[bearFNF]

LOL... M$B... $85000 DAC...LOL
Anyone that does this in a $40k amp...words just fail me...

 

[TGBerland]

MSB also got DAC in the $10.000 range. Regardless what they do; they sound fantastic.

 

[EElegances]

MSB also got DAC in the $10.000 range. Regardless what they do; they sound fantastic.

Bringing up MSB here makes little sense to me. Nobody, almost, who seriously considers Schiit would also consider MSB. Totally different markets - money wise for sure. So what if you can afford it. Who cares. If they compare soundwise, they do. If not, not. But otherwise it's worthless to discuss such a brand here, IMO.

 

[Baldr]

I

I2S port could be added to the digital board - based on design of Yggdrasil, which have internal addons this might add to the complexity of upgrade. Plugin-cards from the back; which the customer could do themselves would be a much better and cheaper approach for all users (no need to send stuff back to Schiit). This would of course most likely add price of upgrade slightly (due to more complex construction than just an internal card to replace).

Edit:
Just see how MSB is doing this; much more elegant (of course their USB Quad DSD interface card costs more than the entire Yggdrasil.... that's another story )

I will have an I2S post coming up on my own thread very soon.

 

[Thenewguy007]

I

I will have an I2S post coming up on my own thread very soon.

I hope it's a pro I2S posts

 

[landroni]

I hope it's a pro I2S posts

I would be eminently surprised...

 

[TGBerland]

Bringing up MSB here makes little sense to me. Nobody, almost, who seriously considers Schiit would also consider MSB. Totally different markets - money wise for sure. So what if you can afford it. Who cares. If they compare soundwise, they do. If not, not. But otherwise it's worthless to discuss such a brand here, IMO.

Not really; according to Schiit's own information. The Yggdrasil can compete with any DAC in any price-range (which I find close to true regarding the digital part, some glitches on the 18-19 bit range are measured).

From Schiit's Yggdrasil FAQ page

So this is your bestest brightest DAC? For only $2299?
Yes. We don't believe in fancy casework, nor in blingy displays, nor in any kind of complication that just ups the price for the sake of upping the price. So yes, this is our top DAC. A DAC that can look any other DAC in the world in the face and not flinch. That is, if it was human. And if DACs had faces. Hell, you know what we mean.
​

 

[TGBerland]

Regarding glitches (which I don't think you will hear, but they should not have been there - they are in the -110dB range)

Source: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/yggdrasil-technical-measurements.764787/page-6

 

[TGBerland]

I

I will have an I2S post coming up on my own thread very soon.

Hopefully this is not the usual "we in Schiit do not believe in I2S for external communication". When listening to the relatively cheap brand Audiobyte with I2S input, you can hear a clear improvement compared to AES/EBU. The same goes for MSB and Rockna. If you ever consider this; look at Audiobyte/Rockna's approach on this - using a standard HDMI cable.

 

[dmance]

@TGBerland, be careful. Don't start suggesting that Schiit can learn from the competition - or incorporate ideas or designs from others. This company beats to its own drummer - and forum members like it that way. All posts here are to be glowing praise and commendation for their products and strategy.

 

[TGBerland]

@TGBerland, be careful. Don't start suggesting that Schiit can learn from the competition - or incorporate ideas or designs from others. This company beats to its own drummer - and forum members like it that way. All posts here are to be glowing praise and commendation for their products and strategy.

Regarding I2S; I just hope the business moves against one common standard.

But I would be fine without I2S on Schiit products, I think the AES/EBU is good and after the upgrade of USB to Gen5; I'm sure that has also dramatically improved (USB was the weakest link on the Yggdrasil).
Regarding the glitches; not sure of the reason - but those should be solved. It kills the "bitperfect, no guessing 21bits" statement.

Edit:
I have to say: Yggdrasil sound fantastic, but I'm guessing it can be even more fantastic with further improvements (ref fix glitches; potentially I2S possibility). As mentioned previously; I have two of these fantastic dac's - which should be a clear indication that I'm happy with the output from them.

 

[bearFNF]

LOL..not the case at all. We raked them over the coals a few times in this thread. Power switch, BNC conector etc.

@TGBerland, be careful. Don't start suggesting that Schiit can learn from the competition - or incorporate ideas or designs from others. This company beats to its own drummer - and forum members like it that way. All posts here are to be glowing praise and commendation for their products and strategy.

 

[TGBerland]

LOL..not the case at all. We raked them over the coals a few times in this thread. Power switch, BNC conector etc.

I still have one Yggdrasil with 50 ohm BNC connector plug instead of 75 ohm. But no plans to upgrade until I send it in for some other upgrades. I don't use the BNC plug on any of my Yggdrasils - but I disagree that is makes no difference in audio with having the wrong one that was stated in this thread previously.

 

[TGBerland]

My main headphone setup.

iMac 27"
Schiit Yggdrasil
Moon 430HAD
Isotek EVO3 Sigmas
Audiobyte Hydra-Z (The Hydra-ZPM and iFi Micro iUSB3.0 is hidden behind the iMac)

 

[earnmyturns]

But I would be fine without I2S on Schiit products, I think the AES/EBU is good and after the upgrade of USB to Gen5; I'm sure that has also dramatically improved (USB was the weakest link on the Yggdrasil).
Regarding the glitches; not sure of the reason - but those should be solved. It kills the "bitperfect, no guessing 21bits" statement.

The so-called glitches are a well-understood, documented zero-transition artifact of the D2A chips used in Schiit's multibit DACs. Basically, at the zero transition all the bits in the PCM codeword switch and it's impossible for all those switches to happen exactly simultaneously, thus some of the resistors come in and out of the current path not exactly in sync, and the output voltage jiggles as a consequence. If the jiggle is below conceivable audible level, why worry? All designs have engineering compromises, and inaudible ones are what I want in my audio gear.

As for bit-perfect, that refers to the digital filter upstream of the D2A chips. What it means is that the interpolated upsampling of the source PCM includes all original samples, unlike most other digital filter designs. The so-called glitch is in analog-land, well below digital resolution.

As an engineer, I enjoy understanding these details, but I'm ever puzzled that people would worry about them as "imperfections," when all the evidence both from hearing science and from actual experience is that the design choices in the Schiit multibit designs are sound.