's 3k for a Bryston BDP 2 which makes a huge difference, slightly less than 1k for a Simaudio moon 180 MIND streamer ( not as good as the Bryston), about 2k for an Auralic and I'm not really sure if thats an upgrade. 
If Schiit made a player connecting with AES / EBU I think we could all go to heaven. Would that be the Manhattan , not sure?  Should i wait or should I drop the money on the Bryston or Simaudio?

Bryston looks to be a great player. I'm waiting for LHL's Geek Source for AES / EBU connection to Yggy. Meanwhile using Chromecast Audio (Toslink, not USB). Crossing my fingers the Source is worth the wait but meanwhile C.Audio is awfully convenient, easy, and sounds great streaming from the cloud over wifi.

 

[Torq]

 
YES I hear you re the Manhattan. Your right,, I'm just hoping,, however a player needs a good app ( better than Manic Moose that Bryston offers) and the app means software development, which I doubt Schiit wants to do,,, that's where partnering with an existing app would be smart.   Regardless of the Manhattan Schiit has an established market that would buy into the player if they chose to make it.   Have a look at the Simaudio mind 180.. Not a lot in that box!!   Your paying for app development, which Simaudio did in house. 
FYI I'm north of the Canada USA border and Auralic wants 2200 for the higher of the two models  AND no dealers outside of Vancouver so no way to demo it.  When they learn marketing 101 i might visit that choice. 
That's why i am waiting for Schiit.................

 
"the player needs a good app" ... absolutely - couldn't agree more!
 
There are a multitude of good player applications available for the standards-based players.  For a player that properly supports UPnP/DLNA then the Linn and Lumin apps work very well, and there are several others available for most platforms.  If your device supports the OpenHome player specification (DLNA with Linn Extensions) then it gets even better. 
 
But, the best player application I've seen, by a HUGE margin is the Roon setup.  It's not cheap, and you currently require a PC or Mac as a server, but the experience is so far ahead of the DLNA-based stuff that it's not funny.
 
A Schiit-based pure streamer would be nice for sure ... though now I've gone down the Roon path it'd have to support that for me to buy it.

 

[steved21]

I hear you about Roon and its rave reviews.  However my thinking is to get the PC / Mac server out of the system. I have a NAS and want to run a Cat 6 cable to a streaming box then AES /EBU to my Yaggi. AND a nice app to run it.  Getting the server and its Usb connections does marvels for the sound.   The Simaudio is nice but theres nicer, and i kinda resent paying close to 1K for a 200 box. 
I think heres opportunity here for someone to use a raspberry pi and a small box with res /ebu / ethernet interface and retail it for 500 ish using open source software.
Ive got the idea but the execution is above my pay grade. 

 

[steved21]

  Bryston looks to be a great player. I'm waiting for LHL's Geek Source for AES / EBU connection to Yggy. Meanwhile using Chromecast Audio (Toslink, not USB). Crossing my fingers the Source is worth the wait but meanwhile C.Audio is awfully convenient, easy, and sounds great streaming from the cloud over wifi.

I'm not going to hold by breath on that one.. read the link below to a post on Darko's web site and the comments below about backers still waiting for unfulfilled product.
That's not going to win over any prospective buyers. 
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/01/ces-2016-lh-labs-bring-geek-source-vi-dac-to-life/

 

[Torq]

 
I hear you about Roon and its rave reviews.  However my thinking is to get the PC / Mac server out of the system. I have a NAS and want to run a Cat 6 cable to a streaming box then AES /EBU to my Yaggi. AND a nice app to run it.  Getting the server and its Usb connections does marvels for the sound.   The Simaudio is nice but theres nicer, and i kinda resent paying close to 1K for a 200 box. 
I think heres opportunity here for someone to use a raspberry pi and a small box with res /ebu / ethernet interface and retail it for 500 ish using open source software.
Ive got the idea but the execution is above my pay grade. 

 
Typical price-to-cost ratio for retail consumer-electronics is 3x-5x (it'll be closer to 5x for anything with a dealer network).
 
Unfortunately today the options with "proper" AES/EBU digital interfaces are things like the Aries.  Some of the, quite expensive, dedicated audio computers that do have an AES/EBU interface are just using an internal USB->AES/EBU DDC bridge that is literally hanging off one of the embedded motherboards internal USB headers (not going to name names).  It wouldn't surprise me to see that as the solution in anything based on standard compact PC-hardware.
 
If you're willing to use COAX or TOSLINK then there are quite a few options that use free software, DLNA (and all the apps it supports) for the server and control point (so it'll run natively on your NAS, depending on exactly which NAS you have), and aren't very expensive at all (some under $100 total ... going up from there for canned solutions).  I'm not personally aware of anything shy of the Moon and Aries units for under $1000 that has AES/EBU implemented without a USB-based DDC interface.
 
I'm in the camp that thinks that using a USB->anything DDC interface just winds up having all the potential issues of USB coupled with any potential issues of the interface it is converting to.  It'll likely be vastly better than pure USB, but the first thing it has to do is contend with fixing up the USB input and then it has to do a first-rate job of implementing the target output.

 

[earnmyturns]

 
I hear you about Roon and its rave reviews.  However my thinking is to get the PC / Mac server out of the system. I have a NAS and want to run a Cat 6 cable to a streaming box then AES /EBU to my Yaggi. AND a nice app to run it.  Getting the server and its Usb connections does marvels for the sound.   The Simaudio is nice but theres nicer, and i kinda resent paying close to 1K for a 200 box. 
I think heres opportunity here for someone to use a raspberry pi and a small box with res /ebu / ethernet interface and retail it for 500 ish using open source software.
Ive got the idea but the execution is above my pay grade. 

The DACs I have currently (Bifrost MB and the one built into the Bel Canto C7R) are likely not as revealing as the Ygg of weaknesses in the digital link, but FWIW, I've been happy with Sonore-based low(ish) cost USB streamers feeding a Bel Canto mLink USB>S/PDIF coax converter (now superseded by the uLink) connected to the DAC with a Nordost Blue Haven cable. The streamers are a (discontinued) SOtM sMS-100, and a Sonicorbiter SE (I just got a Teddy Pardo 9V power supply for the sMS-100, but haven't had time to give that system a careful listen after the recommended burn-in). In the meanwhile, Sonore has announced the microRendu, which claims to combine a capable streamer with Regen-style circuitry to provide a top-notch USB source, announced price $640 US (without power supply). The later Sonore-based streamers (Sonicorbiter SE and microRendu) support Roon, and all support UPnP/DLNA (which is what I use with MinimServer and BubbleUPnP control points).

 

[Currawong]

For the curious, here is the review of the transport I'm using with the Yggy, which I feel improves the SQ from it quite considerably:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/soundaware-d100pro-deluxe-32bit-192-khz-dsd-pcm-digital-streaming-audio-transport-system/reviews/15512