[h.rav]

Yep but I'm talking about Bifrost 2's ease of upgrading its innards.

Instead of dealing with so many screws and the hassle of disassembling it, they could make it much easier to upgrade just like Bifrost 2.

 

[acguitar84]

Could anyone with experience using both the RME ADI-2 DAC section and Yggdrasil A2 compare the two?

I'm having sort of a "shootout" today on my headphone rig, I went down and got my Yggdrasil A2 (alas no Unison USB, just Gen 5). I brought it upstairs and hooked it up and am listening now - Yggy - gsx mini - Grado PS1000e. It sounds great!

Comparison to RME (which I normally use on this rig). I'm not the best at describing sound, but I'm finding the Yggdrasil seems "punchier" maybe? It seems like the RME might have more extreme high end. The Yggdrasil seems warmer maybe. Not as bright. As for resolving, it's hard to tell a lot of difference. Guitars seem punchier maybe. On a Rush song called Territories the vocals have echo/delay at the beginning trailing off, It seems I could hear them a (little) more clearly on the RME (going by memory, not a direct comparison). The Yggdrasil is VERY pleasant to listen to I'll say that. I don't want to unplug it and take it back downstairs (I will though).

One difference, the RME switches to different sample rates without a problem, where the Yggdrasil clicks and doesn't switch immediately, a teeny bit of the beginning of a song can be cut off.

Some notes - on my headphone rig, I use Windows 10 - and musicbee as a player for my flac library.

-Yggdrasil - I use the WASAP (Exclusive) -

-RME - ASIO with their madiface driver.

Both use USB on this computer, on my downstairs computer (speaker listening) the Yggdrasil is fed with a lynx soundcard via AES.

Hope this helped. I'm not having a shootout where I keep going back and forth between units, just going by memory of the other RME for now as I listen to Yggdrasil.

On another note, my Yggdrasil takes a few minutes to even come to life. When I hooked up USB and switched it over up here on the headphone rig, it took a minute or so before it decided to work. I wonder if anyone else has had this issue.

 

[johnjen]

Yes the Jggy does have a 'long' startup cycle, much longer than most dacs.

JJ

 

[acguitar84]

Yes the Jggy does have a 'long' startup cycle, much longer than most dacs.

JJ

Is that with the A2 board though? I don't remember A1 taking as long. (edit, this is after the DAC boots up) It's all good though. After listening to it on my headphone rig upstairs, now I want it up here permanently, lol.

 

[gefski]

During the startup, the light on the far right blinks, and the sample rate lights remain off until completion.

 

[johnjen]

Is that with the A2 board though? I don't remember A1 taking as long. (edit, this is after the DAC boots up) It's all good though. After listening to it on my headphone rig upstairs, now I want it up here permanently, lol.

Both are longer than 'usual' but the A2/B units do seem to take longer.

JJ

 

[ToTo Man]

I currently split my Yggy's balanced output to two amplifiers with an XLR splitter cable but I'd like to replace the splitter cable with a box so I can have up to three amplifiers connected.

Do any Yggy owners have experience with either of these XLR switchers?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-1-I...991207?hash=item3fdcc75767:g:qPAAAOSw7Bde3wNY

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stereo-3...3?hash=item3f70c4a363:g:Z1AAAOSw505dm6~C#rwid

While I don't need to have all three outputs active at the same time, the box with rocker switches (2nd link) would be easier for me to operate as I have cerebral palsy and thus restricted dexterity.

Are there differences between the two products above that would give rise to one having superior transparency and longevity than the other, in terms of the quality of the components and complexity of the design?

Also, with regards to the device with the rocker switches, I assume that if I only have one pair of rockers in the 'on' position the DAC won't be affected by the impedance of the amplifiers connected to the other two pairs of rockers until the rockers are engaged?

 

[471724]

Just thought I would mention that I recently started using a Jensen Isomax transformer to convert the Yggy balanced XLR outputs to single ended RCAs. My headphone amp only uses single ended RCA inputs.

There was a dramatic improvement. My Yggdrasil has the analog 2 upgrade, but this showed that the internal transistor summing network is still significantly degrading the sound. RCA outputs formed by summing by a good transformer still greatly beats the transistors. A lot of grunge is gone that I before thought was perhaps due to power line AC noise or whatever.

This is the transformer: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1344639-REG/jensen_transformers_pi_2xr_line_input_isolator_2_channel.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI:514&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhq-dwJiq6gIVvj6tBh1yfQBFEAQYASABEgIclvD_BwE .

Short 1 ft. XLR-XLR cable: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/866903-REG/Pearstone_pm_01_Professional_Microphone_Cable.html .

 

[ToTo Man]

Just thought I would mention that I recently started using a Jensen Isomax transformer to convert the Yggy balanced XLR outputs to single ended RCAs. My headphone amp only uses single ended RCA inputs.

There was a dramatic improvement. My Yggdrasil has the analog 2 upgrade, but this showed that the internal transistor summing network is still significantly degrading the sound. RCA outputs formed by summing by a good transformer still greatly beats the transistors. A lot of grunge is gone that I before thought was perhaps due to power line AC noise or whatever.

This is the transformer: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1344639-REG/jensen_transformers_pi_2xr_line_input_isolator_2_channel.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI:514&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhq-dwJiq6gIVvj6tBh1yfQBFEAQYASABEgIclvD_BwE .

Short 1 ft. XLR-XLR cable: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/866903-REG/Pearstone_pm_01_Professional_Microphone_Cable.html .

I was just about to pull the trigger on the following switcher as it would allow me to route Yggy's balanced outputs to an unbalanced amplifier. I wonder how it differs in performance from the Jensen given the significant price difference. Any thoughts?

https://www.doukaudio.com/3-in-3-ou...-audio-selector-box-passive-preamp-p0078.html

 

[471724]

I was just about to pull the trigger on the following switcher as it would allow me to route Yggy's balanced outputs to an unbalanced amplifier. I wonder how it differs in performance from the Jensen given the significant price difference. Any thoughts?

https://www.doukaudio.com/3-in-3-ou...-audio-selector-box-passive-preamp-p0078.html

As far as I can tell, this box just uses the XLR + input and ground for the RCA output, hopefully leaving the XLR - input ungrounded (it's not specified). The problem with this is that there is more distortion since both the XLR + and - inputs aren't used (using both cancels out distortion), and also, there is a loss of gain, 3 dB.

In my case I have tried that approach, using XLR to RCA cables, but I didn't like it. The sound was noticeable thinner and less natural than the Yggy's own RCA outputs.

Note: If you get the switcher, you need to make sure that it doesn't ground the XLR - inputs. This would damage the Yggy's circuits.

 

[ToTo Man]

As far as I can tell, this box just uses the XLR + input and ground for the RCA output, hopefully leaving the XLR - input ungrounded (it's not specified). The problem with this is that there is more distortion since both the XLR + and - inputs aren't used (using both cancels out distortion), and also, there is a loss of gain, 3 dB.

In my case I have tried that approach, using XLR to RCA cables, but I didn't like it. The sound was noticeable thinner and less natural than the Yggy's own RCA outputs.

Note: If you get the switcher, you need to make sure that it doesn't ground the XLR - inputs. This would damage the Yggy's circuits.

Apologies for my lack of technical knowledge but how do I tell if the XLR- inputs are grounded by the switching device?

Someone on ASR wrote this about the MC103-Pro switch, which is a 1-in / 3-out XLR only version with no RCAs:
"pins 1 of all 8 XLR connectors are interconnected together"

Is this the same as what you're referring to about grounding the XLR- inputs?

 

[prosnowboarder]

would the freya+ replace the need for such a transformer? I will be running a single aegir from my yggy a2 thus needing to use rca. Later on down the line will be getting a freya+ and then potentially another aegir but not too sure I really need a second one (but I could then run the whole thing in balanced xlr and not worry about the "transformer" aspect).

anyway just thinking that the money spent on the transformer could instead go toward the freya+ if it converts Balanced xlr to SE rca and vise versa. Any thoughts?

 

[471724]

Apologies for my lack of technical knowledge but how do I tell if the XLR- inputs are grounded by the switching device?

You could measure the resistance from the box's input XLR connector pin 1 (ground) to pin 3 (-) with a VOM. The problem is of course you would have to buy it first. The best way would be to inquire from the manufacturer. Just send them an email.


Someone on ASR wrote this about the MC103-Pro switch, which is a 1-in / 3-out XLR only version with no RCAs:
"pins 1 of all 8 XLR connectors are interconnected together"

Is this the same as what you're referring to about grounding the XLR- inputs?

No. it's just connecting all the ground pins together to make sure ground is connected.

 

[471724]

would the freya+ replace the need for such a transformer? Yes I will be running a single aegir from my yggy a2 thus needing to use rca. Later on down the line will be getting a freya+ and then potentially another aegir but not too sure I really need a second one (but I could then run the whole thing in balanced xlr and not worry about the "transformer" aspect).

anyway just thinking that the money spent on the transformer could instead go toward the freya+ if it converts Balanced xlr to SE rca and vise versa. Any thoughts?

The Freya does convert balanced XLR inputs to SE RCA outputs (apparently using a JFET circuit.) Just be aware that I have found that the sound quality is better using a good transformer. The Freya doesn't convert RCA inputs to XLR outputs according to their specs. This is from my looking at their webpage. You should confirm this by emailing Schiit.

 

[prosnowboarder]

ok thanks and I guess I shouldn't have said the vice versa part as all I need is xlr to rca. but I'm still on the fence about just getting the freya+ and another aegir to have the full balance with no transforming of the signal. obviously a lot more expensive route. but that way there would be less chance of any loss in the signal path, right?