I’ve been gradually but continuously migrating from “measurements uber alles” towards a more “what matters is how it sounds” more subjective type of view of audio.
That is to say, I’d always been fairly skeptical of whether or not the sound of two different DACs was really discernible from one another.
I’ve had an RME ADi-2 DAC forever, and it’s still a great product and site in my bedroom setup, but since I’d wanted to get away from EQing everything to Harman to see if I could enjoy headphones based on their stock tuning I set up a little second system in my living room by the side of the sofa I usually don’t sit on, which started out pretty modestly with a Schiit Magni Piety and an SMSL SU-9.
I’d originally picked the SU-9 because it has sound color modes, including a tube mode that injects a nice spike of 2nd order harmonic distortion, which I thought might make the Piety sound tubier.
The Piety gave way to a Folkvangr, since I figured I might as well try an actual tube amp, but I was still using the SU-9 DAC.
Well, I was curious about this whole multibit DAC thing, and the Yggdrasil GS2 looked to be a great value (I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the Bifrost since it uses the same chips as the Yggy LIM, and the descriptions of how that sounded didn’t make it sound like it would be my cup of tea).
Anyway, browsing through the classifieds, there’s a Yggdrasil A2 being sold for not much more than a GS2, so I rolled the dice, figuring if I didn’t hear a difference it’d be early enough to sell since it’s out of production now.
I know that’s a long bit of setup, but I plugged it in tonight and let it warm up for a couple of hours, and now I’m listening to my Verite Closeds through it and my Folkvangr, and within the first couple songs I realize i will never sell this thing, there absolutely is a difference.
I’ve heard it gets even better as it warms up more, but wow, I’m hearing elements of songs I’d never heard before, and the soundstage and imaging are incredible.
I should be going to bed now, but instead I’m listening to the entire Steely Dan Two Against Nature album, and it all just sounds so amazing now with this setup.
