[BirdManOfCT]

  [... snip ...]
 
Trust me, I used to think a lot of this stuff was audio-fool quackery too.  It wasn't until I really started listening that I could actually hear some of these changes happening.
The fact that my system has become more resolved through the years hasn't hurt either.
 
[... snip ...]

I can't speak to that particular topic (fuses), but generally it's amazing how things change over time. In the audio world, I've experienced several instances of being considered a quack and, then, 20 years later that quackery is common knowledge. Go figure.

 

[BirdManOfCT]

  [... snip ...]
 
Seriously it would be nice if Schiit released a video showcasing their statement DAC's internals/construction.
(once back orders are under control)

I'd like a video, too, but can see why they might not. I'm enjoying it, with or without the video, of course. At the moment, I'm guessing the back orders are under control -- I ordered an Yggy this past week and it was filled within an hour.

 

[BirdManOfCT]

This little Yggy went to Vegas,
This little Yggy stayed home,
This little Yggy had spikes,
This little Yggy had none,
And this little Yggy went yippee yippee to my home.

 

[hifimckinney]

Could some Yggy veterans comment as to what aspects of SQ change after say 250 hrs. of burnin? I had an opportunity of listening to Yggy and MSB Analog side-by-side and I liked MSB. There was no need to do a point-by-point comparison. MSB was just clean sounding. Some may attribute it to black background but for me, on MSB, every instrument and vocals had depth and cleanliness (this is what has been coming to my mind since I did the comparison). 
 
I am not sure if this is related to burn-in but I cannot term this as a problem either but this clears to me with authority as to why others liked MSB over Yggy.

 

[US Blues]

  Could some Yggy veterans comment as to what aspects of SQ change after say 250 hrs. of burnin? I had an opportunity of listening to Yggy and MSB Analog side-by-side and I liked MSB. There was no need to do a point-by-point comparison. MSB was just clean sounding. Some may attribute it to black background but for me, on MSB, every instrument and vocals had depth and cleanliness (this is what has been coming to my mind since I did the comparison). 
 
I am not sure if this is related to burn-in but I cannot term this as a problem either but this clears to me with authority as to why others liked MSB over Yggy.

Something to consider: real musical instruments are not all that clean, they have resonances, overtones, and vibrations that fill space and decay over time. As you describe the cleanliness of the MSB, I wonder if it is failing to resolve the "dirty" nuances of real instruments, and therefore sounds "cleaner." Put another way- sometimes the characteristics we seek as audiophiles are not congruent with the sound of real music. If nothing else, I hope this provides food for thought.

 

[hifimckinney]

 
Something to consider: real musical instruments are not all that clean, they have resonances, overtones, and vibrations that fill space and decay over time. As you describe the cleanliness of the MSB, I wonder if it is failing to resolve the "dirty" nuances of real instruments, and therefore sounds "cleaner." Put another way- sometimes the characteristics we seek as audiophiles are not congruent with the sound of real music. If nothing else, I hope this provides food for thought.

Thanks US Blues, this came to my mind but was not confident of expressing being a junior headfier. Thanks again!

 

[Articnoise]

 
Something to consider: real musical instruments are not all that clean, they have resonances, overtones, and vibrations that fill space and decay over time. As you describe the cleanliness of the MSB, I wonder if it is failing to resolve the "dirty" nuances of real instruments, and therefore sounds "cleaner." Put another way- sometimes the characteristics we seek as audiophiles are not congruent with the sound of real music. If nothing else, I hope this provides food for thought.

 

I understand what you mean and also feel that many hifi-gear that sounds very clear at first are doing it because they are emphasizing the main tone or leading edge a little in relation to the foundation and overtones of the main tone. If it is one thing that I think that R2R in general does better than S-D it’s to keep the density and weight of the tones in the midrange (and tubes for delicate overtones).

 

I have not heard the Yggy yet, but to me the MSB Analog is not one of this DACs that is sounding dead neutral, artificial and super clean. Many people love the Analog for its fuller, more natural than neutral presentation that still is very resolving and clear. Not as resolving, big and clear as for example the MSB Diamond thou, but also a bit more forgiving and pleasing to listening to on less than stellar recordings.

 

IMO

 

[negura]

 
Something to consider: real musical instruments are not all that clean, they have resonances, overtones, and vibrations that fill space and decay over time. As you describe the cleanliness of the MSB, I wonder if it is failing to resolve the "dirty" nuances of real instruments, and therefore sounds "cleaner." Put another way- sometimes the characteristics we seek as audiophiles are not congruent with the sound of real music. If nothing else, I hope this provides food for thought.

 
Actually the MSB Analog resolves micro-detail better than Yggy, so while you are right, it does all that even better. Knowing both DACs very well what he describes is related to a few things: better focus, instrument separation, layering and macro-dynamic contrast. The darker background is likely at least partially a result of (the better) PSU unit. The upgraded PSU units improve this further.
 
All of those aspects combined do sound as improved clarity amongst other things.
 
Some attribute the slight "greyness" of Yggy (which btw is only observable in comparison with other, better DACs in this aspect)  to the output stage and FETs. Obviously I can't comment how much truth there is to this.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

   
Actually the MSB Analog resolves micro-detail better than Yggy, so while you are right, it does all that even better. Knowing both DACs very well what he describes is related to a few things: better focus, instrument separation, layering and macro-dynamic contrast. The darker background is likely at least partially a result of (the better) PSU unit. The upgraded PSU units improve this further.
 
All of those aspects combined do sound as improved clarity amongst other things.

Totally agree! It's not cleaner due to less information. It's both more clean and more resolving. I've got a LPS from Ben Lau and now Analog Dac scaled big time once more. 

 

[johndean]

Actually the MSB Analog resolves micro-detail better than Yggy, so while you are right, it does all that even better. Knowing both DACs very well what he describes is related to a few things: better focus, instrument separation, layering and macro-dynamic contrast. The darker background is likely at least partially a result of (the better) PSU unit. The upgraded PSU units improve this further.

All of those aspects combined do sound as improved clarity amongst other things.

Some attribute the slight "greyness" of Yggy (which btw is only observable in comparison with other, better DACs in this aspect)  to the output stage and FETs. Obviously I can't comment how much truth there is to this.

It ought to for 8k nearly 4 times the Yggy price .

 

[negura]

   

I understand what you mean and also feel that many hifi-gear that sounds very clear at first are doing it because they are emphasizing the main tone or leading edge a little in relation to the foundation and overtones of the main tone. If it is one thing that I think that R2R in general does better than S-D it’s to keep the density and weight of the tones in the midrange (and tubes for delicate overtones).

 

I have not heard the Yggy yet, but to me the MSB Analog is not one of this DACs that is sounding dead neutral, artificial and super clean. Many people love the Analog for its fuller, more natural than neutral presentation that still is very resolving and clear. Not as resolving, big and clear as for example the MSB Diamond thou, but also a bit more forgiving and pleasing to listening to on less than stellar recordings.

 

IMO

 
Whatever they recently did to the Analog DAC, with the latest firmware (and QUAD USB module - the old module is not very good comparatively), it sounds very close to neutral actually. And it sounds pretty much like a different DAC to what most people commented on from before Q2 2015. 
 
I have been auditioning the Signature 5 stack for several weeks now, and I am quite convinced the Analog DAC is actually for an R2R DAC, now the lesser "R2R sounding" of the two. How that fares in the grand scheme of things I will articulate when I post my impressions. Also I did not very much like the old Analog DAC, hearing a non-upgraded sample recently. It was a bit too lulling and coloured for my preference towards more accurate sound. Certainly it would have been much closer contest vs the Yggdrasil. And this is yet another way to highlight the relative performance of Yggdrasil, which as I always said punches well above its price.
 
Some may not agree with me, but actually the Yggdrasil is imo not one of those "dead neutral" sounding DACs. It is a bit coloured, having a hint of added warmness to the bass and mids, and the slight greyness I mentioned. The treble can be a bit inconsistent. Most if not all of this could be difficult to detect outside direct comparisons with other competitive DACs and sources.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

   
Whatever they recently did to the Analog DAC, with the latest firmware (and QUAD USB module - the old module is not very good), it sounds very close to neutral actually. It sounds pretty much like a different DAC to what most people commented on from before 2015. 
 
I have been auditioning the Signature 5 stack for several weeks now, and I am quite convinced the Analog DAC is actually now the lesser "R2R sounding" of the two. How that fares in the grand scheme of things I will articulate when I post my impressions. Also I did not like very much the old Analog DAC, hearing a non-upgraded sample recently. It was a bit too lulling and coloured for my preference towards more accurate sound. Certainly it would have been much closer contest vs the Yggdrasil. And this is yet another way to highlight the relative performance of Yggdrasil, which as I always said punches well above its price.
 
Some may not agree with me, but actually the Yggdrasil is imo not one of those "dead neutral" sounding DACs. It is a bit coloured, having a hint of added warmness to the bass and mids, and the slight greyness I mentioned. The treble can be a bit inconsistent. Most if not all of this could be difficult to detect outside direct comparisons with other competitive DACs and sources.

Indeed. I have owned Analog Dac since it sounded completely different than it sounds now. First major upgrade and change in sound was at the last firmware upgrade to 1.7, then the Quad USB changed it even more. It doesn't sound like the people use to know it. 

 

[johndean]

Indeed. I have owned Analog Dac since it sounded completely different than it sounds now. First major upgrade and change in sound was at the last firmware upgrade to 1.7, then the Quad USB changed it even more. It doesn't sound like the people use to know it. 

Who wants that to happen !!!???? I'm sure people bought this dac because of its original sound . I would not be too happy buying a 8k or more dav that changed its sound signature
with a firmware update .

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Who wants that to happen !!!???? I'm sure people bought this dac because of its original sound . I would not be too happy buying a 8k or more dav that changed its sound signature
with a firmware update .

Well, while I certainly received it as a positive upgrade. Technically, it sounds much better than before, especially if you get the quad usb input. However, I would get why someone would miss the old sound. But if someone wants the old sound, they shouldn't upgrade.

 

[negura]

Who wants that to happen !!!???? I'm sure people bought this dac because of its original sound . I would not be too happy buying a 8k or more dav that changed its sound signature
with a firmware update .

 
Understandable and one can use the old firmware and the old USB device. Such is the way of progress sometimes. I am sure Schiit will release upgraded boards and what not in the coming years, for the Yggdrasil, that will affect the sound. Those who do not like this, could stick with the older stuff surely.
 
Of course nobody wants this to happen overnight. There are companies that release new "upgraded" stuff every few months and that require complete hardware replacement. Schiit has a great policy in making the Yggdrasil completely upgradable such that it does not need to be replaced. MSB operates a similar upgradable policy to an extent, but they do release new DAC generations every few years that require hardware replacement. They do offer a buyback program for the older stuff.
 
Imo Schiit's policy wins.