When I first received the bliss I had a mjolnir 2, hdva 600, and dna starlett in my possession. The dna starlett being a demo unit.
I left a much longer initial impression in the bliss thread. My initial impression was that the hdva600 is much cleaner sounding than the bliss kte (and a fraction of the cost) I bought the hdva600 as old new stock for 800 last year. However the bliss isn't less detailed. The bliss has what appears to be a longer decay, more resonance, and more of a holographic image than the hdva600.
I listen to all of my amps off of the yggy og a2. I wasn't sure what to think at first given I was expecting the bliss to be absolutely superior to my other amps given the impressions in the thread. Initially within the first few songs I preferred the hdva600 (due to the cleaner sound) which isn't necessarily an amp most would use with the susvara.
Off of the hd800s the mjolnir 2 and hdva600 aren't that far apart in terms of which is superior. Off of the lcd-x, hd800s and hd6xx the mjolnir 2 sounds absolutely wonderful. It is a great deal for the price offers a slightly liquid sound while seemingly retaining the detail.
With the susvara the hdva600 clearly shows it is technically superior over the mjolnir 2. Much tighter, higher resolution, withou fatiguing treble. This surprised me given the mjolnir 2 is supposedly the more powerful of the two amps. I thought it would drive the susvara better but it sounded loose and much lower resolution. It was a very dramatic affect.
The bliss seems offer more of what the mjolnir 2 offered to the other headphones but to the susvara while retaining all the resolution and without going soft. It also has more of a harmonious sound but is still tight and highly detailed. It sounds more tube like compared to the hdva600 but with more detail than any of the tube amps I've tried.
After some equipment and brain burn in with the bliss I'm starting to enjoy it more than the hdva600. It's a really great amp. I will still require more time to go back and forth between them. I still have a lot of getting to know the bliss with less than 15 hours listened where as with the hdva600 I probably have over 400 hours on different headphones.
I love the yggdrasil og a2 but I am curious if other dacs really are more realistic or resolving. If I do upgrade a dac will be my next step. That will probably be in a year or so.
Thanks for doing this- great stuff here - there are not enough impressions on this thread of amps and other equipment in the chain with the Yggy and how the synergies compare, especially also with different headphone impressions together with that. I had not even heard before this of the hdva600 so will check it out.
Btw welcome to the Forum if no one has said so yet. Be sure to post on the new member thread and check out the posting guidelines
I use Sonore Optical Rendu to stream from Roon - which uses optical isolation between the incoming signal and output via USB to Yggy. I think you are talking about Toslink optical which will still allow 24/192. I have not tried this. I’ve heard very good things about the AES input, especially if you can avoid USB upstream altogether. The PI2AES is supposed to be the best streamer for this, cost is about $300 on line at Pi 2 design.
If I had to do it all over again, I would not invest in it – –mind you it is good, dynamics, soundstage, detail retrieval all are excellent. But I agree- also, together with that is the optical module, which receives the networks signal and turns it into a fiber optic one – – I would probably instead go for a pi2 mercury version 2 or similar all in one streamer, and as much as possible, try and leave USB connections totally out of the equation.
Also, a number of Head-fiers have noted that AES input to Yggy tops other inputs SQ-wise, though with the Unison USB it was close. I kick myself that I spent all the money on the Optical Rendu BUT it’s not bad, and I think I am getting pretty good SQ from my chain even with Susvara. I recently upgraded to a higher quality SFP for the optical signal, which improved dynamics and detail retrieval (A/B) BUT the difference is paper-thin. @GoldenSound found the Pi2AES to out-perform all other similar devices in terms of jitter reduction and it’s much less expensive. One does need to be willing to tinker with the software driving the Pi computer, but isn’t it free (RoPieee)?
I'm currently listening with the yggdrasil og a2. System:
Tidal streaming from pc -> usb 5 24/192 -> Yggy og a2 -> silver dragon xlr -> holo bliss kte -> norne vygarde xlr -> susvara.
I don't know if the cables made any difference however I did some subjective testing. I used a swich on the hdva600 to change between the silver dragon xlr and skw rca cables in real time off of solid tones of varying frequencies. The hdva600 does a great job at sounding the same between rca and xlr inputs.
I'll be honest I didn't really notice a difference. It sounded virtually the same but at times I thought I heard a difference. I thought I heard a difference at 120hz and 6k hz very slight textural changes. This could be be due to the amp circuitry, the yggy output circuitry or the cables. That is as close I can get to controlling the subjective test without proper equipment. If there really was a difference it was very faint it could have been in my head but those frequencies stood out to me. Basically almost identical, but there were a few moments I thought I could detect something so extremely faint but it might have been me looking for changes and my mind playing a trick on me.
The norne cable actually felt like an upgrade but it could be a placebo. It feels like it is driving the susvara more effortlessly. All I know is this is the best I've heard the yggy (with bliss kte and susvara).
My grandma visited earlier and I let her listen to a couple songs and she cried. Really awesome system. I'm interested to try the mil and lim versions as well as some other dacs such as may kte/terminator plus/t+a dac200 etc. I also normally use optical for yggy but switched to usb for higher output signal to test it out.
Also, a number of Head-fiers have noted that AES input to Yggy tops other inputs SQ-wise, though with the Unison USB it was close. I kick myself that I spent all the money on the Optical Rendu BUT it’s not bad, and I think I am getting pretty good SQ from my chain even with Susvara. I recently upgraded to a higher quality SFP for the optical signal, which improved dynamics and detail retrieval (A/B) BUT the difference is paper-thin. @GoldenSound found the Pi2AES to out-perform all other similar devices in terms of jitter reduction and it’s much less expensive. One does need to be willing to tinker with the software driving the Pi computer, but isn’t it free (RoPieee)?
You can choose different operating systems/ROMs for the Pi. I use RoPieee which is free, yes. It also allows me to easily cast music from other sources as well (Spotify, AirPlay, etc.) I choose to use the AES connection as well.
That is true, I do sometimes take for granted that I have a more tech savvy background, where others want a plug and play solution. In that case, my money would go to the Pi2 Design Mercury.
I'm currently listening with the yggdrasil og a2. System:
Tidal streaming from pc -> usb 5 24/192 -> Yggy og a2 -> silver dragon xlr -> holo bliss kte -> norne vygarde xlr -> susvara.
<< snip snip >>
My grandma visited earlier and I let her listen to a couple songs and she cried. Really awesome system.
Oh boy. Reparations are now necessary. You may have to give her an equivalent system for Xmas.
The only viable lower-cost alternative would be a pack of 12 "all-day" passes for grandma to visit you and your musical heaven, where she can take control of the gear and musical selections.
I just got a Holo Audio Red. To change from using a 5 meter USB going into gen5 usb (yes i know they advice no more than 2) to using a network input with combined DDC (reclocker) also with build in linear power supply. using the AES/EBU.
its sounds great. and the build is very solid. only downside is it is sold out often.
I got lucky the moment i checked last Friday they just got a batch of 50 which was fully sold by Monday.
If Schiit hasn't mentioned Singularity much then it's probably still a bit away. Definitely excited for it though. As much as I love the benefits of Multibit/R2R, I miss the crystal clear clarity d/s dacs have even though damn near all of them sound pancake flat. I'm hoping Schiit can crack something so Chord isn't the only D/S alternative to AKM/ESS chips.
So i been OCDing about dust getting into unused rca and xlr jacks on the Yggy
Amazon sells some dust caps but wanted to check if anyone tried to dust proof unused ports and may be have a better suggestion
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