[estreeter]

**** This is NOT a real pre-order thread : it's merely an attempt to gauge interest in Yggdrasil beyond a hardcore group in two threads ****
 
I have zero affiliation with Schiit and - at this point in time - dont own a single Schiit product, but if the mods feel I'm needlessly contributing to the hype around this DAC or otherwise making a negative contribution, I respect their decision to close the thread. 
 
Assuming that doesn't happen, if you are in the same position as myself its likely that you will be required to make a 'leap of faith' and buy Yggdrasil without hearing a single note. I'm particularly interested in feedback from people who are just waiting on a few more impressions before embarking on that leap of faith - please use the existing threads for all other feedback. I used the term 'pre-order' to signify serious intent to purchase - if that seems premature at this point, so be it. 
 
Sticker price for Yggdrasil has been confirmed at 2299 USD and it should be available from Schiit in early April 2015 if Mike's last post re the production handover is any guide. Once again, you will only be able to order Yggdrasil through Schiit - this is just another thread on Head-fi - but I'd appreciate responses along these lines :
 
A.  I've heard a prototype, and I'm sold
B.  Just take my money and send me one
C. I want to read a few more impressions, preferably from longtime reviewers, but so far I'm 90% sold
D. i need to audition this DAC alongside other gear, but at this stage it seems like a strong candidate
E. Depending on the landed price in my country, this is a frontrunner for my next DAC purchase
 
FWIW, I'm going with E at the moment - interested to hear from other prospective buyers outside the US. No doubt there's an 'F', 'G' and 'I' out there, but if you've read this far I'm assuming you arent just here for the lulz. This is just one corner of a much larger audio universe, but I'm interested nonetheless, and i hope any responses will be genuine. 
 
Comments re the hype train - and I've made a few of my own - or the position of the power switch etc should be made in the other threads and there's no need to go over the same ground : most of us know the back story by now. Purrin's thread and the official Rag/Yggy thread are monsters and I dont want to add to the noise in those threads, hence this new thread. Apologies to those who feel we're doing Schiit's marketing for them - that's not my intent, particularly given that I've never even heard their existing DACs. Skepticism is great, hence the 'I need to audition this alongside other gear' example above. 
 
Thanks in advance for your responses. 

 

[conquerator2]

I am gonna go with a C for now, possibly turning B 

 I am pretty sure Schiit-Europe/Audiophonics/Schiit-USA are the only prices and places for me to buy from, so E doesn't really mean much for me 

No way to audition one myself in the near future unfortunately. Gonna be a blind buy based on the impressions of others, as with most gear 

 

 

[Sorrodje]

  C. I want to read a few more impressions, preferably from longtime reviewers, but so far I'm 90% sold

 
 

This ^ .
 
Just need to add there're long time reviewer I don't trust at all on HF. So I'm more waiting impressions from people I trust Here or There because it seems their impressions usually match mine.

 

[Yoga]

B - will buy (UK) as soon as I can.
 
:¬)

 

[zerodeefex]

You do realize that most manufacturers don't start threads like this for 2 reasons:
 

• They're generally wildly inaccurate and don't really assist very much with forecast and planning
• If they WERE accurate, most don't want to share presales data (even an estimate of a percentage of the presales data from a single source such as HF readers) with competitors

 
If Schiit really wanted to collect potential data around who is going to purchase the Yggdrasil, they'd put up a preorder program with a rolling promised ship date that matches up with their current projected production ramp minus a percentage for warranty and safety stock. Why would you want data floating around in a medium you don't control so competitors can see it?
 
These threads tend to be a place for everyone to pat themselves on the back and feel great about it. That's awesome, but now we'll have about 4 different threads on the Yggdrasil:
 

• the combined speculative thread with the Ragnarok
• the review/impressions thread
• this thread that seems to serve the exact same function as the speculative thread
• someone will also invariably create a "the Yggdrasil is released!" thread as well

 

[Jose R]

F. Waiting for more impressions, but may decide to build my own.
 
I already have half the parts to build a Buffalo Dac. The $2,300 price for the Yggdrasil is tempting for the hyped quality. I would most likely spend just as much on the parts+chassis for the diy build.
 
Did the same thing for the Ragnarok. Wound up building an M3 balanced amp instead.
 
The most interesting thing for me about the Yggdrasil is the circuit, which is vastly dissimilar to the ESS designs (both diy and commercial).

 

[zerodeefex]

F. Waiting for more impressions, but may decide to build my own.

I already have half the parts to build a Buffalo Dac. The $2,300 price for the Yggdrasil is tempting for the hyped quality. I would most likely spend just as much on the parts+chassis for the diy build.

Did the same thing for the Ragnarok. Wound up building an M3 balanced amp instead.

The most interesting thing for me about the Yggdrasil is the circuit, which is vastly dissimilar to the ESS designs (both diy and commercial).

I've heard fairly maxxed out buffalo 3 builds. Not even close.

There are some R2R projects out there that seem to have potential and I'd bet that the bottlehead DAC is going to be something special as well. I'd think those might be a better starting point.

 

[eddypoon]

[edit] actually, never mind.  

 

[garetjax1]

I apologize if this is thread-jacking, but I would be curious to know, as well, what other DACs people are cross-shopping...
 
I've been looking at several other R2R NOS Dacs - if the Yggy is out by summer, it will be first on my list, assuming reviews support the hype...
 
Others I've been looking at: (I apologize if I fumble the product names - doing this from memory)
1. Audio-gd Master 7
2. TotalDac (the lower-end version)
3. Metrum Octave 8
4. MSB Analog DAC
 
As of now, the Yggy is competitive on price (assuming $2200-$2500) compared to the aforementioned ones on that list, which is driving a large part of my interest...
 
Answer: (C)

 

[bmichels]

  I apologize if this is thread-jacking, but I would be curious to know, as well, what other DACs people are cross-shopping...
 
I've been looking at several other R2R NOS Dacs - if the Yggy is out by summer, it will be first on my list, assuming reviews support the hype...
 
Others I've been looking at: (I apologize if I fumble the product names - doing this from memory)
1. Audio-gd Master 7
2. TotalDac (the lower-end version)
3. Metrum Octave 8
4. MSB Analog DAC
 
As of now, the Yggy is competitive on price (assuming $2200-$2500) compared to the aforementioned ones on that list, which is driving a large part of my interest...
 
Answer: (C)

 
I have the same list in my mind.  
 
May be I will just put the TotalDAC in first position.... and I am afraid that the Yggy may be to picky with medium quality recording.

 

[estreeter]

@zerodeefx, until the mods or someone from Schiit raise an objection, lets just see where this goes OK ? I'm not concerned about how 'wildly inaccurate' it is - as I said, this is just one part of the audio universe and I'm sure Jason knows a bit more about consumer demand than I do - it was never intended to be an accurate headcount.
 
As you are one of the few people here who has actually heard the thing, and seems 'sold', I might have hoped for a little more support from you but apparently you'd prefer to type half a page of objections to the existence of another thread on a product you seem to be enamoured with. We can either go off on that tangent or we can let this thread run its course - up to you. 

 

[Music Alchemist]

B. Take my money, Schiit. Now. ...Or, optionally, later when I actually have it. lol (By April, it may not be a problem.)
 
I had my eyes on a $60,000 DAC, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the Yggdrasil is even better.
 
(Oh, and I'm not just saying that. One guy told me it outperforms five-figure DACs he's heard. But I can't go into more detail than that.)

 

[estreeter]

I apologize if this is thread-jacking, but I would be curious to know, as well, what other DACs people are cross-shopping...

I've been looking at several other R2R NOS Dacs - if the Yggy is out by summer, it will be first on my list, assuming reviews support the hype...

Others I've been looking at: (I apologize if I fumble the product names - doing this from memory)
1. Audio-gd Master 7
2. TotalDac (the lower-end version)
3. Metrum Octave 8
4. MSB Analog DAC

As of now, the Yggy is competitive on price (assuming $2200-$2500) compared to the aforementioned ones on that list, which is driving a large part of my interest...

Answer: (C)

phasure nos1a for those who want something closer to yggy's sticker - bit of a science project though. and for customers outside europe a big shipping bill if you have to return it.

 

[Currawong]

I've re-named the thread to something that isn't misleading. 

 

[Argo Duck]

I've been interested in this DAC since it was first announced and didn't yet have a name. IIRC this was before Gungnir was released.

I'm almost sure to buy based on (a) Schiit's philosophy and company culture (b) their history of high VFM to date - see a (c) the out-of-box thinking and serious approach to what a DAC should be - this isn't just "let's creatively re-think a few things", this is damn close to "let's re-think it period" (d) early reports (purrin, zerodeefex and one or two others).

I do need to hear a good selection of others' impressions first though. There are certain hints (sometimes buried., e.g. what doesn't get mentioned as much as what does) that will probably factor in my final decision.