My RME Adi Dac, it's gone for repairs, so I plugged my Yggdrasil A1 USB gen 3 in, (my headphone rig, Utopia and gsx mini), and am really enjoying it! Dang this hobby lol.
Anyway, has anyone sent in an A1 Yggdrasil and upgraded it? I was looking at the current options and thinking either OG or the MIL. I wonder if MIL would be worth it - from A1? I've also read Schiit will upgrade firmware on the old A1 Dac's, turning it into the GS Yggdrasil. I'd also get the unison USB upgrade, from what I've read, Unison is a nice upgrade from either 3 or 5 USB. I could stay with A1 and get a firmware update and Unison USB done. Lots of options.
Anyway, for now I'm enjoying this Yggy as is, it sounds great today!
My RME Adi Dac, it's gone for repairs, so I plugged my Yggdrasil A1 USB gen 3 in, (my headphone rig, Utopia and gsx mini), and am really enjoying it! Dang this hobby lol.
Anyway, has anyone sent in an A1 Yggdrasil and upgraded it? I was looking at the current options and thinking either OG or the MIL. I wonder if MIL would be worth it - from A1? I've also read Schiit will upgrade firmware on the old A1 Dac's, turning it into the GS Yggdrasil. I'd also get the unison USB upgrade, from what I've read, Unison is a nice upgrade from either 3 or 5 USB. I could stay with A1 and get a firmware update and Unison USB done. Lots of options.
Anyway, for now I'm enjoying this Yggy as is, it sounds great today!
For me, Gen3 and Gen5 usb really kept Yggy from delivering the true timbre, touch, space, and vitality of which it is capable. So I’m with @Ableza on the value of A2 and Unison as an upgrade. I abandoned usb completely in 2016, but think Unison is certainly very worthwhile if that method of file delivery is most convenient.
Didn't upgrade the same unit - but I had an og A1 / USB3, sold it and later bought an og A2 / USB5.
The USB3 was simply awful. Dry, bright and unnatural sounding. So I used mine with an Audiophilleo2 via coax input, to marked improvement.
When I got the A2 unit I had kept the Audiophilleo2, so I only briefly tried its USB5 once or twice. I felt like it still lagged behind the Audiophilleo, though not as much as before. I remember thinking "bullschiit" every time someone claimed that Schiit "finally got the USB right", with each successive version. Haven't heard the Unison yet, but of course I'm skeptical.
Even going on audio memory, the A2 was a notable improvement over the A1. And the A1 was really great sounding. But the A2's sound is superlative.
I developed problems with BOTH Yggys. The A1 had an issue with its control board (needed replacement). The A2 had its analog outputs go dead - it's currently en route for repair. Out of mountains of hifi audio gear I've owned, DIY (small builder) electrostatic headphone amps and Yggdrasils stand out as being the most frustrating to keep running at 100%. Almost everything else has been solid. I used the Yggy as my primary Stax source, so you can imagine my frustration with this setup over the past few years. Hopefully no more problems for a while after the A2 gets back - I really want to use it again.
My RME Adi Dac, it's gone for repairs, so I plugged my Yggdrasil A1 USB gen 3 in, (my headphone rig, Utopia and gsx mini), and am really enjoying it! Dang this hobby lol.
Anyway, has anyone sent in an A1 Yggdrasil and upgraded it? I was looking at the current options and thinking either OG or the MIL. I wonder if MIL would be worth it - from A1? I've also read Schiit will upgrade firmware on the old A1 Dac's, turning it into the GS Yggdrasil. I'd also get the unison USB upgrade, from what I've read, Unison is a nice upgrade from either 3 or 5 USB. I could stay with A1 and get a firmware update and Unison USB done. Lots of options.
Anyway, for now I'm enjoying this Yggy as is, it sounds great today!
Didn't upgrade the same unit - but I had an og A1 / USB3, sold it and later bought an og A2 / USB5.
The USB3 was simply awful. Dry, bright and unnatural sounding. So I used mine with an Audiophilleo2 via coax input, to marked improvement.
When I got the A2 unit I had kept the Audiophilleo2, so I only briefly tried its USB5 once or twice. I felt like it still lagged behind the Audiophilleo, though not as much as before. I remember thinking "bullschiit" every time someone claimed that Schiit "finally got the USB right", with each successive version. Haven't heard the Unison yet, but of course I'm skeptical.
Even going on audio memory, the A2 was a notable improvement over the A1. And the A1 was really great sounding. But the A2's sound is superlative.
I developed problems with BOTH Yggys. The A1 had an issue with its control board (needed replacement). The A2 had its analog outputs go dead - it's currently en route for repair. Out of mountains of hifi audio gear I've owned, DIY (small builder) electrostatic headphone amps and Yggdrasils stand out as being the most frustrating to keep running at 100%. Almost everything else has been solid. I used the Yggy as my primary Stax source, so you can imagine my frustration with this setup over the past few years. Hopefully no more problems for a while after the A2 gets back - I really want to use it again.
Yep, outboard usb solutions were what I had to do with the dacs I owned also, finally settling on bel canto. I agree with your impressions of usb3 and 5. But that (for me) lifeless presentation was par for the usb course in many dacs. I do find Unison to be excellent and a very worthwhile upgrade for usb interfacing with Yggy.
I have a new streamer/bridge device coming soon that has USB, balanced AES, and SPDIF outputs that are all concurrently active so it will be easy to do A/B/C comparisons. Of course, the implementation of these outputs on the streamer and the quality of the cables themselves will still leave room for doubt but I still expect this experiment to give me some pretty solid ideas about preference. All three cables are very good quality (my SPDIF cable actually converts to BNC at the other end, which the Yggy can obviously accommodate) so I'm not going to get too caught up in that particular variable. I have the LiM Yggy w/Unison.
Hi, i was wondering if you were feeding your yggy with the usb out of the lumin U1 mini. I was looking at this combo but wanted to make sure the lumin worked with the unison usb
I found that the Unison USB + a good transport, such as a Zen Stream or the like is still a bit better than Unison direct from one of my computers. It's quite subtle, but noticeable all the same.
I found that the Unison USB + a good transport, such as a Zen Stream or the like is still a bit better than Unison direct from one of my computers. It's quite subtle, but noticeable all the same.
Probably showing my greenness here, but I always thought that galvanically isolated USB ports “by definition” couldn’t get any better because they fully isolate the source data from the noise? What does a transport do to further improve data that has already been isolated? Very curious!
I found that the Unison USB + a good transport, such as a Zen Stream or the like is still a bit better than Unison direct from one of my computers. It's quite subtle, but noticeable all the same.
Well that's interesting, I couldn't get the Zen Stream to pass audio to my Yggy via USB, only through SPDIF. My M1 Mac Mini passes audio directly to my Yggy just fine via USB (Unison) but neither of the two streamers I've tried (Bricasti M5 and Zen Stream) will do it.
Probably showing my greenness here, but I always thought that galvanically isolated USB ports “by definition” couldn’t get any better because they fully isolate the source data from the noise? What does a transport do to further improve data that has already been isolated? Very curious!
I think the leading theory is that, at least in the case of Roon users, you are breaking up the processing load between the computer and the streamer so that the Roon software on the computer is not having to do it all. Roon themselves seem to espouse this idea. Other than that, I don't see how there can be any sonic, USB-based advantage to sending the signal through another device, at least not one as relatively simple as a Zen Stream.
First, thanks to everyone who contributes impressions to this thread. Really helpful for those considering a purchase decision. I am in that moment and considering the Yggy OG vs. the LIM.
The way I want to ask for advice is based on my musical preference. I listen mainly to rock, pop, and bluesy/country. Think Soundgarden to Black Crowes, and Van Halen to Eric Church. I may listen to Michael Jackson on days that end in Y. Almost everything has a lot of rythym and drive. I am a toe tapper and a head nodder. Bass tends to lead the music enjoyment for me and I really do not like shouty highs. I do like detail and clarity, although I know that can create risk of tripping the line on the highs into a harsh or fatiguing experience.
My system so far is a Burson 3X GT and the ZMF VC's. The Burson is very clean, dual mono design, and what I consider to be a very honest and revealing AMP. I can roll op-amps to modify that, but I consider it to lack a color of its own. If anything it might...MIGHT...be a bit overly revealing on the highs (I am about to roll some V6 Classic op-amps into see if I can tame that). The ZMF's are moderately biased to mids around the 5khz-6khz zone. This is my starting point as I look to step into some Schiit.
Soooo.....all said, my instinct would be the LIM based on processing all the comments I have read. But I would certainly appreciate any opinions. Thanks in advance!
Myself I used to have the Burson ref 3 dac/headphone amp/preamp. I was sensing a digital sound quality to it with my headphones . I compared it to my venerable Burson ha-160 and my observation of the digital signature was correct. I found the Ha-160 more analog like and actually I liked its sounded better than the newer Burson unit. I traded the Ref 3 in on a Sonnett Morpheus dac/pre.
First, thanks to everyone who contributes impressions to this thread. Really helpful for those considering a purchase decision. I am in that moment and considering the Yggy OG vs. the LIM.
My system so far is a Burson 3X GT and the ZMF VC's.
Hi, i was wondering if you were feeding your yggy with the usb out of the lumin U1 mini. I was looking at this combo but wanted to make sure the lumin worked with the unison usb
Guys, I've had Yggdrasil OG for almost 2 years. I ordered MIL and LIM september last year. LIM has just got delivered. I'm pretty sure after 1 day of listening that original OG is my favorite. That means I'll be selling both LIM and MIL. I'm based in EU Poland. Anyone interested to get it without all the customs trouble (import from US) ping me on priva
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