[dumpsterfire]

That would still be Yggy OG A2. The variants are compromises due to the AD chips going nuts in price. They are not upgrades.

Even if they made a Yggy2 one to rule them all, it won't sound necessarily better than the rest. Jason never promoted the TI variants as improvements over the OG A2.

Jason has said he prefers MIB, Mike prefers LIM, and Dave prefers OG. Seems safe to say that each variant is a flavor, and no one board is heads and shoulders better than the others.

 

[jlemaster1957]

Firstly, thanks everyone for the replies and graphs in response to my post on the complexity of buying a Yggdrasil.

I think the graphs illustrate how complex it is to try and pinpoint "The right flavour for me". For example; the MILF scores higher 'plankton (detail)?' than the other flavours but has worse treble "F*kery" than the LIM. The LIM has a better 'blackground' but less 'plankton' than the other flavours. So which one sounds the best? Do I pick based on what I deem to be important (ie do I prefer detail over engagement)?

Without putting every variant in our system (which is impossible) how do we know which will have the best synergy with our system/tastes?

I put it to you that we are buying in to what the designer/engineer (in this case Mike Moffat and Jason Stoddard) deem 'best'. We're paying for their considerable expertise and opinion in the same way we accept that the Dave is Rob Watts' take on what constitutes SOTA/TOTL sound. We buy in to the 'house sound' and trust the designer has made the very best set of compromises they possibly can.

Anyway, just my 0.02c and IMHO and all that.

Here's a thought- looking at your signature, it appears you are not new to the hobby but perhaps have more vinyl experience (you are in great shape already with the Primaluna Evo 300 for an amp, and your phono pre-amp looks really good too), but perhaps newer to streaming/digital? And would use Yggy for that? Anyway, (even if this assumption is false) my suggestion would be to try out the Bifrost 2/64 for a couple of weeks (may even plan to return it) just to see if the "Schiit house sound" is your cup of tea or not. (Aside, the lower-priced Schiit DACs that don't use multi-bit topology are very different, I would't consider earlier/other experience with them to be in the same SQ "family") The basic tonal response of the Bifrost is quite similar to Yggy (just less technically proficient). If you find you don't like it very much at all-- you could save yourself a major expense. Yggy OG is wonderful and I'm a satisfied user, but the OG at least takes a good while to burn in, arguably longer to do so fully than the 2 week return window- Bifrost less so. If you love the Bifrost, but want a bit more- look again at the 3 flavors- want more blackground and plankton?: MILF; want more engagement and plankton?: OG; want a bit more of all 3 but willing to compromise on all of them to "get it all"?: LIM. This is of course over-generalization, as each of the Yggy flavors have excellent engagement/plankton/blackground (though some may criticize the OG on that score, to me it's never been problematic, and some have suggested that once you feed the OG good clean power most of the 'blackground' difference from the other flavors disappears). As I said- just a thought. Apologies again for any assumptions made here @VNVNation; and to everyone else, as ever YMMV.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Jason has said he prefers MIB, Mike prefers LIM, and Dave prefers OG. Seems safe to say that each variant is a flavor, and no one board is heads and shoulders better than the others.

Ok.

Technically best design doesn't mean universally best sounding. The OG is the only one with a fully balanced and discrete analog output. Jason has always come back to that as his preferred topology. Because he likes the MIB is good. That means he'll continue to develop the TI chip analog output since AD is cost prohibitive. The OG is also the one that has won the awards and Sterophile Class A recommendation. So, if you want the variant that started it all and has the most accolades, OG. It won't likely be around much longer.

It's Mike Moffat that said the original Yggy was the best, no holds barred, no compromise DAC he knows how to make at the time. That is the Yggy OG. That's my only point.

I personally could care less about op amp vs discrete or multibit vs DS. If the component sounds good in your system, the underlying design is irrelevant. I'm also glad they are softening stances on things like op amps and DS DAC design.

 

[HighAlt]

Man I thought I had finally decided to order the MIB but now after these posts today … back to undecided.

 

[VNVNation]

Thankyou @jlemaster1957 for your thoughts. Yes I'm probably more experienced in the vinyl world than digital. I've owned four 'reasonable' DACs (Arcam irDAC, Gieseler Kompakt, Denefrips Ares II, Burson Conductor 3XR) and I've been thinking/planning on getting an 'end of the line' DAC for some months now. I'd be using it primarily with a CD transport but also be streaming to it from a Mac w/ Tidal/Qobuz/AM.

I really like the idea of Schiit products, the lack of bling, paying for engineering/IP rather than unnecessary features (MQA/DSD). The Yggy+ seems to fit the bill, it's 3.5-4.5K Australian depending on 'flavour'. Also Chord curious but then the logical model (TT2) has headphone/preamp functions I don't need. It's also 8.5K.

I think for those of us like me who can't realistically 'try them all' and are wary of getting the wrong one (expensive mistake) the flavours idea makes it really tricky.

First world problems haha!

 

[fendermke]

Here's a thought- looking at your signature, it appears you are not new to the hobby but perhaps have more vinyl experience (you are in great shape already with the Primaluna Evo 300 for an amp, and your phono pre-amp looks really good too), but perhaps newer to streaming/digital? And would use Yggy for that? Anyway, (even if this assumption is false) my suggestion would be to try out the Bifrost 2/64 for a couple of weeks (may even plan to return it) just to see if the "Schiit house sound" is your cup of tea or not. (Aside, the lower-priced Schiit DACs that don't use multi-bit topology are very different, I would't consider earlier/other experience with them to be in the same SQ "family") The basic tonal response of the Bifrost is quite similar to Yggy (just less technically proficient). If you find you don't like it very much at all-- you could save yourself a major expense. Yggy OG is wonderful and I'm a satisfied user, but the OG at least takes a good while to burn in, arguably longer to do so fully than the 2 week return window- Bifrost less so. If you love the Bifrost, but want a bit more- look again at the 3 flavors- want more blackground and plankton?: MILF; want more engagement and plankton?: OG; want a bit more of all 3 but willing to compromise on all of them to "get it all"?: LIM. This is of course over-generalization, as each of the Yggy flavors have excellent engagement/plankton/blackground (though some may criticize the OG on that score, to me it's never been problematic, and some have suggested that once you feed the OG good clean power most of the 'blackground' difference from the other flavors disappears). As I said- just a thought. Apologies again for any assumptions made here @VNVNation; and to everyone else, as ever YMMV.

While my OG did continue to “burn in” and improve over a period of time it sounded great from the 1st day i plugged it in and just got better as the days went on. It replaced a BF 2/64 to which I did a listening session about a week in. The tonality between them is quite similar. It’s the detail retrieval where the OG clearly shines along with sound stage improvements.

So to my ears the is sufficient time to evaluate the Yggy variants within the return window.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Thankyou @jlemaster1957 for your thoughts. Yes I'm probably more experienced in the vinyl world than digital. I've owned four 'reasonable' DACs (Arcam irDAC, Gieseler Kompakt, Denefrips Ares II, Burson Conductor 3XR) and I've been thinking/planning on getting an 'end of the line' DAC for some months now. I'd be using it primarily with a CD transport but also be streaming to it from a Mac w/ Tidal/Qobuz/AM.

I really like the idea of Schiit products, the lack of bling, paying for engineering/IP rather than unnecessary features (MQA/DSD). The Yggy+ seems to fit the bill, it's 3.5-4.5K Australian depending on 'flavour'. Also Chord curious but then the logical model (TT2) has headphone/preamp functions I don't need. It's also 8.5K.

I think for those of us like me who can't realistically 'try them all' and are wary of getting the wrong one (expensive mistake) the flavours idea makes it really tricky.

First world problems haha!

Agree with jlemaster1957 about the BF2/64. It gets you very close to Yggy levels. Just like the Qutest will get you very close to Hugo TT levels. Even the Mojo2 competes well with their higher offerings. Hands down Schiit offers better performance for the money.

You won't get anything wrong. Buy the Yggy/Chord variant that fits your budget. There are so many reviews and descriptions out there that you can safely pick the best for your system. Don't let audio nervosa paralyze you from enjoying your choice.

 

[kolozub]

when I was deciding on which Yggy flavor to choose I found super best audiofriends (though I don’t post there as there is lower tolerance there for noobs and general inquirers). OTOH I’ve found the user comparison ‘quality’ there pretty good- and useful for those of us who can’t afford to own multiple of these devices to compare. Below is info I gleaned from there NOT including MIB - as I was making my decision before MIB came out. But there is a similar thread on the MIB, see post above on pages 774-775 of this head-fi thread for more info. I won’t comment on the wisdom or o/w of producing/selling the different flavors- other than that their stated reason is to provide an internal upgrade path for those who have invested in their most expensive products without the user needing to buy an entirely new DAC.

ALL of this was based on user impressions not measurement rigs —as usual YMMV
CHARTS
Engagement / microdynamics / immediacy

Plankton / low-level information / resolution (not macro-detail)

Blackground / clarity







Richness (entire range, not necessarily warmth, think chocolate cakeness)

Treble F'kery (digititus, sandiness, unnatural edge, prickliness)

BAL OUTPUTS / AES INPUT and variety of headphones and amps








RANKINGS

Plankton:

Goes like this: Gungnir A1 = Bifrost 2 <= LIM = Yggdrasil GS/A1 <= Gungnir A2 < Yggdrasil A2/OG

For "blackground" and clarity:

Gungnir A1 = Yggdrasil A1/GS < Gungnir A2 = Yggdrasil A2/OG < Bifrost 2 <= LIM <= MIL

Harmonic richness (throughout entire range, not to be confused with outright warmth)

Yggdrasil A1/GS = Gungnir A1 < LIM <= Gungnir A2 <= Bifrost 2 = Yggdrasil A2/OG


Engagement/microdynamics/expressiveness/immediacy (again, splitting hairs as usual):

BF2=MIL < A2/OG < LIM < DAC2541

I had gungnir multibit a2 and now i own yggdrasil GS. GS has more plankton than gumby a2

 

[adias]

I had gungnir multibit a2 and now i own yggdrasil GS. GS has more plankton than gumby a2

I thought that 'plankton' was not used here. Plankton in real life is debris in the water which reduces visibility...

 

[kolozub]

Ok, thanks

 

[Daniel Johnston]

I thought that 'plankton' was not used here. Plankton in real life is debris in the water which reduces visibility...

Meh.

I'd rather people use words like Plankton to describe microdetails than say microdetails don't exist because the AP55x didn't show it.

 

[adias]

So ‘plankton’ is micro details? Meaning low level sounds, mostly percussive sounds on the low level background?

 

[theveterans]

So ‘plankton’ is micro details? Meaning low level sounds, mostly percussive sounds on the low level background?

It's a combo of microdetails along with microdynamics that gives an instrument a proper timbre on the note edges

 

[ROSCman]

I’ve had my GS2 for several weeks now, I am really happy with it and have some basic impressions. My typical setup is Apple Music via IPad Pro usb to Yiggy, XLR to MJ3, balanced to LCDX. I don’t really A/B, my approach with new gear is to listen to familiar music rather casually and see what changes actually draw/ command my attention while browsing the web or studying. Coming from the Bifrost 2/64 the most noticeable change is in the instrument separation and sense of space. Not necessarily an increase in width per se but placement of details within the “listening space.” For example, the claps in Radiohead’s Lotus Flower now have their own place in the mix rather than being audible but somewhat blended with the other instruments of the track. The separation with the DAC’s clarity (and perhaps MJ3) this can produce some interesting effects like when the individual tracks of vocal overdubbing can be distinguished; this is most obvious in the chorus of Beck’s Lost Cause where the overdubbing was already exaggerated but can be heard in many tracks. Anything with dirty guitars (White Stripes, early/Delta Kream Black Keys) becomes absolutely filthy in the best possible way. The ability of this DAC to resolve and reproduce its input into analog signal is pretty wild; the resulting spaciousness, instrumental texture, and overall presentation is impressive, especially without any notable harshness or etching.

The biggest win for me beyond any technical achievements: I’m really excited to keep exploring the musical world at the intersection of GS2 and MJ3 in a way I haven’t been for quite a while.

 

[adias]

I’ve had my GS2 for several weeks now, I am really happy with it and have some basic impressions. My typical setup is Apple Music via IPad Pro usb to Yiggy, XLR to MJ3, balanced to LCDX. I don’t really A/B, my approach with new gear is to listen to familiar music rather casually and see what changes actually draw/ command my attention while browsing the web or studying. Coming from the Bifrost 2/64 the most noticeable change is in the instrument separation and sense of space. Not necessarily an increase in width per se but placement of details within the “listening space.” For example, the claps in Radiohead’s Lotus Flower now have their own place in the mix rather than being audible but somewhat blended with the other instruments of the track. The separation with the DAC’s clarity (and perhaps MJ3) this can produce some interesting effects like when the individual tracks of vocal overdubbing can be distinguished; this is most obvious in the chorus of Beck’s Lost Cause where the overdubbing was already exaggerated but can be heard in many tracks. Anything with dirty guitars (White Stripes, early/Delta Kream Black Keys) becomes absolutely filthy in the best possible way. The ability of this DAC to resolve and reproduce its input into analog signal is pretty wild; the resulting spaciousness, instrumental texture, and overall presentation is impressive, especially without any notable harshness or etching.

The biggest win for me beyond any technical achievements: I’m really excited to keep exploring the musical world at the intersection of GS2 and MJ3 in a way I haven’t been for quite a while.

Great review. Perfect descriptions without the mumbo jumbo nonsense. It actually mirrors my experience with a recently acquired Yggy+ OG.