[Ableza]

Exactly. If it's a problem for you then it can be addressed and shielding is one way to do so. But it's not something most users will need. Indeed I have built entire television studios and cinemas where none of the power was anything other than stock cables without shielding, with no measurable RF influences.

 

[G0rt]

Exactly. If it's a problem for you then it can be addressed and shielding is one way to do so. But it's not something most users will need. Indeed I have built entire television studios and cinemas where none of the power was anything other than stock cables without shielding, with no measurable RF influences.

I never used special power cabling in studios or transmitter sites, but I have used Faraday cages on occasion...

 

[OldSkool]

Posting this here in hopes that it might help someone.

My Yggy works flawlessly in regards to RFI and noise but I recently added a Schiit Mjolnir amp (the original SS) to my set up. I immediately encountered an intermittent low-volume "crackling" noise in right channel only.

After upgrading to better shielded cables, the noise was still there. By chance, I just upgraded my aging Samsung Note5 to a new Note10+ and the crackling noise is finally gone.

YMMV.

 

[alpovs]

I will note that I hear no difference when using shielded power cords with any of my head amps.

Is there any chance you had unshielded power cords laying close to the speaker wires?

 

[alpovs]

Can any engineer explain why those big electrolytic capacitors in the power supplies don't eliminate the noise from power cords we are talking about here?

 

[johnjen]

And I don't even play an engineer on tv or nuth'n.
The noise comes in on the ac power ground, which has a direct connection to EVERYTHING, as everything is referenced to ground, in one way or another.
Each powered circuit is a closed loop with reference to ground as is the entire power grid that feeds each circuit.

And what is even less understood is, what truly IS ground in the 1st place.

JJ

 

[LouS]

I'm at 156 hrs. Seems like I get most improvement in sound after running overnight music through the USB interface. Had major breakthrough in sound quality on day 4 after a steady diet of audio feed starting early on day 3. No music days 5 and 6 and not that much improvement. Ran music last night and this morning the Yggy disappears. No grain or cues that I am listening to a DAC. Vocals pure, cymbals shimmer, stuff jumping out of the recordings. And I'm listening to Ozzy Osborne "Memoirs of a Madman" which I never thought was that great on the old DAC. I have a new appreciation for the prince of darkness. Amazing!

The Yggdrasil is Pretty fussy about power and music, IME. I left mine, which was one of the first with the first revision of the analog board, I initially didn't even know that it was the newer type, but I left it runing 24 x 7 for the entire first 14 days. I didn't even like it for most of that time, I was pretty sure that I was going to send it back, but near the end it blossomed. I still leave it on 24 x 7.

 

[G0rt]

Is there any chance you had unshielded power cords laying close to the speaker wires?

Although I must own up to many filthy habits, that's never been one of them.

 

[G0rt]

Can any engineer explain why those big electrolytic capacitors in the power supplies don't eliminate the noise from power cords we are talking about here?

Simply, at the HF/VHF/UHF frequencies we're talking about, those big PS caps have significant self-impedance, presenting what amounts to an open circuit to broadband noise.

They are intended to be effective for noise on the order of 10's and 100's of Hz.

It's possible to add appropriate line filtration, but it's conventional wisdom that there are downsides to that as well.

There's usually lots of local bypassing, too, but if noise CAN find its way into a vulnerable circuit, it will. Murphy, you know.

As digital circuits are designed using lower and lower voltages, and higher and higher frequencies, vulnerability to line injected EMI, and the resulting, sometimes audible, bit errors, at least warrants some little scrutiny.

 

[triggsviola]

I like my Yggdrasil but I was thinking of trading it in for a Primaluna Tube DAC.

 

[alpovs]

Simply, at the HF/VHF/UHF frequencies we're talking about

I was pretty sure we were talking about audible noise. Who cares about inaudible noise?

 

[G0rt]

I was pretty sure we were talking about audible noise. Who cares about inaudible noise?

Exactly. Such noise becomes audible when it causes errors in the digital circuitry working to recover the signal from your source.

 

[LouS]

I like my Yggdrasil but I was thinking of trading it in for a Primaluna Tube DAC.

I wouldn't, especially if you haven't A/B'd them yet. I have heard that the PS Audio DAC sounds better by someone who's gear I am reasonably familiar with, it's neutral enough that if he says it's better, it almost certainly is. I haven't read one thing about it, I haven't heard it, but I do have a little Prima Luna amplifier and it can be pretty easily be bettered by a VTA ST70 with an octal driver board. The kit is about the same money, so if it were being produced in China, the price would be comparable. IOW, their gear can be bettered for less, pretty much the inverse of Shiit Audio gear. If you want to add tubes, go for a DS2 preamp. It would probably cost you at minimum between 2 to 4 times his price to better the sound with tube or SS gear. I certainly haven't heard anything better for less than 3 times his $2,500 +/-. YMMV

http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/for sale.html

 

[US Blues]

I was pretty sure we were talking about audible noise. Who cares about inaudible noise?

If noise is inaudible (not impacting the signal in any manner), is it really noise?

 

[MarkusTubesNow]

I like my Yggdrasil but I was thinking of trading it in for a Primaluna Tube DAC.

Since I'm walking on the journey towards a new DAC, and the Yggdrasil is highly regarded, I'm curious what you think you'd gain by going with the Prima Luna? Also, have you considered something like the Audio Mirror Tubador or one of the MHDT DACs? I don't know if those are considered side-grades or down-grades or how they compare to the Yggi.