[D2Girls]

All this back and forth is well and good, but let's get to the really important stuff here.

Has anyone tried to hook up a Nintendo Switch via USB to a Gen 3 Yggy? I heard that a few Schiit DACs work and am curious. I'm pretty sure it's a no go with the Gen 5 as it's UAC2 exclusive.

I tried on my gen5 usb / analog 2 yggy. Doesn't work. Passing the switch thru my AVR and using my avr optical audio out works, however.

 

[Videodrome]

I tried on my gen5 usb / analog 2 yggy. Doesn't work. Passing the switch thru my AVR and using my avr optical audio out works, however.

Thanks for the confirmation on the Gen 5 not working. I have an Octava UHD41ARC switch that splits HDMI to optical which then goes to my Yggy (Hosa Toslink to AES) but am fresh out of ports.

 

[Les Strat]

Nice to hear A2 improv. Not trying to divert attentions but i wanted to check if anyone has compared the BNC and AES input and found BNC at par or above AES?
I recently bought a Chord Signature (supposedly high end) digital COAX to BNC cable. Hooked my Oppo to my Yggy BNC via this cable and found the sound lush esp on top end. Did a lot of tests and got my young daughter to independently assess the 2 inputs.
Both AES (via Lynx card from Sonore server) and BNC (from Oppo) were so close. AES won on some songs (esp for low end) but BNC won overall esp for subtly crisper top end.

I have had my Yggy for just over a year and upgraded to Analogue 2 in May this year.
I liked the Yggy before the upgrade, as it was better than any other DAC I had auditioned at budgets up to around £4k.
Following the Analogue 2 upgrade, I now have a DAC which is as good as anything I've ever heard, and whilst this is all opinions on this are subjective, for me it captures all that I used to like about vinyl many years ago, but with so much more!
Any plans that I had about investing in a new vinyl rig have now been scrapped. The Yggy is all I need.

With regard to digital input to the Yggy, I have tried both BNC and AES connections.
I believe Mike Moffat favours AES over BNC (but ideally BWD) and I am certainly not going to argue with Mike!
My own experience, howvere, is that I prefer the sound using BNC. I can definitely hear the difference, which surprised me.

The AES sounds 'thin' in comparison with BNC and I no longer use it at all.

I do not believe in expensive cables but using similarly priced AES and BNC cables from the same manufacturer, the BNC definitely sounded better to me.

I did notice an improvement moving from really cheap (£3) cables to cables costing around £20.( Again, I didn't expect to notice any difference).

It is possible that AES is the more 'accurate' connection, but as listening to music is an entirely subjective experience, I'll stick to BNC as I prefer it.

I have read that good BNC cables and plugs do have a genuine 75 ohm impedance, whereas it is more difficult to manufacture AES cables and plugs with true 110 impedance.

If Mike ever builds a CD transport with BWD connection, I'll definitely be in the market for one.

 

[koven]

@Les Strat what transport did you test AES v BNC with?

 

[earnmyturns]

I have read that good BNC cables and plugs do have a genuine 75 ohm impedance, whereas it is more difficult to manufacture AES cables and plugs with true 110 impedance.

Good quality AES cables are not too expensive: Pro Co 3' Premium Canare AES/EBU Cable.

 

[Les Strat]

@Les Strat what transport did you test AES v BNC with?

It is a Logitech 'Transporter' which has RCA, BNC, Optical and AES digital outputs
https://www.logitech.com/images/pdf/userguides/eng/Logitech_Transporter-ENG.pdf

It also has a built in DAC which back in 2007 was pretty good, but Yggy has taken it to another level.

The designer of the Logitech Transporter said that the transformer coupled BNC digital output is superior to that of the AES output.

His view is that BNC is better suited to digital than an XLR plug.

That could explain why I have found that BNC sounds better than AES with Transporter as the digital source.

 

[Les Strat]

It is a Logitech 'Transporter' which has RCA, BNC, Optical and AES digital outputs
https://www.logitech.com/images/pdf/userguides/eng/Logitech_Transporter-ENG.pdf

It also has a built in DAC which back in 2007 was pretty good, but Yggy has taken it to another level.

The designer of the Logitech Transporter said that the transformer coupled BNC digital output is superior to that of the AES output.

His view is that BNC is better suited to digital than an XLR plug.

That could explain why I have found that BNC sounds better than AES with Transporter as the digital source.

Help with CD transport as digital source for Yggy
I would welcome any suggestions from Forum members on their experience with CD transports which work well with Yggy.
I have a very old Arcam Alpha Plus CD player which is used only occasionally as a digital source. ( Normally use a digital server).
The only digital output from Arcam is RCA coax, which is probably not ideal. Mike M is certainly not a fan!
I would be really interested to hear others' experiences of different Transports.
I believe that the Yggy's adapticlock is capable of optimising the digital source for jitter, whether it comes via RCA, BNC or AES, so perhaps I should just stick with the old CD player until Mike comes up with a new CD transport incorporating a BWD connection...

 

[KoshNaranek]

Help with CD transport as digital source for Yggy
I would welcome any suggestions from Forum members on their experience with CD transports which work well with Yggy.
I have a very old Arcam Alpha Plus CD player which is used only occasionally as a digital source. ( Normally use a digital server).
The only digital output from Arcam is RCA coax, which is probably not ideal. Mike M is certainly not a fan!
I would be really interested to hear others' experiences of different Transports.
I believe that the Yggy's adapticlock is capable of optimising the digital source for jitter, whether it comes via RCA, BNC or AES, so perhaps I should just stick with the old CD player until Mike comes up with a new CD transport incorporating a BWD connection...

There is nothing wrong with your present CD player. I would just continue to use it.

I would, however, suggest a Hifiberry Digi to supercede your Transporter. I have both and like the Hifiberry much better.

 

[gdhal]

Help with CD transport as digital source for Yggy
I would welcome any suggestions from Forum members on their experience with CD transports which work well with Yggy.
I have a very old Arcam Alpha Plus CD player which is used only occasionally as a digital source. ( Normally use a digital server).
The only digital output from Arcam is RCA coax, which is probably not ideal. Mike M is certainly not a fan!
I would be really interested to hear others' experiences of different Transports.
I believe that the Yggy's adapticlock is capable of optimising the digital source for jitter, whether it comes via RCA, BNC or AES, so perhaps I should just stick with the old CD player until Mike comes up with a new CD transport incorporating a BWD connection...

If it's strictly a redbook CD player you're interested in, I'd highly recommend an Emotiva ERC-3. Besides the fact that It's an outstanding CD player in its own right, it has a number of digital outputs including AES/EBU (the best) which the Yggy can accept as input. IMO it's also cost/value appropriate, commensurate with Yggy.

 

[Les Strat]

If it's strictly a redbook CD player you're interested in, I'd highly recommend an Emotiva ERC-3. Besides the fact that It's an outstanding CD player in its own right, it has a number of digital outputs including AES/EBU (the best) which the Yggy can accept as input. IMO it's also cost/value appropriate, commensurate with Yggy.

Thanks to both KoshNaranek and gdhal for replies.

 

[D2Girls]

@Les Strat you're going to want to get a quality transport with a good spinner mech inside. the obvious choice is classic cd philips pro mech, there are plenty of good quality cd transports that use this. cheapst among that i've heard good things about is the proceed pdmt modular dvd transport. it looks like a meridian, its apparently excellent as a transport. next best thing might be a mark levinson no. 37 but for that you're playing 90% for the metal chassis. im using a pioneer pd-s95 it is built like a tank its over 40lb of solid aluminum with crazy heroric build quality. another option is a pioneer elite laserdic player, supposedly the high end laser disc players are actually the best transports to use due to their high torque.

 

[DrTone]

How about the Simaudio 260D CD transport?

 

[purehifi192]

If it's strictly a redbook CD player you're interested in, I'd highly recommend an Emotiva ERC-3. Besides the fact that It's an outstanding CD player in its own right, it has a number of digital outputs including AES/EBU (the best) which the Yggy can accept as input. IMO it's also cost/value appropriate, commensurate with Yggy.

I have the ERC3 and am happy with it. Some have complained that the mechanism they used is for DVD and not optimal for redbook playback. I can hear no difference vs other methods. Emotiva has, IMO, significantly raised the price here though. Used to be $450, but recently saw an uptick to $600. I am unaware if the components have been upgraded on the inside to justify the increase or if it's something more organic.

 

[gdhal]

I have the ERC3 and am happy with it. Some have complained that the mechanism they used is for DVD and not optimal for redbook playback. I can hear no difference vs other methods. Emotiva has, IMO, significantly raised the price here though. Used to be $450, but recently saw an uptick to $600. I am unaware if the components have been upgraded on the inside to justify the increase or if it's something more organic.

Not exactly.... please allow me to explain.... I have a bit of insider information, so trust me (or not)...

The reported "complaints" with the mechanism have nothing to do with DVD. The device IS optimized for redbook CD. The complaints have to do with the noise of the mechanism while it spins/plays a disk. It can be audible within a foot or so of the unit. In most circumstances its a non-issue (i.e. not noisy to the point where it interferes with music played above whisper quiet levels).

The reason the drive is noisy in comparison to other players has to do with error correction. The ERC-3 spins the disk nearly four times faster than virtually all other players. It spins the disk at approximately 1200 RPM. It does so in order to achieve a greater degree of error correction relative to most other players.

I do not believe the price was ever $450. It was $499. It was since raised to $599 in conjunction with Emotiva's announcement (perhaps 18 months ago now) that they will not be offering any more "sale" prices. The price of virtually all of their gear was raised at that point. There is no reason other than needing/wanting to make additional profit on the unit, not that any parts or design were changed.

 

[Les Strat]

Not exactly.... please allow me to explain.... I have a bit of insider information, so trust me (or not)...

The reported "complaints" with the mechanism have nothing to do with DVD. The device IS optimized for redbook CD. The complaints have to do with the noise of the mechanism while it spins/plays a disk. It can be audible within a foot or so of the unit. In most circumstances its a non-issue (i.e. not noisy to the point where it interferes with music played above whisper quiet levels).

The reason the drive is noisy in comparison to other players has to do with error correction. The ERC-3 spins the disk nearly four times faster than virtually all other players. It spins the disk at approximately 1200 RPM. It does so in order to achieve a greater degree of error correction relative to most other players.

I do not believe the price was ever $450. It was $499. It was since raised to $599 in conjunction with Emotiva's announcement (perhaps 18 months ago now) that they will not be offering any more "sale" prices. The price of virtually all of their gear was raised at that point. There is no reason other than needing/wanting to make additional profit on the unit, not that any parts or design were changed.

Thanks for all the very helpful information about CD transports.
The ERC-3 looks like a beautifully made CD player and I'm sure it would work well with Yggy.
It now retails at £650 in UK. I appreciate that the price includes an internal DAC, but obviously as a Yggy owner, I don't need the DAC, so it's quite expensive for a Transport.
I have read good reports about Cambridge CXC, which is a pure CD transport. It is available in UK for £300, but only has RCA digital output.