[Sonic Defender]

  Nope. Did not resolve more. It was a bit smoother [I felt the USB was slightly abrasive in the treble].
 
However, the X12 [at the risk of praising a Sabre DAC] might be that. I received it about an hour ago and from very early impressions [going through my favorite pieces atm] it sits squarely between my NFB-7 and Gungnir.
More resolving than the Gungnir but one of the most analogue and smoothest sounding Sabres that I've heard.
I'd say it keeps most of the musicality and smoothness of the Gungnir and adds a layer of detail and better separation of the Sabres. The least 'digititis' I've heard on a Sabre too. I'd say it rivals Gungnir in that. Also, very black background. Like, dead silent. Sounds just come and go - pretty cool.
It is not as airy and trebly as my previous NFB-7 and is definitely less revealing and detailed too, but it does keep things fairly more musical than the NFB-7 did and easier on the ears.
 
Again, just preliminary impressions. Give me a bit to adjust but so far I am feeling very good about these ~550$ spent. I think it might keep me occupied until the Yggy is out. and I might actually get the HE-1000 first. I feel like it is the more important part of my chain right now as the X12 really seems very good so far.

Nice, thanks for the reply, and it does sound promising. I'm going to hold out for as long as I can and see what if any new products come into the picture. It is nice to hear that the X12 is that nice. Is it balanced?

 

[conquerator2]

 
Nice, thanks for the reply, and it does sound promising. I'm going to hold out for as long as I can and see what if any new products come into the picture. It is nice to hear that the X12 is that nice. Is it balanced?

Yep, it is balanced. I am running it both RCA-RCA and XLR-RCA. No XLR-XLR possibility yet [SE amp]. But both SE and 'BAL' sounds very good so far 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Yep, it is balanced. I am running it both RCA-RCA and XLR-RCA. No XLR-XLR possibility yet [SE amp]. But both SE and 'BAL' sounds very good so far 

I just saw a Canadian ebay site with it at $552 I think, so that isn't too bad. I will be very interested to hear your thoughts after you've had a few weeks of good listening. Cheers.

 

[conquerator2]

I certainly recommend it to anyone who thinks Sabre is digital and harsh. The X12 seems like a special exception to the rule. 

 

[Za Warudo]

Most probably those cracks have nothing to do with the usb port. I'd say you either have electrical issues (e.g. grounding or very noisy supply) or your audio is badly configured (google welltemperedcomputer) or your PC is not powerful enough for audio. Maybe a combo of those, especially the lasr two. An extra pcie card wont solve any of those but I guess it's cheap enough to try.

The headphone jack from the PC has no crackling noise, so I doubt it's the PC not having enough power.  It's probably an electrical/grounding issue, as every usb port on that pc has the same problem. If so then a pcie card won't help it?  Would I have to replace the power supply?

 

[Baldr]

Re Theta DSProgeny -
 
Yes they all have the mega-electric-burrito filter (scaled way back in terms of taps).  That is why they image the way they do.  The PCM67 DAC was the beginning of the end of Great DACs with the multibit - delta-sigma hybrid done for the sake of cost).  Finally, all of the Theta D/A converters were purposely designed to have output 6db higher than the 2VRMS standard of the time for the ease of adding passive preamps.

 

[Jones Bob]

Hi Mike, I am wondering if the filter in the Yggy shows the same pre and post echos on square wave signals as other oversampled DACs?

 

[wahsmoh]

  Re Theta DSProgeny -
 
Yes they all have the mega-electric-burrito filter (scaled way back in terms of taps).  That is why they image the way they do.  The PCM67 DAC was the beginning of the end of Great DACs with the multibit - delta-sigma hybrid done for the sake of cost).  Finally, all of the Theta D/A converters were purposely designed to have output 6db higher than the 2VRMS standard of the time for the ease of adding passive preamps.

God bless you Mike. It is your fault I stayed up til 1 AM last night and 2 AM the night before. I'm in love with it and I am debating whether or not I should bless the CanJam 2015 attendees with it or leave it at home where it rightfully belongs

haha jk it will be there you betcha
 
so far my most successful use of the Progeny has been with the S/PDIF pass-through Toslink connection from my $200 PC soundcard with PCM options set limited to 44.1khz and 48khz. I can play back all my FLAC files without any problem, I'm guessing that my soundcard is sending a pure PCM signal so it doesn't matter (unlike my Sansa Clip+ which would read incompatible file format). I tried out a USB-coax converter called the Peachtree T1 and it added digital nasties. I am bummed, looks like I will try Gustard U12 next and buy a nicer toslink cable(even though the one I have sound perfectly fine with no traces of USB or digital crap)
 
Blurpp.. I just listened to some jazz and I used to think that saxophones were really harsh on my ears. the super shrimp surf and turf burrito filter helped change that

 

[AustinValentine]

 
so far my most successful use of the Progeny has been with the S/PDIF pass-through Toslink connection from my $200 PC soundcard with PCM options set limited to 44.1khz and 48khz. I can play back all my FLAC files without any problem, I'm guessing that my soundcard is sending a pure PCM signal so it doesn't matter (unlike my Sansa Clip+ which would read incompatible file format). I tried out a USB-coax converter called the Peachtree T1 and it added digital nasties. I am bummed, looks like I will try Gustard U12 next and buy a nicer toslink cable(even though the one I have sound perfectly fine with no traces of USB or digital crap)
 

 
I found that the Coax input on the Theta sounds ever so slightly better to my ears over the Optical. IMO skip on the better toslink cable and just pick up a well built Coaxial cable with for the U12. 
 
 

  Re Theta DSProgeny -
 
Yes they all have the mega-electric-burrito filter (scaled way back in terms of taps).  That is why they image the way they do.  The PCM67 DAC was the beginning of the end of Great DACs with the multibit - delta-sigma hybrid done for the sake of cost).  Finally, all of the Theta D/A converters were purposely designed to have output 6db higher than the 2VRMS standard of the time for the ease of adding passive preamps.

 
Thanks for the confirm on the filter and the higher output Mike! Jason mentioned the PCM67 cost cutting over in the Schiit Happened thread last summer. http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/1350#post_10629409  When I read that, I thought that it was probably referencing the budget line Thetas that used the PCM67 (Chroma/Cobalt, Basic II, Prime I & II, the Basic II, and the Progeny). Not all of those got the mega-electric-burrito filter though, and it seems that that filter can cover a lot of budget sins.
 
Frankly, I'm just amazed at how well these have held up. Not just in sound quality, they're built like tanks! I've seen very few vintage DACs that have this level of durability. Now if the Progeny only had an off switch on the front...

 

[wahsmoh]

Hehe question, who is going to CanJam 2015? I will be there on Saturday

 

[Bill-P]

Me. Please come on by to say hi and try stuffs out. Would love to "make" you listen to my LCD-2 and hear what I've been rambling on about in the DT880 thread.
 
As for DAC, I have nothing special. Just a Geek Out 450. Waiting for when and if Schiit will decide to downscale the Yggdrasil to a smaller enclosure. I won't even need its ability to play high-res contents. I don't think I have heard the entire 16 bits of all of my music library, either.

 

[wahsmoh]

  Me. Please come on by to say hi and try stuffs out. Would love to "make" you listen to my LCD-2 and hear what I've been rambling on about in the DT880 thread.
 
As for DAC, I have nothing special. Just a Geek Out 450. Waiting for when and if Schiit will decide to downscale the Yggdrasil to a smaller enclosure. I won't even need its ability to play high-res contents. I don't think I have heard the entire 16 bits of all of my music library, either.

Bill I will be glad to come back and check out your setup. I will have my Alpha Dogs too. If you get a chance though you should come up to the 3rd floor and listen to my Theta DS Pro Progeny which uses a digital filter not unlike the one in the Yggy other than new tech because Mike M designed it.
 
Better yet, if you want to have another DAC on your table I would stick around and donate it for your purposes even though it is a single-ended setup. I don't have a source like a laptop or PC(have a PC, not bringing it) so I've been looking around for someone to pair up with because the 3rd floor situation and who plans on watching who's gear has not been set up yet. That DS Pro Progeny takes toslink and coax, no USB. Has an impressive 3D soundstage that I really want you to hear too

 
 
No hard feelings if something from 1994 happens to embarrass one of the new DACs

 
 
oh and I know you're an engineering kind of guy, so here's the internals if it interests you

 
found it with a google search on audio asylum
this might help you discover those last 16-bits

 

[auvgeek]

Boy, I'd love to hear Bill's LCD2.2 and the Theta Progeny together. That has to be about the best value combo I can imagine. You guys have fun at CanJam.

 

[agooh]

Schiit Yggdrasil I listen to this special dac really impressive performance .
but the real beast is Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC every thing you want : tiniest micro-details, huge 3d sound with speakers , musicality, imaging is the best in this DAC .
About Hugo  what's unique about it make the sound like it's real , very detail, musicality .add more fullness and emotion you need a very good tube amp.
Can it compete against big names ?  yes .

 

[estreeter]

 
Did it solve the issues you felt were there with the Gungnir? If it resolves more that is great, but do you feel it is musical? I know that is a very vague term, but that is what the Gungnir does so well is be very listenable and engaging. I want that, but with a little more resolution.

 
It's all relative, but I'm guessing you dont want to listen to Yggy if you have your heart set on Gungnir.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/667711/new-schiit-ragnarok-and-yggdrasil/5175#post_11446741
 
His words, not mine - dont shoot the messenger - but its interesting that the previous 'best I ever heard' gear suddenly sounds like crap when we get to hear a new toy 
 
so I went back to the Gungnir and by comparison it sounded dry, brittle and 'digital'. Three words I never would have expected to use about the Gungnir.