[Jamiee]

My first Yggdrasil (which eventually needed to be RMA'd) got stuck once. An initial two attempts at short power-downs (a few minutes each) were unsuccessful at resolving the problem.

I had read about someone else having a similar problem and that they left their unit powered off overnight and that seemed to fix it.

So I tried the same and it worked!

That's why I say try powering down for a couple of hours or more.

The poster mentioned that he moved his Yggdrisil to another setup, so I'm assuming (perhapse wrongly?) That he had it unplugged for a few minutes during the transition.

I also recall Mike M. Saying that to reset a Yggy, it needs to be powered off for a bit of time.

 

[crazychile]

My first Yggdrasil (which eventually needed to be RMA'd) got stuck once. An initial two attempts at short power-downs (a few minutes each) were unsuccessful at resolving the problem.

I had read about someone else having a similar problem and that they left their unit powered off overnight and that seemed to fix it.

So I tried the same and it worked!

That's why I say try powering down for a couple of hours or more.

The poster mentioned that he moved his Yggdrisil to another setup, so I'm assuming (perhapse wrongly?) That he had it unplugged for a few minutes during the transition.

I also recall Mike M. Saying that to reset a Yggy, it needs to be powered off for a bit of time.

Good to know if I ever have that problem!

 

[Argo Duck]

FWIW I substituted an SS amp - Meier's Classic which is SE and a good midrange performer - for my usual tube amp and definitely neither sterile nor clinical.

And FWIW again, input is coax (RCA SPDIF). IDK, some issue with your USB

I have owned my yggy for about 4-5 months now and I agree with the basic assessment.  It is supremely detailed while not being bright.  It is super transparent and squeaky clean sounding as well.  Lastly, unlike many reports of dacs with great detail- it is not thin at all.  The weight is very realistic.

I do remain however left with one problem.  Even though technically the yggy is the best dac I ever heard and may ever hear, to my ears it is sterile/clinical sounding and it is just not the type of sound I want.  Just NOT pleasing to my ears at all in spite of it's technical superiority. I am not saying I want syrup as I do like detail, just detail presented in a more analogue, rounded, euphonic way.  

 

[acguitar84]

The latest WA5-LE, with the parts upgrades, is an amazing experience - even with the relatively inexpensive stock tubes, and especially so when fed with Yggdrasil.

Just upgrading it to the Sophia Electric rectifier (274B) and power (300B) tubes makes a startling difference.  It's an interesting progression from their through the Emission Labs (true mesh tubes, vs. the punched plate of the Sophia's)  and the Elrogs.  But you could, if you wanted to just get to the end-game, jumps to the the Takatsukis -which takes it out of this world.  It's such a simple amplifier design that it really takes on the character of the tubes you put in it.

Not that tubes are perfect.

With amps like the WA7, and the little WA6 I have in another system, they don't tend to show the real "fun" that comes with tubes.  I didn't get any of the "interesting" pops, tinks, pings and burbles with the WA6 that I have had with the WA5 and every iteration of tubes I've put through it.  The Sophia mesh 300Bs make interesting expansion and contraction sounds as they heat and cool on power-up/down that are not just audible through the headphones, but across the room without transducers connected.

Definitely a different way to experience music ... though once they had a 100 hours or so on them, that sort of thing just went away.

Sorry for being so off-topic, just felt compelled to comment on that dream setup, since I'm lucky enough to have it.

I appreciate you taking the time to post this! Thanks.

 

[phase0]

I think the Yggy is a must buy now, after all of the latest info. My current dream system is a Yggy and a woo audio WA5 LE with all of the upgrades. Heck, tonight I was listening to my Wa7 without using the concero DAC and it sounded good. I was wondering how much better the "dream system" would have sounded.

I see they are saying the Yggy is delayed by 3 weeks, but that's what the site said a few weeks back. I wonder how long it would be before they ship?

 
Yea after reading Schiit happened, lots of threads on the Yggy, then Torq's thread I went into shut up and take my money mode to get the Yggy ASAP. It was a definite and clear upgrade over my Mytek Stereo 192 DAC. It's raised my level of enjoyment to new heights. I wasn't as thrilled with the WA5 and stock tubes. When I unpacked it and first listened. It was really good but for as much as I spent I thought it was underwhelming. I'm running the Mk2 Aug 2015 model with all the upgrades. It really IS nice, but if I did it all over again and got the Violectric V281 first I wouldn't feel the need to spend on the WA5. Since I have it already. It is kind of a decadent desert. I would stay early on into your ownership of the WA5 get some new tubes. I'm still running the relatively cheaper EML 300B. They're amazing. Next step up/sideways to Sophia Royal Princess, or Elrog, Or Takatsuki. Even some of the cheaper tubes like the Brimer Rectifiers were great bang for buck and a huge upgrade. I'm still running them. Anyways to max out the tubes in the WA5 is fairly expensive but on the other side of the spectum there's tons of cheaper 6sn7 compatible tubes and rectifier tubes that offer big upgrades for low cost.
 
I heard the WA7 at a canjam and it's still nice, but side-by-nice the higher end Woo Amps I think there's no question. I originally wanted the WA7 and somehow convinced myself I need the WA5 to try and avoid future upgraditis. At this point I don't see myself getting any farther into high end. I'm really happy with what I have.

 

[slambanna]

  yggy problem:
 
Before I request an RA, my usb enabled squeezebox edo is no longer
recognizing the Yggy dac.  I have exhausted every suggestion I could
find on the squeezebox streamer end.  To test if this is dac related
I moved and connected the dac to my office iMac using a usb cable.
Nothing.  I checked audio midi and no dac.  I'm not familiar with using
an iMac as a server without a streamer.  Am I missing any steps?
 
Unfortunately I don't have access to another dac or streamer for testing
purposes.
 
thanks-

This sounds like the exact problem I have.  I powered down the yggy and pulled all the input cables to move it to a new rack.  Powered it up 10 minutes later and everything worked fine except for the USB input.  My windows 7 PC would give me a message saying usb device not recognized and malfunctioning.  Both optical and coax (RCA) spdif inputs still work flawlessly.
 
I tried multiple cables, ports and power downs of both the pc and yggy with the same result.  I went as far as to power down overnight and remove and  reinstall schiit drivers.  The pc still finds an unrecognized USB device and no schiit DAC is available.  Tried it on my PC laptop with the same result.  I'm quite sure the USB module is shot.
 
I had to head for work out of town for a month so I figured I'd leave it powered down for that time and give it one last shot when I get back before setting up the RMA with Schiit.

 

[hornytoad]

I have owned my yggy for about 4-5 months now and I agree with the basic assessment.  It is supremely detailed while not being bright.  It is super transparent and squeaky clean sounding as well.  Lastly, unlike many reports of dacs with great detail- it is not thin at all.  The weight is very realistic.

I do remain however left with one problem.  Even though technically the yggy is the best dac I ever heard and may ever hear, to my ears it is sterile/clinical sounding and it is just not the type of sound I want.  Just NOT pleasing to my ears at all in spite of it's technical superiority. I am not saying I want syrup as I do like detail, just detail presented in a more analogue, rounded, euphonic way.  

For those with experience using other inputs besides USB, do these inputs analogue-ise the sound any more or does the unit retain it's clinical presentation?

If it retains it's clinical presentation even by changing the input, does anyone have any ideas for a dac in the $2,000 range that has the flavor I seek?  I was considering the Monarchy NM24 or the Audio-gd NOS-7.

At least in my setup the Yggy is far from clinical sounding .
If you really wanna hear clinical , listen to a Benchmark dac .

 

[Pokemonn]

  I have owned my yggy for about 4-5 months now and I agree with the basic assessment.  It is supremely detailed while not being bright.  It is super transparent and squeaky clean sounding as well.  Lastly, unlike many reports of dacs with great detail- it is not thin at all.  The weight is very realistic.
 
I do remain however left with one problem.  Even though technically the yggy is the best dac I ever heard and may ever hear, to my ears it is sterile/clinical sounding and it is just not the type of sound I want.  Just NOT pleasing to my ears at all in spite of it's technical superiority. I am not saying I want syrup as I do like detail, just detail presented in a more analogue, rounded, euphonic way.  
 
For those with experience using other inputs besides USB, do these inputs analogue-ise the sound any more or does the unit retain it's clinical presentation?
 
If it retains it's clinical presentation even by changing the input, does anyone have any ideas for a dac in the $2,000 range that has the flavor I seek?  I was considering the Monarchy NM24 or the Audio-gd NOS-7.

Luxman DACs sound analogue rounded euphonic tubey with slight weirdness. lol
I don't think Yggy sound clinical IMO. its relatively warmer for me especially in my loudspeaker setup.

 

[Tobes]

@rsbrsvp I don't know which amp you are using but I think others are giving sound advise in terms of DAC / amp synergy. Over at Super B.A.F. a common recipe is the use of a highly resolving DAC with balanced neutral tonality in combination with a tube amp which can then be "seasoned" to taste with tube selection. Yggy may be the best DAC choice, certainly for the price, in that recipe. But then amp selection is critical. As an example, Ragnarok makes for a cold clinical sound signature with the Yggy IME.

I've never heard the Ragnorok but I use all SS amplification with the Yggy in both my HP and speaker setups and it sounds sublime.
It shouldn't be necessary to 'season' or dumb down the Yggy to make it acceptable. IMO, the great strength of the Yggy is its communication and musical involvement.
Accuracy, resolution and low coloration shouldn't be mutually exclusive with musicality. The former serves the latter IMO.
BTW I'm not saying tube equipment can't be highly resolving and accurate either - just reiterating that tubes aren't a requirement to get beautiful music out of the Yggy.

 

[comzee]

  its relatively warmer for me especially in my loudspeaker setup.

Yup, I own an AGD M7, which is considered by many to have a liquid / syrupy characteristic. 
My yggy is clearly warmer than the M7, so there's that. 
 
Although, with it being warmer, it still exceeds the M7s technical capabilities. I wouldn't say by a landslide, M7 is still one of the best dacs I've heard.

 

[bazelio]

@rsbrsvp I don't know which amp you are using but I think others are giving sound advise in terms of DAC / amp synergy. Over at Super B.A.F. a common recipe is the use of a highly resolving DAC with balanced neutral tonality in combination with a tube amp which can then be "seasoned" to taste with tube selection. Yggy may be the best DAC choice, certainly for the price, in that recipe. But then amp selection is critical. As an example, Ragnarok makes for a cold clinical sound signature with the Yggy IME.

I've never heard the Ragnorok but I use all SS amplification with the Yggy in both my HP and speaker setups and it sounds sublime.
It shouldn't be necessary to 'season' or dumb down the Yggy to make it acceptable. IMO, the great strength of the Yggy is its communication and musical involvement.
Accuracy, resolution and low coloration shouldn't be mutually exclusive with musicality. The former serves the latter IMO.
BTW I'm not saying tube equipment can't be highly resolving and accurate either - just reiterating that tubes aren't a requirement to get beautiful music out of the Yggy.

Dumb down are your words, not mine. And tubes certainly are not a requirement if you like the sound without them, but some folks certainly do not. Since the poster I was addressing in this thread has an opinion similar to mine when I hear Yggy in certain chains, amplifier pairing came to mind. I also do not necessarily like the Yggy output stage, as I find it cold and not a good match for all amps. Synergy does matter, even with the mighty Yggdrasil.

 

[gefski]

Throwing this out because I've seen a few people ask about Yggy "re-warming".

Mine has been on (also bel canto usb interface) almost 24/7 since I got it a bit over a year ago. Even take it to meets via an inverter/ups setup. Recently was gone for a couple weeks, so shut down & unplugged everything.

Returned yesterday afternoon and powered everything up. Listened last evening for an hour or so. Detail and top to bottom frequency response, but lacking timbre and texture along with a flat cardboardy presentation. This is 3-4 hrs warmup. No desire to keep listening.

Mid day today -- magic returns. Vital, alive, touch, feel of instruments, relaxed yet dynamic flow! It's clearly back. Wanna listen to all music I'm grabbing! So in my rig, 20ish hours re-warm does the trick.

IMO, YMMV, YMWV.

 

[Tobes]

Dumb down are your words, not mine.

Indeed, it wasn't my intention to ascribe these words to you @bazelio.
I was reading between the lines of yours and previous posts.
Agree that synergy is paramount - and every link matters.
For instance I'm a big believer that the fundamental foundation of a system is the power line - not necessarily spending ridiculous funds, but it definitely requires attention. One can otherwise go in circles trying to plaster over or work around the real issue. A lot of my 'problems' disappeared with some basic attention to power line issues.
On this same theme, I've been gobsmacked this week by the improvement an Uptone Audio JS-2 PS made to my Mac Mini server. A great stride forward, solving issues I didn't know I had.

 

[Samut89]

Got my yggy today..totally amazed by this Dac..out of cold giving me such smile on the face listening to " Zee Avi" songs..

Great thanks to The Attorney..
A wonderful, humble, responsible guy to deal with..
Happy to have the yggy..
Thanks again Richard..

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[jfoxvol]

Got my yggy today..totally amazed by this Dac..out of cold giving me such smile on the face listening to " Zee Avi" songs..

Great thanks to The Attorney..
A wonderful, humble, responsible guy to deal with..
Happy to have the yggy..
Thanks again Richard..

Regards,
Jonathan

Congrats.  Tremendous investment.  I love mine.  It'll continue to improve over the next several days as the critical components reach thermal equilibrium.