[SilverEars]

Very similar to what I have noticed.. the ability to layer the instruments, music in a lifelike manner.. the DS DACs sound paints a clear clean picture that has the ability to stand out, but not at defining a dimensional view. Similar to my iPhone sound, but not to scale. It wasn’t until I spent time with the Yggdrasil, that I noticed the layers and textures because of the dimensionality.. The best I used to hope for in digital was a smooth, non-edgy sound. Now I’m dealing with a source that competes some of the best analog out there.. In 16/44 even !

I'm likely generalizing because Ayre Codex sounded to have dimentionality to the sound as well. It was the first DAC I noticed it sounded like I was at the Pawn Shop listrning to Jazz.

Anybody know if Ayre Codex is Delta Sigma? Gumby sounded pretty much identical to it. If so, I'm generalizing Delta Sigma too much.

 

[Mikem53]

I'm likely generalizing because Ayre Codex sounded to have dimentionality to the sound as well. It was the first DAC I noticed it sounded like I was at the Pawn Shop listrning to Jazz.

Anybody know if Ayre Codex is Delta Sigma? Gumby sounded pretty much identical to it. If so, I'm generalizing Delta Sigma too much.

Jazz at the pawnshop, “Highlife”. Arne Domnerus, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Erstrand. One of my favorite live jazz performances that was recorded superbly. catches everything but the smoke in the room..

 

[soekris]

If the 1541 is still non-oversampling, then that's the result of having a roll-off to reduce the heavy aliasing you get above 10 kHz.

Incorrect, the soekris dac1541 is oversampling, although you can choose between different filters, including one with a pretty soft rolloff....

 

[earnmyturns]

1541 sounds slightly shaved off in the highs. I wonder if this is generally the characteristics of R2R?

Did you try the different dac1541 filters? For me, the minimum phrase filters (green or off) are the most convincing. I own both Yggdrasil A2 and Soekris dac1541, and for me the differences are more in staging and in mid micro dynamics than up high.

 

[earnmyturns]

If the 1541 is still non-oversampling

It's never been NOS with the supplied filters, I've owned one from early on. It has a digital filter (different settings but not NOS) in FPGA before the resistor array.

 

[Currawong]

Incorrect, the soekris dac1541 is oversampling, although you can choose between different filters, including one with a pretty soft rolloff....

My bad, I was confusing it with a different DAC for some reason. I've edited my post.

 

[quanghuy147]

Who wish to upgrade Yggy A2 to another DAC please read this, this could save you thousands of dollars

I have been using my Yggy for about 2 years now. I had it with A1 board then upgraded to A2.

Recently, I have been looking to upgrade it to another DAC. I did some research and learned that the DAC which is worth the upgrade must be around more than 5k.

Luckily, last week I got a power cord ($400 used). I used it with Yggy and ... easily, I noticed the sonic improvement. The sound is more engaging, the bass and mid bass is richer, more impact, more energy from my speakers.

Some days later, I upgraded the cleaner power source for my streamer and again, another improvement.

With both the upgrades (the power cord for Yggy and cleaner power source for streamer), the sound is much better now. I would say the improvement is much more than when I had upgraded A1 to A2.

I know it's hard to believe but do yourself a favor. Try it and you will see. Yggy shouldn't be used with generic power cord . Schiit should sell power cord for their DACs!

Please don't ask me what power cord I use because it will sound like I am advertising the power cord . I believe all popular hi-end cord cables which help lower the noise will do the job well.

Hope this helps.

 

[sahmen]

Please don't ask me what power cord I use because it will sound like I am advertising the power cord . I believe all popular hi-end cord cables which help lower the noise will do the job well.

But that sounds like a terrible tease! Do name the power cord. We will not think you're advertising, we promise! At least I do. Besides. If I were like that, I'd say you are already "advertising" "popular hi-end cord cables", which is not very helpful, since even low noise hi-end cables are not all made the same.

 

[quanghuy147]

Sahmen, I am sorry to have made it sound like a tease.

I found that the outcome is the synergy of the components in the system.

In my system, here are the setups I have experimented:

A-generic power cord with Yggy and Shanti power supply + iFi purifier for the streamer.

B-generic power cord with Yggy and battery power supply + iFi purifier for the streamer.

C-hiend power cord with Yggy and Shanti power supply + iFi purifier for the streamer.

D-Hiend power cord with Yggy and battery power supply + iFi purifier for the streamer.

A sounds better than B

But

D sounds better than C. This result surprised me because I thought C would sound better than D.

Please note that the difference is not minor. It is easily noticeable. My wife can tell the difference when her favorite songs are played.

So again, the outcome is very dependent on each system. One might have to try to find out, that is the fun and also the pain in this hobby )

I believe many users are using hiend power cord with Yggy, they can give better suggestions.

However, in order not to sound like a tease to you, I sent you a private message about the power cord I am using. I hope this could be helpful to you.

 

[arftech]

I’m in the mood to try something different and hence I’m looking at this DAC. My current DAC is older technology but has a bridge that turns it into a streamer.

My question is will the Schiit be an upgrade in sound considering it’s using new tech?

I currently have a PS Audio PWD MK2 w Bridge 2.

 

[johnjen]

I still own a PWD MK2 w/bridge (the best of that series), and have a Yggdrasil-2.

And while the PWD is still a decent DAC the JggyB (as I call it) is superior, at least for me in my system.

JJ

 

[SilverEars]

I've been reading that balanced output is better than SE. On my amp I do not have balanced input, but SE. Does it make sense to get a XLR to RCA and use balanced output as SE? Is this still better than SE, even if Balanced is converted to SE?

 

[Mikem53]

I've been reading that balanced output is better than SE. On my amp I do not have balanced input, but SE. Does it make sense to get a XLR to RCA and use balanced output as SE? Is this still better than SE, even if Balanced is converted to SE?

Yes, I would go with the balanced out of the Yggy as the Yggy will sum the balanced outputs to SE, according to Schiit, some of the magic will be lost in the summing.
You will also get more voltage, 4v from the balanced outs. I tried the balanced out into a passive TVC and it had lots of drive for passive volume vs the SE output level..

 

[ToTo Man]

There has been much debate over Yggy's balanced and single-ended outputs, with some owners hearing huge differences and others hearing no difference at all. I fall between these two extremes and find that, in my system, both sound excellent, but balanced offers that little bit more body/solidity, impact, and punch. I went further and actually measured the frequency response of the two outputs to see if I this would explain some of what I was hearing, and I think it does, because in my system, the single-ended outputs produce approx -0.4dB less output below 80Hz than the balanced outputs.

Regarding XLR to SE, I haven't tried it but it has been reported by other users that transformers such as the Jensen IsoMax are the least sonically harmful way to convert Yggy's balanced output to single-ended, if you can afford 'em.

 

[arftech]

I still own a PWD MK2 w/bridge (the best of that series), and have a Yggdrasil-2.

And while the PWD is still a decent DAC the JggyB (as I call it) is superior, at least for me in my system.

JJ

JJ, thanks for the response. How would you rate the USB performance for sonics?